Hey, LD newbie here.

I think one of the most important aspects of game design is to have people test the game. It’s an iterative process; if you don’t know what other people think of the game, then you’re simply making it for yourself. If we go around asking friends or random people to give our games a try, does it count as not working solo anymore? If so, then this thing is going to be way more challenging than I previously thought 😛

This is what I plan on using: http://perlenspiel.org/

It’s basically a very scaled down javascript game development framework by Brian Moriarty (if you’re an Adventure game fan and you don’t know who this is, shame on you!). It has no pipeline; all game design is done by turning colored Mondrian-like squares on a grid on and off. Hopefully the theme won’t be something ridiculous and unfit for this engine.

I actually designed one of the games in the example section (Functional Colors), so if he thought one of my games was good enough for the site, I’m confident I know the engine and it’s limitations well enough :P.

Has anyone else used Perlenspiel as their engine for the contest before? And if it isn’t allowed for some strange reason, can it be used in the jam at least? (Actually, I’m starting my Junior year of college the day the contest starts. I might not have time to develop a game in 48 hours, so this could potentially be a moot point)

I’ve been considering documenting the 48 hours of my progress on the game I intend on making. I would likely be shooting my progress with an old canon XL1-s camera that I acquired under bizarre circumstances. My intent is to make a short documentary, maybe 30 to 45 minutes on the making of my game. Weather it turns out a complete failure, a success, or somewhere in-between, it’ll probably at least make for an entertaining watch xD.

Do you plan on anything similar?

I’m about to get started on a warmup game that I’ll make between tonight and tomorrow. I’ve come up with two possible ideas that I think will both work. I’d like you to look at the pitch for both games and tell me which one you think is a better idea.

Game 1: Elevators

This is based on an earlier LD theme called “Indirect Interaction.” You are controlling an elevator (possibly more than one) with the space bar. When you hold it down, it will move up. Release the space bar and the elevator descends. To keep things interesting, there might be an elevator that moves down when you hold the space bar and a wall that grows when you hold space. In the background, there are two or more floors and different things walking. There are green walkers than will keep walking and fall down the shaft if you don’t get to them in time. Then there are red types that will jump the chasm in floors and you want to crush them with the elevator.  If I have time, I could come up with more than two types of walkers. Maybe I could have a fat guy that waits for the elevator and blocks everybody, or a gremlin that breaks the elevator if you don’t squish it.

Game 2: Killer Walls

The theme I’m using is another previous year’s entry which you can probably guess by the title. You are trapped in a prison cell. Suddenly the walls start to move. Thankfully, your guardian angel gave you bombs. Parts of the wall are either strong, weak, or have holes you can walk through. Bomb the weak parts, walk through the holes, and stay alive! Eventually, the wall will run out and you will have escaped.
Well that sums up both ideas pretty well. It’s up to you now: decide!

I’ve decided to greenlight the elevator game and the documentary today. Maybe if I have time this week, I’ll make a rough cut of the more entertaining stuff I shot today (and will tomorrow). I’ve made plenty of silly errors in my coding due to my slightly haphazard and off track mind. It should make for something funny even if the game turns out shitty.

Plus, Perlenspiel is working out to be a good engine for quick games. I started coding it 2 hours ago and I have a working prototype already done.