This was my first entry in the Ludum Dare, compo or jam. Although it would appear from this delayed post that I am submitting it for the jam, NO! It was done on time and submitted on time for the compo. I just didn’t realize people wouldn’t immediately eagerly flock to such an enterprising, young game about flashlights.

So now, I present to you a programmer’s first attempt at game-making:

What Lurks in the Dark

A game where you are a balding, middle-aged man going through his basement ostensibly in search of yams. But you may find a different reason for running pell-mell through the darkness of your basement: your very survival. Things are a little bit more bite-y and kill-y than you remember them being in your basement, and you only have a flashlight to defend yourself.

I hope you will play and enjoy my game, I look forward to participating in the next Ludum Dare!

Holy crap, my second Ludum Dare is over just like that.

I had some major struggles getting everything submitted this time, but I think I’m set! Who am I kidding, I had major troubles through the whole process. I was barely able to get audio in at all. Turns out the laptop I was using doesn’t have a mic in port anywhere, and the computer that I drove 2 hours to get to with 6 hours left in the compo needed its audio drivers jiggled about for an hour before it would work. So I put together sounds/music and the code and buttons necessary for sound in the final 3 hours. Maybe it was worth it? Sorry Strong Bad for ripping off some of your techno riffs, it’s all I had time for.

Anyway, my game  is Monster Arena. It is about you, a crazed, raging can of Monster Energy drink blowing sleeping people out of an arena with the power of your mighty fizz stream. I was definitely going for a more light-hearted and silly game this time.

You can view/play my game here. I’ll be playing a bunch of games tomorrow and Tuesday, and then I go on vacation so I won’t be able to play more until a week from now. I will definitely get around to playing many games though!

Well done all you compo people, you survived. And now, to bed.

Yikes. Between working in a different physical setting, having multiple conflicts to distract me, and lacking motivation in general, I barely put this game together, even under a Jam-esque time limit. I finally wrestled the mechanics into something resembling my original intent after 48 hours and spent the remaining time staring down the barrel of MS Paint lamenting my lack of artistic skills.

The end result is definitely a game, and I am proud of that! As with every Ludum Dare, I have learned a lot and will be able too apply that knowledge not only to future Dares, but to my everyday life at work. Thanks Ludum Dare!

Anyway, this game is about a white-square of a a scuba diver (an allegory for the modern day working suit, trust me) attempting to collect enough undersea treasure to appease her bosses. Along the way, she will have to pay for better equipment out-of-pocket in order to have nice enough things to enable her to actually achieve the goal of collecting 1,000,000 treasure. Here she is living the dream:

See if you too can collect all the treasure by plunging into the depths of the ocean; view/play my game here. Have fun, and well done on completing your own game! I have seen a lot of true gems submitted so far.

Tags: ld #34, love2d