Here are some concept art for my mini LD 16
They use most of the colours but not all yet!
When I started I really wanted to do something with parallax and a train. I’m still working out the plan for what the game-play will be.

Pics after break
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Jeebus, HybridMind! I was only expecting ONE constraint! Hahaha…

Here’s what I’m doing. I’m applying my previous constraints, but:

• I’m using the input and color restraints without issue
• I’m not going to have sound, since my mic does not work
• Music isn’t an issue, I wasn’t going to have it anyway
• I’m going to compromise on. I’m going to render onto a much smaller surface, then scale up to that size.

Everything else will be in. Starting tomorrow, probably in the afternoon.

(And I’m not completely ignoring the sound constraint: I’m not using SFXR, either )

—MrDude

Start: February 19th, 2010 at 9PM EST (GMT-5)

End: February 21st, 2010 at 9pm EST (GMT-5)

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I like the idea of constraints on implementation.

I’ve decided that regardless of our constraints, I’m going to do the following (Provided that the official constraints don’t push these further):

• 4kb or less, including assets
• Developed in 6 hours (Only work time, not counting breaks)
• Rendering surface <= 100×100
• Some kind of procedural element

Here’s hoping!

—MrDude

I submitted an entry in LD14. Those of you reading my journal during the compo will understand that I didn’t expect to win, place, or show. The goal for me was just to finish something, anything. After 48 frantic hours I was astonished to discover that I made my goal; I’d written a real live game! I’d finally succeeded at game development, which is something I’d tried in vain many times before.

That was about nine months ago. Next challenge: commercial game development. I came up with an idea in January, and just under a month of furious coding later, I finished my very first iPhone game, Teragati. Other than alpha channels, 22KHz sounds, and accelerometer as the principal control, it’s straight out of the 1980s. Good, clean, crack-like addictive fun.

Apple approved it for sale today in the App Store. 99 cents. If that’s out of your price range, let me know and I’ll find a promo code for you.

Next challenge: is there a Ludum Dare competition for marketing? 1,000 sales from scratch in 48 hours?

Mini LD 16 is fast approaching!

It will kick off this Friday, February 19th at 9pm EST (GMT – 5)

The theme of this competition is Constraints.

Major goal:

• To explore what game designs we are able to create given a certain set of arbitrary constraints

Minor goals:

• To have the games share a common control scheme
• To have the games share aspects of look and feel
• To have total designer freedom of genre and topic

I won’t be announcing the final constraints until this Friday at 9pm EST but I’d like to provide a teaser of some of the things you may encounter.

Possible constraints:

• Must work with a specific color palette
• Limited to specific control inputs/keys
• Music length limits (looping allowed)
• Numbers of sound effects
• Specific screen dimensions
• Sprite or game object size requirements
• Background graphics
• Text limits
• Levels / Waves / Rounds requirements

As I mentioned in my minor goals above–I have no intention of specifically limiting the topic or genre of the game you create. I want there to be at least that one axis of complete freedom for the designer as they work within the constraints.  I’m looking forward to this weekend–see you all soon!

EDIT: 9 pm Constraints posted

I’ve released an updated version of Dash!

This version fixes most of the bugs from the last release, including some issues with scoring, some levels being unbeatable, and the glitch that causes the game to crash if you move left from the starting point.

I’ve also broken down the level into a spatial hash that greatly improves performance and allows for longer levels.

You can now perform a high jump, as well. This was originally a workaround for some bad level generator behavior that occasionally made the ending edge of a platform chain unreachable (An issue that has been mostly dealt with anyway), but is useful in other situations.

Also, there is a new terrain type: Pillar fields. Pillar fields are series’ of narrow, often tightly grouped columns of land. The narrow landing places and short gaps require a bit of caution to navigate.

There’s also a readme now!

I don’t have a Windows build just yet, but those with Python and Pygame can pick up the source here.

Hey,

So remember Galcon? It was a Ludum Dare entry almost 4 years ago, and yeah, I’ve re-made it about 500 times now. And this time I re-made it in HD with a swell soundtrack and other goodies, and got it on Steam. And it’s available direct for Windows / Mac OS X / Linux too!

Anyway check it out

-Phil

Well, after 51 hours or so, I’ve completed Dash.

It has sounds, a splash with the Black Marble logo (If you haven’t downloaded an earlier version, that’s the name of my one-man game making effort), a title screen, scoring, and sounds.

Anyone who wants to play it can pick up a copy here.

Edit: pansapiens has provided me with a Windows build, which can be found here.

Post-mortem after the break.

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I’ve got a new release done.

This time, the level generator is complete, and levels now have end points.

The rudiments for the scoring system are also in place.

The next release will be the finished product!

Pick up the latest version here.

I’ve made a new set of sounds using the flash sfxr at superflashbros, after having issues with the sdl sfxr.

The new demo has sound! Jumping, landing, dieing, and starting each have a sound, and sounds for other events have also been made.

You can pick it up here.

I’ve made some progress on Dash.

Spikes will now show up in some areas, first of all. Second, there are now floating platforms, complete with pits of death below them!

Next, I’m going to make sounds. That’ll be in the next release.

Anyone who’s interested can pick it up here.

Screenshots after the break.

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Having started and gotten bored with any number of projects recently, I’ve decided to go in a different direction.

Instead of big projects, I’m thinking minimalism.

My current project is titled “Dash”, and it will be a stripped-down platformer with randomly-generated levels.

I currently have the majority of the sprites I need done, and have most of my engine. I have the code to generate uneven ground, as well.

I do not have the code to generate a full level just yet, but that will come once I’ve got the code to generate the types of level segments I want. After that, a full level structure, and then scoring.

The game will feature sound, as well. The sounds will, as per usualy, be made in sfxr. If I find the motivation, I may also make music.

I’ve made a demo of what I have, which anyone who is interested can download here. (It requires Python and Pygame)

GDC is coming up soon, and it does seem like we have a reasonable sized group attending. The traveling part does suck however. So I thought I’d open up a fun little discussion topic. Can you LD on the go?

There’s a thread on TIGSource that reminded me of the idea. One key point this thread brings up is battery life. In their case, they were on a train without outlets, so they had to make the battery life of their laptops matter. Traveling by plane though, there are often several connecting flights, so there may be opportunities to find a power outlet at airports. Charge up for the next run.

Another point brought up is art, how it’s rather difficult to draw a straight line while on a train. In LD’s case, good art is never really necessary anyways, but it’s always nice to see.

Not to mention, catching flights often involves getting up early. You’re perhaps not in the best of moods, groggy, feeling ill, sitting a small uncomfortable seat, or such. Plus you need to spend a bunch of your time doing your travel duties (going through customs, waiting in a lobby, eating). So on an 8 hour+ flight, you’re not going to get 8 hours of work in. On the other hand, it’s an 8 hour flight, and what would your rather be doing?

Post your thoughts.

I just heard about MiniLD being announced next weekend, and I plan to use an actual C64 this time to create a game.

I recently managed to get one cheaply, since I lost mine somewhere. I want to do it to prove that C64, even using assembly language hard-coded into memory and typed-in graphics can do well in tense development over a short period of time.

Using a freeze cardridge, like action replay or final would help a lot, but I will do with tape recorder as well.

Also, I hope I will be able to recall how it’s done, since I haven’t done anything for this platform for a couple of years now.

Wish me luck

Hey there folks–I’m hosting the Mini LD for the month of February and I wanted to announce the date!  It will take place the weekend of the 19th-21st.  I’ll have more specifics as the date approaches of course.

EDIT Feb 16th: More information posted!