My entry, Blue Moon, is now submitted! Sorry for the lack of updates, but due to illness I’ve had to devote all my energy to getting something finished.

See it HERE!

Thus ends the first 22 hours of Ludum Dare 22 for me. It’s almost like I timed this! (no I didn’t)

Unfortunately, lacking any of the graphics, sounds, or narrative kind of reveals my game to have precious little game in it. Here’s hoping the rest adds something it’s missing right now, or I can think of a neat and quickly implemented little mechanic to spice things up a little.

You can get access to the prototype HERE!

Unfortunately, it’s on paper and I don’t have a scanner, but…

This game is looking to perhaps be my shortest most unambitious project yet, which gives it a damn good chance of reaching polish levels far more quickly. It’s probably going to take five minutes to play, but that was true of Throwbots and it was still at least an entertaining five minutes (or so I heard, anyway).

It all dwells on being trapped in a facility and depending on a very, very finite resource with an unlimited amount of things that drain this resource.

Unfortunately, this resource is basically the player character’s lifeforce. And once it’s gone, that’s it. Game over.

It might work, it might not. Onto prototyping the mechanics!

Well, by some miracle I haven’t slept way past my alarm and into the early hours of the afternoon. As I feared, I am not 100% in terms of health. Fortunately, I am at least over 80% in terms of health so this thing can still happen! Just need some caffeine and I can start talking a walk to develop my ideas. I have a couple of ideas already, so we’ll see how they go!

Whoops, forgot to make this post. Seemed like I’d done it already! Oh well.

I intend to make a game using Flixel, a free opensource framework built on top of the Flex framework (so a Flash game, basically, look at all those words starting with f). My IDE of choice is IntelliJ. I will be using Photoshop for pixel art graphics because I am apparently a masochist (it’s a great program, but there’s a very small selection of decent pixel level art tools on OS X), and if I get as far as sound and music, I will be using BFXR for sounds and SunVox for music.

I’m not 100% well while typing this, due to the high concentrations of the winter lurgy, but let’s hope I don’t go down ill any further by the time the weekend gets here. I’ll be entering anyway, illness be damned!

So, unfortunately, due to the numerous issues with the site over the weekend I fell out of the habit of posting anything to my log over the course of Sunday. Given that this was certainly not the case for last LD, I am going to try and make up with a huge post instead, with sprinklings of hastily drawn drawings of things.

[ Play Aphelion Incident Here! ]

What Went Well

Planning

Oh boy did I ever improve on planning from last time. In LD20 I planned basically nothing and made it up all as I went along, reasoning that I’d find better use for the time actually making things. This was a mistake.

The time I spent on planning was 2 hours total (not a solid block), and for every minute I spent planning I saved two having to come up with things later on. I can’t emphasise enough the advantages of planning, but it’s one of those things where it’s obvious if you already do it and seems a waste of time if you don’t.

I did spend a lot more time on planning things I eventually had to cut, but without those plans in place I would have never known what I could have cut. I had to excise things like multiple species of guards and individual chatter lines simply because I didn’t have the time, but as stated, if I had never planned to add them in the first place, I could have never decided to omit them knowing I had more important things to work on first.

As my scanned-in plans are far too big to post here, you can find them here if you’re interested.

Prioritising

Code first. Code first is the most important rule you can adhere to for a competition this intense. It felt disheartening seeing a bunch of other entries being so much further along in terms of graphics when I was stuck with boxes with arrows on them, but with perseverance I ended up with a game that was more complex below the surface than Throwbots was. However, Throwbots had a few easier gimmicky things, which spiced it up a little. This game was a little lacking in gimmicky things, but it ended up spiced a little by something else.

Making the Guards Relatable

This I managed to hit spot on. I went into this with the idea of making the guards you’d otherwise treat as faceless enemies in a video game less faceless. I added a profile of stuff for each of the 20 guards in the game (which ate more time than I could ever have predicted) but knew there was one thing more I could do.

Give them friends.

In retrospect, “is fond of” was a bad phrase to use when the friend of a guard was meant to be any sort of positive camaraderie with another guard, and it made it look like the entire station was filled with courting couples or something similar. What was more interesting was I added individual messages to each guard if they saw their friend possessed or killed, but due to the frequency of random chatter it almost never showed up. It all helped to make people a little more hesitant to start gunning the guards down.

In initial playtests before submission, people were asking if I could make it so that guards could move into other rooms so they could unite the pairs of guards. I figured I’d won at making the guards relatable at that point.

What Could Have Gone Better

Guard AI & Controls

The guards don’t really HAVE an AI. Considering the initials of the game are “AI”, this feels a little more of a lacking feature than it should be.

Having never tried any sort of decent AI implementation in a game before, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The state machine was simple enough, as was setting up an array of reactions based on certain stimuli.

But the main problem was a lack of good platforming AI. Having detection of pits and walls to turn away from was pretty simple – just check the tilemap to see if there’s a pit or a wall the guard is about to step into, and if that’s the case make them turn around. But then came a problem of the guards climbing jumpable parts of the map. I limited the jump height to such an extent that they couldn’t overshoot the block they were jumping to. For some reason, I decided to make that the jump height for the player too.

The kicker is that I later added code for the case where a guard falls too far away from their patrol point and made them pick a new patrol point based on where they were, so there was no reason to be so defensive about keeping them near where they started. That was an honest mistake on my behalf.

The transitions don’t always make sense either, and guards have no persistence of memory. If they see the player and the player ducks behind a corner, that’s it. The player has ceased to exist for them. If I had pathfinding code in there, I’d probably have made them chase the player while they were within a sensible range, but I sure as hell was not writing my first platform pathfinding AI during a Ludum Dare.

All in all, a host of niggling issues that I would definitely like to resolve.

Guard Interactions

I’ve heard people coming back to me saying they memorised all the guard details in case they had to use them. With more time, there would have been social interaction puzzles, because while it’s fun to take over people’s actions why not also meddle in their affairs while you’re at it? Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of a streamlined way to do this, nor a way to get the relevant reactions and such done within 48 hours. A future version, perhaps!

The UI and Tutorials

Quite simply, there was no tutorial. I ran out of time to add one, and so tried to make up for it by sticking the controls in my entry text. Not only that, but I ran out of time for custom keybinding. For everyone not using a US/UK English keyboard, I am so, so sorry to force Z/X/C on you guys like so many other inconsiderate devs, but when it came to getting the game finished or implementing custom keybinding, I knew I had to focus on the former.

As for the UI, well, I didn’t get any of the graphical elements done so most of them ended up hidden. It’s a confusing mess at the moment, but believe me when I say it’d be more of a confusing mess with a bunch of squares that don’t do anything on it. Once I get the first post-compo release finished, you’ll hopefully see what it should have been.

Critical Bugs At Release

The first version of the compo release had a critical game-freezing bug if you managed to get shot while controlling a guard (a case I never encountered during my own all too brief testing), as well as a duplicated terminal and a missing terminal. The first was due to another instance of a variable being null when I didn’t expect it to be (easy to fix).

The second, though, was the worst damaging typo of the compo. Each terminal had a numerical ID. Terminal #16 ended up getting 10, so there were two terminal #10s and one terminal #16. Now, this might sound meaningless, except the doors are locked according to terminal IDs and whether they’ve been used or not. Terminal #10? That’s the terminal that unlocks the door to the teleporter room. If you were confused by the earlier comments on my entry about finishing far earlier than they expected, that’s why. Whoops. My bad. It’s fixed now, though.

What To Focus On Next Time

Sounds and Music

I managed to miss this out this time as well, much to my disappointment. I had such neat ideas, too. Oh well. Best to have an okay working game that looks passable instead of a broken game that looks terrible with annoying screechy sound effects, right?

Core Mechanics

Although the extraneous bits this time around may have elevated my entry from mediocre platformer to something with a bit more depth, I still think the control mechanics could have benefitted from a little more love.

Timelapse

I skipped it this time around due to lack of preparation. In future I am going to do my research to find out what programs to use and more importantly how to make my reams of coding look a little more interesting.

In Conclusion

I had an amazing though hectic weekend working on this thing and there is no doubt in my mind that I’ll be entering LD22. This time, I intend to work on a post-compo version of my game and perhaps even carry it into the October Challenge if it’s on this year. Regardless, I’ll see you guys at LD22. Keep being amazing.

(Let’s see if we can break 1k entries next time!)

Aaagh! After spending two hours figuring out that the IDE was loading in an older form of the SWF than the current one, this is all I have after 6 conscious hours of work! D:

At least I do have a solid plan of action for the rest of the hours, though.

There's a ways to go yet.

It’s only been eight hours into the compo (aaaagh) but I finally have my ideas selected and filled reams of paper with the planning I’ll need to carry it out. One of the things I quickly learned in LD20 was the value of planning when I ran out of plan and had to waste precious hours coming up with new plans.

I’d scan in my planning documents to show everyone, but I feel like that’d ruin the surprise, so here’s a vague and cryptic micro-pitch of the game idea. You’re some weird alien thing (a reoccuring theme in my works, I realise) on a space station trying to escape, and the only other thing I’ll mention is that this would have probably worked for the theme of Enemies as Weapons just as well.

Time to start frantically coding!

43 hours remaining and I did not expect the theme to be escape.

I’ll be back after an hour’s walk with ideas. I already have some, but so far it’s looking pretty much like a Metroid knock-off with self-replicating enemies. Let’s hope I come up with something A) more original and B) less huge in scope before I get back!

I might even be planning stuff out on graph paper so we’ll see if I have time to get that scanned in to post up or not. It’s quicker than faffing about with a tablet, really.

See you later!

I’m in for LD21!

It might not be my best effort, given as I’m starting a new job this week and I might be exhausted by the weekend, but I’m still going to give it my best!

I’ll be using Flixel as my library of choice, using DAME as a map editor, Photoshop for graphics, BFXR for sounds and, in the unlikely possibility of getting done fast enough, SunVox for some music.

Prepare for the competition!

EDIT: I just realised I sent a video in for the keynote speech under the name of “Cirr”. It’s another nick I use, just a shortened form of Cirrial. Don’t worry, Cirr is still me!

Yeah, my intention to enter this was too ambitious. It’s a shame, but rather than consider what I’ve done so far as a waste, I will keep working on it, and I’ll post a link or something to the final product here anyway.

(Is there a Jam (72 hour) for this compo? Because if there isn’t I’m totally defining one and pretending it existed the whole time.)

So my original goals were far too ambitious. With the six hours I have left in this day, here’s the updated checklist:

• Core mechanics
• All eight ability upgrades
• Three enemy types
• The main level
• Graphics for player character and enemies
• Sounds
• Title screen
• Ending/credits/shout-outs screen

If I can get all this done before the deadline maybe I’ll add music. Maybe.

The Fall

Themes chosen: All of them

Misfortune throws you deep into the wild caverns below. Forging past the danger, you will return to the surface, no matter what.

This game is intended to be a Metroidvania sort of game involving collecting upgrades, all based on each of the themes given, to be able to progress further up the level. In a way, the primary theme is an inversion of Descent – the descent has already happened, and now the protagonist wants to return from it.

The Definition of Done - 

Disclaimer: Final graphics practically guaranteed not to resemble this whatsoever.

Checklist:

• Core mechanics
• All eight ability upgrades
• Sub-upgrades for some of the upgrades
• Five enemy types
• A boss fight
• In-game scripted sequences
• The main level completed
• Graphics for player character, NPC and enemies
• Sounds
• Ambient background sound
• Incidental music
• Title screen
• Ending/credits/shout-outs screen

Already have some ideas based on all eight given themes, and I’ll likely be using the exact same set of tools as before. Flex, Flixel, Photoshop, Audacity, some variant on SFXR, the DAME map editor, and IntelliJ as my coding IDE.

Let’s see if I can get things done.

Hi guys! Long time no post. It’s been pretty hectic for me, unfortunately, so it’s taken me almost a week to fix a few small but crippling bugs in the game:

• Elevator shafts are now less lethal to enter
• Elevator damage is now higher if you end up being crushed
• The ability to restart from last checkpoint has been added (press R)
• Removed the stuck-behind-a-staircase-forever checkpoint, if you get stuck there hit R

If you haven’t already played it, play it by clicking here!

The entry has been updated with a link to the new bug-fixed version with the original one left there for comparison. Now, the post-mortem! It’s a little short because I’m new at this and not so sure what I’m doing.

Those scuttlers served no purpose other than to look threatening.

What Went Well

Considering this was my first Ludum Dare, I’d say it was a pretty big success. In 48 hours I actually got a game from a bare basic moving-a-box-around-other-boxes to something that was actually more of a game! I was even able to factor in a few miles walk at the start to get my brain going. The coding went pretty well and I got in every single feature I wanted except for a boss fight I was on the fence about adding to begin with. The programmer art I ended up keeping in as the final art due to a far more positive reception than I was expecting (and also to save time as covered later).

I think I kept my scope realistic for the deadline, and am overall happy with the result, except…

What Went Badly

I of course ran out of time. I wasn’t so good at time management and perhaps spent a little too long on breaks than I would have liked. I massively underestimated the amount of time it’d take to create and add content like graphics, sounds and music to the game, but the number one thing that tripped me up was the level editor I used, DAME. You may notice that I never mentioned DAME in my initial “I’m In!” post. This was because I literally just remembered I had it as I started the competition, and so I spent a good deal of my 48 hours looking up various features in it and learning my way around it. Well, lesson learned for next time: familiarise myself with every piece of tech I have even the slightest chance of possibly using.

I also left most of my content planning to the last minute. Bad idea. This is why one of the rooms ended up trapping the player behind a moving staircase – I had to rush the play-testing so I could submit before time ran out.

I also regret not being able to give my timelapse better background music. I apologise once again for the choice of background music.

Behold the most hastily rendered sunset I've ever drawn.

What I’d Do Differently Next Time

Next time I’d definitely familiarise myself with the tech and probably plan a little more rigorously than I did this time (where I spent about 30 minutes planning before giving up and going back to coding). I’d also consider elements of the game that would make it easier to recover from error (either the player’s or mine) by including features like a restart button, and perhaps focus less on a game demanding a level and more of an endless arcade sort of game.

Future Plans

I aim to eventually (not immediately, due to various real life things whirling around me) get the game polished, with better graphics, art, sound, and cutscenes, and aim to include more than one level (probably five or sixish). After that I’ll be submitting it to somewhere like Flash Game License to see if I can get a sponsorship for it and go from there. I’m completely new at this so my ideas are likely laughably naive, but hey, if you’re fully aware I’m walking into an obvious trap, I’d appreciate it greatly if you could leave a comment for me

So I finally got my timelapse for Throwbots up. It’s on YouTube right now! Just click the link below to watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QpwoeDswoE

I know that’s not particularly interesting a post, but it’s taken me literally all day to kajigger it into working. Couldn’t even get music into it, had to use the YouTube audio swapping thing (which isn’t in effect yet as of this post). Unfortunate, but I wanted it up for people to see it. Post-mortem for the game should be up by tomorrow or by the end of this week at the very latest.

There’s a whole bunch of stuff I wish I could have done (mostly being sound, music and better graphics), but isn’t that always the case?

A post-mortem will be on its way at some point in the foreseeable future, and I have yet to decide whether or not I want to jam it up and submit an enhanced version of my game with actual sound and music and better graphics. Signs kind of point to no, but we’ll see what happens. No screenshots, because there’s plenty of them over at the entry page, so.

It’s 3 AM. I am going to sleep for so long. FOR SO LONG.

Ostensibly, the game is finished. With just a single hour, I could rush something off and just scrape entering the compo. But I need actual proper art assets.

For this very reason.

But the dialogue thing is done.

As can be seen here.

All that’s left now is the creative side of thing. All of the bits and pieces are there. I just need to assemble and paint them. And… stick a squeaky toy squeaker in them. And a music box. Okay, this analogy has worn out its usefulness. BACK TO WORK!

Pictured: HUD which could do with some refinement, enemies which could do with some refinement, and two boxes that still don't look like robots

It’s almost feature complete, code-wise. All I have left to do is add in the ability to have intro and outro cutscenes (shouldn’t be _too_ hard) and in-game text triggers. Then I just have to design the one giant level this game takes place in, draw all the art, and do some sounds. I might even have enough time for music.

Right, already botched this post once. Let’s try again.

Twelve hours left and I haven’t done art, sounds, music or added the ability to have any sort of ingame text. Hmm. Cutting out things left right and centre here. Aside from the shiny stuff that makes people want to play the game, out of the stuff that makes it an actual game I have the following left to do:

• Triggered platforms for fun switch puzzles (I hope they’re fun)
• Simple enemies to avoid
• Cutscenes/dialogue boxes
• Better UI
• Final level design

Hmm. Maybe 12 hours is more than I think it is. Also have a screenshot.

Pictured: working spawn point, one-way paths, elevators

Okay. Post over. Back to frantic, frantic work.