and… Done!

The game’s entry is here.

So, I’m entering, but I’m not using Java as I had expected. I do not have too much time this weekend, so I decided to go for a simple web game and focus on making some content instead. We’ll see how that goes – didn’t make too much today, and I’ve got to leave for the evening.

Anyway, here’s a sneak peak of the title screen graphics. The game’s tentatively called “Islands: Through the Sweep of Stars”, which is a perhaps a bit more pretentious than I’d like. Any suggestions?

See you all again tomorrow!

Hi folks,

I’m not yet sure whether I will participate – it depends on the theme as well as on how much time I will have to spend on other commitments during the weekend. If I do participate, I’ll be using either Slick or plain Java. In any case, I wish all of you a nice contest – I’m sure it’ll be loads of fun.

I finished and submitted Little Worlds 4k perhaps three hours ago, but forgot to write a post here, so now I’m doing just that. The finished game is here. It’s not quite what I had in mind, but it will have to do for this contest. I’m hoping to polish the game and turn it into something worth-while for the Java4k contest.

Screenshot:

I think I may have invented a word in the header, hm. In any case, I’m planning to participate as well. I hope!

I haven’t really settled on what tools to use yet, but I’m going with some form of Java – either LWJGL, Slick or just the standard API. On top of that, the usual set: Gimp, SFXR, MSPaint (yay!). If I feel inclined to do something in 3d, I’ll also use Wings3D. I sort of feel like doing something with shaders, but I expect a lot of people won’t be able to run it if I do :/

It is quite possible that I will attempt to make a game to fit both into the Ludumdare 48h and Java4k contests, and submit it to both.

I recommend against eating them. Wholly unmodified photography by myself and hamumu. Really! Maybe!

And… I’m done! Four LDs in a row, imagine that

Cavernous Shooter! is a top-down shooter set in a cave environment. Try to fight your way through the entire cave system, using the links below:

Windows / OSX / Linux / Source

Java Webstart

Controls:
[WASD] or [Arrows] to move
[Left mouse] to shoot
[Right mouse] to fire shotgun (if you have ammo for it)
[R] to reload
[Q] to toggle particle quality settings

The linked zip file contains .bat and .exe files for Windows, or .sh for Linux and OSX. It also contains the game source code.

There is also a web (Java Webstart) link – just run the .jnlp through your java/bin/javaws.exe (most browsers will default to this behaviour).

Well, it’s a tentative name. I couldn’t come up with anything better than that.

Anyway, I’ve made some progress, as shown below. There’s also a little webstart demo if anybody wants to try. It’s not quite what I’d like my game to be, but it’s better than nothing.

Play the demo

I’m pretty excited about the compo. I’ll definitely be entering, and using my regular tools: Slick, LWJGL or possibly Java2D. I’ll also be using my SlickTemplate again.

Thought a few of you might be interested in another time limit compo. To keep it relatively short: GameJolt.com just announced a competition to push their ad revenue sharing program, which entered beta today. The contest lasts a week and the theme is “Shocking!”. Three winners will get accepted into the beta, and one will recieve a steam game. More information can be found on their forum.

Some of you may also have seen this via the gamecompo mailing list, if you’re signed up for that. I hope to enter the competition myself, though I’m a bit pressed for time.

I came up with the idea of making a shooter based on drawing arrows after seeing a concept sketch for another arrow game by fellow LD participant Sparky. In the week before the contest, I entertained the idea and tried to think of ways to make it “themeable”. I came up with what I thought was a great idea for “Rain” – falling stars, that you would use as ammunition. When I saw the theme “Advancing Wall of Doom”, I decided to keep the mechanics from “Rain” and just work the actual theme into that. In retrospect, this might have been a mistake. Read why after the break.

(more…)

Sadly there was a tiny bug in the final version of my game – the line “state = STATE_LEVEL;” was missing, so no pause screen would be shown between levels (although the code for layout and mechanics of that screen was already in there, as can be seen in the source).

I have fixed this and uploaded a new version to my site as both zip and webstart:

• Webstart
• ZIP file

Sorry about that!

UPDATE:

Sadly there was a tiny bug in the final version of my game – the line “state = STATE_LEVEL;” was missing, so no pause screen would be shown between levels (although the code for layout and mechanics of that screen was already in there, as can be seen in the source).

I have fixed this and uploaded a new version to my site as both zip and webstart. I realize that this may not be taken into consideration when judging the entry, but I thought I should at least upload the entry as it was meant to be (and as I was certain it was!)

• Webstart
• ZIP file

Sorry about that!

—

ORIGINAL POST:

Okay, here’s the final version of “Sky Upon Us!”, my entry for LD14.

I tried to upload the zip file containing launch files for Windows, Linux and OSX to the blog. Sadly, WordPress wouldn’t accept it even if I changed the file extention. Meanwhile, the game can be downloaded or started from all the following links:

• SkyUponUs.zip (Including Windows .exe and Linux/OSX .sh files)
• Java Webstart 1 (Java 1.4+, retroweave)
• Java Webstart 2 (Java 1.5+)

While the game didn’t quite turn out the way I hoped, I’m still happy with most of it. However, the gameplay does get a bit repetetive; excuse!

As always, any comments are warmly appreciated!

A screenshot from the game:

I’ve made some further progress, but I’m not quite sure where I’m going with this:

Well, it’s not much so far, but here’s what I’ve been working on:

I am in! Well, I have an exam on the day after, but I’ll do my best to study enough beforehand that I can comfortably participate in the compo… we’ll see how that goes!

I’ll be using either Slick, which is a hardware-accelerated 2d Java library, or ActionScript3 for this contest, I think. Or fall back on Java2D if I don’t want to use the others for some obscure reason.

I’ll be using some of my SlickTemplate if I use Slick, or my Template4k if I go with Java2D, I think. Both are very short, smallish templates that really don’t do anything besides setting up a frame and saving input states.

That’s all for now. Good luck in the competition, everyone!

[Update, Dec. 8 2008]

I forgot to provide the source code until just before the deadline, and my Internet connection wouldn’t work the last two hours before deadline. Anyway, here is the source:

Sourcecode (not very pretty, mind you. It’s rushed 4kb code.)

—

I’m done!

My game is called Tekicars4k. My plan is to enter it both into LD13 and the Java4k contest. In other words, it is a 33 hour 4kb game with the theme “roads”. Thanks to the size limitation, there is a grand total of 6 levels available. It is available as webstart and as a CompoGameLoader ZIP file, which has .bat, .exe and .sh (so should work on any OS).

Webstart (note: this version may be updated after the contest)
Zip file

Some instructions:
The goal is to place blocks in advance so that each Tekicar reaches an exit of the same color, without colliding with any other Tekicar. Walls will turn Tekicars clockwise, roads will speed them up, and arrows will re-direct them along the arrow.

As soon as you click “Go!”, the test begins – if you pass, you reach the next level.

Note that the ZIP file is way larger than 4kb, mostly thanks to the .exe wrapper. The game JAR itself is only 4kb.

A screenshot:

I have a demo. You die somewhat haphazardly when objects collide, and it doesn’t tell you when you win (but you have when all the blue thingies have reached the opposite side). I do have win detection, it just doesn’t show anything. What else… Ah, you place roads by clicking the gray tile in the toolbox and then clicking in the world. Roads make objects go twice as fast. Restart the game by clicking [R].

Demo

I’m afraid I won’t be able to add a lot of maps though… I’m aiming to do this in under 4kb (so I can submit the game to the Java4k competition as well), and I’m almost out of space.

Screenie, in case you can’t try the demo:

Happy birthday negativegeforce!

I don’t really have the time to make games right now, but I’m in. I spent one full day studying though, so might run out of time too soon.

I’m going to attempt a themed 4kb java game within ~33 hours… many of which I’ll be sleeping. This should be interesting!

So far, I’ve got almost nothing: