Theme Voting has begun! Tune in every day this week for a new list of themes.

Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Final Round

Special thanks to SophieH, Devlin, and the rest of the Ludum Dare IRC channel for their help pruning the theme list to a manageable size.

Also, be sure to check out the *NEW* Rules and Guide page. This Ludum Dare is new and totally different than usual.

This is just a heads up. If you subscribe to any Ludum Dare updates via RSS feed, the URL of the feed may be changing soon as part of a site overhaul. The most reliable way to stay informed is still the Mailing List, but once the RSS feed changes, it should be good for a few years.

Yep, the real deal is coming up August 20th-22nd weekend. Suggest themes here. There will be some big changes as discussed here. We’ll be working on these changes and drafting up the new rules and specifics starting late July, so stay tuned. See you then!

Towlr and friends were last seen on Destructoid.

http://www.destructoid.com/monday-mind-teasers-towlr-170815.phtml

Several minds were destroyed that day.

More Ludum Dare game sightings, this time in Retro Gamer.

One of the reasons why the UK rocks. A gaming rag dedicated to retro/classic gaming.

Ludum Dare 16‘s Humor winner, “Fuck Oregon, lets go find El Dorado” by Crackerblocks.

I'd recognize that green triangle anywhere

Thanks go out to doohan for the photos.

PC Gamer (US) recently did a feature titled “50 games to play at work”.

Because you should be playing games, not working

And on that list, #32 is Notch‘s “Breaking the Tower” from Ludum Dare 12.

Pixels in print

Congratz Notch!

Also, thanks to MrPhil for sending me the photos.

If you see a Ludum Dare entry on a major news site or gaming magazine, let me (PoV) know! Thanks!

Ludum Dare 17 voting has finally ended, so lets get you some results!

Top 20

You can check out the top 20 games here (including ties):

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-17/?action=top

Winners are decided by the Overall category. To see the complete list, hit the “Show All Entries” link at the bottom.

Categorical Top 5′s

Here at Ludum Dare, being the best game isn’t the only way to win. Games are rated in 7 additional categories, with a special “Coolness” category highlighting people that went above and beyond to be sure you got a vote.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-17/

*NOTE*: You can click on the titles of the categories for Top 20 style lists per category.

Ludum Dare 17 as Screen Shots

And since it looks cool, you can see screenshots for the full list of 204 entries here:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-17/?action=preview

And that was Ludum Dare 17

What an incredible turn-out for our first competition of 2010! When the smoke cleared, we had 205 entries, but I received a request by the author to remove one. There was also a brief blackout (?) with one of the entries, bringing us down to a total of 203, but that mystery entry came back (somehow). Hooray!

Numerical nuances aside, HOLY COW! We did over 200 games! Congratz, and thank you everyone for making Ludum Dare 17 such an incredible success!

Ludum Dare 18 coming August 2010

Our previous record was 144 entries in August of 2009, and the way things are looking, Ludum Dare 18 should eclipse that. Continuing our regular 4 month schedule, Ludum Dare 18 will be in August, date to finalized as it gets closer.

If you haven’t already, you can sign up for the mailing list, and we’ll keep you informed. Also, you can follow Ludum Dare on Twitter, or subscribe to the NEWS RSS Feed.

Big news for Ludum Dare 18 (Compo and Jam)

We have some big changes planned for Ludum Dare 18. You can check out my introduction to the new Ludum Dare here:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2010/04/28/future-dare/

Mini-LD #18 “Blind Date” this weekend

Can’t get enough Ludum Dare? This upcoming weekend, tune in for MiniLD hosted by SpaceManiac. Details about the upcoming mini can be found here.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2010/05/07/mini-ld-18-blind-date/

Unfamiliar with the Mini-LD? Mini-LD’s are smaller competitions hosted by Ludum Dare veterans. They’re held monthly in the off months between our major competitions. Tune in to the website every month for details on the latest Mini-LD competition. Curious who’s up next? You can check out the host list on the wiki.

Suggestions

If you have any suggestions for the compo, we continue to collect them in the comments here:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2009/08/30/suggestion-post/

Thanks everyone for coming out and making Ludum Dare 17 such an incredible success. See you in August!

- Mike Kasprzak (PoV)

Now that was Ludum Dare 17! Everybody exhausted? There’s no time to be exhausted! It’s voting time!

As usual voting will last for 2 weeks. And with more than 200 entries, we can’t expect everyone to play everything. Still, everyone has been randomly assigned 20 games, so we ask that you at least play those. More would definitely be appreciated, and the the more games you rate, the higher your score in the “Coolness” category. For an example of final ratings, take a look at Ludum Dare 16′s results.

From the Wiki, the categories you’ll be rating games based on, and what they mean:

1. Innovation – The unexpected. Things in a unique combination, or something so different it’s notable.
2. Fun – How much you enjoyed playing a game. Did you look up at the clock, and found it was 5 hours later?
3. Theme – How well an entry suits the theme. Do they perhaps do something creative or unexpected with the theme?
4. Graphics – How good the game looks. Nice artwork, excellent generated or geometric graphics, charming programmer art, etc.
5. Audio – How good the game sounds. A catchy soundtrack, suitable sound effects, voice overs, etc.
6. Humor – How amusing a game is. Humorous dialog, funny sounds, or is it so bad it’s good?
7. Overall – Your overall opinion of the game, in every aspect important to you.
8. Community – Journals, photos, timelapse video. Everything you do above and beyond just making the game.
9. Coolness – How many games you rated? Score a Bronze, Silver, and Gold by rating LOTS of games.

That’s all for now. Go vote!

Interesting Links: [ Torrent containing most of the entries ]
[ LD17 Keynote | Theme Voting Results | Leave us Feedback or Suggestions ]

We’re just about done here with Ludum Dare 17. This is a reminder that once you finish your entry, you must submit it via the submission system, otherwise we might miss you.

[ Submit Here ]

Feel free to continue working on your entry up until the deadline, then get it together for submission. Submit for whatever platform you can, then get to porting at your leisure. We’d like to open voting about an hour after the deadline, which means people will want to start playing your game. If they can’t run it, they can’t vote for you, so be sure to get your ports in ASAP!

If you have problems submitting, feel free to leave a comment here, or join us in IRC (#ludumdare on irc.afternet.org). Ask for PoV.

That’s it for now. We’ll let you know once voting has begun.

TIP: If you need last minute hosting, TenjouUtena posted a guide how to upload ZIP files to Google Sites.

Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to Ludum Dare 17! Our first major compo of the futuristic year 2010! It’s been a big year for us so far, so lets keep that momentum going!

The theme will be announced shortly, see above. If this is your first Ludum Dare, I’ve prepared a handy little guide you can read. More details can be found on the wiki.

Keynote Address

Now to get you fired up for 48 hours of game making greatness, here’s Phil Hassey.

From all of us at Ludum Dare, good luck!

Final Round Theme voting has begun! You have roughly 48 hours to pick, change, and convince others to also vote for your favorite theme. The final theme will be announced when the clock on ludumdare.com/compo hits zero. Prior results here. Go Vote!!

Final Round Voting [Click Here]

New to Ludum Dare? [Click Here for Tips]

Theme voting has begun! Tune in every day this week for a new round of theme voting. Then on Thursday, we’ll tally the votes and begin a final round of voting for the best theme, to be revealed at the start time Friday night (see clock on ludumdare.com/compo/).

Theme Voting: Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Final Round

I’ve received a few requests now, so here’s the announcement nice and early.

Ludum Dare 17 is scheduled for April 23rd-25th weekend. Themes can be suggested on the wiki. Specifics will be announced as the date gets closer.

Hey,

So this year at GDC we’re having an official Ludum Dare get together!

Where: Metreon food court
When: Wednesday, March 10, at 5:30

I should be pretty easy to spot.

So, show up, get some food, and we’ll have a good time!

See you there!
-Phil

P.S. If you are speaking or presenting or showing your game off in IGF, or whatever, be sure to leave a comment with times and locations so the rest of us LDers don’t miss the awesomeness of whatever you are doing

PoV P.S. If you’re working on something cool, bring it along. It might make a good conversation starter. Also, if I remember correctly, the Metreon has a pretty nice sized Arcade too. And if you can’t make it to San Fran, check out the comments for something you might be able to catch that I’m up to.

Here’s this years list of IGF finalists from the community.

Independent Games Festival

Sparky – Star Guard – Excellence in Design
crackerblocks – Enviro-Bear 2000 – Nuovo

Independent Games Festival Mobile

tonic – Stair Dismount – Technical Achievement
dock – Tumbledrop – Technical Achievement

Honorable Mentions
mrfun – Mind Wall (Ludum Dare 14) – Best Mobile Game Design

Congratulations everyone!

If I missed anyone (especially student competition finalists), let me know.

The mobile winners will be announced in a couple weeks (ahead of GDC).

- Mike Kasprzak (PoV)

After an extended holiday, Ludum Dare 16 voting has finally ended.

Top 20

It was the top 10 last time, but we get so many entries now it should really be more. So hit this link for the easy answer, “who won LD16″?

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-16/?action=top

Winners are decided by the Overall category. To see the complete list, hit the “Show All Entries” link at the bottom.

Categorical Top 5′s

Here at Ludum Dare, being the best game isn’t the only way to win. Games are rated in 7 additional categories, with a special “Coolness” category highlighting people that went above and beyond to be sure you got a vote.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-16/

*NOTE*: You can click on the titles of the categories for Top 20 style lists per category.

Ludum Dare 16 as Screen Shots

And since it looks cool, you can see screenshots for the full list of 121 entries here:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-16/?action=preview

And that was 2009

What an incredible year for Ludum Dare. 123 entries in April, 144 in August, and 121 in December to close out our biggest year yet. That’s 388 entries, and that’s not even counting all the MiniLD’s!

I’m working on a little write up that’s hopefully ready soon, a retrospective or postmortem for Ludum Dare in 2009. Stay tuned for that.

Next Time

Our next major competition (Ludum Dare 17) will be in April. The exact date we’ll know as the month approaches. To keep informed of the latest news, you can sign up for our mailing list here:

http://www.gamecompo.com/mailing-list/

You can also follow us on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/ludumdare

Or alternatively, you can watch user news’s RSS feed.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/author/news/feed/

Can’t get enough? Then stop by next month for MiniLD #15 hosted by DestroySound. Stop by the channel DS, we’d love to hear from you.

Catch Mike and Phil at GDC in March

Phil and I seem to be permanent members of the GDC crowd now, so keep an eye out for us at the show.

Also, check in before the show here at LudumDare.com. There’s talk of an LD meetup and other fun things. We’ll know more as the date approaches.

Phil will be giving a talk at the iPhone Games Summit on multiplayer and Galcon. Feel free to stop by and give him your support.

https://www.cmpevents.com/GD10/a.asp?option=G&V=3&id=648584

Either that, or park yourself in a not so comfy chair for the Indie Games Summit. If you happen to be in San Fran, you don’t want to miss this!

Suggestions

If you have any suggestions for the compo, we continue to collect them in the comments here:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2009/08/30/suggestion-post/

Thanks everyone for coming out and making Ludum Dare in 2009 such an incredible success.

- Mike Kasprzak (PoV)

Ludum Dare 16 has ended.

The final count is 121 entries, which is 2 less than last April (our usual #1 compo). So wow, LD has really grown this year.

Entry voting is on. As usual, only people that submitted a game are allowed to vote. Click the link at the top of the page to start.

Voting will last for 3 weeks, as the majority polled want some more time for the holidays (and our HUGE turn outs).

Post Compo Porting

You’re allowed to port your game after the deadline. Use this link to you edit your entry page and add a url.

If you need help porting your game to Windows, leave a comment in this post, and we’ll try to hook you up. Be sure you’ve to provided full source, and details such as what libraries are required.

Ludum Dare at GDC

Hey developers! Phil and I will be at the Game Developers Conference again in March. Stop by the site before or during the Conference to see if we have anything going on.

Stay Informed

Ludum Dare has an e-mail mailing list. You can sign up here:

http://www.gamecompo.com/mailing-list/

Ludum Dare is also on Twitter. twitter.com/ludumdare

Suggestions

If you have any suggestions for the compo, post them in the comments here:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2009/08/30/suggestion-post/

Closing

Thanks everyone for coming out and making this our biggest December yet! Be sure to come back in April for Ludum Dare 17.

Can’t wait that long? Stop by monthly for MiniLD competitions, hosted by members of the community! Check here to see who’s next.

I’d like to throw a special thanks out to Phil for taking the lead this compo, getting things started while I crunched away on my crazy little project. Thanks Phil.

And to everyone, have a safe and Happy Holidays!

- Mike Kasprzak (PoV)

PS: Don’t forget to vote!

The theme for Ludum Dare 16 is…

Exploration

Our condolences to the theme “Twilight Fandom”.

(more…)

Hey,

So the calendar pictures are DUE!  Here’s the deal, we need 12 people to make the calendar, so I want everyone going to join to post here.  You should probably get your initial pictures taken ASAP.  Once we have 12 people committed, we’ll work out the final details of photo editing so we can wrap this up!

Cheers!
-Phil