And I’m glad I did! It’s not nearly where I had imagined it, but it’s playable. It needs more depth to have real skill behind it, but this time I’m dedicated to doing a post-compo, and making it as good as I had imagined. Hope that everyone had a good time!

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-16/?action=preview&uid=434

I have maybe 6 more hours required before it’ll be worth playing, so towel being thrown in. Time to chillax, methinks.

So my game isn’t playable yet, at all. There isn’t too much left until basic gameplay appears however, as much of the underlying stuff for colonizing systems has already been implemented, you just can’t activate the abilities yet. I need to make that pop up menu actually be able to do stuff, and then add a ton of gui stuff, and then the first playable version will be done. Currently, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to finish exploring for artifacts, researching new technologies, and the sun diver minigame. All are pretty freaking important, so it’s likely my game will end up being… not a game.

http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1260721774

Deep Field

Ok, so lets go with something a bit more complex than I was thinking last night. Because I had a brainwave. Oasis + Weird Worlds! Colonize your star cluster while exploring. Build a civilization in 15 minutes.

Major actions: Colonize solar systems, explore and collect artifacts or scientific knowledge. Almost every action gives points and also improves your abilities. You have a limited amount of time. Might make so that there are different size clusters, but probably it’ll just be set at a number of turns that will make the game last ~ 15 minutes. The game makes you more powerful on an exponential curve. Definitely a lot of luck involved. Wonder if I should add leaderboards…

Major components:

Exploration screen – On this screen the player uses the mouse to designate new star systems for his ship to travel to. This is also the screen where he decides to activate actions like colonizing a star system, exploring, or harvesting resources.

Exploring: Will allow you to collect alien artifacts, catalogue scientific advances, etc. These will all give points, and some may also improve your ships’ capabilities.

Harvesting Resources: Play a minigame where you fly your ship into a dangerous situation. Resources are used to colonize systems.

Colonizing: Colonize a solar system. It will grow over time, trade with neighbors, and research. Trade/Growth give points, research improves your ship’s abilities.

Minigames: (Minigames will be VERY fast. Like Wario Ware fast. 20 seconds as an absolute maximum.)

Sun Diver – In the sun diver minigame, the player uses the mouse to control his ship as it collects plasma from the sun. This minigame will give you energy.

Mining Asteroids – In this minigame, the player uses the mouse to control his ship to move to specific asteroids in an asteroid field and harvest them. Gives minerals.

Mining Gas Giants – In this minigame, the player controls his ship as it drops down to a gas giant and shoots a pipe into it to suck up gasses. Gives gas.

Colonize – In this minigame, the player controls his ship as it lands on the planet and drops off the colonization materials.

Losing minigames will waste time and resources, but will never kill you or anything.

Building your civilization.

Star systems are colonized by spending a certain amount of resources, depending on what type of system it is. Each will require energy, gas, and minerals, but different ones will require different amounts.

Once a system is colonized, it starts generating points. If systems are close enough together, they’ll connect with trade routes. Trade routes increase point generation. Systems will also research, which will increase your ships’ abilities.

Stuff to do:

- Get new version of flixel running (maybe it was a bad idea to go with a new version…)

- Make exploration screen. Make ship that can be moved around by clicking on stuff with mouse. Build basic events that it can run when you reach places.

- Build progression for civilization a la star systems that grow and trade.

- Build sun diver minigame.

- Build asteroid harvester minigame.

- Build gas giant harvester minigame.

- Hook in upgradeable stuff – speed, strength, etc.

- Come up with research and artifacts that improve your ships’ abilities.

- Graphics whenever you need them, unless you use square placeholders. NEVER actually draw something with the purpose of being placeholder. It’ll stay.

- Sound

- Music if you have time. Prolly not though.

So this LD I’ve decided I’m going for the smallest scope I can possibly get away with, to try to make an actually complete game. My game is going to be (like many others I assume) a space exploration game. You’ll fly around a small cluster of solar systems, asteroid fields, nebula, etc, collecting resources as you explore. Collecting resources will be accomplished through a series of minigames that run when you encounter each different type of object. I’m using the mock up for my old idea for Mini-LD6, which I never ended up making, for the fuel collecting minigame. To collect fuel, you collect plasma from a star. I haven’t come up with the other minigames yet, but I have to hit the hay. Gonna be up bright and early tomorrow for coding .

Why is he climbing the mountain?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU2ftCitvyQ

Gonna be using as3/flixel/some of my own collision detection code.