my entry: Forever Running

This morning I finished my LD entry. It’s the second time I participated, so I somehow knew what to expect. Here are my experiences:

What went well

• personal basecode: At first I wanted to use an existing framework, but then I realized that I would learn more if I write one myself. It has very limited functionality but I know every single line of code. This helped a lot to speed things up.
• preparation: Before the competition started I had ideas for the top 4 themes (self replication, dreams, escape, adaption). Even though I prefered self replication, I could start coding early. Beside that I tweaked my sleep schedule, so I was awake soon after the competition started (4am).
• visuals: I’m not a great artist, but I’m happy with what I produced. It’s so much better than what I used to do four months ago. (Yes, I’m a bit proud of it)
• goals: I aimed low. It’s not a very original game idea but I was pretty sure I could do it in the given time. I was right.
• release often: I released two indev versions of the game.
• code first: At the end of the first day, I finished all core game mechanics so I could spent the entire second day on content.

What I should do better

• sound: I was unable to produce music or sound good enough to include in the game. I certainly need a) more practice and/or b) better tools
• got up too early: The competition starts 4am here. I got up at 4am and started coding. Soon I realized that I was too tired to produce quality code. After sleeping 3 more hours, things got better instantly.
• focus: After I finished the game mechanics I somehow lost the focus. I thought about other game elements to add, watched some TV, tried to create some music. This way I lost some hours. I went to bed early to clear my mind and was full of energy for the second day.
• timelapse: I tried to create a timelapse with CamStudio, but somehow all files are corrupted I need to find another tool.

All in all I had a very productive weekend, learned a lot, spent time with an awesome community and had a lot of fun. Now I’m going to play all the games you made

Thanks for this fantastic event!

Okay, some more progress. It feels like this is getting somewhere.

Pretty cheap programmer art, ’cause I want to get the engine running. Also I need to think about a name for the game. Check out the latest demo here: clicky

Hey guys,

I just wanted to share my progress so far. There is a demo available here (move with a,d or arrow keys, jump with space – hint: you can double jump).

Escape the evil boxes of doom

Okay, let’s see the checklist

something to eat and drink – check
environment set up – check
nothing to do this weekend – check
game ideas for the top themes – check
tool chain – check
personal base code – check (find it here)
motivation – check

sleep – …

Well, that’s what I’m going to do now. Since the competition will start at 4am here, I probably should get some sleep before it starts. Maybe I’ll wake up with some good ideas

Of course I am IN for my second LD. My goals for this weekend: Finish a game (of course) and somehow see some progress. So it should be better than my last game. That being said, I am looking forward to an awesome weekend with a lot of coding and designing, some stressful and desperate moments and too little sleep.

This time I will use:

Technology: Javascript
Graphics: Photoshop
Sound: sfxr, musagi
Framework: some personal basecode

Let’s make some great games!