Finally finished putting together the timelapse from my Ludum Dare weekend. So check it out!

*Edit* Changed the video to the correct timelapse – how embarrassment…

I also look forward to hearing more feedback on my game, so if you feel like playing a 3D survival horror/puzzle game, then the page for my Ludum Dare entry is here – [link]

Now its time to get voting. Ill probably do one more post, a summary of my favourite games from this LD (I plan to vote on at least a couple per page of entries, that way Ill get to at least see all of the games, and play a good deal of them too) Ive seen some pretty awesome ones so far!

Well, that weekend was a crazy 48 hours. A lot of it is a blur (Im going to enjoy watching my own timelapse since I cant remember 75% of everything I went though)

The best thing though – Success!!

This was my 3rd Ludum Dare to date, yet the first where Ive actually finished an entry. I was cutting it close too, last night I got to sleep around 4am, and at that stage it was T-8 hours, and I still didnt have a proper level or any puzzels to solve. So after sleeping 3 hours I had a very compressed burst of productive work to get the final level design and features down (I was still finishing off a pretty important feature at T-10mins) O_o

Either way, it was an enjoyable experience and I was very glad to get something finished which I could call a ‘game’. I might venture away from a 3D game for the next LD however… So-much-work…

Im keeping this post quick, cause Im actually struggling to stay awake at this point.

You can check out the entry with the link below (Windows 32 & 64bit versions only atm) Ill have a linux one up soon hopefully, and mac potentially soon as well. And a timelapse soon too!

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=3467

Title screen

And now for voting! Good luck to everyone, I look forward to playing a bunch of games

And w00t! – For LD getting 1000+ games on its 10th birthday

Its getting to crunch-time now! And whats the first thing that happens?? A power blackout. Yep. Awesome. Thankfully (as of writing this post) it seems to be back, my battery got me though it, with a couple of hours to spare.

Funny thing is (or rage inducing if your in my shoes) – this is the 2nd power blackout during this LD so far! Its unbelieveable. No blackouts all year.. then as soon as the LD weekend comes along – two nights in a row. Last night was the worst however – from 1am to 8am. Thankfully I took the time for a snooze.

Either way, Ive made some progress, but today was a pain, fraught with programming dramas and reoccurring issues with certain bits of code. Thankfully I managed to code a couple of bits a lot quicker than expected. Making a function to allow the player to get back up after falling took no time at all, and jumping/running was super easy.

Im yet to start the proper level design though, having only just implemented most of the features needed. Still to be done is the 3 main sections of the game + the intro & sfx. Its going to be crazy towards the end. And I still need to sleep at some point….

Heres the potential title screen I just came up with, its a screenshot taken with game assets, and Ive applied an oil-canvas filter to it, to get a bit of a cartoon/painted look. Ill do a few more like this, for the intro sequence if I have the time. -

Feedback and comments at this point would be great!

WIP title screen?

Also:

Glowing crystal!

Last night had its difficulties (power went out, of course) but at least it might make for a more interesting timelapse – slowly watching my battery drain away. I got a few more hours sleep than planned as well, which is only a good thing on the first night. I feel like tonight will be a tough one, wont be getting much sleep at all.

Either way, since the last post heres the updated ‘implemented feature list’ so far (new stuff in bold) -

• Cockroaches ( basic behavior programmed and simple model) – now animated
  
• Basic test area for testing features – with some items to collect
• Player setup and physics (basic walking animations, movement, physics (you can fall over) and camera-look done so far)
• Dynamic lighting initial setup (dynamic shadows working)
• Player recovery – you can now get back up if you fall over
• Running and jumping
• Inventory (going to keep it basic, since the system I made is very simple)
• Doors which only open if you have the right key
• Spiders – fully animated with walking and idle animations
• The players main ‘power’ – the ability to take over small creatures (and hence the theme)

Next up I want to give the player a proper light source, and a model for cutscenes and the intro animation. Then its time to get into some serious level design and put all of these features to use.

Couple of screenshots:

Creepy....

Spider!

Inventory with one key - corresponding (test) door opened

So at the 41 hour point, I wanted to do a quick summary of where Im at (with some pictures!)

The initial creepy/horror game I wanted to make was made difficult by the theme selection (in typical Ludum Dare style), but one small detail of the game stood out – the little bugs and critters I wanted to make which randomly scurried around the floors in a medieval style abandoned(?) dungeon. So, this is where ‘Tiny World’ comes into it, and I think Ill be able to work with the theme nicely.

A slight bug problem

Anyway, Ive got most of my checklist from this morning finished so far, with a few features left to implement later tonight, finished things are as follows:

• Cockroaches ( basic behavior programmed and simple model – others will be based off this) – Cockroaches turned out more complicated than planned but it was good fun, currently they all spawn with a unique amount of health and move in a random fashion relative to all the others, they can detect a collision with an object and turn away from it, and can be squished if you step on them too many times and deplete their health too far. They also vary in speed, sometimes dashing around, then calming down and either stopping for a bit or moving slower
• Basic test area for testing features
• Player setup and physics (basic walking animations, movement, physics (you can fall over) and camera look done so far)
• Dynamic lighting initial setup (dynamic shadows working)

What I want to have done by the time I get some sleep later on:

• The start of a sound system to handle sfx and music/ambience and some initial sounds
• Text system (talking to characters and player instructions etc)
• Basic inventory system
• The players ‘magic power’ in the game
• Some kind of recovery for when the player falls over

Some more screenshots:

Some trampled... messy

looking better with proper lighting and dynamic shadows

Ok so the theme is ‘Tiny World’,  which Id given a -1 to both times I could vote for it. So, at a bit of a loss as to what I should make at this stage!

Time for some serious thinking. I have some ideas for a game Id like to make, but how to make it work with the theme….. Thats what makes Ludum Dare such an interesting event though. So Im not complaining! Sometimes its fun to never know exactly whats going on

Also, Im screen-capturing the full 48 hours (I did the same with LD22 but was too disappointed to make the timelapse at the end), so hopefully Ill come out of this LD ready to put the timelapse together.

confus

Yep, this will be my third Ludum Dare – and after never submitting a game to the previous 2 I participated in, I’m hoping this will be the one!

I have a ton of homework going on for Uni this week which was making an attempt at this LD seem unlikely, but most of it is due Friday or much later next week. So I should go into the weekend comfortably and ready for this LD. I also managed to somehow score the entire weekend free from shifts at work, don’t ask me how in the world that happened, I’m still confused about it working out so well.

The only issue is that I don’t have a computer/laptop to work on. My ‘current’ one died about a week ago. Thankfully I was quick to order a new one, which should arrive tomorrow. So it should be a mad scramble to get everything installed and running as Ill be needing.

The kind of game I’m leaning towards this time round is a dark and atmospheric horror/exploration based game, so if a theme matches that I’ll be set since I have a few fitting ideas already. Between now and the weekend though, I’ll be trying to think up some other game ideas as well – to avoid that dangerous moment when the countdown reaches 0 and you have no idea what in the world to make…

Ill more than likely be using BGE (Blender Game Engine) again as well, along with my other usual tools (python for programming, gimp or photoshop for 2D work, audacity for audio etc) but depending on the theme I might end up doing a 8bit style game with openGL instead (been keen to work on a game like that for a while now)

Finally, since I live in South Australia, Ill at some point make the effort to head to Adelaide and attend attend meetup on the Adelaide Uni campus (as if I don’t spend enough time there already). Will be good to work on some games in a more social environment than the dark, dusty corner of my room.

So, my next post will be at the T-48 hours mark I imagine!