Well, some of you may have noticed (but probably didn’t) that in the last days I disappeared.

That’s because I failed at LD 26 and I was ashamed of coming back here after failing.

Why I failed at LD 26? Well:

1. I got sick. Nothing serious but I was definetely not in the mood to make games.
2. Motivation. I started to make my game. Then I saw what other people were making. Then I saw how my game was a crap and lost my motivation.
3. Theme. No, I will not complain about the theme itself, but I was prepared for other kind of theme. My tools were way overkill and non apropriated for the kind of game I was aiming to make. For example: I was using Box2d in a game were nothing moves!

I think 1 was the main reason.

Well, I learned a lot actually. After 5 hours of work (that was hour 12 of LD) I thought I was done. I couldn’t think in nothing I could add or polish. And I think that’s bad, because the game wasn’t “fun”. Well, after 5 hours of work I was already burning in fever too.

Well, wish me better luck next LD.

Hey guys, here is my halfway-ish video update on my progress so far. Now the crunch shall begin!

After most of the first days frantic coding, I’ve taken a short break to cook myself something simple.
I’m a bit amused at myself when I realize that an advanced omelet is the simplest thing I can think of to cook…

Eggs, shredded cheese, finely chopped ham, fresh basil, thyme, and just a dash of coriander.
Topped with mozarella and tomato.

Damn, this is tasty.

Also, here’s a small screenshot of my game progress:

Participating in the Ludum Dare for the second time. This time the theme is “Minimal” , not a big fan of themes that try to strip away or limit the expectations of developers. This is something you should always be trying to do in a game jam, you already have limited time to create. So the theme should encourage more ambitious ideas and then let those two dynamics balance out.

After a couple of hours of trying to rack my brain for a new design, I kept going back to ideas similar to my previous global game jam entry “Sleep Walker”. Instead I wanted to make a game with some challenge and game play loops that could add up to a meaty game. Finally came to the conclusion of the Minimal life of a pirate. It is very simple, your on a ship , if your off the ship your dead. I guess this where that cut throat attitude emerges. Combining those ideas into a rogue like meta game with some inspirations from “FTL” , Rogue Pirates has emerged and I am very happy to work on this over the weekend.

The theme is Minimalism, yeah? And I think I’m not totally irresponsible for this.

Two weeks ago I finally decided to enter the next LD, I thought about how I could make a game from scratch which would be awesome despite my programmer art.

So I decided I submit “Minimalism” as a theme idea, because then I would have an excuse for my bad art. And having all those time constraints of a weekend and stuff I thought it would be easier to finish the game. Thought and done.

Well, bad idea. I only later found out, that Minimalist already has been the theme of LD11, which made me dislike this theme. But I thought, well then nobody will up-vote it anyway…

Well, I was wrong, faster than I could see it got into the final round, well sh…

Then I also talked with some of my friends about the LD, and they didn’t mind joining me in my quest of making a game. So I decided to join the jam instead of the compo and we could make an awesome game together. And now I have people who can  make art and sound and stuff, and what is the theme?! MINIMALISM! I could have ripped my ass out when I saw it (if that’s even a thing).

But (as others already said) don’t try to think of it as something that constrains you, as I did first. Simply see it as another challenge to the LD.

So now I’m sitting here trying to come up with an idea for minimalism that allows us to create a great game. The thing is: what you usually want with games is richness in graphics, sounds, effects and gameplay, but applying the theme to one of this things leads to exactly the opposite, it seems at first. But you could say that it also leads to pureness and more focused content (as long as you don’t cut on the essentials). When particles are important for your game, then simply include them. Don’t just draw rectangles, maybe try out circles instead. Ok, maybe not like that, but you get the idea.

So maybe we will do something that has just a story, revolving around minimalism, but not on too minimalistic graphics, gameplay and stuff.

And I’m really sorry, if the theme really scrapped your LD. It scrapped mine too.

(And don’t forget to include a potato)

Good luck to everyone from Daniel and me

Since I know myself enough, I also know that I will start panicking about three to four hours in and willing to throw everything in the bin and go play some Deus Ex. So, I though that a list of some anti panic suggestions maybe will help me (and hopefully inspire others) to get my game done before the 48h limit.

1. Start with a small idea, something I’m pretty confident I can do in two days, then halve that. This way I’ll get a tiny idea: my objective is doing something even tinier. As everything in life, starting is easy, but ending is EVERYTHING. A simple finished game is always better of a half finished prototype of an amazing idea.  Why? Because the first one is a game, the second one is not. The first one can be sold and distributed, the second one can’t. And the fastest and easiest way to finish a project is: start small. 
2. Focus on what you can do best and do it. Get the rest done as quickly as possible. There are a lot of categories your game will be competing into: it is best to focus on those you will do well in instead of trying the best game overall (unless of course you are a ninja that can make a masterpiece in a weekend, you know who you are!).
   For me, this translates as focus on MOOD. As i wrote in my first post, I’ll be using Ren’py for making a point and click game. My engine and genre choice won’t allow much innovation on the mechanics so the selling point of my game will be what I can focus the most on: music, graphics and writing. Setting the right mood is both what I can expect to do right and what I’m willing to do well, so it’s a good compromise.
3. Details are EVIL. While this is my first attempt at making a game, I’ve worked on enough other projects to know that perfectionism is my number 1 reason of giving up. In the specific, focusing on non-fundamental details too soon is the worst disease to ever plague a project. As said in point 1, finishing is everything: this means that the fundamental stuff should be THE priority over any other tiny detail. No one will care if the tiles of the floor look like crap if they can’t even finish the first level because of a game breaking bug. Get your priorities in the right order first! Make a list of the game you will need, and cross out everything you know won’t be fundamental to the game. This is the list of stuff you’ll need to implement in the next two days. Now sit down and get your work done!

Ok, hopefully these reminders will prevent myself from bonking my head on the wall in regret too much. Rev up those fingers cause the time is near!

EDIT: thanks to Osgeld for pointing out some confusion about this post.

Barker Games is in for the jam!

Last Ludum Dare I(Justin Lee Barker) made The Accursed Moon. This time Jeremy Gohier will be joining me. I will work on the programming and he will work on everything else.

The problem I had last Ludum Dare was that I worked between 13-14 hours on Saturday which burned me out. All I did Sunday is fix a few bugs and publish it. My motivation was depleted

I plan on working normal work hours(8 hours a day). With Monday being the only possible exception. Hopefully that way I wont loose motivation and will feel more confident about our entry.

Our tools:

Language: C#, XNA

Art: Gimp, possibly InkScape

Sound: sfxr

Music: Undecided

Good luck to everyone!

Happy Ludum Dare 26

Ok, since I have some free time I may as well put down why I decided to be part of this Ludum Dare.

The main reason is I need some motivation to get my first game done. It is actually pretty easy to procastinate when you do not have some hard coded deadlines. Ludum Dare instead gives you a time frame (and a very small one too!) to do EVERYTHING related to making a game. This is actually a fantastic idea, and I’ve followed the past LDs with excitement and awe while some expert coder was showing his code katas on Eclipse or Vim, or a modeler was plasmating a good model in a matter of minutes. I always though: “I’ll never be able to do that”. I still think I can’t, which actually puts me a lot of pressure on the upcoming challenge. I mean, the hell I’m doing? I’ve hardly coded anything in my life, let alone a whole game! But still, pressure is a good stimulus to get stuff done, so I’m looking foward to it. Whether I’ll finish my game or not, I’ll put as much effort as I can into it.

Another great reason I really wanted to partecipate was the community. It is great to see so much support in an event, and a very rare occurrence indeed. While following past LDs I really liked the attutude and dedication of the developers, and really wanted to be part of it (hopefully I’ll be able to). I really learned heaps by only reading other posts about what went right and what went wrong (this is also the reason why I’m trying to contribute with useful posts). I got to know a lot of tools and techniques I would have never heard of if I didn’t watch some timelapses.

Third, I really want to see some feedback. Feedback is vital to any developers, since I believe what defines us as human beings. Doing something and getting responses is something that really excites me, and makes me want to contribute even more. Also, as I said in my first post, I want to make a point and click adventure game for an idea of a story I have. This LD was the perfect occasion to get a small game together and see how people like or hate it. Since my “dream game” will probably have my “style” in it just like my LD entry, this game will be a good test for the waters, so to speak: it will help me see if I’m moving in the right direction or if I have to do something better or differently.

Fourth, it looks fun. This is without a doubt the biggest motivation of them all. Only reading past developer posts makes me all set up to start. It’s great to read other posts where people say it was heaps of fun… Somehow it makes you enjoy the game even more. Following the story of a game is great, and that’s something I really would like to see more of. If I’ll have enough time, I’ll share as much as i can of the development of my game.

Well I guess that’s it for now. I think it would be fun if you guys would share in the comments your reasons for partecipating in this LD.

I’m getting to grips with game development and lately jams like this have helped me to actually get stuff done.

I’m not yet sure what tools I’m going to use. I like Unity but it’s hard and I’m very slow with it. Construct 2 comes recommended so it is likely that I will take advantage of the ludum deal discount on that if the theme suits. For some themes I might find that I’d rather make something with Twine, or if I’m going to go super abstract and geometric then I’ll use Processing.

I’ve been following the theme voting with bated breath. Some of the leading themes I love and I’m really hoping I can make one of the game ideas I have for them!

Starting April 19, the 5th Hack-a-Jam Game Development Competition will begin!

This competition is held every 2-4 months, and this is the approximate 1-year birthday. Because of this, I am offering a prize to the winning entry. This prize is free advertising (one month), on both of my main websites, which have decent traffic.

What is the Hack-a-Jam?

The Hack-a-Jam is a game development event/competition where you must create a game within a set amount of time. The time given in each competition varies, as it could take two days, four days, or even just 30 minutes. Different from other game jam events, the Hack-a-Jam uses a multiple-award system, meaning there is no “Overall Best Game”. This allows for us to give awards to the best games, and not make a decision between two games which are equally amazing. The theme will be a suggestion voted on from the community through many different voting sessions. Another thing you could do to win certain categories is make things such as dev logs, timelapses, etc. You can them post them or links to them in the Posting section of the Forums.

What are some possible winning categories?

Most Psychedelic Visuals
Most Deaf People After Hearing The Game
Most extra items (dev logs, etc.)
Most Rage-free
Most rage-induced
Most Suggestive Content Without Crossing The Line
Shortest Game
Best themed
Most Things On Screen Without Lag or Crash

What are the rules?

Since we are a laid back community, you could probably get away with most of these rules (except major ones, like turning in your entry a whole 24 hours late…). Here are what I would like the community to follow, however:

1. All game content must be created within the set time. Note: You can use other music, placeholder graphics, etc. as long as you are allowed to!
2. Your game is not required to follow the theme, but would greatly improve your chances of winning. Unless almost every other game is not following the theme, it is almost guaranteed that your game won’t win anything.
3. You must work alone, and you must create everything included in the game.
4. All game creation tools are permitted, such as Unity, GameMaker, Photoshop, Flash, Paint, etc.
5. All external game extensions/DLLs are permitted. If you want to make it multiplayer (if you are using GameMaker), go ahead and use 39dll.

You can visit our website at http://www.hack-a-jam.com/. From there, you will want to head over to the Posting section, and sign up for an account (you can use Google, Facebook, etc.). Good luck to everyone!

Starting April 19, the 5th Hack-a-Jam Game Development Competition will begin!

This competition is held every 2-4 months, and this is the approximate 1-year birthday. Because of this, I am offering a prize to the winning entry. This prize is free advertising (one month), on both of my main websites, which have decent traffic.

What is the Hack-a-Jam?

The Hack-a-Jam is a game development event/competition where you must create a game within a set amount of time. The time given in each competition varies, as it could take two days, four days, or even just 30 minutes. Different from other game jam events, the Hack-a-Jam uses a multiple-award system, meaning there is no “Overall Best Game”. This allows for us to give awards to the best games, and not make a decision between two games which are equally amazing. The theme will be a suggestion voted on from the community through many different voting sessions. Another thing you could do to win certain categories is make things such as dev logs, timelapses, etc. You can them post them or links to them in the Posting section of the Forums.

What are some possible winning categories?

Most Psychedelic Visuals
Most Deaf People After Hearing The Game
Most extra items (dev logs, etc.)
Most Rage-free
Most rage-induced
Most Suggestive Content Without Crossing The Line
Shortest Game
Best themed
Most Things On Screen Without Lag or Crash

What are the rules?

Since we are a laid back community, you could probably get away with most of these rules (except major ones, like turning in your entry a whole 24 hours late…). Here are what I would like the community to follow, however:

1. All game content must be created within the set time. Note: You can use other music, placeholder graphics, etc. as long as you are allowed to!
2. Your game is not required to follow the theme, but would greatly improve your chances of winning. Unless almost every other game is not following the theme, it is almost guaranteed that your game won’t win anything.
3. You must work alone, and you must create everything included in the game.
4. All game creation tools are permitted, such as Unity, GameMaker, Photoshop, Flash, Paint, etc.
5. All external game extensions/DLLs are permitted. If you want to make it multiplayer (if you are using GameMaker), go ahead and use 39dll.

You can visit our website at http://www.hack-a-jam.com/. From there, you will want to head over to the Posting section, and sign up for an account (you can use Google, Facebook, etc.). Good luck to everyone!

Starting April 19, the 5th Hack-a-Jam Game Development Competition will begin!

This competition is held every 2-4 months, and this is the approximate 1-year birthday. Because of this, I am offering a prize to the winning entry. This prize is free advertising (one month), on both of my main websites, which have decent traffic.

What is the Hack-a-Jam?

The Hack-a-Jam is a game development event/competition where you must create a game within a set amount of time. The time given in each competition varies, as it could take two days, four days, or even just 30 minutes. Different from other game jam events, the Hack-a-Jam uses a multiple-award system, meaning there is no “Overall Best Game”. This allows for us to give awards to the best games, and not make a decision between two games which are equally amazing. The theme will be a suggestion voted on from the community through many different voting sessions. Another thing you could do to win certain categories is make things such as dev logs, timelapses, etc. You can them post them or links to them in the Posting section of the Forums.

What are some possible winning categories?

Most Psychedelic Visuals
Most Deaf People After Hearing The Game
Most extra items (dev logs, etc.)
Most Rage-free
Most rage-induced
Most Suggestive Content Without Crossing The Line
Shortest Game
Best themed
Most Things On Screen Without Lag or Crash

What are the rules?

Since we are a laid back community, you could probably get away with most of these rules (except major ones, like turning in your entry a whole 24 hours late…). Here are what I would like the community to follow, however:

1. All game content must be created within the set time. Note: You can use other music, placeholder graphics, etc. as long as you are allowed to!
2. Your game is not required to follow the theme, but would greatly improve your chances of winning. Unless almost every other game is not following the theme, it is almost guaranteed that your game won’t win anything.
3. You must work alone, and you must create everything included in the game.
4. All game creation tools are permitted, such as Unity, GameMaker, Photoshop, Flash, Paint, etc.
5. All external game extensions/DLLs are permitted. If you want to make it multiplayer (if you are using GameMaker), go ahead and use 39dll.

You can visit our website at http://www.hack-a-jam.com/. From there, you will want to head over to the Posting section, and sign up for an account (you can use Google, Facebook, etc.). Good luck to everyone!

Epic Rampage screenshot

Personal Goals

For this solo jam I had basically decided on two goals beforehand which I would work towards in any case.

My first goal was to make game making fun again. Recently I’ve been very busy developing a sequel to this thing, but development has been kinda slow so I’ve been feeling in rut. Entering jams like this one helps to feel that thrill again. There’s just nothing like pumping out a game under pressure to get the blood flowing. (pun intended)

My second goal was to develop my artistic side. As I consider myself primarily a coder, I have noticed my lack of artistic skills often limits me in various ways. I wanted to remedy that, so I practised Aseprite and created some fine pixel art this time.

What Went Wrong

• Sprites: Player character. Way too much time was spent perfecting these sprites. If I had instead spent more time on the code and on different enemies and buildings, the overall game might have been much better. Good thing that time was still useful as I have developed a bit of a feel for process. The player now looks a lot better than he looked at the beginning. (don’t laugh, check the time lapse)
• Balance: This is a game design issue that I still need to grapple. What”s the best approach to designing systems that make sure NPCs behave in fun ways, levels look interesting, and enemies spawn in sensible amounts as the game progresses? I think only experience will solve this one, and maybe more thinking ahead of time.
• Bugs: Some annoying Unity bug I had not encountered before. Somehow importing audio files ceased to work properly, meaning I could no longer mark them as 2d sounds. It is the reason some sound effects are barely audible.

What Went Okay

• Choice of engine: Unity3
  I had anticipated making a game in a style similar to Minecraft or Fex (pixel art on 3d geometry) which would suit Unity, my engine of preference. However, when I got my actual game idea, I dropped that in favor of going all-in 2d. Installing a different DE did not seem like a fun way to waste time, so I decided to keep using Unity. In retrospect it might have been slightly easier to work in a native 2d engine or something like Flash, but once you know the tricks, it’s not all that different or hard to use a 3d engine for pure 2d.

What Went Right

• Infrastructure: Implementing sprite animations was much easier than I thought it would be. As long as you think it out in advance, and don’t need too much optimization, it can be done in a very short time frame.
• Sprites: Lots and lots of enemies. Each of them with his own 16×16 sprites.
• Sprites: Player character. That climbing animation looks good!

Time lapse

Recorded with Chronolapse at 1 frame per minute, over ~35 working hours. processed by VirtualDub and Hybrid.

 Conclusion

This has turned out to be a great little game, with a lot of potential. I can’t wait to develop it further and see what else I can do with it. But first some optimization. Some of that haste-induced code is ugly! Then we’ll start the actual 99% the work on any game, namely of polish… polish… and more polish.

Regardless of reception or overall success of this game, I’ve had a blast participating in this Ludum Dare for the first time. I think this is not the last time you’ll hear of me.

That’s the last sprint now!

Keep it up everybody!!! Can’t wait to play all your awesome games!

Here’s a mystery snapshot

My engine is playable, and the controls are very satisfactory.
I also wrote two  music themes. This is going to rock!!