I finished my game in time for the jam. http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-22/?action=preview&uid=1044
If you thought that my last compo typing game was bad, this is a morse code game.
I’m an evil game designer… and loving it.

The only button that works is the spacebar.

Had such a blast last time, which was my first LD that I’ll participate again (as long as my schedule allows me to, which it should).

My last entry did surprisingly well, taken it was my first time, but due to hectic times at work (we just released new game this Wednesday) I haven’t been able to finish the post-compo version (but its still coming and is actually progressing somewhat steadily, even if slowly… very very slowly!).

I will likely use C++/SDL/OpenGL again, even though I kind of promised myself that I’d use some other language (with GC(!)), but really don’t want to move too far out of my comfort zone while having such limited time. BlitzMax will be my backup tool if I happen to go nerd-rage over silly memory management issues again.

For “art” its the usual GIMP, TuxGuitar and SFXR.

I will probably end up using the same glitchy “framework” I used last time which I wrote a while back Link but I’ll try to get something more usable ready by the next weekend.

Edit: Given my recent drooling over oldskool games I might be using my “retro framework” which i unfourtanetly was unable to finish before LD, but guess its a good way to “beta” test it . Source available in here

Still on the fence here, as I’ve been crunching for a few weeks, currently have a splitting headache, and could use a few days off instead. But…

OTOH, the Kobo II Tech Preview is now on-line, which means that I have a working Win32 executive, making deployment trivial. (There is no game code in kobo2.exe, only EEL with SDL, OpenGL, ChipSound, physics etc.) So, I should be able to pull this off without touching glorified assembly languages, or even running a native compiler. (Well, I might rebuild the executive with a different icon. That should be safe. I think…)

So, if I do it, here are my weapons of choice:

Language: EEL (Runs on the Kobo II executive.)
Editor: KDE Kate
Libraries: Kobo II/EELBox executive (SDL, OpenGL, ZeeSpace, ChipSound, …)
Sounds: ChipSound
Music: ChipSound
Graphics: GIMP, ZeeSpace

Well, I guess it’s decided then: I will try my hand at an LD48. I started a few hours ago, but neglected to formally announce it; so here it is:

I’ll be using:

Language: C++

Libraries: SDL (for window management/input/audio/etc…), and OpenGL.

Any textures will probably be made with The GIMP, if I find the time to make any.

Sound effects: sfxr (if I get around to that.)

Right now gLapse is churning away at turning almost 1500 jpgs into a movie.

So far I’ve got OpenGL rendering, and input being processed, as well as movement through my 3D world, and “moving” platforms. Next up is to master the physics of falling onto said platforms, additional game mechanics, and resources. But, it’s late and I should have been sleeping over an hour ago, so I’m calling it a night. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll post my time-lapse so far. Good night!

Hello, This is my first Ludum Dare.

I will be using SDL with OpenGL. Well try to atleast

I’ll be giving a go entering Ludum Dare 48h #21, which will be my first entry ever. (crossing fingers that I’ll actually get something playable done in such a short time)

The tools I’ll be using are: C++ (Eclipse being the IDE of choice) + SDL/OpenGL with my (very) WIP Framework, hopefully it’ll turn out to be usable even tho it is in very very early stage. I’ll have my trustworthy BlitzMax as back-up in case things get too hectic.

And for “art” I’ll be using: GIMP, TuxGuitar and SFXR

This will be my first LD!

-I will probably use GameMaker, simply because it deserves much more respect than it gets (and because its easy!). If I am feeling confident enough, I may use C++ with SDL.

-The GIMP for creating graphics.

-Maybe sfxr for sound effects.

I wish everyone luck with their games.

May the source be with you, always!

I’ll probably end up doing something in C and SDL and maybe Lua if I feel like the type of game I’m making would be enhanced by it. I’ll probably draw the graphics in Inkscape and Gimp. The audio will be done in either Audacity or Sox.

I hope I don’t get brought down by crazy bugs like I did last compo. :’(

I should start getting my math figured out right away so that doesn’t happen.

EDIT: Why does it keep autocorrecting my C tag to C++?

This will be my first Ludum Dare. I’m going to try for the compo. My toolset will be:

Language: C++
SFX & Music: sfxr
Library: SDL
Graphics: Paint.NET, Corel PSP

I have some base code I’ll be using that I quickly put together this past weekend. I will post it on Wednesday, once I finish a few things up with it.

Well, let me add myself to the giant list of new folks for the upcoming LD #20.  I dropped by the IRC room last night and got some nice advice on useful tools and whatnot… thanks everyone.  A snag though!  I realized this morning that I’m actually moving that weekend!  This might not be as big a deal as it initially seems, though, as I’m only moving to the other side of the same building I’m already in, and I’m already pretty well packed up; it just means some valuable time is going to be eaten up by lugging boxes.  I still plan to compete! 

I plan on using a SDL-based sprite framework that I’ve been working on lately… right now it’s in an unusable state though (being moved from using SDL blitting to sprites as textures in OpenGL).  Assuming it’s fixed in time for the competition, I’ll post the code somewhere for y’all so that I’m within the rules and whatnot.

Uuuhh… yup!  Nice to meet you all!  Let’s have us some fun!

EDIT:  Aaand… that SDL->OpenGL conversion I mentioned?  I think I’ gonna abort it and instead move to SFML.  I’ve been reading about it some today and it really seems like the way to go.  There’re benefits to working with SDL and learning how things like blitting work, of course, but if the API for SFML is as much better than SDL as people are making it seem, it would really speed things up for me… in addition to saving me from having to link in extra libraries for some of the stuff I’m doing.  I’m pretty sure this is one of the useful things someone told me about last night on IRC, but I never managed to get around to looking at it at the time because I was too busy playing with bfxr!  I should have listened to y’all better!  Belated thanks!

Wow, I really didn’t expect to participate this time, but I thought of a simple concept and put it together in time!

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-19/?action=preview&uid=654

I woke up 2 hours ago, and here is what I have done so far :

• Each planet can be bound to a Sun
• Each planet can be bound to an other planet
• Gradiant color around planet
• scaling, but it’s not working perfectly :/
• “camera” deplacement

Also, I need to find a name… And I’m not good at it.

My Lua game engine thing: I call it “slug” [update: hit the slug tag for newer versions]

A bit rough around the edges and messy code, but it seems to work for what it does.  (Here’s a readme.)

Shows how much of a noob I am really, but I just discovered that SDL lets you check keystates at any time, not just when a keypress event is raised. This makes the movement code much, much simpler. Currently attempting to let you jump, which currently conflicts horribly with the code that stops you falling through the floor… Wait a minute! I think I’ve cracked it! I just need to do a check if the vertical velocity is negative! Yay!

I’ll be LD-ing as long as my wife and kids will let me and I’ll be tacking together my usual assortment if I need them:

3rd party libs:
SDL, SDL_image, SDL_ttf, SDL_mixer
OpenGL
Box2d

My libs:
Sprig, GRO_gui, NFont, JEL-events, SDL_ColorDef, StickyInput, goodIO, MixBox
OpenGL junk

Tools:
sfxr
the GIMP

Best of luck to everyone!

I spent a hunk of time today hacking myself up a proper library and deciding on what I’ll be using for LD #15, should I not wuss out at the last moment.

I am leaning towards things which I have used for the longest, this is to reduce the amount of figuring-out I have to do.

As tempting as it is to use python/pygame/macos, I have one half the experience with that, so it is best to stick to ancient and familiar technology, despite its limitations.

To implement:

• C/C++, sloppy and mixed. The way I like it!
• 2d vector graphics where possible, otherwise rotated/scaled sprites.
• Win32 (though, I would like to have it compile/run on MacOS as well. This shouldn’t be a huge problem.)

Libraries:

• SDL (sound, graphics, and input)
• OpenGL (strictly 2D and orthographic, unless I drink too many trappists and decide otherwise)
• mmgr.cpp/mmgr.h by Paul Nettle
• vector2d and related math templates by Bill Perone (I can’t seem to find a link right now!)
• MT19937 Mersenne Twister random number generator

To create:

• Photoshop for Graphics
• SFXR for Sound
• SciTE for Text
• Visual C++ 6.0 for Code
• SVN for revision control / backup

To eat:

• Water
• Trappist Beer
• Cola
• Food with nutritional content yet to be determined

Random thoughts:

I have a feeling I may regret my choice to use a gamepad/keyboard for input. But for now I will.

• Con: Mouse games have a lot of instant-appeal. Easier to get interaction “feeling right”
• Pro: Keyboard/gamepad is oldschool and works on consoles.
• Pro: Leaning back in a chair with a gamepad is more relaxing then hunching over a mouse.

I can do sound. SFXR is freaking cool. I spent a few minutes playing with it today and fell in love. This saves me from making corny sound effects into a microphone during the last minutes of the compo! Thank you DrPetter

All of the libraries, save for my starting template are freely available online. None of them resemble a game library / engine, so they are squeaky clean.

At some point I will post my starting source up for anyone interested. Hopefully there is something useful in there to be pilliaged by others during this compo, or future projects.

I’m curious to see what other people are using, or who else is using a similar (fairly heavyweight, rusty, and old) setup.

What I learned with this LD is that 12 hours is not enough to develop a game, at least for me. For first day the competition my only progress was that I had the idea for a game in the theme of “Advancing Wall of Doom”.

My toughts during innovation followed path quite similar to this:

• What is the best known wall of the world? - The wall of china!
• How it may cause DOOM? – Of course it would have caused DOOM for all mankind if the chinese people hadn’t stopped building it! Sooner or later it would have covered entire face of the earth!
• The construction material for the “uber wall of china” would come from other human made constructs (cities and protective walls in my game) . The player tries to protect his cities by building his own walls (inferior to “uber wall of china” of course). Too bad that the hard working chinese workers can also use steal protective walls for building material, thus making the construction of their WALL OF DOOM even faster.
• The gameplay would have been an hybrid between Amiga game Masterblaster (the advancing “spiraly” wall) and the game classic Rampart (building your own walls using wall blocks not entirely different from tetris). The gameplay should be rather hectic and emphasizing on intuition rather than logic.

So what did I manage to complete in 12 hours. A lot, if you look back:

• I managed to set up dev enviroment on my secondary Ubuntu Jaunty box, consisting of MonoDevelop, SDL.NET, GIMP, Audacity, ffmpeg and others.
• I got a world with advancing china wall, (for now) invisible chinese workers, dwindling cities and basic wall placement rules.

I’m missing:

• Protective walls for players and mouse controlled way of placing them in Rampart style.
• Animated chinese workers who carry bricks from cities and player walls to their own wall.
• Score counting. Every tick with cities gives you points, when all the bricks from the city have been stolen to the chinese wall, points are no longer gained.
• Menu, hi-score and some sort of winnablility.

Perhaps I will complete game project later this week. Well see.

Video of the “toy” version of the still incomplete game (not playable or winnable):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn-EVAtI2xw

Timelapse of my 12h:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80kwKIIYsCk

Edit: My comments to ratings are attached to this post.

Here it is,

http://code.bluedinosaurs.com/SDL/SlugvSalt.zip

Windows binaries included

You command a squad of slugs against the sinister cubes…
‘wasd’ and ‘g’ to fire, ‘h’ to jump for player 1.
Arrow keys, ‘m’ to jump, and comma to fire for player 2.

With PlatyGame in hand, I’ve got some simplified basecode ready.

#include <PlatyGame.h>
using namespace PlatyGame;

int main (int argc, char* argv[]) {
if (!initialize())
return 1;
atexit(shutdown);
if (!initText())
return 2;
atexit(shutdownText);
if (!initSound())
return 3;
atexit(shutdownSound);

bool fullscreen = false;
if(argc > 1) {
if(strcmp(argv[1], “fullscreen”) == 0) {
fullscreen = true;
}
}

Screen screen(800, 600, “Game”, fullscreen);
if (!screen.good())
return 4;

Sound snd(“snd/platymuus.wav”);
BitmapSprite splash(“gfx/platymuus.png”);
splash_run(screen, splash, snd, 4);

return 0;
}

Well, I’m ready and roaring for a great LD14 weekend. I’m going to break my programming-vacation for 48 hours and have myself at some code.

I’ll be using:

IDE: Code::Blocks
Language: C++
Libraries: SDL, SDL_image, SDL_ttf, and SDL_mixer, all rolled into one big PlatyGame (which I wrote myself), and possibly libcurl if internet is needed.
Art: GIMP and a little Paint.
Audio (if I do any): Musagi, SFXR, and Sound Recorder.

PlatyGame source and object files can be downloaded here:
http://www.platymuus.com/goods/PlatyGame.zip

Also, does anyone have any idea how to cut down on the number of DLLs I need to include with my application?