Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone who voted for providing kind and constructive comments in the voting area. They’ve really encouraged me to continue developing this game. Keep in mind when reading my comments that I too am trying to be constructive, and I’m not trying to come across as a complete butthead. In my mind anyone who even got half a final entry completed has done an amazing thing in such a short time. Secondly, let me apologize for including a few levels that were far too hard …. actually I’m almost certain now that they were impossible.

So, I’ve prepared an updated version of Mondrian for those who’d like to play it. I thought I’d leave this release until after voting, to ensure that nobody could accidentally judge based on the non-48 hour version. You can get the latest version a my OMGWTF Games !!1! page. This new updated version includes: (more…)

Here’s the timelapse of the development of my entry [youtube.com], Mondrian. It spans pretty much the whole 48 hours, with one shot every 10 mins, (except the blank ones when I was sleeping with the screen on powersave).

For my own future reference:

Screenshots taken with the cronjob:

0,10,20,30,40,50 * * * * import -window root -display :0.0 /home/pansapiens/LD11/screenshots/$(date +%F_%R).png >/dev/null 2>/dev/null

Converted to video with:

$ mogrify -format jpg -scale 840x526 *.png

$ mencoder "mf://*.jpg" -mf fps=4 -o timelapse.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=800

Here’s my final submission of Mondrian.

The game is heavily inspired by the visual art of Piet Mondrian, and while he wasn’t strictly a Minimalist (apparently he was a Neo-Plasticist), his works look pretty minimal to me. It also has a minimal ambient soundtrack.

You can download it here [Mondrian_by_pansapiens_LD11.zip] (runs on Windows and Linux).

Read the README in the zip. Esstentially, you just click the mouse and press ‘r’ to restart a level.

Here’s the screenshot:

Don’t let it fool you … it looks (and sounds) much prettier when in motion.

There are ten levels. I think it can be completed, but the last few levels are hard (or impossible :P). It could do with some better levels … there is an in built level editor (using the commandline switch -e). Send me some better levels !

Tools used:

Python (2.5), Pygame (1.8), Rabbyt (0.8.1) (and it’s dependency, PyOpenGL)

Played with Pyglet but hacked that code out and didn’t use it in the end.

Gvim and Eric as IDEs, SVN and Trac for source control.

The GIMP for image editing, LMMS (using the BitInvader softsynth) for sound. Sounds trimmed using Rezound, encoded with oggenc. My Ensoniq Mirage was used as a controller keyboard (should have just sampled it).

All put together on Ubuntu Linux, Hardy Heron Beta with a flaky Pulseaudio server that wasted my time (should have never upgraded before the official release date :/ ). Windows version compiled with PyMike’s PySetup.py, on Windows XP running in a VirtualBox VM. Briefly tested on Vista.

Big thanks to my girlfriend for cooking all weekend.

Now it’s sleepytime.

A pleasant surprise … I had this made for me.

What is it about me doing LD that makes my girlfriend want to cook so much !

So, I’ve been pretty quiet on IRC … because I’ve been coding and making sounds flat chat.

Here’s a screenshot of Level 5 in my game, Mondrian.

I still have TODO list to work through before I release the final:

1.  Fix collision rules (it got ugly while I was playing with ideas)
2. Allow level restart (you’d think this would be easy … well, you haven’t seen the codebase yet )
3. Make more levels (it’s important, but there is a level editor, so ….)
4. Compile the Windows version (please, please work without hitches !)
5. Upload final & bask in the glory of Ludum Dare completion !!!!!!

Again, made for me. How appreciative am I.

Coffee (lovingly prepared by my girlfriend) & Hot’n'Spicy vegetable juice. I’ll probably have some biscuits later on too.

The game is moving along, but I’ve gotta get cracking if I’m going to have something semi-finished by the end of today. Onward … to the level editor !!!!

So here’s an early screen shot of the current state of my (puzzle?) game (it’s based on the paintings of Piet Mondrian … more about that later).

I’m currenty experimenting with the gameplay rules and mechanics … but at the moment same colour squares annilate eachother, while different colors breed when they touch, generating new squares in random positions. The player moves the black lines to allow the coloured squares to expand.

Here’s a screenshot of a glitch that shows what sometimes happens when two different colours touch and the whole system starts breeding with itself.

That’s not supposed to happen. I’ll fix it in the morning.

Step 1: Leave the computer to start making some coffee.

Step 2: Return to computer while coffee is pouring.

Step 3: Completely zone-out making minimal techno with freebirth.

Step 4: Return, to find … er … not a minimal amount of coffee. Everywhere.

I’m going to eat this leftover Thai green curry.

It has anything but minimal flavour.

Here’s where the magic will happen

Still need to do the grocery shopping !!!

Hello all … I’m a LD first-timer, intending to give it a shot this time around. I suspect I’ll only really get ~24 hours of actual LD-time, due to inconvenient timezones clashing with the “Day Job”(tm) … but I’m prepared to give it a red hot go. I’ll almost certainly be using Pygame (1.8) and Rabbyt (0.8.1) … unless for some reason the theme makes me want to write a text adventure

Since I typically develop on Linux, I’ve done some preparation by making sure I can actually produce Windows executables (the catch: still requires a Windows installation somewhere). My personal py2exe and cx_Freeze ‘tutorial’ is here … it’s actually painfully detailed for something that turned out much simpler than I expected. It would be great to compare notes on crossplatform Python/Pygame experiences/successes/pitfalls with any other Ludumdarers that code on Linux.