In one 48 hour period, I made a simple game based on the theme “minimalist”. I didn’t try to stay awake throughout the entire Ludum Dare competition, so the game was made in less than 48 hours.

What Went Right:

• Used my build script to create a distributable game from the beginning.

  I have a build script from a previous project that allows me to use a single command to take my project source, build it, and create a .tar.gz file to distribute for GNU/Linux users. Towards the end of the competition, I wasn’t spending too much time trying to figure out how to get my project into a judge’s hands since.

• Mouse control was easy to do and easy to use.

  Since I was learning SDL, I tried to make my game as simple to use as possible. I knew that using a mouse was a lot easier than expecting someone to use the keyboard, but I had never implemented mouse control in a game before. Luckily, it turned out to be very easy. As a result, the interface was very simple since you’re just moving the mouse around, and the game that this interface produced was better for it.

• I got really involved in it.

  I had food photos and a time lapse video, and I even received two trophies, one for my eclectic food choices. Hanging out with all of the other Ludum Dare participants, even if just virtually through IRC, was a lot of fun.

• I finished!

  Of course, finishing was also a lot of fun. While I could have used some more playtesting and would have loved some feedback before it was submitted, I think I put together a decent game in a short amount of time. It feels good to finish things.

What Went Wrong:

• My work environment was horrible.

  A couch is comfortable…but not for marathon game development sessions! My back still hurts. I need to clean my office. Right now, I am using it as a giant inbox:

  

  I prefer development with my laptop because the CRT of my desktop is harsh on my eyes. Still, it would be nice to sit in a real chair while working. Alternatively, I can finally buy an LCD for my desktop.

• My cats love to hang out with me.

  Even if I was sitting in my office, I know from experience that my cats would still jump up into my lap and try to rest their heads on my arm. When you’re using a laptop, there isn’t room for it AND a cat or two. Having an office door to close would help, of course, but the cats were quite a distraction for LD#11.

  

• I didn’t practice using SDL before the competition.

  It was a problem especially since I had decided not to depend on the Kyra Sprite Engine for future projects, but I really only used libSDL for input and creating a window prior to this project. When the first 24 hours are finished and all you have is a window rendered and the knowledge that the mouse handling is working (even if it isn’t visible), you might be afraid that you won’t have anything to show at the end of 48 hours. I did manage to pull it off, but by the next competition, I want to be able to work with less of a focus on technical details and more of a focus on game development.

• I spent too long in the beginning trying to mock something up in the GIMP.

  Similar to the previous point, I was spending more time on technical issues than on creation. I thought I was more familiar with the GIMP than I was, and I spent a lot of my early hours fighting with it instead of just using pencil and paper. The worst part about it was that the initial idea was one I ended up discarding, and if I wasn’t wasting time with figuring out how to do some simple things in it, I might have been able to figure it out sooner.

What I Learned:

• My kitchen goes to entropy during LD.

  When you’re focused on game development for most of your waking hours for two days, other things have to take a lower priority. One of those things was cleaning. I had a bit of a mess to deal with after the competition was over.

• Even something incredibly simple can be a good game mechanic.

  I knew I wasn’t going to be drinking multiple cans of Mountain Dew or Red Bull, and I don’t drink coffee, so staying up for 48 hours wasn’t going to happen. I needed to work on a game I could finish, so I picked the simplest thing I could. Surprisingly, it was fun, and some of the judges have said so as well. At the end of the competition I already had a list of ideas that could improve it, and I hope to release an updated version with those improvements.

• It’s possible to do a lot in a single day.

  Even though I spent some time learning how to use SDL, I still managed to make a game. The best part is that I can incorporate what I have learned into my personal library of code for my future projects. Also, there were over 70 games submitted, and it is amazing what some people were able to do in 48 hours. Some of them were learning how to program!

I set aside most of a 48 hour period, and I have a game, some new code, and more experience. If I could work on a project with a similar scope each month, I think it would go a long way towards improving my ability to create video games. Also, it’s a lot of fun, and I will definitely be participating in future Ludum Dare competitions.

I figured I’d post some more after thoughts. The contest went really well for me despite not having the whole weekend available to me. I had to go home to visit my father who was recently in a skiing accident. So, I’m happy with how things went.

Unfortunately, I posted my final entry early, and then I found a bug that evening when playing my game before going to bed after the contest ended. It was a minor thing, but apparently I would play my game exactly the same way each time, and thus why I didn’t find it until later.

Then after sleeping, I realized that while my directions on my menu state one thing, I had eased up on one game play element, making the game some what trivial. So, when I woke up Monday morning, I set out and fixed it. Looking at the comments so far, it’s too bad I didn’t think of fixing it sooner.

All in all, I think I spent about 12 hours or so on the project. I used Python + PyGame for the coding, the whole thing is under 400 lines of code. I used SFXR and Musagi for the sound effects and music. And I used my good old pals MsPaint and Photoshop for the graphics. I’m always amazed when I find myself going back to MsPaint for the really simple stuff I can’t do in Photoshop easily. I also used Audacity to convert my wav samples to off format for file size. And I used py2exe with the pygame2exe script to create the windows executable.

I wish I was able to comment to the feedback from voting.  If your confused about losing, you have to make all of the “invisible” frames (outlined in black on easy mode) appear first before clearing the screen of frames.  It was kind of a hard thing to explain.  That’s why I added the outlines on easy mode from feedback I got back from my girlfriend.  Of course, after you’ve played a couple of times, it makes more sense.  As for after figuring that out, there’s a strategy that guarantees victory, which I realized and fixed shortly after the competition.

So, I think that’s everything. For those looking for more of a challenge and how the game should have played, feel free to check out Framed! v1.2 (win).

I posted a postmortem of my experience on my blog here.  Check it out

This postmortem covers my experience with the 10th Ludum Dare 48hour game competition, in which I won a Silver Pelly in the Technical category.

Summary

The theme for the competition ended up being 'Chain Reaction'. This wasn't really one of my favourites, in fact, it was amongst the themes that I wanted the least. I think my dislike towards the theme is pretty apparent in the final result, as it doesn't feature traditional "chain reactions" as seen in most of the entries. Taking that aside, the "game" (quotes because it's more of a toy) turned out pretty good I think.

As soon as I discovered the chosen theme I began the hunt for ideas, and just like most of the other entrants I tried hard to think in different directions than what had already been done (match3, boomshine). From the get-go I knew I wanted to do something in 3D, simply because I figured most entries (if not all) would be 2D. This was a silly decision, considering the gameplay I ended up with would have translated very well to a 2D setting, and would have saved me a bunch of time which could have been spent on polishing. But anyway, having it 3D allowed for a couple nifty little features.

It didn't take long for me to decide that I was going to use spring physics in some way or another. But knowing what a pain it is to implement and use springs, I knew the usage had to be something really simple. I honestly don't remember the idea I initially went for, but somewhere along the road, while implementing the physics, I discovered how fun it was to swing this snake-like structure around using the tail as a wrecking ball of sorts. With this discovery I figured I might as well do something with that.

There were lots of possibilities bundled with this discovery, like for example I could make it a fighting action game where you use your tail to bash down enemies, with possible chain customization included. Or, you could use your tail to collect stuff scattered around on the playing field. As said, lots of possibilities based around it simply being fun to control the motion of the tail.

I guess it's true that games are emergent.

Ultimately I ended up with a game about "snake-like creatures using their tails to bash a ball around a soccer field in hope of hitting the opponents goal" that had close to nothing to do with the initial idea. (Which I don't even recall what was by now - I guess it wasn't very good!)

What Went Right

I'm really happy about these, and they were really simple to implement!

I still find myself enjoying swinging them around, so these were a definite success.

The mouse control scheme is probably the one feeling most "right", and is quite easy to control, in my opinion. Same goes for the gamepad scheme.

What Went Wrong

This competition is generally not very friendly towards microsoftian technologies, thereby making distribution a living hell for anyone using them. I knew this beforehand, having participated before. I chose to use them regardless as I feel much more confident in the use of them which makes me able to produce stuff faster.

This was a bad decision, but I did not feel I had the time to figure out a decent AI solution for the enemy opponent. Even now there's no obvious solution that pops into my mind when thinking about it, so even though it was a crippling decision it was probably the right one.

Waste of time and effort. The springy goals are often not even noticed, and has zero impact on the game-play.

They suck. Nuff' said. Unfortunately, as far as I know, there's not really any way of having keyboard controls that feels right for this game.

Conclusion

It was a very good competition this time, and it went very well for me. I produced a whole lot of stuff during the competition, and ended up with a nice little multiplayer toy that I had some fun playing.

However, the game did not really make great use of the theme, and in a similar fashion did not present any new and awesome innovative game mechanics. Another downside is that I tend to end up with half-games; that is, games which lack polish (menus, game states, help screens/information) and are therefore basically just toys.

"Use the Tail, Luke!"

I tried writing a post up in this thing but It kept on trying to eat it so I put my post-mortem here

well, i shoulda wrote this the day after, but whatever.

 this was my first actual entry in a competition on the interwebs, ever. HAVE MERCY ON ME! actually i couldn’t really come up with anything decent that didn’t require a physics engine. i didn’t have one ready so i had to make do with what i had. which was nothing. not even kidding. i had jack squat.

actually one of the ideas that came to mind involved a spin on games like bust-a-move and snood and all those. it was a spaceship game where you had to get to the core of a circular space station by knocking off the hull. the hull would be made of different colored hexes or circles and you would shoot colored shots that would connect to it if it was the wrong color, or pop them all and possibly break off sections. i actually wanted to have an asteroid field of random collections of these blocks that you could tractorbeam and catapult at the station. you’d have a weapon you’d have to charge and blast the core with once you had an opening. hmm. that’s still a good idea. i didn’t need a physics engine for that. why didn’t i do that one?

anyways, i pretty much kicked back and took it easy for the entire one. had alot of family trouble keeping me from the project, too. wasn’t a pretty scene there.

 so yeah. i’m sure i could have put more effort into the game, but it was a pretty crappy idea and i knew there wasn’t any substance to it. i saw it as one of the Dud entries, just there to fill out the ranks and to get my name out there. also, it was a chance to get some funnies in. i think i aughta score ok for that. got some giggles out of the gf, it did.

wrapping up, i’d say there’s no way i’m gonna beat out some of the other entries. they were looking super good and i knew i didn’t have a chance in hell. i had a blast though! good luck everyone!