Game Jam - Ludum Dare #33
I spend the weekend working on a game for the Ludum Dare Compo contest.
I created a game called Whoops was that alive? in HTML5 - which should work equally well on web and mobile
Play it now!
Ludum Dare entry page
For those not familiar with the Ludum dare contest. You are given a theme and have 48 hours to create a game from scratch without help from anyone else. The theme for Ludum Dare #33 was “You are the monster”
When complete other developers rate your game on metrics such as originality, theme, sound, graphics, fun etc.
While you are allowed to use game engines, you must create Graphics, Sound and Music from scratch - (I am sure a lot of people cheat here)
As the Ludum Dare Compo requires you to share source, and I am unwilling to share the FRVR engine, I decided to create a new engine from scratch during the contest.
Historically I have been really bad at creating back story and cut scenes so I started there. Apparently I had so much fun in Photoshop drawing UFO’s and plannets that I ran out of time.
Likewise the code ended up being a lot more messy than originally anticipated with each level being horrible copy paste coding.
In the end I ended up not having any sound or music due to time constrictions. Likewise I have no idea how to do sound, recommendations here would be very welcome!
Major take aways
- Have a stable game engine ready when the contest starts.
- Divide the hours you know you can work into tasks, and don’t spend more time than set aside on each task.
- Create a framework for levels, rather than defining them in code.
- Lean how to create music, before joining a contest where it’s expected.
I am however quite proud by the graphics I ended up creating - I have not really ever done art as I have had the pleasure of working with people much more competent than I. All art was created fully from scratch in Photoshop.
Here is an overview of the assets I created for the game.
You can download the PSD along with the source here
Work log:
Friday:
- Fri - 20:15 > 20:48 - Wrote game engine
- Fri - 21:00 > 21:30 - Drew globe + stars in photoshop, added to engine
[Being social at the Kayak kickoff party in boston, Sleep]
Saturday:
- Sat - 08:30 > 09:15 - Wrote down game concept into notepad.
- Sat - 09:15 > 09:22 - Tried to figure out how to connect to IRC on a mac…
- Sat - 09:22 > 10:40 - Drew UFO, created dialogue template, uploaded first sneak preview.
[Lunch]
- Sat - 15:20 > 16:52 - Wrote dialogue system, completed intro development.
- Sat - 16:52 > 17:09 - Posted online, irc, twitter etc.
- Sat - 17:09 > 18:50 - Worked on Level1 (Large drone, astroid, controls etc, physics)
- Sat - 17:50 > 19:00 - Posted 04 update on game online.
- Sat - 17:50 > 20:10 - Explosions + minor control updates!!
- Sat - 20:10 > 20:20 - Shared explosions with the internet.
[Food + Sleep]
Sunday:
- Sun - 10:22 > 12:06 - Worked on ending to game
- [Lunch]
- Sun - 13:30 > 15:00 - Completed ending and made scene transition system
- Sun - 15:00 > 18:36 - Completed game setup & wrote level 2
- Sun - 18:36 > 20:00 - Wrote level 2 & 3, verified Mobile support.