Ludum Dare 32

[gajop]

Ludum Dare Entry: http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-3 ... &uid=52862


Ludum Dare 32:
- Game making competition. No prizes. A lot of participants. Great fun. When (April 17th~)? http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/f ... T18&p1=224
- Compo (48h, alone, can't use existing assets, can use code) vs Jam (72h, team or alone, can use anything). Rules: http://ludumdare.com/compo/rules/
- Theme suggestion application: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1EI0g8A ... U/viewform
- Current theme voting (stay tuned)

Spring project preparations:
- Clean project setup: based on SpringABC?
- Game packaging: automatic packaging for Linux and Windows. Must be able to package rapid as well.
- Setup spring engine compilation buildbots so devs have an easier time distributing stuff between team members (assuming there's interest in teams and likelihood of engine changes).

Personal goals:
- Make a fun game with Spring starting from scratch
- Game should be drastically different than other Spring games - it shouldn't be obvious that it's built on Spring
- Explore potentials for rapid prototyping in Spring and discover limitations (things that can be changed in the future to support a wider variety of games).

There was some interest expressed in the lobby about participating there, maybe even in teams. Personally I'm quite hyped to compete, and if I'm free then I'll certainly try to. I'm not sure if I'll do the longer Jam (team type) since that'd take the whole of Monday as well, but compo shouldn't be a problem.
Why? Because making games is fun! Also there's the ulterior motive that this might benefit Spring if game turns out good.

Thoughts?

[Anarchid]

There is a minimum complexity to a Spring game so i'd suggest participating in Jam mode.

I think 3 people is a reasonable team size. If there are more than 3 people interested, there should be multiple teams.

This is a confirmation of interest. I'll participate.

[gajop]

There is a minimum complexity to a Spring game so i'd suggest participating in Jam mode.

Part of the complexity is in the fact that any game made for Spring is likely going to feature 3D models, but there's also the fact that Spring-the-engine can be hard to work with. I'd like to mitigate the latter issues beforehand, anyone has ideas what else could be done?

This is a confirmation of interest. I'll participate.

<3
I think Silentwings mentioned he'd do it too if he has time!

[Silentwings]

Yes, I am busy on the 17th but should be good for the 18/19th.

[zwzsg]

Modifying the engine for a game jam sounds extreme.

Instead, have you set up your Modelling -> Skinning -> Texturing -> Animating workflow ? How efficient are you with it? Practice making new units as fast as you can.

[Silentwings]

I don't think gajop means modifying the engine, I guess he means making sure we have fully functioning game dev environments before we start.

[zwzsg]

- Setup spring engine compilation buildbots so devs have an easier time distributing stuff between team members (assuming there's interest in teams and likelihood of engine changes).

I think this show that gajop has too much a coder mindset, and not enough a modder / game dev mindset.

[PicassoCT]

You really have to be a anything throws- whore for this. But yes, efficiency.

My answer. Comic Look. Knorke showed how its done.
Reduced Stylized-Stuff.

Real Problem is time-intensive surrounding stuff. Guis. WinCondition Gadget. Playtesting. Refining.

Also you are allowed to birng along readymade modells?

[gajop]

I don't think gajop means modifying the engine, I guess he means making sure we have fully functioning game dev environments before we start.

I actually mean both . I'm constantly running a few custom engines on my machine where I have added some changes, although most of them I plan to push upstream when polished enough.

I can imagine it being the case that we see some engine behavior that could be hacked into it fairly easy. An example of it would be to start the game menu instead of the engine-default one when running spring.exe (this doesn't seem to do what I need, it just changes the bitmaps/background it seems?: https://springrts.com/wiki/Springsettin ... enuArchive).
I'm also fairly experienced in doing the Lua interface programming, so any functionality could be added easily (I'm looking at you orthogonal projection).
The emphasis is that this would just be hacks "for our need", so pushing on spring/spring's master is out of the question. A polished version of such features might be added, but only after the compo/jam ends.
Having buildbots setup for any teams that express interest in this means that distribution of those minor engine patches is easy.
^ Despite the wall of text, this is really a minor thing, just an extra *neat* I'd like.

Fully functional game dev is obviously important, but that's something everyone can agree on I think! (I'll do the work to setup what I can and share the instructions, and plead to abma to help out if we need any infra stuff )

I think this show that gajop has too much a coder mindset, and not enough a modder / game dev mindset.

Well you don't have to team up with me =) I still love making games and that's what got me into programming. I've participated once in a local game jam and we won a prize for gameplay.
I understand I lack some crucial artistic skills (many of which you mentioned), but I've recently started learning it again for the who knows what time. It's something I want to finally improve and this is a perfect opportunity (on the other hand, if I work in teams, I hope we separate responsibility).

Comic Look. Knorke showed how its done.

Yep, a different look is definitely a plus, but I think having a different playstyle is even more important. It seems that most of the games that have won something offered a unique gameplay mechanic.
SpringTanks were kinda different, but I'd go even more than that if you want to be awesome.

Real Problem is time-intensive surrounding stuff. Guis.

GUI shouldn't take too long ideally - maybe 20ish mins at the most if you're inexperienced with it (and that's mostly just to configure it what NOT to show).
/hideinterface might be a smart thing here

Also you are allowed to birng along readymade modells?

Check the rules. If you participate in the compo, you're not (code's OK), but if you participate in a jam (solo or team), you can use whatever you find.
Btw, you aught a check some of the previous winners. They usually have 5min worth of content, and very little units.

[smoth]

in 48 hours with no prior resources you would be hard pressed to develop anything. In 72 hour maybe. I dunno spring has all these little bits and pieces.

[PicassoCT]

unique mechanics: in a rts? I tryied that for three years, and in the end its just diffrent mini-games glued together..

what do you want to do?
A tower defense, where you build up towers high with guns in them, and then topple them over into a direction, to find out who can fire upon one another for win?

i think a game must apply to some human need...

[smoth]

know what I know now, towerdefense could be made in a week but only if I am allowed to use my GBS stuff which I was making for these sort of projects

[PicassoCT]

Another matter entirely is mapmaking..

And setting up that map so that it is fitting for the game..

Finally everything that demands lots of diverse enemys - that does not use a buildsystem to generate them..

Basically everything dribble Ney does to burn its money is out of the question.

[hokomoko]

There is a minimum complexity to a Spring game so i'd suggest participating in Jam mode.

Indeed (and I wish to participate as well).

The complexity will require (especially if we have more than 3 members):

• Extremely modest aspirations.
• Good communication channels - both vocal (mumble probably) and textual (google docs or similar).
• Clear definition of the responsibilities of each member - note that it doesn't mean you can only do one thing throughout the jam, just that if you want to make a cool 3d model, you need to coordinate this with the member responsible for 3d art.
• Workflow - each of us knows how to work alone, and together using github, but in a jam that can be harder. It might even mean one member will spend a significant portion of their time merging branches. That also brings me to:
• Clear deadlines - I know we're doing this for fun, but the overhead for combining and coordinating means we can't just hack it all together in the last 5 minutes. In my submarine game there was no sea until 5 minutes before submission, in a team, that can be a bigger problem.
• Creating logistics before the jam - things like the repository, the empty game, permissions, etc. should be up and working (that means tested) before the competition.

I plan to try and make some music, lua where necessary and do whatever needed that doesn't require drawing or modelling.

[Godde]

I would participate if I had any confidence in cranking out code in a timely manner.

However usually I just end up playing around for hours without actually getting closer to my goals.

Oh, look! pixels!

[Anarchid]

unique mechanics: in a rts? I tryied that for three years, and in the end its just diffrent mini-games glued together..

Who said it had to be RTS just because it's on an RTS engine.

[zwzsg]

I would participate if I had any confidence in cranking out code in a timely manner.

Games aren't merely code, they're art too! Can you crank images and sounds?

That one time I tried to LD, I found out I can draw better than I thought, but ended with a silent game.

However usually I just end up playing around for hours without actually getting closer to my goals.

The concept of a jam is that the time pressure forces you to push forward.

[Forboding Angel]

I just noticed that according to the rules you can reuse existing code?

Pfft, this just became a hell of a lot easier.

[gajop]

I just noticed that according to the rules you can reuse existing code?

Pfft, this just became a hell of a lot easier.

The reasoning is that most of what we use today is based on existing code, starting from the compiler, OS, graphics drivers and graphics libraries, engines, various engine and/or language libraries and so on.
At the end of the day you'll still be judged by your peers, so if it seems you took your game that you've made up a week before and just *themed* it up for the jam, you'll be downvoted, and you should feel bad because it goes against the spirit of the competition.

@Godde, as zszwg said, participate if you want to. Don't worry about your skills being inadequate, an extra person isn't going to hold anyone down.
PS: Without Godde, we currently have 4 people in a team. In my opinion, teams should be of the size 3-5, and if we had 6 or more members we should split up in two teams. (Of course how these teams are formed is up to the participants in the end)

[PicassoCT]

Well, im in, but i dont know if i really will fit into a team. Never did so in spring context.
I can dance, and sing, and make art and code, and monkey around. Cyclic in that order.
Im not good at balancing things. Too much of eyecandy can make you diabetic!