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LD#15 Results Are In!

It’s 2 weeks later, and Ludum Dare #15 is officially over. The results are in, and I placed 5th…in the Community category. Unfortunately there was no food category this time around, or I could have gotten the gold in that one. B-)

Seriously, congratulations to the makers of the top ten overall entries! The #1 overall game was Beacon by ChevyRay, which was also featured on IndieGames.com’s Freeware Game Pick not too long ago. Congratulations to ChevyRay for making a splash there!

I’ll have a post-mortem of the Mineral Miner soon, but here’s a summary of how I did: badly in graphics and audio, decent in humor and fun, and well in innovation and theme. A number of people REALLY hated the audio, but they seemed to really like the actual game play. When people are unhappy that there is only one level, it means I left them wanting more in a good way. B-)

My entry ranked #63 overall, being 87th out of 144 entries. There were a number of ties for various placements, so the ranking only goes to #107. I’m a little disappointed in how well my entry did, but there was some great competition. I did much better in LD#13, but I still consider this Ludum Dare to be a success for me. I had a finished game by the end of 48 hours, one that got some great feedback from players. I got to practice skills from the game design concepts course I took this summer, and I would say they really helped me put this game together before a single line of code was written.

Once again, congratulations to the winners! There are some fantastic games in the mix!

General

I’m Going to Be An Uncle

Post author By Gianfranco Berardi
Post date 9/11/2009

I learned that my sister is going into labor today, so soon I’ll be Uncle GBGames! B-)

Game Development Personal Development

Thousander Club Update: September 7th

Post author By Gianfranco Berardi
Post date 9/7/2009

For this week’s Thousander Club update:

Game Hours: 576 (previous three years) + 181.75 (current year) = 757.75 / 1000
Game Ideas: 775 (previous three years) + 10 (current year) = 785 / 1000

[tags]game, game design, productivity, personal development, video game development, indie[/tags]

General

Labor Day Weekend

Post author By Gianfranco Berardi
Post date 9/4/2009

Normally getting a big weekend means that I dedicate a significant chunk to making games, but this weekend is going to be one of relaxation. I’ll probably play and rate a few Ludum Dare #15 games, but otherwise I’ll be enjoying the weekend.

Ah, who am I kidding? I’ll probably squeeze in some game development here or there, too. It’s not like work or anything. B-)

Also, I’m a big fan of the United States Men’s National Team, and they’ll be continuing their World Cup qualifying as they take on El Salvador tomorrow. I’ll be watching that one with my family.

Have a good Labor Day weekend, American followers, and a good regular ol’ weekend for the rest of you.

Game Design Game Development Geek / Technical Personal Development

LD#15: Mineral Miner for Windows

Post author By Gianfranco Berardi
Post date 8/31/2009

If you Windows users were waiting patiently for a version of the game you could play, check out my final entry post. I’ve uploaded a Windows version of Mineral Miner. Just unzip and run caverngame.exe. Make sure to read the instructions first, since I didn’t get a chance to add it in-game:

Controls:
Use the arrow keys to move around.
Press the space bar to jump into and out of the front of your tank.

Collect all the minerals and return to the exit to finish the level.
You can only hold one set of minerals at a time. Return the minerals you collected to your tank to collect more.
Watch out for monsters! If you get too close to a monster lair, a monster will come out and attack you. You’ll have to find a way to stop them from coming out.

Game Development Personal Development

Thousander Club Update: August 31st

Post author By Gianfranco Berardi
Post date 8/31/2009

For this week’s Thousander Club update:

Game Hours: 576 (previous three years) + 180.75 (current year) = 756.75 / 1000
Game Ideas: 775 (previous three years) + 10 (current year) = 785 / 1000

The bulk of my time was spent on Ludum Dare. You can see the previous blog posts for updates on how that contest went for me.

[tags]game, game design, productivity, personal development, video game development, indie[/tags]

Game Design Game Development Geek / Technical Linux Game Development Politics/Government

LD#15: My Time Lapse

Post author By Gianfranco Berardi
Post date 8/30/2009

Game Design Game Development Geek / Technical Linux Game Development Politics/Government

LD#15: Mineral Miner – Final Entry

Post author By Gianfranco Berardi
Post date 8/30/2009
2 Comments on LD#15: Mineral Miner – Final Entry

I did it! I submitted my entry just in time for the end of the competition, too! And it is the first time since LD#11 that I’ve submitted a game with audio, no matter how jarring!

You can download the GNU/Linux version here: Mineral Miner for GNU/Linux: 1.2MB

~~I’ll try to have a Windows port up as soon as possible.~~ Mineral Miner for Windows: 2.1MB

Controls:
Use the arrow keys to move around.
Press the space bar to jump into and out of the front of your tank.

Congratulations to everyone who participated and finished a game in 48 hours!

Game Design Game Development Geek / Technical Linux Game Development Personal Development

LD#15: Ahh! Real Monsters!

Post author By Gianfranco Berardi
Post date 8/30/2009

They chase you, and they look better at doing so than I would have thought. Now I have to implement player death.

Game Design Game Development Geek / Technical Linux Game Development Personal Development

LD#15: Time for a Snack

Post author By Gianfranco Berardi
Post date 8/30/2009

This is a bowl of popcorn.

LOOK AT IT!

I prefer my popcorn plain. It is much easier to grab a bite and continue working if I don’t feel the need to wipe the butter off of my hands every time.

Progress report:

The driver can exit the vehicle, pick up some mineral, return it, and go back out for more. He can’t pick up more than one mineral at a time.

Oh, he also can’t leave the level without the tank.

Next: adding monsters to their lairs. For lack of time, the AI will have to be very simple. It will cheat and chase the driver through walls. Hopefully they’ll look more like monsters than spheres of a different color. B-)