Category: Personal Development

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!

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]

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 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-)

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

LD#15: Collision Detection Is In

Post author By Gianfranco Berardi
Post date 8/30/2009
1 Comment on LD#15: Collision Detection Is In

See the yellow sphere? That’s the driver of the tank, out to get those blue minerals. Both the driver and the tank respect the walls of the level now. The driver can get in and out of the tank, but only from the front. I should probably do something to make it clear to the player. If I have time, of course.

I still need to implement mineral collection, and then it is time for the monster lair to hold and release monsters. After that, a way for you to stop the monsters from coming out after the driver when he’s outside of the protection of the tank.

Then sound, then better looking graphics.

If I have time, of course. B-\

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

LD#15: Got Any Gwapes?

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

Yes, I do.

I’m really close to moving the player around. He can jump in and out of the tank if he’s near it. Or, he will once I figure out how to make sure that he doesn’t jump out of the tank into a wall.

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

LD#15: Level Layout Loading

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

It’s the start of a level layout, loaded from a file!

You can see the ground, the darker walls, the green monster lair, and the blue minerals.

I hope. Anyone out there who is slightly colorblind and can’t tell the difference between the lair and the mineral? I can fix that if it matters.

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

LD#15: Breakfast on Day 2

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

I made myself some scrambled eggs, sprinkled with a little pepper. Together with buttered wheat toast, a banana, and a glass of orange juice, it makes a fantastic breakfast. My compliments to the chef.

Gizmo also had some breakfast with me:

Ok, after I shower and get dressed, I’m cracking down on my game development. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Since getting this:

I haven’t done anything, and it’s time to do so. If it took me only 20 minutes to get the tank drawn and moving around, I’m sure I can probably get the rest of the mechanics in a matter of hours. I should have time to add sound effects before the end, something I haven’t done since LD#11, and then I can update the rough graphics, time permitting.

It’s times like these that I like to think of the lyrics from the hit TV show, Perfect Strangers:

No matter what the odds are this time
Nothing’s gonna stand in my way!

Either that, or I like to listen to electronica. Either way.