Ludum Dare 30

Every four months, Ludum Dare holds an online Game Jam/Competition. The short explanation is that a theme is announced, after which people have 48 or 72 hours to complete a video game from scratch. I'll be doing the more "relaxed" competition, so I'll have Friday night, Saturday, Sunday, and most of Monday to make my video game.

I've been wanting to participate for the last few Ludum Dares, but never actually got around to doing anything about it. But this time, the Jam falls right in the middle of my two-week break before school starts up again. So this weekend I'm going to finally make a Ludum Dare video game. I'll be editing this post and showing the progress I'm making.

My main tool will be Unity 3D (free version). I'll use Blender for 3D models, and GIMP or possibly FireAlpaca for image editing? I might use this tutorial to get a base first-person 3D environment, then see where it goes from there.

1 1/2 hours left until the theme is announced and the competition starts! Wish me luck!

FRIDAY
The theme has been announced! It is "Connected Worlds". I'm toying with a 4-Dimensional game I really like... time for some planning!

I've decided to go ahead with my idea of a 4-dimensional tank shooter. Spent some time brainstorming and jotting ideas down, and I think I have enough to start making the game. I fiddled around and modeled a semi-complex battleground on which the game will take place. I imported it into Unity (the game engine), added a bit of lighting and took an aerial screenshot.

It's difficult to make everything out, I'm afraid (there are ramp tunnels leading to the platforms in the top-left and bottom-right corners).
The next steps will be to program the player, the controls, and make sure you can move around the arena. Further to-do list includes

• Enable player to shoot projectiles and destroy enemies
• Figure out inter-dimensional travel (I already have some ideas on how to make this work)
• Start/Game Over screens
• Enemy AI

It's midnight, so... time for sleeping.

SATURDAY
Mostly procrastinated today. I got the controls set up, so you can move around and check out the entire level.

Best case scenario: I have a 4D Tank Shooter by Monday evening. Worst case scenario, I don't, but I have a base to build off of, and can continue working on it.

SUNDAY
Fine tuned a few controls. Basically didn't spend much time on it at all.

MONDAY
Had a job interview. Got hired. Didn't get the game finished before the deadline. But I made enemy tanks in Blender.

And here they are in the game world, just waiting to get blown up.

So. Ludum Dare is over. I was unable to finish a game in time. But I did more than I ever have for a Ludum Dare Jam. I didn't put in enough hours, so I know what to do for next time. I've never programmed in C# before, so now I have a bit of experience. And I have a project which I can work on for the future. So while I "failed" at Ludum Dare, this was definitely a success, and there's plenty of potential.

Under [HEAVY] Construction

There are a few domains which I've owned for over a year. I've always intended to build a couple websites (a personal one and one for my family's small business), but, you know... procrastination.

Finally I figured out how to properly FTP into the hosting server, redirect to the proper files, and have the whole index.php thing that creates a functioning website. But there was still a lot of stuff I would need to look up, design specifics I would need to sort out, and content I would need to create/get from my family. So I needed a temporary "under construction" page. Looked through a bit of clipart for a backhoe, but didn't really like any of what I saw. So I decided to make one.

Super low-detail. Just a quick throw-together I made for a temporary page. It still took me several hours, and taught me something important: practice your art continually! My last Blender project was about two months ago, and before that it was several months again. Every time I procrastinate for that long, I need to re-teach myself the basics of the program. DON'T DO THIS. Use the software/hardware at least once a week. Continual use will have you quickly familiar with your tools, making future projects must faster and more impressive.

I have no obligations for the next two weeks, so I'm probably going to format my computer and get a good programming base set up. I might do some more modeling, or I might start making a video game. Not sure if I should go mobile app or PC-based... I guess we'll see.

Big Dreams; Small Drive

I am Eisbaer Borealis. There's a LOT in the world of computers that I'd like to teach myself and learn... but I also have some pretty serious motivation issues.

So this blog will be my accountability. I intend to work on something every week, and I'll be posting my progress here. My interests are as follows:

Programming

• Video games
• Smart phone apps

Computer Graphics

• 3D modeling
• Animation
• Sketches

To give an idea of where I'm at, here are a few projects I've done in the past.

TETRIS
Programmed in Java, this game has a really strange bug that makes it virtually unplayable past level 2.
Here's the download. It's safe, but you probably shouldn't be downloading .exe files off of random blogs. If you trust me, just unzip it and run the "Tetris v2.0.exe" file.
disclaimer: I accept no responsibility to anything that happens to your computer while running this program.

LEGO FROZEN
I was in an intro to Animation class (we never actually got around to animating anything) and my first project was made entirely in Maya:

FROST MOTH
 I made my second project in Blender:

I'm not sure what my first project will be. But whatever progress I make on it will be posted here in a week.