Updated April 13, 2018
This is a compilation video of all of the Ludum Dare games that I’ve created over the past five years. I started with Ludum Dare 26 in April 2013, and I’ve completed 15 straight compo entries since. The video shows gameplay highlights (post-compo version in some cases) along with a portion of the time lapse development.
My thoughts on each of the games.
Amish Brothers – This was my first Unity game and first Ludum Dare. I made the game about the Amish after hearing about their minimalist lifestyle.
Bomb Squad – This was a more action packed game. I was able to experiment with the Unity physics engine. Exploding bombs seemed to go well with the 10 seconds theme.
Tex Oneman (One Gunman) – I wanted to make an educational game. The gameplay was inspired by the old Number Munchers game.
Archaeology – I wanted to have a game which used heat maps, but it really didn’t turn out how I wanted. I also experimented with modifying terrains in real time. The idea for appraising treasure found came from the Pawn Stars show.
Dream World – This was my attempt at making a spooky game. It was inspired by Little Nemo the Dream Master for the NES, which is where the idea of making it to the bed originated. It was my first game to use Taron Verve Painter, and my first Stencyl Ludum Dare game.
TV World – A side scrolling shooter inspired by games like R-Type. The objective was to fight your way through each of the television channels.
Expand-O-Ray – The idea for this game came from the Revenge from Mars pinball machine that had the Big-O-Beam ray that made chickens grow huge. The game had many references to Georgia Tech, such as the SkilesBot and 1885. I eventually got the gun attached to the robot’s hand in a post-compo version.
Monster Hotel – A game inspired by the gameplay of Lemmings, but with a monster theme. Using a minor scale for the music gave it a more creepy feeling.
Mutant Veggie Arena – A first person shooter with a sci-fi theme using mutant vegetables. This was my first 3D game that used 2D billboarded sprites for the characters.
ShapeQuest – This game started as a Godot engine game, but switched to GameMaker after things weren’t working correctly. The enemy shape faces were inspired by the profiles in Punch-Out!!. Some of the enemy movements and attacks were inspired by the Legend of Zelda.
Ancient Adventure – Another game inspired by the Legend of Zelda, but created in 3D with an overhead view. A lot of issues with the original version were fixed in the post-compo version.
Free the Frog – This was my attempt at making a game with Frogger gameplay in 3D. The controls differed from my other games, since when a move button was pressed it would set the target square and then pull the player’s character to the destination. This was also my first time using Blender’s cell fracture plugin.
World Fighter, the Cosmic Warrior – A game inspired by the gameplay of Final Fight. The movement of the planet and moons were inspired by an enemy in an old RPG, but I can’t remember which one.
Slowbot – I really wanted to give a feeling of running out of power, which was the theme for that Ludum Dare. The speed, headlight, and motor sound were all affected by how much power the robot has.
Irwin McSpenders – I had the idea for a tax accountant game for years, but I just never made it. The player’s score would be based on the amount of money and dependents the player collected. I used real deductible and tax bracket values, which took a considerable amount of time.