I say attempt because I didnt exactly make the contest or jam submission time with anything worth submitting! :no:
But basically, for anyone unfamiliar with Ludum Dare, its a 48 hour game creation contest. So you have 48 hours to make a game from scratch, to a theme which is announced as soon as the contest starts. And theres some pretty big-gun game developers who participate. I think this LD about 250 games were completed for the contest.
This was my first ludum dare, Id only found out about what ludum dare was the night beforehand so it was pretty impulsive the next day when the theme went up and I decided to jump in. Unfortunately I had work for the whole first day (damn double shifts) and spent most of the 2nd day in town with friends. This left me with little time to work on an entry… :no:
For Ludum Dare #20 in April 2011 I plan to get both days off work and lock myself into my room, Id really like to give it a proper go and see what kind of game I can make in 48 hours straight, no distractions.
Anyway I thought Id keep working on the game and get it finished, so Id might as well start a thread here for it (havent posted any work in ages :()
About the game:
The theme was ‘Discovery’
After about a minute brainstorming I had the concept for the game pretty much down, trying to keep it as simple as possible. I decided to base the game on the space shuttle discovery, to let the player take control of the launch and fly into space. Once in space you have a mission to complete (which involves a discovery ;)) and then you must return to earth and land.
For the contest I pretty much just aimed to make the shuttle fly-able, so you could get into space, and thatd be the end. But I had some issues on the final night with coding, and gave up at 4am. (python at 4am = baaad)
So far however you can start at the main menu screen, exit or start the game, then in-game theres a countdown clock, it starts at T-02:00 mins, and when it reaches 0 the shuttle takes off. Im about to implement the launch procedure which the player will have to follow from T-2mins (or maybe 3mins?) in order to prep the shuttle and make it takeoff, otherwise it will be gameover, likewise if you stuff it up youll have to abort the takeoff and try again.
At T-20secs the shuttle controls will be handed over to the player (as in real life with the astronauts) so the player can perform the rollout 10 seconds after launch and direct the shuttle into its destination in space, performing other maneuvers as required and maintaining the right speed and heading so the shuttle doesn’t get destroyed by the aerodynamic forces.
I have basic environment done, but it was all pretty rushed so Ill replace it soon enough, along with some kind of LOD to display the earth as the shuttle reaches orbit. Theres also a few things which need updating because of me rushing to get something done in the 48 hours,
Screenshots:
The wip menu screen is done for now:
Older image of the shuttle (no textures on the shuttle in this one)
Anyway Ill post more progress here when I get time.
