Annual Ludum Dare Independent Game Competition

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Annual Ludum Dare Independent Game Competition

Posted by michael on Sunday March 28, 2004 @07:57AM from the sore-fingers dept.

pyman writes "The 4th Ludum Dare game competition is being held over the April 16-18 weekend. A forum discussion can be found here, and you may register your details here. Previous compos have spawned some interesting games, as well as provided a unique insight into the creative process of the programmer mind."

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Why?? Why?? by Apreche · 2004-03-28 08:02 · Score: 3, Funny

Why is everything cool the same weekend? I'm missing triple points weekend at media play and now this. All because I'm going to Penguicon Oh well.

--
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
the closest i ever got... by trmj · 2004-03-28 08:03 · Score: 5, Funny

to making a game was writing a RPG in basic on my TI-89 calculator.

Now that I look back on it, I don't have to wonder why I failed that math class...

--
Work sucked, until it became unemployment, when it became slightly more tolerable. -Tet
1. Re:the closest i ever got... by OldSchoolNapster · 2004-03-28 08:49 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I wrote a fully functional 2 player Pong game on a TI-89. I failed alot more than my math class in the process but it was totally worth it.
  
  Computer Science rules!
  
  --
  bit trollent
2. Re:the closest i ever got... by TheOnlyCoolTim · 2004-03-28 08:55 · Score: 1
  
  Was it networked, or two players on one calc?
  
  Tim
  
  --
  Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
3. Re:the closest i ever got... by trmj · 2004-03-28 09:08 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  If it was in basic, it would have been on a single calc, otherwise basic would have gone way too slow communicating over that link cable.
  
  Depending on whether he had two HW2 editions or not, it could have been done on 68K assembly, if he wrote a custom link program that didn't have all the system slowdowns, but it would have to have been the HW2 for the 12Mhz processor instead of the HW1 that used the 8Mhz.
  
  Or at least that was the common thinking when I was programming for it.
  
  --
  Work sucked, until it became unemployment, when it became slightly more tolerable. -Tet
4. Re:the closest i ever got... by OldSchoolNapster · 2004-03-28 10:01 · Score: 1
  
  2 players on one calc. It took a little discipline to play because unlike in assembly (which I still haven't learned) in BASIC if you hit more than one key at a time either only one key or neither keystroke is recognized.
  
  --
  bit trollent
5. Re:the closest i ever got... by ichandarin · 2004-03-28 11:56 · Score: 1
  
  A TI-89? Try programming that on an HP-48G+, what I used for math class! Trying to program that thing to do games is the cool way to drop out of school... :)
  
  --
  Denn wir sind wie Baumstaemme im Schnee. Scheinbar liegen sei glatt auf, mit kleinem anstoss sollte man sie wegschieben
6. Re:the closest i ever got... by smithwis · 2004-03-28 13:55 · Score: 1
  
  I created a snake game on my TI83 in class.
  
  This program provided me with an early introduction to the pains of code plaguirizing. Another kid at school got ahold of my code(as there weren't many games for the 83 at the time my BASIC game was widely used at school) and changed the levels around abit, improved the game a tiny bit(took the 2 programs the code was split into and combined them into 1), and changed the made by credits to say his name. He rereleased the code and about half the school thought he had made the game.
  
  Looking back on it, its pretty cool. I basicaly created a lifo data structure in an array(the good indices into array method) without knowing that the data structure had a name or was widely used. And I got the whole game running at a very playable speed using an interpreted language on a slow-ass calculator. Ahh, the good-old-days, when coding was still fun(only sorta joking here;-)
  
  Please forgive the rambling
7. Re:the closest i ever got... by Spy+Hunter · 2004-03-28 15:58 · Score: 1
  
  You don't need to learn assembly, you can use C with TI-GCC. Much easier, but still just as fast. Actually, to stay on topic here, a 48-hour game competition for the TI-89 would be a fun thing to do. Since calculator games don't need to be as complex as computer games, the resulting games might actually see widespread play after the competition too.
  
  --
  main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
8. Re:the closest i ever got... by trmj · 2004-03-28 16:22 · Score: 1
  
  a 48-hour game competition for the TI-89 would be a fun thing to do
  
  Great idea, but you would have to limit it a bit based on hardware and language.
  
  For example, there were two hardware verions of the TI-89, HW1 and HW2. The HW1 edition came with a 8MHz Dragonball processor, and the HW2 came with 12MHz Dragonball processor, which didn't use the same assembly language.
  
  Also, the TI-92 calculator used the same processor as the 89 HW2, but with a full qwerty keyboard and a better chipset. Also, it had a larger screen. Both the 89 HW2 and the 92 could run the same programs, in both basic and assembly.
  
  The version of assembly used on the HW2 was 68k, I have no idea what was used on the HW1.
  
  Although having all that information permanently embedded into my brain, I never learned assembly, mainly because when I tried, I tried learning the version for the HW1 when I had a HW2, so it didn't work out well. Besides, you can't program assembly while pretending to be doing work in math class.
  
  As for C, well, I never learned that one either, for about the same reason: I was reading a book for one compiler and using another. The result? Hello World didn't work. Bah. VB was easier, so I wrote Monopoly in that and used it for a health class project (took 8 hours to design, write, and make the graphics for it the night before it was due :P).
  
  So if it's a basic competition you're looking for, I'd be up for it, as I just dug out all my old documentation for the thing (the manual wasn't any help at all).
  
  --
  Work sucked, until it became unemployment, when it became slightly more tolerable. -Tet
9. Re:the closest i ever got... by RedCard · 2004-03-29 03:58 · Score: 1
  
  Something similar happened to me...
  
  Our high school network, as I remember it, was locked down pretty well. This was the early nineties, there was no internet access, and the network was only for remote booting the computers, and storing a few files for computer programming classes.
  
  Anyways, there was a small, little-known, and very-little-used hard drive attached to one of the servers that was publically accesible from any terminal on the network. Even the computer teachers didn't know about it. I think it was just installed by the sysadmin for the county and then forgotten about.
  
  I managed to hack together a program that allowed a virtual BBS and chat to take place on the school network by reading and writing files to the 'secret' shared drive. My friends and I planned to write a few simple multiplayer programs for it too, like chess or checkers that could be played over the network. (Reading/writing from the hard drive was too slow to allow anything faster than a simple turn-based game to be even remotely viable)
  
  The program was set up so that you had to enter the location of the drive and initial or 'start' file on the remote drive to use when you connected. I did that on purpose so as to limit the number of users with access... (Incidentally, my name was never on the program, because, quite frankly, I didn't want to get in trouble if/when we were found out.) Everything was going well until another kid got his hands on the code, stuck his name on it, made it connect to the shared drive automatically, and gave it to all of his friends... who gave it to their friends....
  
  Usage went from 8 people to about 200 people in 4 days, and it was found out by the staff.
  
  In a sweet twist of irony, the guy who stole my code and put his name on it was yelled at by the principal and suspended for a few days. The secret hard drive was shut down.
  
  A few weeks later, a few friends and I were in the computer lab after school, just messing around, waiting for the bus. The computer teacher was there, and he said something like, "Guys, I know [the other kid] couldn't have written the chat program, was it one of you?"
  
  I said it was me.
  He said the program was pretty cool, and it was only the principal who flipped out, but I never should have distributed it.
  I told him about the other guy stealing my code and giving it out.
  He just chuckled at that.
  
  I guess if I had done that today, they would've called the police to report a 'dangerous hacker'.
10. Re:the closest i ever got... by TheOnlyCoolTim · 2004-03-29 23:03 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, I only ever got turn based games working networked, since I couldn't do assembly...
  
  Tim
  
  --
  Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
What about mod competitions? by Nomihn0 · 2004-03-28 08:04 · Score: 5, Insightful

Despite the stifling of creativity that some feel when they work on the structure of a preexisting game, why aren't mods taken more seriously in the indie game world? Many budding game designers and production houses lack the capital to create a stand-alone game to enter into a such a competition as this. Cheap engines like the Torque engine (of Tribes fame) have spawned excellent indie games such as Marble Madness. Why can't people accept mods like this -
1. Re:What about mod competitions? by trmj · 2004-03-28 08:06 · Score: 1
  
  I wasn't aware that Tribes was released on the NES during its prime... Because that's when I was playing Marble Madness on my NES.
  
  --
  Work sucked, until it became unemployment, when it became slightly more tolerable. -Tet
2. Re:What about mod competitions? by Nomihn0 · 2004-03-28 08:08 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Edit to my original post: I'm sorry, I slipped up. I meant Marble Blast - published by Garage Games.
3. Re:What about mod competitions? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-28 08:14 · Score: 0
  
  I wish more people would use the Quake engine and its spawn (namely Dark Places and Tenebrae).
  
  The Quake engine is pretty good. Half-Life was based on the original Quake engine with heavy modifications. Why don't indies do the same?
4. Re:What about mod competitions? by Nomihn0 · 2004-03-28 08:21 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Many people do use the Quake engine for indie gaming. One of the most popular games using the open source Quake engine is D-Day: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~dday/site Many of these so called "source-port-mods" are left as free. This is for various reasons, including but not limited to the restrictive license under which the code is released. Graphics aren't everything, but they do attract people to the stores. This is what indie developers cannot reach with their resources - the graphical intensity of modern commercial games.
5. Re:What about mod competitions? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-28 09:02 · Score: 0
  
  Thanks for the link. Interesting looking game. I forgot to mention qBlood/Transfusion, another stand-alone "mod" (I think "Quake engine-based game" would be a more accurate term).
6. Re:What about mod competitions? by sjbrown · 2004-03-28 09:07 · Score: 5, Informative
  lack the capital to create a stand-alone game to enter into a such a competition as this
  
  Umm.. maybe you should check out what the Ludum Dare competition actually is.
  
  one person (programming AND graphics)
  
  you get 48 hours, starting from scratch
  
  you can use most any game library you want
  
  Lack of capital is not a consideration. Free time on the chosen weekend is the only real limiting factor.
  
  I entered last year using PyGame and Gimp. I spent $0. I got 2nd place in the Cosmetic category.
7. Re:What about mod competitions? by Nomihn0 · 2004-03-28 09:08 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  well, my source of Quake mod goodness is the Quake Wiki. It can be found at http://wiki.quakesrc.org/ They have an excellent list of source port mods
8. Re:What about mod competitions? by ZorbaTHut · 2004-03-28 12:10 · Score: 1
  
  For the same reason few people take fanfics seriously - because most of them suck. Yes, there are exceptions, but they're rare.
  
  On the other hand, Desert Combat is technically a mod, and people seem to respect that one quite a bit.
  
  --
  Breaking Into the Industry - A development log about starting a game studio.
9. Re:What about mod competitions? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-28 14:23 · Score: 0
  
  I used that to find a decent engine, but I didn't think to look for mods there. Thanks!
Ludum Dare by Michael.Forman · 2004-03-28 08:05 · Score: 4, Informative

ludum dare - to give free play to

Michael.

--
Linux : Mac :: VW : Mercedes
Great, just great.. by Motherfucking+Shit · 2004-03-28 08:13 · Score: 5, Funny

I had planned on washing my car today. Now, I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon playing "Sheep Wars."

--
"BSD: Free as in speech. Linux: Free as in beer. Windows 10: Free as in herpes." --Man On Pink Corner in #52607549.
1. Re:Great, just great.. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-28 08:22 · Score: 0
  
  and you are going to watch sheep fly when you go to sleep as well?
but does it... by dj245 · 2004-03-28 08:14 · Score: 1

Yes, "Sheep Wars" does run on linux. And it does look mighty interesting.

--
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
Fun, but exams do interfere by PktLoss · 2004-03-28 08:24 · Score: 5, Insightful

Sounds like a lot of fun, too bad its scheduled so close to finals.

48hrs for a game isn't much, but I really think it would be a fun contest to enter with friends.

"Yeah, well in my game you get to run around the house trying to find the clock radio before it goes off"... "Yeah well, in my game you are the clock radio, and you have to find the kid before school starts"

(the theme for that imaginary contest being timing, clocks and running :)

--
paul reinheimer
1. Re:Fun, but exams do interfere by arbitrary+nickname · 2004-03-28 09:02 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  It's a solo competition - no teams allowed, and all art/audio must be made during the compo..
  
  Most freely-available libraries are allowed, including D3D, OpenGL, Allegro, ODE (physics engine), and various audio libs.
  
  I entered the last two, and it is very good fun. Entrants range from game programming newbies to people with games industry experience.... But IMHO it's more about seeing what you yourself can achieve in 48hrs (with little sleep and loads of caffiene) than simply trying to beat the competition. Well worth a go, if you can spare a weekend :)
2. Re:Fun, but exams do interfere by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-28 09:08 · Score: 0
  
  I think he meant enter the contest and have your friends also enter the contest separately but still communicate during the competition to make it a little more fun and a bit less monotonous.
3. Re:Fun, but exams do interfere by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-28 10:59 · Score: 0
  
  LD48 is a hella lot of fun. I entered in the Sheep one, using pygame.
  
  IIRC, the rules don't allow collaborative entries. The whole point of the comp is that it's to see what you, a single developer can create in 48 hours working from scratch. That's why there's such restrictions on no use of existing art or codebases (some libraries excepted) etc.
  
  As someone points out on the BB for this announcement, it's surprising how much time you really need to devote to *gameplay*. I kinda got that wrong in my game, spending too long fiddling with graphics.
  
  There's *plenty* of other comps out there that allow collaboration etc. though.
New for this conference... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-28 08:45 · Score: 4, Funny

...I predict methane will be found, in large quantities.
Speaking of sheep... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-28 08:50 · Score: 1, Interesting

Speaking of sheep, has anyone played the Shepherd for the Amiga? That was a pretty original game.

http://amiga.emucamp.com/shepherd.htm
this is what's wrong with developing by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-28 09:15 · Score: 2, Interesting

the contest is to code somthing in 48 hours? That alone isn't very impressive and judging from the lack of creativity with sheepwars, niether are the submissions. Sheepwars is a bad rip off of 10+ year old games, the controls are counter intuitive to boot.

I don't want to replay (and in many cases repay) games I've been playing forever, I want to see somthing new, maybe I'm foolish but that seems like a far more interesting contest to me.
1. Re:this is what's wrong with developing by UfoZ · 2004-03-28 10:15 · Score: 1
  
  The contest is to come up with a fun idea and implement as much of it as you can in 48 hours - it's about pushing yourself and seeing how much you can achieve.
  
  There have definitely been creative entries - for example, Orbital Sniper was something really new and cool.
  
  If you're not impressed with the games then by all means, please join in and do something better in 48 hours.
2. Re:this is what's wrong with developing by digitaleus · 2004-03-29 10:27 · Score: 1
  
  ridiculous limitations are actually very good at getting the creative spark going.
  
  --
  content management for designers
'Sheep wars' interesting ???!!!! by master_p · 2004-03-28 21:10 · Score: 1

A really big YAWN!!! Remember what I 've said in the previous discussion about games ? it's damn hard to come up with a truly new concept (something like Tetris or Populus or Pacman). Everything is a rehash.

And I am not trolling. I am just insisting on making people see the truth about games.
1. Re:'Sheep wars' interesting ???!!!! by digitaleus · 2004-03-29 10:31 · Score: 1
  
  that's why 48 hour competitions like this are good - no one needs anything except 2 days. there are no barriers to entry. more people can enter, and it becomes more likely that someone will hit on that winner idea.
  
  --
  content management for designers
2. Re:'Sheep wars' interesting ???!!!! by ACPosterChild · 2004-03-29 10:40 · Score: 1
  
  Remember what I 've said in the previous discussion about games ?
  
  Fuck no. Who the hell are you!?!?!?
  ;)
  
  I agree with your "rehash" sentiment though. But, that doesn't mean that Sheep Wars couldn't have been "interesting". I wouldn't know though, I haven't played it.
3. Re:'Sheep wars' interesting ???!!!! by CuriousKangaroo · 2004-03-29 13:41 · Score: 1
  
  Check out the Indie Game Jam for some truly unique game concepts.
4. Re:'Sheep wars' interesting ???!!!! by master_p · 2004-03-29 20:54 · Score: 1
  
  The game concepts are not unique; word of their authors: their influences are games like Robotron, Choplifter, Populus and other old ones.