I made... something
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/sexy-booby-95

Oh hey! I love your music, I'd play this just for that honestly even though I'm not much of a rhythm game player. With only two buttons it seems casual enough and perfect for mobile. Looks (and sounds of course) pretty nice, satisfying and juicy already. Good luck with this!

Let's talk moving platforms!

Moving platforms are a staple in platform games and sometimes you wonder why. I read a tweet once that read something like

People spend so much time implementing moving platforms into their games, all just to make their level design slightly worse.

Classic (boring) moving platforms
There is something in that to think about and not just add them because you're "supposed" to. They can easily slow down the pace and result in boring waiting time. I do have classic moving platforms in the game but I will probably use them sparingly.



Dash platforms

I learned from Celeste the importance of "player activation" as a way to mitigate this problem. Instead of constantly moving on their own, have a player action (in this case a dash) activate the platforms. The Dash Platforms from Celeste are my favorite example of this so of course I straight up stole it. The added momentum when you jump off is so much fun to play around with. 



Step on platforms

Here is another example of player activation. Just step on.

Looks saucy and hellishly fun! Congrats on this one!

Whoa, this looks amazing!

Eyy, there it is! Given how good your jam platformer felt, one that you spent more time on must be fantastic.

Thanks guys! 

[Edit: Genius!]

Holy crap, I won.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/fallumns

Congrats! I'll have to try it out!

Edit: Genius!

Results are in!




First time I broke top 10 and a win in a category to boot. . Hope you all did well and see you for the next one!

[action number system]

Let's talk some main player mechanics.

Action number system
The most stand out one is what I call the action number system. The jam version was solely based around this and it can add a puzzle element to the gameplay. Basically as you start a level you can only move left or right. After touching a number you gain that many actions. Actions can be spent on either jumping or dashing. Your number decreases by using an action so if you touch a "2" you can jump twice, dash twice or any combination of the two. You don't have to be grounded to do an action and as long as you have actions to spend you can jump/dash in the air. The dash is 8 directional, Celeste style.

Limited actions/moves


Runner Mode
Touching the runner icon grants you legs. Runner mode is pretty standard platforming fare. You can jump as long as you're grounded and you get one air dash that has to be reset by landing again. You also gain the ability wall jump.
 
Standard platforming mechanics


Ship Mode
There are two different ways you play as a ship depending on if the level is an autoscroller (shoot em up) or a platform level.   Autoscrolling levels plays like a standard space shooter with weapon upgrades (both horizontal and vertical scrolling is available). In a platform level you can touch the ship icon and freely control the ship (more like asteroids).

Shmup level


Free control

[About the game]

Hey, Silkworm here! Throwing up a devlog for my second major project "Super Mega Zero" (the first one being The Wizard and The Slug).

It started as a 48h jam project for Ludum Dare 45. The theme was "Start with nothing" so I made a platformer with a built in level editor. I picked it up again 3 months ago and I've been working on it and given it a proper name.

About the game
Super Mega Zero is a tight precision and puzzle platformer with shoot 'em up elements. You play as the number Zero who has to rescue Miss Undefined from the dastardly Kill Screen (the story is really not important). I'd say the gameplay is a mix of Celeste + Super Meat Boy with a pinch of Gradius or similar space shooter.

Platforming + shmup gameplay




I'll try to update this weekly. In the mean time check out the trailer and consider adding it to your wishlist on steam.

Links
Steam page
Twitter @silkworm_games

Submitted! https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/fallen-shovel

Day 1 - Off to bed!

[Space Ship E.V.E]

Aww, no other TIGS people doing LD this time? ):

You're not alone

Anyway here is my entry:

Space Ship E.V.E

Made a platformer with a level editor.
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/s-w-n

Submitted!
Grand Theft Life

Day 1

My results! Got pretty much what I expected. Went for pretty limited content with a lot of polish this time. This is the second time I did the Jam, I usually do the compo. It's definitely a step up from last time I did Jam (648th overall). I'd like to continue working on it at some point but I really need to finish up my ongoing projects first.

Submitted!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/metamorphosis

Day 1. Would probably make a fine compo entry but I'm thinking of going for jam honestly. So much more I want to add but I'm not sure if even jam is enough time for everything. 

I did alright!

I was expecting much from this LD as I was so ill during the jam. I think the fact that the audio got the best result and that's the only bit I didn't do speaks volumes.

You did alright I think, considering you worked alone. I feel like the bar for Jam is so much higher since the competition is doubled and you're competing against teams. Like the Jam winner had 7 people working on it.

Submitted! https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/get-off-my-lawn

Haha. I guess that could be used as an argument both for and against automatically computing the overall score as an average of all the other ones instead...

You got some really nice scores too, so congratulations. c:

Thanks! I'm fine with having "overall" separate. In fact, I'd probably be against computing the average as I don't like the idea of any one category bringing down a game if it doesn't make sense for the game to focus on it. What if you make a really awesome game that doesn't use graphics, or a a game without any humor?

 

[Top 50]

Top 50! Best results I've gotten yet. Strange how my overall score is better than any of the individual ones. I guess there is something to the phrase "greater than the sum of its parts".