Tipped off by dtx on #ludumdare, I discovered Sumotori Dreams, an 87 kilobyte game written by Peter Sotesz for the Breakpoint 2007 competition. It’s essentially sumo wresting meets physics simulation meets Funniest Home Videos. Runs nicely under Wine (0.9.12) on Linux too.
Here’s a video:
That’s some freaky, freaky drunken AI.
So here is my entry for mini-LD#5. It’s a cover of GBGames LD#11 entry, ‘minimalist’, turned evil.
Download: maximalist (maximalist_0.12_miniLD5.zip, 4.6 Mb, md5: 68ada72418f029f9d7f5e81ca4792863)
(see below for the README)
Gameplay video
You may wonder why the fullscreen resolution seems strange (800×480). Well, if you owned an Asus EeePC 4G Surf (701), you may not wonder so much.
Libraries used:
Tools used:
I used a scanner to ‘photograph’ various items around the house (including myself) to provide source images for further manipulation.
Assests:
All in all, I had a fun, relaxed weekend making this game. I’ve got to remember to relax a little more during Ludum Dare competitions, it really seems to help.
On Windows, run maximalist.exe .
On Linux or other platforms, run:
$ python maximalist.py
Dependancies (Linux or other only):
Python (2.5 +) ( http://www.python.org .. you probably already have it)
Pygame 1.7.1 ( http://www.pygame.org )
Rabbyt 0.8.2 ( http://matthewmarshall.org/projects/rabbyt/ )
(hint for Debian/Ubuntu: $ sudo apt-get install python-pygame python-setuptools; sudo easy_install Rabbyt==0.8.2 )
You are venturing into a dungeon or something. You think.
Actually, to be honest, you don’t know how you got here or
what you are doing here. All you do know is that there’s
something nasty lurking in the dark. The big bag of glowsticks
slung over you shoulder is your only friend.
All you want to do is Exit. And keep Exiting, until it’s safe.
There are 25 levels. Using a glowstick costs 5 points. Exiting a level gets you 10.
Getting your brains chomped by a nasty halves your score.
Try to get the highest score you can.
Move the mouse. Click the mouse buttons.
Tags: ludum dare
Here’s a quick initial release of a tiny ‘framework’ I’m making, since I might use it in the Mini-LD#5 this weekend. I probably won’t even participate this time, but just in case, I present to you …
Requires pygame and rabbyt. It’s under the MIT license. I’m regarding this as alpha, since it’s incomplete and poorly tested, (although I am using successfully it in a small game already).
simplemenu, as it’s unimaginative name suggests, is a simple set of classes to automatically lay out a vertical column of ‘buttons’ on the screen, with click and rollover effects. Like the about simplest sort of GUI you could imagine. I made it because I felt like I needed a quick and brainless way to make simple “Start”, “Options”, “Quit” menus at the title screen of games, and during a Ludum Dare 48 hour competition, you don’t want to have to mess around with the details of things like this.
There is nothing I’d call game logic in the classes. There is demo code under “if __name__ == ‘__main__’:” … again this is what I would call ‘functional documentation’, not useful game logic. It’s all still quite ugly.
Tags: simplemenu
I’ve played about 5 mins of Spore in a games store, so I’m in no position to review it. Draconian DRM issues aside, I wasn’t all that impressed with my brief time in the Cell stage, although I was distracted by the gross-out slimy controllers, caked in grease from the fingers of countless snot nosed kids that tried it before me. So while I can’t really judge based on my limited play I think I’ll let the review in the highly respected Science Magazine judge for me:
“Spore is essentially a very impressive, entertaining, and elaborate Mr. Potato Head that uses the language of evolution but none of the major principles,” conclude Gregory and Eldredge.
It sounds like some kind of Mii creator tied together with minigames. Apparently it rates high on ‘cute’, but very low on ‘fun’ or ’science’. The conclusion is that EA is wrapping this game in marketing language that speaks of ‘evolution’, trying to push the educational aspects, but in reality there isn’t a scrap of evolution in the game. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t believe games require any educational value whatsoever .. pure fun is fine with me. But claiming your game has a basis in solid science when it is clearly based on cute graphics alone does players (and educators) a disservice.
“the breakthrough science that’s revealing the secret genetic machinery that shapes all life in the game Spore.” — Will Wright
Yeh, right .. thanks for that Will. As far as it’s use in science education … I can only see Spore being suitable for the education system in Kansas.