CSCI 490 - Ludum Dare Final Project - 35%

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Completing the Dare - 15%

You will be participating in the Game Jam portion of Ludum Dare 32. This takes place over 72 hours, starting at 8pm Central Time Friday April 17th. In the jam, teams are allowed. Watch the intro video at the website linked below to get a full overview.

At least one person on your team must register for the Ludum Dare website. This is the only way that you can submit your game at the end of the competition.

At the end of the weekend competition, you should have a working game. You must have at least a kernel of a working product that you will refine over the next few weeks of class, but the more you finish now the easier it will be to complete the project later.

Theme - 1%

Every Ludum Dare has a theme, voted on by the community. The theme will be announced the day of the contest (for us, Friday 8pm) and must somehow be incorporated into the game your team creates.

Scope - 3%

Your game should not be planned to be the most epic game evar. Always keep in mind the scope of your skills and the timeframe you have to work. Be reasonable in your expectations, and you will achieve something of which you will be proud.

Here are a few short videos that do an excellent job of setting the tone of Ludum Dare and indie game creation.

Load Time - 1%

Your game should not take longer than 10-15 seconds to load on a reasonable modern computer. Any longer, and people will not be willing to wait to play the game. This means you will really need to care about efficiency of assets, only keeping the minimum amount around.

Physics - 1%

Include at least one element of physics in the game, either a RigidBody affected by gravity, a Collision, or a Trigger.

Assets - 2%

Based on the tool presentations and tutorials, incorporate either 2D or 3D assets into your game that you have created yourself. Also make good use of sound, both as funky background music, and for emphasizing game interactions.

AI - 2%

Include some sort of autonomous character behavior. This could use a Steering Behavior, a Finite State Machine, a Behavior Tree, a NavMesh Agent, or something we haven't learned.

GUI - 2%

Display a sensible and clear GUI to help a player know how to play your game, understand the state, and show the help options. The game must be playable without you there in the room telling someone what buttons to push. Be sure to include a splash screen, that waits to start the game until the user is ready. There should also be a credits screen listing the members of your team and any tools you used to help you make the game.

Twitch - 1%

One great way to get feedback on your game in progress and get eyeballs after the weekend is to Twitch your game development over the weekend! There is a special channel on Twitch devoted to Ludum Dare, and if you broadcast in that channel, you will show up in the LDtv box on the main Ludum Dare website. At least one member of your team should Twitch their game development or asset creation over the weekend.

Submission - 2%

Don't forget to submit your game to the competition! You will need to make a public web page with a link to your game for others to play. Be sure to have this space ready to go well before the competition is over.

Also, I just learned that Unity Web Player and the WebGL export options are no longer supported in Google Chrome as of version 42. Make a note on your pages that players will need to use Firefox or another browser. (Don't recommend Internet Explorer. Just don't.)

After the Dare - 20%

You completed a game! Congratulations! You won! Now comes the harder part, fixing all the pieces you just didn't have time for in the actual competition to get the game ready for deployment.

The version you posted for the contest should not change during the voting period, as the games should be judged based on the efforts put in over the weekend. So, your revisions should be posted to a separate location.

For inspiration, here are a few games which began as part of a prior Ludum Dare and are now available through Steam.

Voting - 2%

First, be sure to play and then vote on other games in the competition and give feedback. The more you vote and comment, the "cooler" you will be, raising your game's visibility on the website.

Also, find the other games from your classmates and comment on them. But don't vote on them, since this could be seen as gaming the system.

Post Mortem Self Reflection - 2%

Your team should write up a post mortem blog post, discussing your successes and failures over the weekend. Include discussion of at least the following topics: This blog entry should include screenshots of the game in development, and be posted on the Ludum Dare website by Thursday, April 23rd.

Playtesting - 2%

Devise a survey, either paper or on the web, for gathering information from playtesters about your game. Your goal is to evaluate the usability, clarity, graphic design, and enjoyment of your game. Use a Likert scale and freeform answers to gather this information.

We will be setting up an "arcade" in the SLTC sometime the week of April 20-24th (I'm still working out the details) where other community members can stop by and play your in-progress games. You will need to gather feedback from at least 10 people on campus through your survey.

More information about playtesting can be found at these sites

Revision - 8%

Based on your self reflection, comments from other Ludum Dare participants, and the playtesting feedback you get from on-campus players, revise your game to address any bugs that you have found and any gameplay issues identified. Your team should make significant progress toward the four items you identified above to improve your game.

Trailer - 2%

To promote your game, create a video trailer demonstrating the gameplay found within and detailing just enough of the rules to get people interested in playing the game. This should be a 1 min 30 sec video capturing the essential elements of your game. You can use text slides to explain the important elements of the game, but don't talk and record voice, the trailer should stand on its own. You are encouraged to use your funky background music.

Presentation - 4%

During the final exam period, the morning of May 6th, your team will show your trailer, present your initial game created for the Ludum Dare competition, discuss your subsequent evaluation and revision, quantify your playtesting survey replies, and demonstrate your final product. You should plan for an 15 minute presentation and 2 minutes for questions.