the megastructure development blog

Atop Mt. Brawlalot – Ludum Dare #18

eli — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:33:25 +0000

My entry for the 18th Ludum Dare 48-hour game development competition was called “Atop Mt. Brawlalot”. It is the story of one brave individual, who resolves to fling any opposition from the mountain, rather than give in.

The theme of this competition was “Enemies as Weapons”.

The physics are quite wonky, but it is “broken in a good/funny way” as one commenter says. I like that, and yes, I feel it was broken properly.

Links to download on the official submission page.

Also notable were Yoni’s first ever LD entry, and Daniel’s second.

You are me now – Ludum Dare #17

eli — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 21:25:49 +0000

Here is my entry for the 17th Ludum Dare competition!
The theme of the compo was “Islands”.

It is called “You are me now”. You may need to click on the game to give it focus before playing. Hopefully, all instructions are given in-game.

If you get stuck, you may need to backtrack a bit.

(original LD entry) | (source) | (post-competition auto-analysis)

(intro/extro music) | (island theme music)

Review by ZOMGIndie!

Distant Chimneys

eli — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:27:13 +0000

In preparation for next week’s Ludum Dare (#17), I have been working on atmospheric effects. The results are here, in what I call “Distant Chimneys”. There is little in the way of gameplay, but I’m pleased with how the background and ambient effects turned out.

The music was made with Musagi (another Dr. Petter creation), instruments created in Absynth.

I feel very comfortable with Flixel, which I will probably use for the competition.

Play Distant Chimneys after the jump.

Use arrow keys to move and jump. You might need to click on the game before playing, to give it focus.

Cherrybrush sketches

eli — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 09:54:33 +0000

Megastructure sketches I drew using Cherrybrush (by the amazing Dr. Petter).

Thing-a-Day 2010: Complete

eli — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 09:14:05 +0000

After participating in Thing-a-Day for my second year, I put together a summary grid with everything in one place. The complete graphical source is also available in a convenient .zip file.

For the graphics source and more info, see the original Posterous post on Thing-a-Day.com.

The Character Project: Week Six – Amy

eli — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:37:30 +0000

Created for week six of The Character Project.

Graphics mostly created by Daniel. I reused some tiles hanging around for backgrounds. Built on Flixel.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Hammond: A mailman’s dream

eli — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 10:40:29 +0000

Hammond: A mailman’s dream is a small game I wrote for The Character Project.

Hammond was built on the Flixel framework, using Flashdevelop. Daniel made the mailman image, I made the rest. All graphics created with Inkscape.

Leaving Satisfactoria – Ludum Dare #16

eli — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:15:38 +0000

My entry for the 16th Ludum Dare 48-hour game creation competition. This competition was themed “Exploration”.

Download

Get the competition version here:

Leaving Satisfactoria – exe and source.zip (10,142 KB – Windows .exe and full source)
- alternative download
Leaving Satisfactoria.zip (328 KB – full source, needs pygame [see below])

Background

I wanted to break the normal “exploration” mold, where the goal is to uncover every single square on a map. The following elements were under focus:

A conscious decision to depart from a comfortable space (leaving home)
The one-way journey, leading your exploration far from the comfort zone
Accepting the danger before you

The actual “exploration” probably occurs after the end of the game. You will most likely have to play a few times before reaching all points on the field, this is by design.

Tools

The entire game was built with the Pygame Python-based engine. You can get that here. Graphics were done entirely in MSpaint. Sound effects courtesy of sfxr.

official megastrata hiatus

eli — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:31:54 +0000

This project has come further than any other of the previous attempts. Similarly, it has been a fantastic learning experience so far. Unfortunately, a conceptual blockade has emerged for various reasons, among them Sloth and Pride.

However, the idea has been around for years now, and it will reincarnate better than ever. Maybe next time a less lofty goal will be chosen, and the project may attain a feeling of completeness. I believe I may have reached too high in this current cycle, and constantly straining my neck looking at the goals is frustrating and discouraging.

For now, there are some other projects that demand pursuing. Rest assured that the Megastructure will return; because the truth is, it never ceased existing to begin with.

This blog will continue to exist as a development log, as well as @megastrata. I am participating in Ludum Dare #16 this weekend, under the name eli.

Elevated – v1.88

eli — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:10:27 +0000

After starting year 2 of physics at TAU, it’s been hard to find time for anything other than schoolwork or zoning out. It’s been more than a month since last code update, and not much has improved. Elevators are now usable, complete with internal colliding surfaces. Most of the development has been trying to fix bizarre stability issues as they arise; I’m not sure they have been addressed properly. Please let me know if this version crashes.

As always: get the latest version from the Megastrata information and download page.