for Ludum Dare 35 I made a game called windowframe, where the game window follows the player around the screen. a few levels in you gain the ability to pin and drag the edges of the window, reshaping the dimensions of the game and creating temporary walls, floors and ceilings to avoid dangers or reach otherwise inaccessible areas. some people have expressed interest in how this was done, and since it’s surprisingly straightforward to do (in GameMaker: Studio, at least) I thought I’d write a short tutorial which covers the basics of this effect.

this is what we’ll end up with:

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step one

video games video games

thank you for asking

(click for full size)

Still a lot of work to do but I have the basic movement working!

For Ludum Dare 32 I made a game called A Knife Made Of Whispers. There’s also a video if you’d like to get a quick idea of what the game is like. Quite a few of the 48 hours were spent writing a shader to add a number of visual effects to the game, including chromatic aberration and diffusion.

I’ve since had a number of people express interest in how the shader was developed and what it does, so I’ve decided to write a guide. While I try to explain things as best I can, there is a fair bit of maths and non-intuitive code involved, so be warned!

Here’s a summary of the effects:

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(click to view full size)

Better not go too far from that lantern!

Who knows what any of it does!

Been a bit unwell lately, but if I’m feeling up to it I’ll be there for Ludum Dare 32, my fifth in a row!

As always, I’ll be using:

• Gamemaker
• Photoshop
• Jfxr
• FL Studio

I set out to make a Metroidvania style game that would fit entirely on one screen, and I’ve finally finished creating the world! Here are some screenshots from the game (click to view them at full size):

And here’s a gif [3mb].

I still have to add audio, some scenery, and lots of polish.

So I thought I’d join in the wallpaper making craze.

You can find a collection of different colors here. Some of the palettes are based on previous games I’ve made but you’re very welcome to customize the colors. All wallpapers are 1920 x 1200 but they should be easy to crop to other resolutions.

Lastly, I added the three boxes to each ‘aspect’ of game development with the idea that you could tick or fill the boxes in as you make progress on the game.

This will be my fourth Ludum Dare in a row.

As usual, I’ll be using

• Gamemaker: Studio
• Jfxr
• FL Studio
• A never ending supply of sugar

In other news, I’ve finished the commercial version of The Sun and Moon! I’ll try to write a post mortem about the process and my experiences with it soon.