Let's go over how the first day of Ludum Dare went.

The Theme
So, right off the bat, I didn't like the theme. It was one of the two or three that I downvoted. It's not that I couldn't come up with any ideas, it was more that the ideas I did come up with were too big and I felt that I couldn't execute on them with my limited solo gamedev ability. Basically, I kept coming up with ideas for interface heavy games - a real weakness of mine, and not one I want to challenge in this jam.
However, once I had some breakfast and a coffee, my head cleared and I just thought about different "skins" for a plate spinning mechanic.

The Idea
I was thinking of the soviet era, propaganda and City 17. What if you were playing as a lone rebel, spreading the word and convincing the people to rise up against a dictatorship? That would be pretty cool, no? But the people are scared, so you need to keep them reassured. The more people you try to convince, the more people you need to keep reassured. Sprinkle a couple of enemies in there, and we have a game!

The Process
I'm actually timelapsing my process, so you'll be able to see that in a week or so. But for those interested in my tools, I'm using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Audition, LabChirp, BSFXR, Bosca Ceoil, and building the game in Construct 3.

The Game
By the end of day one, I had something playable and something that resembles an oppressive look and feel. This is how the game looks now:

The Future

Big things missing right now, or rather, my task list for day two:

• A success condition
• A working HUD
• AI that can patrol around corners
• Scrolling camera to show who reported the player
• Increase size of player size when 'spreading the word'
• Show enemy view cones (might not do this)
• Cars!
• A front end and title screen
• Locked areas (that can be unlocked with an item)

Wish me luck!

http://www.twitter.com/SeanNoonan