So... Ludum Dare 30...

In approximately 9 and a half hours at the time of writing this sentence, I am going to be taking part in Ludum Dare #30 , a 48 hour game developement competition. I only know vaguely what themes are going to be presented (as the final vote is tallied pretty darn close to the start time), and for those who don't know, the only assets you're able to create beforehand are code snippets, which have to be approved beforehand. Everything else is done in the 48 hours, code, assets... everything.

So let's talk about prepping. Even though it's a really good idea to have some code snippets handy to save you time, I'm not doing this, because, beyond the fact that it will involve pixels, I don't want to prejudice myself with code snippets specifically for a platformer, or a tile-based RPG thing, or... You get the picture. I also know one of my biggest problems here is going to be organisation, so I didn't want to suffer for that early by having to waste time hunting through code snippets.

No, most of my prepping right now is psychological. I've tidied up the flat a bit, and am listening to various tunes (including the modern Lost In Space theme by Apollo 440... That's a really peppy piece.)

As far as tools, right now, I'm pretty determined to use Gamemaker Studio. No piece of kit is without flaw, but this'll hopefully save me some time. Apart from that, I have Paint.NET (for blog stuff, as opposed to dev stuff, but it's workable for asset stuff), GraphicsGale Free (for pretty pixels), LMMS (for music, if I end up having time for that), Audacity (for voice work, should the game warrant it), and Notepad++ (because I like writing shit down.)

Finally, there's me. I know a little bit of coding, am okay at assets, am okay at music, and do voice things for shits and giggles. I am a jack-of-all-trades. Hence why I'm not in it to win it, but to see what needs working on with my practices under pressure.

One other piece of psychological buffing I've done, silly as it sounds...

...That's right. Monitor JuJu.