obsessiv gamejammer, physics PhD student, #gamedev and #pixelart lover. Participates in #1hgj, #LDJAM, #gcmuc and random other #indiedev events.
Laguna • 1 year ago Hey there,
I am really looking forward to this Alakajam Feedback Fortnight event! Unfortnunately I missed the first FF event, but this time I submitted an entry! For LD41 DevilLime, xXBloodyOrange and I worked on a mashup between a Tower Defense and a Clicker game: Grantchester Meadows which is now awaiting your feedback!
I am also looking forward to play your entries. I will try and give detailed feedback.
Laguna • 1 year ago Of course I will join the next Alakajam!
Although some friends are celebrating their wedding on the next weekend, I will try and sneak some hours of awesome gamedev into the schedule.
I will be using Haxe and HaxeFlixel and probably aim for an HTML5 build. If I find time for graphics, I will use Aseprite.
Regardig the themes: I am awefully sorry that "little robot workers" as well as "giant robots" were eliminated during the voting phase. However, I see a good chance for some of the themes to do something at least related to robots. :D
Other than that, I am really looking forward to joining ths alakajam and of course to play all your awesome games!
gl, hf and of course: see you on the other side!
Laguna
Laguna • 2 years ago Hi there,
During August 2018 I was blessed to work with xXBloodyOrange, Thunraz and Aurvandil on Thyl's Tale. In about two weeks we created a Zelda/Hyper Light Drifter like game. I was really excited when I saw that our game is also featured in the 2nd Alakajam Tournament. In that tournament players fight for the top position in a leaderboard, which takes into account the highscores of 6 games from the Alakajam community.
This post will be a (non-exhaustive) list of tips and tricks to help you with doing a speedrun.
This is separated into two parts, one that contains spoilers and one that is spoiler free.
If you are tired of watching the intro cutscene for the n-th time, just hit ESC to skip it.
If you want to get a good time, you need to do precise movement. The normal movement ist done by WASD or Arrow keys and the attack/dash can be used with C/X or J/K. Alternatively: If you enjoy playing with a gamepad, Thyl's Tale also supports gamepads (tested with xBox 360).
You will use the dash to avoid enemies, to pass over cliffs and just to move faster. Therefore get a feeling for the dash and how it works.
Did you notice the timer right above Thyl? That is the dash cooldown. Once the text gets bigger in size and starts to fade, you can dash again. Try to pick the appropriate timing.
There are only some specific places where you really have to fight to proceed. In dev speak we call them "arenas". Those are the levels where you enter a certain region and wall emerge, blocking your movement. The first time this happens in the third level after leaving the city, when entering the ruins and at the boss fight.
In all other cases you can easily run through the levels and not bother with the enemies.
Also see: "Learn the levels" below.
The shrines can heal Thyl if he gets beaten up by the enemies. Just walk near a shrine to trigger that effect. There are some shrine on the way which you can use to refill your health.
When you are low on health you can also teleport back to the city and use the shrine there.
When pressing F you can see your stats. Try to get items which maximize your walking speed and dash range and also minimize the dash cooldown. Good items are the Katana, and the leather armor.
There are three different enemy types (plus the boss) and all of them require a different way of fighting:
Of course all enemies can also be killed with the bow and arrow from a safe distance.
The boss (called Raon) has three stages:
If possible, try to avoid the third stage as this will take a lot of time. If you bought a good weapon, Thyl should be able to defeat Raon way before that.
Knowing the progession of levels is really helpful as you can plan ahead. This image (created during development time) shows all the maps. They don't show the final version of the maps but a basic, blocked version. It might help you find your way through this adventure.
There are two puzzles levels in the game, just before the bossfight.
Laguna • 2 years ago You all did an awesome job! Thanks to all the great devs who took part in this jam, by creating a 'retro' game during August 2018 and especially by playing and rating other games. Telling the creators of a game what you feel, like (and perhaps dislike) on a game is super valuable and will create a huge amount of motivation! We are especially happy that we have a new submission highscore for a Kajam.
Of course we have some shiny medals to show! The games were rated on a single 'retro' score. While createing a game on its own is an awesome achievement and everyone can be super proud of the games, some were worth mentioning far beyond the other games. So without further adue:
Of course we all get a sort of past-jam-blues after such an awesome event. But fear not! We have some awesome events prepared for you:
During the tournamet you can compete in games created for the 3rd Alakajam or the 5th Kajam via our highscore system, either for the fastest speedrun or the highest score.
The next regular Alakajam will take place in October 12-14. This is a big, weekend-long event for you to take part in!
The next month-long event will be run in November by @DaFluffyPotato . If you enjoyed doing this Kajam, save the date and clear your calendar as it will be equally awesome!
Laguna • 2 years ago 
During the month of August you managed to create a game! But we have another reason to celebrate: This is the Kajam with the most entries! Keep up the spirit and spread the word!
During the next week (from 3. September to 9. September) you will have the chance to play and rate all the awesome games, which have been created for this Kajam. There is only one voting category, called "retro". And of course you can give comment on everybody's game and give them a lot of valuable feedback!
Don't worry! Submissions will stay open until the end of the jam (until Sunday, 9. September). However, it is recommended to submit as soon as possible. This will give other jammers time to give feedback and also give you the time to comment and rate the other entries.
Laguna • 2 years ago Listen to the keynote on soundcloud Thanks to xXBloodyOrange for helping me with that!
By definition “retro” means to consciously derive from or imitate previous creatings. 
In gaming, everything started with retro games. Games like “Donkey Kong”, “Pong”, “Pac Man”, “Sonic”, “Super Metroid”, “Zelda: A Link to the past”, “Tetris” or “Super Mario Cars” are inherently linked to gaming.
Lately “retro”-games and consoles are having their rennaisance. Companies like Nintendo or Atari create new versions of old consoles, like the “NES Mini”, “SNES Mini” or the “Atari Flashback 8”. Original consoles and games can be found on almost every flea market.
All of those games feature a unique art-style or a piece of music that sticks in our heads forever. However, from the developer’s perspective, retro games are not just about art and style. They have one thing in common, which is a clear, simple mechanic. Because of the limited features of old consoles, the games had to focus on simple mechanics and tricks.
Make a game that derives from a previous creation!
Make a game for an old console!
Make a retro game!
For this Kajam you can work solo or as a team. You have the complete month of August 2018 to create and submit your entry. Every Framework or Engine is allowed. You can even use third party assets.
At the end of August you will be able to rate other participants’ games based on one single “retro” score.
Laguna • 2 years ago 
We have had an awesome 2nd Alakajam! We want to shout out a big "Thank you" to everyone who made this jam that great, being it submitting/rating theme suggestions, creating games, rating games and giving valuable feedback. You are awesome!
71 Games were created during a very limited time and that alone is a great achievement. So congratulations to all solo or team devs who took part!
But of course Alakajam wouldn't be Alakajam without ratings and winners. So let's crown our winners!
We hope you had a lot of fun, learned some new skills or found some new friends. As we try to make the event even more pleasing to you, we would also like to ask you for your feedback in this 2 minute survey.
Of course we have the next jams ready for you. Mark your calendars!
The 2nd Alakajam was not run by a single person but by a growing group of enthusiastic people:
Also, thanks to all the streamers, youtubers and speedrunners who covered the event!
We hope to see you all for the next event!
Laguna • 2 years ago A total of 71 amazing games were created for the 2nd Alakajam. You have until Sunday, Mar 11th to rate the games. Please do so, to ensure that all games get a final score.
The game view has switched to rescue mode (displaying the entries which desperately need some ratings) to ensure that all of the games get a final score.
The rules for rating, scores and the feedback score can be found at the Rules and the FAQ
Laguna • 2 years ago 
Congratulations to everyone who took part in this event! You have (solo or team, ranked or unranked) created a game in a very short timeframe! That is a good reason to tap your shoulder and get a big smile to your face!
The 2nd Alakajam is now complete with over 72 games!
The next step is the voting phase. Go to the games listing and play (and vote on) those awesome games. The creators are definitely also interested in some feedback, so if you have the time, write them some lines what you like, what could be improved and where you would have taken this game. The voting phase runs for two weeks until 11th March. This is also the date where the winners will be announced.
Laguna • 2 years ago After 48 hours the 2nd Alakajam has ended (for ranked submissions).
Stop writing code, painting graphics or composing music now. Starting from now, you have one hour left for submitting your game. If you haven't done so, you can do this here.
Around 8pm UTC submissions will finally be closed for ranked entries. Unranked entries have 24 hours extra, but for them there will be no submssion hour.
Rating starts directly after the submissions are closed and will stay open until Mar 11th.
@Laguna_999