Galway Game Jam 16 virtual jam - Organising and running our first online-only game jam with a livestream!

This event went surprisingly well. While it was organised in haste, in a bit of a last-minute bid to get a gamejam done in 2020, the community really came together around this one to make it a worthwhile endeavor. Want to see the games made at this event? Check out itch.io/jam/galway-game-jam-16/entries Want to check out the livestream and clips? See our Galway Game Jam twitch and youtube channels in the references section below....

2020-12-29 · 5 min · 934 words · Darren Kearney

Ludum Dare 46 - Keep it Alive - Day 3 Complete and Game Live!

This is the ending post about my Ludum Dare 46 entry. To start at the beginning, go to Day 1 here: https://darrenk.net/ludum-dare-46/ Ludum Dare 46 was an interesting challenge. There are many things I would change if I were to do it again. That said, I am quiet happy to have finished something - even if it is a sparse experience for the player. You can play the game here: https://darrenkearney....

2020-04-21 · 2 min · 215 words · Darren Kearney

Ludum Dare 46 Keep it alive Day 1 Complete

I’m streaming development on https://twitch.tv/mindcauldrongames. Head over there and give me a follow! Here’s some progress and process in images. Random sketches during idea generation last night…ye ¯\_(ツ)_/ #ldjam46 Possible title for the game. I like the colours. Concept art in MS Paint with breakdown of areas for figuring out rooms layout and connections. #ldjam46 Screenshot of agri dome area. #ldjam46 Screen of elevator controls in agri dome #ldjam46 Screen of sub level 1 #ldjam46...

2020-04-19 · 1 min · 154 words · Darren Kearney

Darren's (Quick and Dirty) Pico-8 Cart Masher

About a week after UL’s Game Dev Soc Game Jam, I had some free time to revisit the collaboration tool I made for the gamejam team. It was nothing special, but I was hit by a mini-epiphany of turning it into a super-simple web app that would aim to make it as easy as possible to use. A fun little side-project, why not? Generally when solving any problem I have to ask myself “Has this been solved before?...

2018-05-15 · 4 min · 762 words · Darren Kearney

Ludum Dare 41 - Combine 2 Incompatible Genres (Part 1)

This theme is fantastic - it drives creativity. Simply by getting you to juxtapose genres in a particular way to see what doesn’t fit! Then think of idea’s that are achievable in the given time. Repeat until you land on something you think might be fun and wow, it’s already going to be fun simply on the merit of it’s wacky genre combination. I’ve started to work on a Turn-Based Strategy Game that is actually a Text Adventure made using Twine....

2018-04-21 · 1 min · 110 words · Darren Kearney

UL Gamejam 2: Simplicity

For UL Gamejam 2 I joined a team with Dave Ryley and two of his brothers, Brian and Jono Ryley. Dave is a veteran game jam enthusiast, but this was both Brian and Jono’s first experience of a gamejam. Luckily we got a great theme for the first-timers; “Simplicity”. Together we made Jam, The Game. Naturally, a game about jam is the simplest gamejam game you could make. Our game won the popular vote at the end of the jam, which was a wonderful achievement for our team!...

2018-03-27 · 4 min · 844 words · Darren Kearney

Galway Game Jam 9 - Working On My Own Project

I am beginning to get used to writing these blog posts, but honestly, I cringe at myself every time. Hopefully, this practice will improve my writing and the cringe will lessen with time. It’s the 5th anniversary of Galway Game Jam. I had a different approach to this one so there are some new takeaways to mention. The Gamejam Plan - Using the gamejam to work on other things. Sometimes people work on their own projects at gamejams....

2018-03-16 · 9 min · 1748 words · Darren Kearney

My Global Game Jam 2018 Post-Mortem

In my previous post, written before the 10th annual Global Game Jam, I mentioned my aims, expectations and excitement about the jam. In this post, I’ve written about the game I worked on at the jam as well as the main struggles faced by the team. More great lessons from just one single weekend! Assembling a team I aimed to make something very small in scope and simple to make. Making things with friends is more fun so I wanted to get a team together....

2018-02-05 · 6 min · 1156 words · Darren Kearney

Anticipation of Global Game Jam 2018

I’m delighted to be able to attend my 4th Global Game Jam in Galway. I’ll be switching to another game engine for the jam AGAIN - this time I’ll be using Godot Engine instead of Pico-8 (which I have been using these past few months). Since the Previous Global Game Jam I used Godot during last year’s Global Game Jam and I failed hard. A lesson was learned, which is what game jams are about!...

2018-01-25 · 4 min · 707 words · Darren Kearney