Ross Karchner

Back to making

One week turned into three weeks, but I feel like I’ve worked that particular digital addiction out of my system (and diving in to Snap has actually helped crystalize an idea I’ve been thinking about, so it wasn’t entirely a waste). OK, back to making stuff.

My current idea for the 20 second game jam is really simple and pretty wonky: a trainer for being able to differentiate times shorter than a second (say, 500ms vs 700ms). Back in 2015 I went to some Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) training where this was mentioned as a useful skill for SRE’s. I didn’t entirely give up, but at that moment my dream of ever being an SRE seemed a little more remote.

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Bowling with bumpers is underrated. It’s a little more like billiards.

13 years ago we were at the Rally to Restore Sanity. Have we restored the sanity yet?

signs from the Rally to Restore Sanity, including one with a guacamole recipe

I let myself get sucked into Marvel Snap this week, so spent more free time playing games instead making them. I have started experimenting with Godot features I’m not familiar with yet, starting with navigation meshes.

Next on the list is 2D lighting and shadows, maybe this weekend!

Currently reading: Deadly Class Vol. 5: Carousel by Rick Remender 📚

The first four volumes were a pleasant surprise. I was expecting a sort of “Hogwarts for Assassins”, and there’s a bit of that– but the stories being told are much more complex and personal.

Probably my last post about Ludum Dare 54 maybe

The results are in, and… it’s nothing to brag about. I do like that innovation is my strongest category again.

rankings for my game 'Don't Get Crushed' in Ludum Dare 54

I don’t know exactly how many entrees I’m ranked against. The stats say that there were 1597 entries in the “jam” competition, and 66% of all entries (“jam”, and a separate competition, “compo”) met the ratings threshold for getting ranked, so maybe I’m ranked against 1067 or so “jam” entries? That puts me in the top half for most categories, and not far from it on the Overall. In a competition that includes professionals, hobbyists, and teams, I feel OK about that.

I took the plunge– this is now my “home” on the fediverse. I think micro.blog has a healthier vision for social media, and I’m really drawn to the idea of my blog and my social media presence being all one thing. Worst case, I’m not locked in!

I’ve never really worn sunglasses, and now I’ve got my first prescription pair. Meanwhile my regular glasses are at the optometrist to get new lenses put in, so the sunglasses are all I have.

One surprising thing is that some screens are hard to read– kind of like when a screen has a polarizing privacy filter, but it’s blocking me instead of the rest of the world.

Even a “bad” Futurama episode is usually pretty good– but the worst are the ones that try to be relevant for the time they were released, “ripped from the headlines”. The new season on Hulu had a lot of those. 📺

Don't Get Crushed updates 🎮

Here is some weekend progress on Don’t Get Crushed (post-jam version, to be released after the review window closes):

  • Fixed the janky vibrations
  • improved some art
  • The level number now included a decimal component, making it clearer how much progress you’ve made within a level

You can also see the previously reported progress: visible scores, the ability to restart using the up arrow, and the crusher following the player more closely (and no longer leaving a safe area on the bottom of the screen)

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I temporarily experimented with importing my Mastodon followers to micro.blog. Sorry about the follow-spam!

From a recent trip to the new LEGO Discovery Center in Springfield, VA

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After a couple of days on wordpress.com, I decided it wasn’t for me. So, after a journey in the wilderness, I’m back on micro.blog!

Morning progress 🎮

So far, I've addressed a few items from the feedback list:

  • There is now a visible score
  • Players can restart the game after dying using the up arrow
  • The crusher now follows the player more closely, eliminating the "safe zone" at the bottom of the screen.