Ludum Dare theme voting is on now and the actual development will be on before you know it.
Many developers big and small will be participating from all over the industry and even all over the world. Notch has participated several times, and will be entering again this time.
Right now all of the developers are preparing their tools for the big event. We’ll be sure to see the same community interaction and hard work we have before.
How can Ludum Dare help you?
Ludum Dare is also a place for developers to share ideas. The idea of the 99% subset of indies is taking root here as well. One author is even planning a 99% bundle to raise awareness for the cause of lesser known indies.
For developers, the benefits should go without saying. You can be involved in a major event and gain notoriety even as a previously unknown artist. Yes, we would argue games can be art.
For fans, you get to control the overall flow of this competition. You get to help choose a ton of things about the competition. And community is part of the scoring, so you can give each developer advice. Those who don’t listen to their communities won’t score very well.
Something for everyone
Finally you can get some interesting games for free out of this. And you can see what developers are the new rising stars.
Ludum Dare is a truly open competition where anyone has a shot to win. And the voting doesn’t usually go to the biggest names either. Ludum Dare has it’s own diverse culture, as entire groups of developers get together to ready up for the event.
Notch himself will be entering again, and wants to do a game called “Santa vs Cthulhu”. He has even made some changes to a special site, notch.net. He should be making updates on his Ludum Dare progress here. If he has time, that is.
