Below is a time-lapse of the animation process for the cats. Sped up like 600%.

https://youtu.be/cypn8nPXwvw

Well the competition is all done now, and the game is getting spectacular reviews on the LD website, AND someone liked it so much they sent me $20! I thought I'd do a post-comp analysis of my experience.

THE GOOD:

The rush of having such a short time-limit was the best part. It was so exciting and made the whole weekend feel like a special event. Normally when I make games, (or music or whatever) I take it step by step and let it evolve and figure it out on the way. But having a time-crunch forced me to plan out just about everything beforehand. For those of you who know my artistic processes, you'll now how big of a deal that is. Of course, I think the ideal process is a balance between planning and discovery, but it is nice to know that I can go full on 'plan and execute' mode if I need to. Animating the characters and recording the voice acting with Mia Leigh Vance was by far the best parts of the process. Drawing and animating after hours of coding was so refreshing, and of course, anytime I get to work with Mia is time well spent.

THE BAD:

Throughout the weekend, I repeatedly found myself with a total lack of how to code something. It was a very big reminder that I'm still a newb in this vastly unfamiliar environment. Too many times a precious hour or two was lost just googling how to fix something. The worst part of it is that I fixed 75% of the code problems by trial and error, and could not tell you what it was that fixed it. The bittersweet feeling of having fixed something, but not knowing why it was broken in the first place is a sensation I greatly dislike. That being said, I'm still very pleased with the code I produced. It is the most complicated and clean code I've written yet and that is something to feel good about.

THE UGLY:

It was 3 hours to the deadline and I hadn't completed half of the levels! AHH! Panic is a very mild term to use here. The game was supposed to have 30 short rounds with a little cutscene/dialogue between very third one. Throughout the weekend, I never once actually thought that I might fail the Dare, until this moment on Monday night. I looked at the clock, I looked at how many levels I had left, and I froze. For a long moment, I just sat there in front of all the work I did and considered what it would feel like to have to submit my game to the "unfinished" category. And my response to my thought experiement was "HELL NO." So I went into overdrive, cut 10 levels (cutscene every 2 levels) and published the game with 5 minutes left. 5 MINUTES LEFT.

OVERALL:

I honestly believe that this weekend was one of the most exciting, thought-provoking, challenging, and fun creative processes I've ever been a part of. I will absolutely be doing this again (using my time more wisely next time). My biggest take away from this weekend was this: I LOVE MAKING VIDEO GAMES. Music, art, story, theatre, character, humor, animation. All coming together to create one experience for anyone willing to dive in. I'm in love.

play the game here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/herding-cats-the-400th-south-winchester-jr-semi-finals-with-fiona-pennywhistle