{"author_link":"\/users\/colonel-mangue","author_name":"colonel_mangue","author_uid":"colonel-mangue","comments":[],"epoch":1535546168,"event":"LD42","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":118699,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"121659","p_author":"colonel_mangue","p_authorkey":"1002501","p_urlkey":"337694","p_title":"Crate Job Simulator making-of(ish)","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD42","p_time":"1535546168","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1002501","us_name":"colonel_mangue","us_username":"colonel-mangue","event_start":"1533859200","event_key":"73","event_name":"LD 42"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD42","removed_author":false},"_superparent":97793,"_trust":1,"author":2501,"body":"I thought I\u2019d write a little sort of behind the scenes article about our game to attract some attention and because these game jams are always, in my mind, interesting experiences worth sharing. I\u2019m sure for many usual participants it\u2019s nothing new, as we all go through similar processes, but I figured it\u2019s fun to share and, it might be of interest at least for some first time participants. \n\n### About our game:\n\n[**Crate Job Simulator**](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/42\/crate-job-simulator) focuses on the work day of a forklift robot operating in a futuristic warehouse. The player receives a growing number of crates over the 3 minutes a level lasts and has to ship them out according to demand.\nObviously, as the theme suggests, the aim is for the player to get overwhelmed by the number of crates coming in and they will have to manage their stress and keep the warehouse organized in order to score the most.\n\n![screen02.JPG](\/\/\/raw\/5c9\/z\/1a875.jpg)\n\n### The team:\n\n6 people have worked on the game in total but most of it was done by programmers Quentin and Lo\u00efc with Nicolas doing the level design. All three of them worked together in Belgium at Quentin\u2019s place.\n\nI worked out of Paris on the graphics of the game but was only available on the evenings of Sunday and Monday.\n\nFabien joined the developers in Belgium on Monday evenin to gigve us that last little push we needed in programming and Vincent got in touch with us from Montreal and helped me with some polishing on the graphics.to \n\nMost of the team was actually in the same room while Vincent or myself kept in touch via hangout. When I had questions or wanted to show what I was working on I would share my screen to the others and just leave the sharing on afterwards for a good part of the  project.\n\nSince most of the team was located in western europe, our time zone and the new deadline meant the we had to finish the game on Monday at midnight. The three hour offset  was kind of unusual for us compared to previous editions of Ludum Dare.\n\nIt meant we didn\u2019t have to lose too much sleep before the announcement of the theme and had a somewhat normal night before starting work on our entry. It also meant to me that, since I was working on Monday, I kind of felt that I had three hours less to work on the graphics in my already short available time.\n\n### The theme:\n\n*Running out of space.* We primarily focused our thoughts on the concept of small spaces. After moving some ideas around, the idea of having to transport crates became the preferred one all around.\n\nThe mechanic of the game was relatively straightforward which allowed us to get everything in place in order to have a playable version of the game quite quickly. Sooner than usually compared to earlier LDs. This also gave us time to refine the gameplay even further in order to be as much on point as possible. \n\n![2018-08-13 16_58_17-.png](\/\/\/raw\/5c9\/z\/1a874.png)\n\nIn that process, one of the decisions we finally took was to drop a part of the game where you were actually aboard a spaceship. You had to manage the ship and phases of organizing and offloading had to take in account the different locations you traveled to.\n\n![2018-08-11 22_43_30-.png](\/\/\/raw\/5c9\/z\/1a877.png)\n\nIn the end we felt that it complicated the game too much. Not only for the players but even for us in terms of balancing and having a game that is immediately fun to play.\n\n### Gameplay:\n\nAt first we were going towards a physics based grabbing and dropping system but it quickly turned out to be buggy. Instead we decided to use a slightly less realistic but more robust snapping action like in everyone\u2019s favourite cooking challenge.\n\n*Overcooked* is an obvious reference. The clear top-down view, cameracentric controls and simple grab and drop mechanic were an ideal fit for a game like ours. The dash function became an obvious addition as well.\n\n\n\n### Graphics:\n\nI didn\u2019t have much time for the graphics (even for a game jam) so I turned towards [*MagicaVoxel*](https:\/\/ephtracy.github.io\/) for its fun interaction and quick (and cute) results. I took inspiration from other endearing robots like Wall-E or classic sci-fi builder *Startopia\u2019s* Scuzzer, among other things, for their cartoonishly industrial look and cobbled together this sort of cute hovering robot.\n\n![magicavoxel.JPG](\/\/\/raw\/5c9\/z\/1a873.jpg)\n\nThis design direction actually meant to solve a whole bunch of animation challenges at once by removing any moving parts. Furthermore the two forklift spokes on the front are there to give a clear indication of which way is forward and what your task in the game is.\n\nTextures were kept to a minimum for time\u2019s and clarity\u2019s sake and doing them in pixel art not only fit the voxels of the main character but meant that the players would be unconsciously decoding all of the details in their heads.\nHad I had more time, I would have liked to add some prettier particle effects around the player character as, right now, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s actually that clear that the robot is hovering above ground. Indeed we felt that having the character on tracks or wheels might induce the players to expect tank controls.\n\nI also regret not having had time to add some more polished lighting to the levels. At least the current basic setup allows for a clear picture although somewhat lacking in dramatic contrast. Some red alert style atmosphere changes when the music speeds up would have been nice.\n\n### Level Design:\n\nWe were really happy to have a specialized level designer this time around. Nicolas spent most of his time on this topic and allowed us to feature five (FIVE !!) awesome levels in our submission. That\u2019s a huge step up from our previous experiences and it definitely increased our overall production value.\n\n![screen03.JPG](\/\/\/raw\/5c9\/z\/1a876.jpg)\n\n### Final stretch:\n\nIn the final stretch Fabien joined Quentin and the others in Belgium and set up our leaderboards. We feel like it\u2019s always nice to have the possibility of leaving your mark and comparing your score to your friends\u2019. It\u2019s the kind of details that can add that extra value to the overall gameplay experience and encourage players to come back and give it another go.\n\n### Final thoughts:\n\nWe\u2019ve taken part in a fare share of game jam\u2019s over the past years, now, and every time is still an opportunity to learn a little more. Finding interesting ideas quickly and managing production on such a short term are some of the categories we\u2019re making progress in. However, one thing I think we\u2019re getting better at is trying to keep the best habits.\n\nWe try to get decent sleep, eat as well as we can and, more generally speaking, we try to take the time to reflect on where we\u2019re heading. As for myself, I didn\u2019t even neglect my family this time around and it was totally worth it. Good teamwork can also from good communication. If you treat this like a miniature version of a \"real\" production, you also get a much higher return in experience.\n\nIt\u2019s always tempting to go all-in into the development process thinking it\u2019s a sprint, not a marathon. You can always catch up on sleep and all the rest while it\u2019s done, right? But like many longtime participants, I\u2019m sure, we soon realized that by doing so we were actually missing the point. \n\nAll in all, our main takeaway is that we had a ton of fun. Now we\u2019re having another ton of fun playing our game and showing it to our friends and family and that, to us, is the real prize.\n\n\n___\n\nFor an overeview of our previous games you can head over to [Quentin's website](https:\/\/pandoratechnology.com\/) and check out our previous entries.\n\n","comments":0,"created":"2018-08-29T09:27:30Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":118699,"love":0,"meta":[],"modified":"2018-08-30T08:47:10Z","name":"Crate Job Simulator making-of(ish)","node-timestamp":"2018-08-30T08:47:10Z","parent":110624,"parents":[1,5,9,97793,110624],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/42\/crate-job-simulator\/crate-job-simulator-making-ofish","published":"2018-08-29T12:36:08Z","scope":"public","slug":"crate-job-simulator-making-ofish","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":355996},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"118699","n_urlkey":"337694","n_parent":"110624","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/42\/crate-job-simulator\/crate-job-simulator-making-ofish","n_slug":"crate-job-simulator-making-ofish","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"2501","n_created":"1535534850","n_modified":"1535618830","n_version":"355996","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/42\/crate-job-simulator\/crate-job-simulator-making-ofish","text":"I thought I\u2019d write a little sort of behind the scenes article about our game to attract some attention and because these game jams are always, in my mind, interesting experiences worth sharing. I\u2019m sure for many usual participants it\u2019s nothing new, as we all go through similar processes, but I figured it\u2019s fun to share and, it might be of interest at least for some first time participants. \n\n### About our game:\n\n[**Crate Job Simulator**](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/42\/crate-job-simulator) focuses on the work day of a forklift robot operating in a futuristic warehouse. The player receives a growing number of crates over the 3 minutes a level lasts and has to ship them out according to demand.\nObviously, as the theme suggests, the aim is for the player to get overwhelmed by the number of crates coming in and they will have to manage their stress and keep the warehouse organized in order to score the most.\n\n![screen02.JPG](\/\/\/raw\/5c9\/z\/1a875.jpg)\n\n### The team:\n\n6 people have worked on the game in total but most of it was done by programmers Quentin and Lo\u00efc with Nicolas doing the level design. All three of them worked together in Belgium at Quentin\u2019s place.\n\nI worked out of Paris on the graphics of the game but was only available on the evenings of Sunday and Monday.\n\nFabien joined the developers in Belgium on Monday evenin to gigve us that last little push we needed in programming and Vincent got in touch with us from Montreal and helped me with some polishing on the graphics.to \n\nMost of the team was actually in the same room while Vincent or myself kept in touch via hangout. When I had questions or wanted to show what I was working on I would share my screen to the others and just leave the sharing on afterwards for a good part of the  project.\n\nSince most of the team was located in western europe, our time zone and the new deadline meant the we had to finish the game on Monday at midnight. The three hour offset  was kind of unusual for us compared to previous editions of Ludum Dare.\n\nIt meant we didn\u2019t have to lose too much sleep before the announcement of the theme and had a somewhat normal night before starting work on our entry. It also meant to me that, since I was working on Monday, I kind of felt that I had three hours less to work on the graphics in my already short available time.\n\n### The theme:\n\n*Running out of space.* We primarily focused our thoughts on the concept of small spaces. After moving some ideas around, the idea of having to transport crates became the preferred one all around.\n\nThe mechanic of the game was relatively straightforward which allowed us to get everything in place in order to have a playable version of the game quite quickly. Sooner than usually compared to earlier LDs. This also gave us time to refine the gameplay even further in order to be as much on point as possible. \n\n![2018-08-13 16_58_17-.png](\/\/\/raw\/5c9\/z\/1a874.png)\n\nIn that process, one of the decisions we finally took was to drop a part of the game where you were actually aboard a spaceship. You had to manage the ship and phases of organizing and offloading had to take in account the different locations you traveled to.\n\n![2018-08-11 22_43_30-.png](\/\/\/raw\/5c9\/z\/1a877.png)\n\nIn the end we felt that it complicated the game too much. Not only for the players but even for us in terms of balancing and having a game that is immediately fun to play.\n\n### Gameplay:\n\nAt first we were going towards a physics based grabbing and dropping system but it quickly turned out to be buggy. Instead we decided to use a slightly less realistic but more robust snapping action like in everyone\u2019s favourite cooking challenge.\n\n*Overcooked* is an obvious reference. The clear top-down view, cameracentric controls and simple grab and drop mechanic were an ideal fit for a game like ours. The dash function became an obvious addition as well.\n\n\n\n### Graphics:\n\nI didn\u2019t have much time for the graphics (even for a game jam) so I turned towards [*MagicaVoxel*](https:\/\/ephtracy.github.io\/) for its fun interaction and quick (and cute) results. I took inspiration from other endearing robots like Wall-E or classic sci-fi builder *Startopia\u2019s* Scuzzer, among other things, for their cartoonishly industrial look and cobbled together this sort of cute hovering robot.\n\n![magicavoxel.JPG](\/\/\/raw\/5c9\/z\/1a873.jpg)\n\nThis design direction actually meant to solve a whole bunch of animation challenges at once by removing any moving parts. Furthermore the two forklift spokes on the front are there to give a clear indication of which way is forward and what your task in the game is.\n\nTextures were kept to a minimum for time\u2019s and clarity\u2019s sake and doing them in pixel art not only fit the voxels of the main character but meant that the players would be unconsciously decoding all of the details in their heads.\nHad I had more time, I would have liked to add some prettier particle effects around the player character as, right now, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s actually that clear that the robot is hovering above ground. Indeed we felt that having the character on tracks or wheels might induce the players to expect tank controls.\n\nI also regret not having had time to add some more polished lighting to the levels. At least the current basic setup allows for a clear picture although somewhat lacking in dramatic contrast. Some red alert style atmosphere changes when the music speeds up would have been nice.\n\n### Level Design:\n\nWe were really happy to have a specialized level designer this time around. Nicolas spent most of his time on this topic and allowed us to feature five (FIVE !!) awesome levels in our submission. That\u2019s a huge step up from our previous experiences and it definitely increased our overall production value.\n\n![screen03.JPG](\/\/\/raw\/5c9\/z\/1a876.jpg)\n\n### Final stretch:\n\nIn the final stretch Fabien joined Quentin and the others in Belgium and set up our leaderboards. We feel like it\u2019s always nice to have the possibility of leaving your mark and comparing your score to your friends\u2019. It\u2019s the kind of details that can add that extra value to the overall gameplay experience and encourage players to come back and give it another go.\n\n### Final thoughts:\n\nWe\u2019ve taken part in a fare share of game jam\u2019s over the past years, now, and every time is still an opportunity to learn a little more. Finding interesting ideas quickly and managing production on such a short term are some of the categories we\u2019re making progress in. However, one thing I think we\u2019re getting better at is trying to keep the best habits.\n\nWe try to get decent sleep, eat as well as we can and, more generally speaking, we try to take the time to reflect on where we\u2019re heading. As for myself, I didn\u2019t even neglect my family this time around and it was totally worth it. Good teamwork can also from good communication. If you treat this like a miniature version of a \"real\" production, you also get a much higher return in experience.\n\nIt\u2019s always tempting to go all-in into the development process thinking it\u2019s a sprint, not a marathon. You can always catch up on sleep and all the rest while it\u2019s done, right? But like many longtime participants, I\u2019m sure, we soon realized that by doing so we were actually missing the point. \n\nAll in all, our main takeaway is that we had a ton of fun. Now we\u2019re having another ton of fun playing our game and showing it to our friends and family and that, to us, is the real prize.\n\n\n___\n\nFor an overeview of our previous games you can head over to [Quentin's website](https:\/\/pandoratechnology.com\/) and check out our previous entries.\n\n","title":"Crate Job Simulator making-of(ish)","wayback_source":[]}