{"author_link":"\/users\/arkinrev","author_name":"arkinrev","author_uid":"arkinrev","comments":[],"epoch":1544330967,"event":"LD43","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":136873,"likes":7,"metadata":{"p_key":"126837","p_author":"arkinrev","p_authorkey":"1125658","p_urlkey":"342957","p_title":"Eldritchual Post-mortem","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD43","p_time":"1544330967","p_likes":"7","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1125658","us_name":"arkinrev","us_username":"arkinrev","event_start":"1543536000","event_key":"71","event_name":"LD 43"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD43","removed_author":false},"_superparent":120415,"_trust":7,"author":125658,"body":"[Eldritchual](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/43\/eldritchual) was my first game jam entry, and writing a brief post-mortem will be a great opportunity to smooth out the process for future jams. (That's my hope at least.) Hop over [here](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/43\/eldritchual) to rate, play, and check out the source code, and after you have a chance to play and review Eldritchual, hop back here and see a few of the lessons learned. \n\n![SS3.png](\/\/\/raw\/ada\/e1\/z\/1f76c.png)\n\n## What Went Right?\n- *The mechanics and interactions remained simple.* One of the driving design notes on the whiteboard next to me was \"Simple.\" It was a reminder to keep the scope small enough to complete and clear enough to be both accessible and approachable.\n- *It's complete.* I kept saying that \"I just won't post if it's not done.\" I pushed myself to have a complete game, and then I still needed a nudge to post it. Being able to stay on task and check off every one of the features that I decided that I needed to be in the game was a fantastic positive for me. There was a list of *\"like to have\"* items on my feature list, but \n- *I posted the game.* This was surprisingly challenging to post to the Compo. I almost backed out at the last moment, but just posting the game was another positive for me. I needed a push.\n- *Tried things I've never done.* Unity scriptable objects for the lesson topics in the tutorial, mouse click and drag interactions in Unity, Music in [Bosca Ceoil](https:\/\/boscaceoil.net\/), and of course all of the things that come with the process; hosting a game, participating in a 48-hour game event, and pulled everything together before the deadline. \n- *Clearing my mind before the event.* I started thinking about the themes as they went through voting and I listened to the positive and negative feedback about them. Ultimately, I needed as much time as possible to clear my thoughts and position myself to tackle the challenge. \n- *Subtle 2D lighting.* I really enjoy the subtle light flickering effects from all of the objects. There are a few things I would have like to have tried with it. In the end, I think the small amount of light and motion helps keep the game screen alive. \n\n## What Went Wrong?\n- *Slow start.* The majority of the game balance and timing seemed to work, but getting the player interacting with meaningful choices had a 36-second delay, even if you know what you are doing. Difficulty settings and an event system would have addressed this.\n- *Tutorial was too long.* At first, it was going to be a tutorial. With scriptable objects, I was able to create more content relatively quickly, and I had initially intended to display some \"under the hood\" information there as well. The tutorial quickly turned into a game manual, which would be fine, but was not represented that way, and the game lacked an introduction as a result. The *\"Tutorial\"* should have been rebranded on the menu screens as a *\"Manual\"* before the conclusion. \n- *No version control.* Not only was there no version control, but somehow the main game object had all of its balance values cleared and I didn't have a complete list of them. I was also not prepared to host my source code once I decided to post the game. As a result, there was a needless delay in posting the source code. \n- *Coding became bulky and sloppy.* Too many features were stacking onto the game objects, and later on, some methods would have cleaned up the code and been easier to maintain. For instance: each method that toggles the display of a menu or UI canvas manually sets the canvas to true or false. As I added more menus and screens, this temporary code kept drawing my attention back with strange canvas interactions. More methods and classes would ultimately have been worth more and would have been able to be used for more features than my inline-procedural hacks. \n- *Music quality was low.* Had I been prepared, I would have just played and recorded a music track. I thought it would be cleaner to use a tool like [Bosca Coeil](https:\/\/boscaceoil.net\/), but I think I could have had higher quality if I was just ready to perform and record. \n- *Eating and sleeping.* I didn't eat or sleep like humans usually do. That was somewhat to be expected, but with a little bit of preplanning, this could have been avoided. \n\n\n## What Will I Do Next Time?\n- *GitHub.* I've uploaded the source code to a [GitHub Eldritchual Repo](https:\/\/github.com\/ArkInRev\/Eldritchual) after the event concluded. This is significantly easier to work with and trivial to share the source code. In addition, I've been able to create a development branch to make some small changes to the code that can be reincorporated into the master after I finish the features and balance that I really wanted to include in the game. Until then, the original LD version can still be seen in the master. I was worried that the time crunch of the jam, and Unity, and my limited exposure to Git would be a hindrance. In reality, it would have likely saved me time, and in retrospect, I had enough time to get it started. In addition, I could have used the GitHub project features instead of my trusty whiteboard for my feature based development. Just incorporating the tools available on GitHub, I hope to have a much cleaner and more organized project.\n- *Have my instruments and recording equipment ready the night before.* I could have and should have had better options for music available. \n- *Vacation day on Monday.* A 48-hour event takes a lot out of a person. I should have taken the day off on Monday. This may not seem like a lot, but having a chance to relax, spend time reviewing some games, and spend time with family after ignoring them for two days would be a better way for me to handle it. \n- *Get to the good stuff.* Get the player playing as soon as they launch the game. You have less than 30 seconds to get to the hook without the player feeling the hindrance of that delay. I'm going to aim for a player-driven ramp up that allows a player to ramp up at their own pace. \n- *[Gimp](https:\/\/www.gimp.org\/) brush dynamics.* I noticed that there were a few brush dynamics that I would have like to have tweaked a little bit. More options for cleaner lines, more options for smoother brushes. I want to have the brush dynamics ready for a variety of styles since I don't know what I will need to create. \n\nSo, those were some of the lessons that I've walked away with. I hope there is some insight that can help you, even if it is from a first-timer. What do you think? I'd love to hear what you think I've missed or how you tackled these issues in the comments. Thanks for reading!\n\n\n","comments":0,"created":"2018-12-09T02:22:16Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":136873,"love":7,"love-timestamp":"2018-12-09T11:50:18Z","meta":[],"modified":"2018-12-09T11:50:18Z","name":"Eldritchual Post-mortem","node-timestamp":"2018-12-09T04:49:27Z","parent":132539,"parents":[1,5,9,120415,132539],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/43\/eldritchual\/eldritchual-post-mortem","published":"2018-12-09T04:49:27Z","scope":"public","slug":"eldritchual-post-mortem","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":411721},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"136873","n_urlkey":"342957","n_parent":"132539","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/43\/eldritchual\/eldritchual-post-mortem","n_slug":"eldritchual-post-mortem","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"125658","n_created":"1544322136","n_modified":"1544356218","n_version":"411721","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/43\/eldritchual\/eldritchual-post-mortem","text":"[Eldritchual](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/43\/eldritchual) was my first game jam entry, and writing a brief post-mortem will be a great opportunity to smooth out the process for future jams. (That's my hope at least.) Hop over [here](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/43\/eldritchual) to rate, play, and check out the source code, and after you have a chance to play and review Eldritchual, hop back here and see a few of the lessons learned. \n\n![SS3.png](\/\/\/raw\/ada\/e1\/z\/1f76c.png)\n\n## What Went Right?\n- *The mechanics and interactions remained simple.* One of the driving design notes on the whiteboard next to me was \"Simple.\" It was a reminder to keep the scope small enough to complete and clear enough to be both accessible and approachable.\n- *It's complete.* I kept saying that \"I just won't post if it's not done.\" I pushed myself to have a complete game, and then I still needed a nudge to post it. Being able to stay on task and check off every one of the features that I decided that I needed to be in the game was a fantastic positive for me. There was a list of *\"like to have\"* items on my feature list, but \n- *I posted the game.* This was surprisingly challenging to post to the Compo. I almost backed out at the last moment, but just posting the game was another positive for me. I needed a push.\n- *Tried things I've never done.* Unity scriptable objects for the lesson topics in the tutorial, mouse click and drag interactions in Unity, Music in [Bosca Ceoil](https:\/\/boscaceoil.net\/), and of course all of the things that come with the process; hosting a game, participating in a 48-hour game event, and pulled everything together before the deadline. \n- *Clearing my mind before the event.* I started thinking about the themes as they went through voting and I listened to the positive and negative feedback about them. Ultimately, I needed as much time as possible to clear my thoughts and position myself to tackle the challenge. \n- *Subtle 2D lighting.* I really enjoy the subtle light flickering effects from all of the objects. There are a few things I would have like to have tried with it. In the end, I think the small amount of light and motion helps keep the game screen alive. \n\n## What Went Wrong?\n- *Slow start.* The majority of the game balance and timing seemed to work, but getting the player interacting with meaningful choices had a 36-second delay, even if you know what you are doing. Difficulty settings and an event system would have addressed this.\n- *Tutorial was too long.* At first, it was going to be a tutorial. With scriptable objects, I was able to create more content relatively quickly, and I had initially intended to display some \"under the hood\" information there as well. The tutorial quickly turned into a game manual, which would be fine, but was not represented that way, and the game lacked an introduction as a result. The *\"Tutorial\"* should have been rebranded on the menu screens as a *\"Manual\"* before the conclusion. \n- *No version control.* Not only was there no version control, but somehow the main game object had all of its balance values cleared and I didn't have a complete list of them. I was also not prepared to host my source code once I decided to post the game. As a result, there was a needless delay in posting the source code. \n- *Coding became bulky and sloppy.* Too many features were stacking onto the game objects, and later on, some methods would have cleaned up the code and been easier to maintain. For instance: each method that toggles the display of a menu or UI canvas manually sets the canvas to true or false. As I added more menus and screens, this temporary code kept drawing my attention back with strange canvas interactions. More methods and classes would ultimately have been worth more and would have been able to be used for more features than my inline-procedural hacks. \n- *Music quality was low.* Had I been prepared, I would have just played and recorded a music track. I thought it would be cleaner to use a tool like [Bosca Coeil](https:\/\/boscaceoil.net\/), but I think I could have had higher quality if I was just ready to perform and record. \n- *Eating and sleeping.* I didn't eat or sleep like humans usually do. That was somewhat to be expected, but with a little bit of preplanning, this could have been avoided. \n\n\n## What Will I Do Next Time?\n- *GitHub.* I've uploaded the source code to a [GitHub Eldritchual Repo](https:\/\/github.com\/ArkInRev\/Eldritchual) after the event concluded. This is significantly easier to work with and trivial to share the source code. In addition, I've been able to create a development branch to make some small changes to the code that can be reincorporated into the master after I finish the features and balance that I really wanted to include in the game. Until then, the original LD version can still be seen in the master. I was worried that the time crunch of the jam, and Unity, and my limited exposure to Git would be a hindrance. In reality, it would have likely saved me time, and in retrospect, I had enough time to get it started. In addition, I could have used the GitHub project features instead of my trusty whiteboard for my feature based development. Just incorporating the tools available on GitHub, I hope to have a much cleaner and more organized project.\n- *Have my instruments and recording equipment ready the night before.* I could have and should have had better options for music available. \n- *Vacation day on Monday.* A 48-hour event takes a lot out of a person. I should have taken the day off on Monday. This may not seem like a lot, but having a chance to relax, spend time reviewing some games, and spend time with family after ignoring them for two days would be a better way for me to handle it. \n- *Get to the good stuff.* Get the player playing as soon as they launch the game. You have less than 30 seconds to get to the hook without the player feeling the hindrance of that delay. I'm going to aim for a player-driven ramp up that allows a player to ramp up at their own pace. \n- *[Gimp](https:\/\/www.gimp.org\/) brush dynamics.* I noticed that there were a few brush dynamics that I would have like to have tweaked a little bit. More options for cleaner lines, more options for smoother brushes. I want to have the brush dynamics ready for a variety of styles since I don't know what I will need to create. \n\nSo, those were some of the lessons that I've walked away with. I hope there is some insight that can help you, even if it is from a first-timer. What do you think? I'd love to hear what you think I've missed or how you tackled these issues in the comments. Thanks for reading!\n\n\n","title":"Eldritchual Post-mortem","wayback_source":[]}