{"author_link": "/users/f1krazy", "author_name": "F1Krazy", "author_uid": "f1krazy", "comments": [], "epoch": 1545675571, "event": "LD43", "format": "md", "ldjam_node_id": 137289, "likes": 1, "metadata": {"p_key": "127083", "p_author": "F1Krazy", "p_authorkey": "1071341", "p_urlkey": "343203", "p_title": "The Gods Are Angry - Post-Mortem", "p_cat": "LDJam ", "p_event": "LD43", "p_time": "1545675571", "p_likes": "1", "p_comments": "0", "p_status": "WAYBACK", "us_key": "1071341", "us_name": "F1Krazy", "us_username": "f1krazy", "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": 11, "author": 71341, "body": "It's that time again! Time to dissect my LD43 entry, *[The Gods Are Angry](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/the-gods-are-angry)*, and look at the positives and negatives of its development. I'm more proud of it than I am of my LD42 entry - and it fared much better on Newgrounds - but there's still plenty I can improve on for LD44. So, without further ado...\n\n# What Went Well #\n\n![ld43pj_4.gif](///raw/da6/11/z/1fc8e.gif)\n\n- I wanted to make a more story-based game this time round, and the theme, \"Sacrifices must be made\", was absolutely perfect for that. The game's story and atmosphere have generally been praised, and I do think I did a pretty good job with them.\n- Compared to my previous LD games and their plain black backgrounds, *The Gods Are Angry* has actual environments, and with a pretty good level of visual detail. I'm still really proud of the lightning effect, if you couldn't tell from the fact that I show it off at every opportunity!\n- I didn't feel like there was much I could do with my previous Ludum Dare games, but this time round, I have a complete (if basic) platforming engine. I've had a couple of ideas for more complex, full-length platformers lying around for years, and now I feel like I have a decent starting point for them.\n\n# What Went Badly #\n\n![ld43pj_5.gif](///raw/da6/11/z/1fc8d.gif)\n\n- One of these days I'm gonna learn my gosh-darn lesson about testing things. I programmed the game's ending and restart procedure, then immediately shipped it without testing to see if they worked. Predictably, they didn't. It took me a total of fifteen minutes to write the patches that fixed those issues. Nice going, me.\n- The game generally lacks polish. The gameplay is too simple, and lacks any interesting mechanics; the level design isn't challenging or varied enough; there are no visual effects when you die, your sprite just disappears. Part of this is due to PICO-8 limitations, and part of it is due to me spending way too much time programming the basic engine and running out of time on Day 2.\n- My sound design is still terrible. I still don't know how to use PICO-8's music tracker, and the sound effects are still annoying to a lot of people. It's at the point where I'm seriously considering entering the Jam next time round instead of the Compo, just so I can get someone else to do the music and SFX for me.\n\n# What Comes Next #\n\n![ld43pj_6.gif](///raw/da6/11/z/1fc8f.gif)\n\nEarlier today I published the final post-jam update for *The Gods Are Angry* on Newgrounds. It fixed the game's horizontal collision detection, and tidied up the code to make it neater and more reusable. *Love Is A Battlefield DX*, the post-jam version of my LD41 game, will *finally* be posted on Newgrounds on either January 23rd (the site's annual Pixel Day), or Valentine's Day.\n\nFor 2019, I plan to start developing more indie games outside of Ludum Dare. As I stated earlier, I've got a couple of ideas for full-scale PICO-8 platformers, for which I can re-use parts of the game's engine. My ultimate ambition is to publish a full game to Steam and/or the Discord Store, either next year or in 2020. I will continue to take part in Ludum Dare in the meantime.\n\nA big thank you to everyone who's played *The Gods Are Angry* and left feedback so far! I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!", "comments": 0, "created": "2018-12-12T21:20:36Z", "files": [], "files-timestamp": 0, "id": 137289, "love": 1, "love-timestamp": "2018-12-25T03:29:26Z", "meta": [], "modified": "2018-12-25T03:29:26Z", "name": "The Gods Are Angry - Post-Mortem", "node-timestamp": "2018-12-24T18:19:31Z", "parent": 120739, "parents": [1, 5, 9, 120415, 120739], "path": "/events/ludum-dare/43/the-gods-are-angry/the-gods-are-angry-post-mortem", "published": "2018-12-24T18:19:31Z", "scope": "public", "slug": "the-gods-are-angry-post-mortem", "subsubtype": "", "subtype": "", "type": "post", "version": 415266}, "node_metadata": {"n_key": "137289", "n_urlkey": "343203", "n_parent": "120739", "n_path": "/events/ludum-dare/43/the-gods-are-angry/the-gods-are-angry-post-mortem", "n_slug": "the-gods-are-angry-post-mortem", "n_type": "post", "n_subtype": "", "n_subsubtype": "", "n_author": "71341", "n_created": "1544649636", "n_modified": "1545708566", "n_version": "415266", "n_status": "WAYBACK"}, "source_url": "https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/the-gods-are-angry/the-gods-are-angry-post-mortem", "text": "It's that time again! Time to dissect my LD43 entry, *[The Gods Are Angry](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/the-gods-are-angry)*, and look at the positives and negatives of its development. I'm more proud of it than I am of my LD42 entry - and it fared much better on Newgrounds - but there's still plenty I can improve on for LD44. So, without further ado...\n\n# What Went Well #\n\n![ld43pj_4.gif](///raw/da6/11/z/1fc8e.gif)\n\n- I wanted to make a more story-based game this time round, and the theme, \"Sacrifices must be made\", was absolutely perfect for that. The game's story and atmosphere have generally been praised, and I do think I did a pretty good job with them.\n- Compared to my previous LD games and their plain black backgrounds, *The Gods Are Angry* has actual environments, and with a pretty good level of visual detail. I'm still really proud of the lightning effect, if you couldn't tell from the fact that I show it off at every opportunity!\n- I didn't feel like there was much I could do with my previous Ludum Dare games, but this time round, I have a complete (if basic) platforming engine. I've had a couple of ideas for more complex, full-length platformers lying around for years, and now I feel like I have a decent starting point for them.\n\n# What Went Badly #\n\n![ld43pj_5.gif](///raw/da6/11/z/1fc8d.gif)\n\n- One of these days I'm gonna learn my gosh-darn lesson about testing things. I programmed the game's ending and restart procedure, then immediately shipped it without testing to see if they worked. Predictably, they didn't. It took me a total of fifteen minutes to write the patches that fixed those issues. Nice going, me.\n- The game generally lacks polish. The gameplay is too simple, and lacks any interesting mechanics; the level design isn't challenging or varied enough; there are no visual effects when you die, your sprite just disappears. Part of this is due to PICO-8 limitations, and part of it is due to me spending way too much time programming the basic engine and running out of time on Day 2.\n- My sound design is still terrible. I still don't know how to use PICO-8's music tracker, and the sound effects are still annoying to a lot of people. It's at the point where I'm seriously considering entering the Jam next time round instead of the Compo, just so I can get someone else to do the music and SFX for me.\n\n# What Comes Next #\n\n![ld43pj_6.gif](///raw/da6/11/z/1fc8f.gif)\n\nEarlier today I published the final post-jam update for *The Gods Are Angry* on Newgrounds. It fixed the game's horizontal collision detection, and tidied up the code to make it neater and more reusable. *Love Is A Battlefield DX*, the post-jam version of my LD41 game, will *finally* be posted on Newgrounds on either January 23rd (the site's annual Pixel Day), or Valentine's Day.\n\nFor 2019, I plan to start developing more indie games outside of Ludum Dare. As I stated earlier, I've got a couple of ideas for full-scale PICO-8 platformers, for which I can re-use parts of the game's engine. My ultimate ambition is to publish a full game to Steam and/or the Discord Store, either next year or in 2020. I will continue to take part in Ludum Dare in the meantime.\n\nA big thank you to everyone who's played *The Gods Are Angry* and left feedback so far! I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!", "title": "The Gods Are Angry - Post-Mortem", "wayback_source": []}