This post-mortem deals with the graphics of our entry for LD43, AS OF YET UNNAMED. This is a more in-depth follow-up on my Narrated Pixelart Timelapse video. There's a lot to say, so I separated it into three parts.

• Go to Part 1: The Process
• Go to Part 3: Conclusions

Part 2: Out-Of-Game Graphics

Cover Image

This is the first impression of the game. If a player finds your game through the Games section of the Ludum Dare website, this is what they see first. As you can see in my Narrated Pixelart Timelapse video, I make two versions of our cover image: one showing in-game sprites, and one with our entry's logo. I feel like neither option is a bad decision, which makes it harder to pick one, so I present both versions to @DaanVanYperen and together we decide to go for the version with the game's logo.

I also use a screenshot of the Games page and cut out a random cover image as a template. The cover image has two overlays on that page: the orange overlay in the top-right that shows whether it's a Compo or Jam entry, and the slightly transparent grey overlays at the top and bottom of the image that show the entry's name and which Ludum Dare it was made for. The orange overlay stays overlaid. I do not want to put anything vital in that part of the image. The grey overlays disappear when you scroll over the image, so that's less of a no-no area, but I try to keep the main art within those bounds. Now these dimensions change depending on how many thumbnails you choose to see per row, but I base this on the default setting of four, assuming people stick to that (I have no data to back that up).

Wait, Is My Ludum Dare Game Page Part Of Graphics Too?

There's definitely an element of design involved in how you present the game on your entry page. I do not claim to know for certain what works best here, but I find it's worth the time and effort to consider how to fill this page out. And the best thing? You can do this after the deadline.

Logo, Description And A Big Link

Since we have a strong landmark graphic with which to capture attention, I put the game logo at the top of the page. Then I add a brief description; a short text that humorously captures the idea of the game. Since the logo is pretty big, I use markdown to enlarge this text. I try and keep the description in a similar tone to the game. Don't promote your game about grief with a one-liner.

Underneath this, I add a big, hard-to-miss link to our game with the addition that it's a web client. The official link to the game is all the way at the bottom of the content we add here, so I do not want to make people scroll down past everything if they do not want to. And as people are more likely to try your game if they do not have to download it, the HTML5 tag is pretty vital.

Illustration in Moderation

After that, a single animated gif of the game. Something that shows off the game sufficiently. I used to post multiple screenshots before, but that just makes for more required scrolling again.

Control Yourself

Possibly the most important part of the game page is noting down the controls. Going into the game with some knowledge of how it is played is really important. A large part of the audience will only play the game for a few minutes. If they have to spend unnecessary effort learning controls that they could have just read at a glance, they might be more frustrated playing your entry. Our game can be played in two different ways depending on the platform, so I leave a simple instruction for both mouse controls and swiping.

Credit Where It's Due

Including this time, I have taken part in eight Ludum Dares. @DaanVanYperen has even more titles under his belt. This means that some people may recognize your name, which might in turn make them try your new entry. I add links to social media or other platforms that each individual wants to profile themselves with.

And To Complete The Hub

We usually make timelapse videos of our process, which I add to the game page so those who play our game and are interested can quickly access them. Finally, I do the same for the blogposts I have written, treating the game page as a landing page for everything we post in regard to our entry. These post-mortems, for example, will also end up in that list.

Next, I'll go over my conclusions in the cleverly titled Part 3: Conclusions.