{"author_link":"\/users\/zesix","author_name":"Zesix","author_uid":"zesix","comments":[],"epoch":1557010981,"event":"LD44","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":156651,"likes":3,"metadata":{"p_key":"132372","p_author":"Zesix","p_authorkey":"1009905","p_urlkey":"348566","p_title":"Ludum Dare 44 \u2013 \u201cHeart of the Grove\u201d Postmortem","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD44","p_time":"1557010981","p_likes":"3","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1009905","us_name":"Zesix","us_username":"zesix","event_start":"1556236800","event_key":"75","event_name":"LD 44"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD44","removed_author":false},"_superparent":139254,"_trust":1,"author":9905,"body":"![Heart_of_the_Grove_2019-04-29_18-24-37-354.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/24986.jpg)\n\nThis past weekend I had the opportunity to participate in ludum dare 44 with my friend [JohnnyDalvi](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/users\/johnnydalvi).\n\n## Concepting\n\nAt the event\u2019s start, the theme was announced: \u201cYour Life Is Currency.\u201d The first phase of a game jam is to brainstorm ideas and decide what game to make. Initially, we discussed mechanics such as summoning minions through blood sacrifice and using health to pay for actions. However, I have a policy of pushing back against early ideas because other teams in the event are likely to create a similar game (and based on the [submissions](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/44\/games), there are a lot of \u2018pay with blood\u2019 games).\n\nGame jam themes can be taken literally or figuratively. From my experience, the figurative \/ metaphorical entries usually score higher. Gameplay that incorporates the theme is not enough \u2013 the entry must thematically stand out from the rest of the pack while also having solid polish in all areas \u2013 it can\u2019t look like it was \u201crushed to finish by the deadline.\u201d After discarding the initial ideas, we started thinking of \u2018life\u2019 in a broader sense:\n\n- Life as a journey\n- Life as a soul, like the soul of a forest\n\nThe second idea struck with us and we settled on a game where you play as the protector of a forest who \u2018awakens\u2019 trees to fight off loggers. To fit the theme, we decided the awakened trees (\u2018treants\u2019) would leave the forest \u2013 they are no longer part of it after being uprooted. Hence, the life of the forest (trees) must also be spent to defend it.\n\n![01-original-concept.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/24988.jpg)\n\n## Production\n\nThe rest of the weekend was spent on development. I was in charge of the game look and feel, meaning the 3D models, 2D UI, audio, and visual effects. The aesthetic style I chose was \u201chybrid poly\u201d, which combines low and high poly assets. I planned to use asset packs as the base for my high poly assets, so I began by creating the low poly blocks using Blender.\n\n![02-modeled-low-poly-cliff.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/24989.png)\n\nI modeled 2 cliff rocks, 2 ground platforms, and 2 small rocks. The base of our level is constructed from these objects, each being rotated and scaled in different ways to break uniformity.\n\n![04-working-on-floor.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/2498a.png)\n\nAfter finishing the level layout, I spent the remaining time modifying content from asset packs to fit our game, setting up post processing, and playing with scene settings to capture two primary moods: \u201cmystical\u201d and \u201cairborne\u201d. Check out the [progression over time](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/44\/heart-of-the-grove\/progress-over-time-of-our-ld44-entry-heart-of-the-grove).\n\n![Instructions.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/2498b.png)\n\n## Retrospective\n\nMy time allocation looked approximately like this:\n\n- **Concepting**: 1 hour\n- **Game Development**: 41 hours\n- **Ice Skating Lesson**: 2 hours (yes, I\u2019m an aspiring ice skater!)\n- **Random Breaks**: 6 hours\n- **Sleep**: 16 hours (I didn\u2019t sleep from Sunday to Monday)\n- **Testing \/ Tweaking \/ Building**: 6 hours\n\nThose with experience in hackathons and game jams know the actual time a person has to work is about half the allotted amount due to sleep, breaks, and fixing unexpected problems that arise from being imperfect developers. Numerous failed jams have taught me the most important part of these events is agreeing on a concept that can realistically be made in 1\/3 of the given time. As my time allocation shows, we missed, and so the testing and tweaking of the game suffered. When this happens, the player experience (emotions, feelings of progress, excitement, etc.) relies largely on the luck of having initially put everything together in a way that creates a memorable experience. See some of the feedback below:\n\n![image.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/2498d.png)\n\n![image-1.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/2498e.png)\n\n![image-2.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/2498f.png)\n\nWhile our game was extremely polished, the gameplay did not have enough variety to entertain. Dullness, or the player feeling \u2018bored\u2019 is an experience that overshadows even the best graphics and plotline. What I should have done is drawn the line on polish after the main level was production-ready, then dive into coding to add more dynamicism to the gameplay. We had only implemented a few simple mechanics and none of them (combined with the level design) allowed for interesting emergent experiences.\n\nFor example, most game jam entries do not have an Options menu. The time I spent creating this one could have been better spent elsewhere.\n\n![17-finished-ui.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/24990.png)\n\nOverall though, we created a polished strategy game that even rose to the front of the \u2018Popular Strategy Games\u2019 section of itch.io for one week. I\u2019m proud of what we accomplished in 72 hours and am already looking forward to the next weekend intensive.\n\nPlay our game here: [https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/44\/heart-of-the-grove](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/44\/heart-of-the-grove)","comments":1,"comments-timestamp":"2019-05-04T23:04:40Z","created":"2019-05-04T22:49:50Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":156651,"love":3,"love-timestamp":"2019-05-04T23:08:56Z","meta":[],"modified":"2019-05-04T23:08:56Z","name":"Ludum Dare 44 \u2013 \u201cHeart of the Grove\u201d Postmortem","node-timestamp":"2019-05-04T23:07:28Z","parent":145316,"parents":[1,5,9,139254,145316],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/44\/heart-of-the-grove\/ludum-dare-44-heart-of-the-grove-postmortem","published":"2019-05-04T23:03:01Z","scope":"public","slug":"ludum-dare-44-heart-of-the-grove-postmortem","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":472086},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"156651","n_urlkey":"348566","n_parent":"145316","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/44\/heart-of-the-grove\/ludum-dare-44-heart-of-the-grove-postmortem","n_slug":"ludum-dare-44-heart-of-the-grove","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"9905","n_created":"1557010190","n_modified":"1557011336","n_version":"472086","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/44\/heart-of-the-grove\/ludum-dare-44-heart-of-the-grove-postmortem","text":"![Heart_of_the_Grove_2019-04-29_18-24-37-354.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/24986.jpg)\n\nThis past weekend I had the opportunity to participate in ludum dare 44 with my friend [JohnnyDalvi](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/users\/johnnydalvi).\n\n## Concepting\n\nAt the event\u2019s start, the theme was announced: \u201cYour Life Is Currency.\u201d The first phase of a game jam is to brainstorm ideas and decide what game to make. Initially, we discussed mechanics such as summoning minions through blood sacrifice and using health to pay for actions. However, I have a policy of pushing back against early ideas because other teams in the event are likely to create a similar game (and based on the [submissions](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/44\/games), there are a lot of \u2018pay with blood\u2019 games).\n\nGame jam themes can be taken literally or figuratively. From my experience, the figurative \/ metaphorical entries usually score higher. Gameplay that incorporates the theme is not enough \u2013 the entry must thematically stand out from the rest of the pack while also having solid polish in all areas \u2013 it can\u2019t look like it was \u201crushed to finish by the deadline.\u201d After discarding the initial ideas, we started thinking of \u2018life\u2019 in a broader sense:\n\n- Life as a journey\n- Life as a soul, like the soul of a forest\n\nThe second idea struck with us and we settled on a game where you play as the protector of a forest who \u2018awakens\u2019 trees to fight off loggers. To fit the theme, we decided the awakened trees (\u2018treants\u2019) would leave the forest \u2013 they are no longer part of it after being uprooted. Hence, the life of the forest (trees) must also be spent to defend it.\n\n![01-original-concept.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/24988.jpg)\n\n## Production\n\nThe rest of the weekend was spent on development. I was in charge of the game look and feel, meaning the 3D models, 2D UI, audio, and visual effects. The aesthetic style I chose was \u201chybrid poly\u201d, which combines low and high poly assets. I planned to use asset packs as the base for my high poly assets, so I began by creating the low poly blocks using Blender.\n\n![02-modeled-low-poly-cliff.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/24989.png)\n\nI modeled 2 cliff rocks, 2 ground platforms, and 2 small rocks. The base of our level is constructed from these objects, each being rotated and scaled in different ways to break uniformity.\n\n![04-working-on-floor.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/2498a.png)\n\nAfter finishing the level layout, I spent the remaining time modifying content from asset packs to fit our game, setting up post processing, and playing with scene settings to capture two primary moods: \u201cmystical\u201d and \u201cairborne\u201d. Check out the [progression over time](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/44\/heart-of-the-grove\/progress-over-time-of-our-ld44-entry-heart-of-the-grove).\n\n![Instructions.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/2498b.png)\n\n## Retrospective\n\nMy time allocation looked approximately like this:\n\n- **Concepting**: 1 hour\n- **Game Development**: 41 hours\n- **Ice Skating Lesson**: 2 hours (yes, I\u2019m an aspiring ice skater!)\n- **Random Breaks**: 6 hours\n- **Sleep**: 16 hours (I didn\u2019t sleep from Sunday to Monday)\n- **Testing \/ Tweaking \/ Building**: 6 hours\n\nThose with experience in hackathons and game jams know the actual time a person has to work is about half the allotted amount due to sleep, breaks, and fixing unexpected problems that arise from being imperfect developers. Numerous failed jams have taught me the most important part of these events is agreeing on a concept that can realistically be made in 1\/3 of the given time. As my time allocation shows, we missed, and so the testing and tweaking of the game suffered. When this happens, the player experience (emotions, feelings of progress, excitement, etc.) relies largely on the luck of having initially put everything together in a way that creates a memorable experience. See some of the feedback below:\n\n![image.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/2498d.png)\n\n![image-1.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/2498e.png)\n\n![image-2.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/2498f.png)\n\nWhile our game was extremely polished, the gameplay did not have enough variety to entertain. Dullness, or the player feeling \u2018bored\u2019 is an experience that overshadows even the best graphics and plotline. What I should have done is drawn the line on polish after the main level was production-ready, then dive into coding to add more dynamicism to the gameplay. We had only implemented a few simple mechanics and none of them (combined with the level design) allowed for interesting emergent experiences.\n\nFor example, most game jam entries do not have an Options menu. The time I spent creating this one could have been better spent elsewhere.\n\n![17-finished-ui.png](\/\/\/raw\/1b6\/2\/z\/24990.png)\n\nOverall though, we created a polished strategy game that even rose to the front of the \u2018Popular Strategy Games\u2019 section of itch.io for one week. I\u2019m proud of what we accomplished in 72 hours and am already looking forward to the next weekend intensive.\n\nPlay our game here: [https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/44\/heart-of-the-grove](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/44\/heart-of-the-grove)","title":"Ludum Dare 44 \u2013 \u201cHeart of the Grove\u201d Postmortem","wayback_source":[]}