{"author_name":"Denis347","cat":"LD #33","comments":[],"epoch":1440761220,"likes":1,"metadata":{"p_key":"13259","p_author":"Denis347","p_authorkey":"49622","p_urlkey":"48513","p_title":"You are the Monster\u2026 Truck !","p_cat":"LD #33","p_event":"LD33","p_time":"1440761220","p_likes":"1","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"49622","us_name":"Denis347","us_username":"denis347","event_start":"1440115200","event_key":"29","event_name":"LD33"},"text":"

\"mmr1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alright, so I’ll try to write my post-mortem as well. I was looking forward to this LD, since I finally wanted a good motivation to finish a project, to make as complete game as possible. When the theme was revealed, I wasn’t particulary happy. I liked other themes much better, but I had to start thinking. First thing that came to my mind was that I want to find a unique approach to the theme. I knew I wouldn’t stand out with my development skills, since I’ve never finished any game, so I needed to stand out at least with the idea. And I guess I managed to do that. Although I was definitely not the only one who thought of the Monster Trucks, we were certainly a minority.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So I started making the car. I wanted my MonsterTruck to behave a bit differently than it ended up, but I couldn’t afford to look for a solution the whole weekend. I was using Unity’s wheel colliders, and I could not manage to make them behave correctly when riding over bigger bumps, so I decided to lock the rotation of the truck on 2 axis, which took some of the fun from the gameplay, but at least the car was stable now and I could finally move on a bit.<\/p>\n

I needed to find a goal for the game. And what do Monster Trucks usually do? Crush other cars, of course. So I made a little city, put some traffic in it, and I had a goal. But that would be too easy and boring. I needed some kind of enemy. There is a Monster Truck driving through the city, crushing cars, so adding a police as an enemy seemed like a logical solution . And why not make them crazy? And why not make them suicidal? And packed with explosives?<\/p>\n

So I had a goal, an enemy, but I wanted a bit more to this. I didn’t want for the player to just die on touch with the police, so I added HP bar, and a Repair Garage, and while at it, I also added Fuel bar and Gas Station. To incorporate these into the score, I decided to put the price for repair and the gas.<\/p>\n

At last, I added some finishing touches, little menu with splashscreen, and UI. And there it was, my first finished game!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What Went Good:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overall gameplay – I think final outcome is not dull, and I’m glad with the game as a whole.<\/p>\n

Audio – I’m happy with audio in the game. I wanted to create and record more songs, but the one that is in game already took way too much time, so I decided that 1 and a half minutes should suffice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What Went “Not Sure”:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Balance – Balance is a matter of many iterations and playtests, but I didnt have much time for that, so I tried to guess the right values and prices in the game to have it fairly hard, yet not impossible to maintain higher score.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What Went Bad:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Graphics – Some people seem to like the graphics, which I’m super happy about, but I wanted it nicer, especially better textures, better models. But again, I’m no artist, so I didn’t want to spend all weekend modelling and texturing, and having no game in the end.<\/p>\n

Code – Yeah, the code is pretty ugly, but hey, it works, right?<\/p>\n

Emptiness of the stage – I wanted to add more stuff in the city, like trees, various buildings, some fences, handrails on the bridges, …<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In conclusion<\/strong>, I’m glad I finally joined the LudumDare and finished my first game!<\/p>\n

I want to thank everyone who commented on my game, all of the comments were very kind, and I’m really happy you seem to like the game.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you haven’t played Monster Truck Rampage yet, feel free to do so right now!<\/a>\u00a0And don’t forget to leave your votes and some feedback.<\/p>","time":"August 28th, 2015 6:27 am","title":"You are the Monster\u2026 Truck !"}