{"author_link":"\/users\/dom-harris","author_name":"Dom Harris","author_uid":"dom-harris","comments":[],"epoch":1601632653,"event":"LD47","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":219795,"likes":21,"metadata":{"p_key":"147224","p_author":"Dom Harris","p_authorkey":"1009716","p_urlkey":"363659","p_title":"Some jam tips!","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD47","p_time":"1601632653","p_likes":"21","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1009716","us_name":"Dom Harris","us_username":"dom-harris","event_start":"1601596800","event_key":"76","event_name":"Ludum Dare 47"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD47","removed_author":false},"_superparent":212256,"_trust":4,"author":9716,"body":"I can imagine there are loads of people joining for the first time - good luck :grin: here are a few tips from someone who's been making games for 13 years:\n\n- Keep scope down. Work out what you could do in 8-16 hours and use that. Whatever your idea is, decide early what the absolute minimum is for that game to be playable. Then decide what you can take out, and take it out :joy: keep all your great ideas to a \u201cnice to have\u201d list, and implement them if you\u2019ve got time towards the end. I\u2019ve found that separating my \u201cmust have\u201d and \u201cnice to have\u201d lists has helped a lot in the past!\n\n- Get something playable ASAP, and even send it out for people to test! I generally aim to have a first playable within a few hours.\n\n- EAT! SLEEP! DRINK! TAKE A BREAK! If you\u2019ve scoped well enough, sleeping for 6-9 hours won\u2019t be an issue at all, and you\u2019ll be much better off for it.\n\n- Drinking enough water and eating proper food (including something green) will help your concentration and will definitely help avoid making stupid mistakes. Take a break, go for a walk, see a real-life person. Coming back to an issue after a break, no matter how short, often helps you see solutions that you were too frustrated to find before. It\u2019s happened to me many, many times :joy:\n\n- Audio adds a lot to the overall experience, it\u2019s odd how much it can add to a game. You\u2019ll see a better score in more categories than just \u201caudio\u201d for including it!\n\n- Same with some basic menus! Do it first, get it out of the way then you don\u2019t have to think about it ever again :grin:\n\n- Make a new project BEFORE the jam starts! It can take ages for things like Unity to open, so might as well get it all set up from the get go. Import any assets you plan on using (in the jam only, of course :wink: )\n\n- Experiment! Have fun! There's always going to be a better game than yours, so don't get hung up on how well you do. \n\nThat\u2019s all from me! Feel free to add more :grin:","comments":3,"comments-timestamp":"2020-10-02T17:18:02Z","created":"2020-10-02T09:52:46Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":219795,"love":21,"love-timestamp":"2020-10-03T08:29:08Z","meta":[],"modified":"2020-10-03T08:29:08Z","name":"Some jam tips!","node-timestamp":"2020-10-02T09:57:33Z","parent":219789,"parents":[1,5,9,212256,219789],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/47\/polyfury\/some-jam-tips","published":"2020-10-02T09:57:33Z","scope":"public","slug":"some-jam-tips","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":654437},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"219795","n_urlkey":"363659","n_parent":"219789","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/47\/polyfury\/some-jam-tips","n_slug":"some-jam-tips","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"9716","n_created":"1601632366","n_modified":"1601713748","n_version":"654437","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/47\/polyfury\/some-jam-tips","text":"I can imagine there are loads of people joining for the first time - good luck :grin: here are a few tips from someone who's been making games for 13 years:\n\n- Keep scope down. Work out what you could do in 8-16 hours and use that. Whatever your idea is, decide early what the absolute minimum is for that game to be playable. Then decide what you can take out, and take it out :joy: keep all your great ideas to a \u201cnice to have\u201d list, and implement them if you\u2019ve got time towards the end. I\u2019ve found that separating my \u201cmust have\u201d and \u201cnice to have\u201d lists has helped a lot in the past!\n\n- Get something playable ASAP, and even send it out for people to test! I generally aim to have a first playable within a few hours.\n\n- EAT! SLEEP! DRINK! TAKE A BREAK! If you\u2019ve scoped well enough, sleeping for 6-9 hours won\u2019t be an issue at all, and you\u2019ll be much better off for it.\n\n- Drinking enough water and eating proper food (including something green) will help your concentration and will definitely help avoid making stupid mistakes. Take a break, go for a walk, see a real-life person. Coming back to an issue after a break, no matter how short, often helps you see solutions that you were too frustrated to find before. It\u2019s happened to me many, many times :joy:\n\n- Audio adds a lot to the overall experience, it\u2019s odd how much it can add to a game. You\u2019ll see a better score in more categories than just \u201caudio\u201d for including it!\n\n- Same with some basic menus! Do it first, get it out of the way then you don\u2019t have to think about it ever again :grin:\n\n- Make a new project BEFORE the jam starts! It can take ages for things like Unity to open, so might as well get it all set up from the get go. Import any assets you plan on using (in the jam only, of course :wink: )\n\n- Experiment! Have fun! There's always going to be a better game than yours, so don't get hung up on how well you do. \n\nThat\u2019s all from me! Feel free to add more :grin:","title":"Some jam tips!","wayback_source":[]}