{"author_link":"\/users\/ladybenko","author_name":"ladybenko","author_uid":"ladybenko","comments":[],"epoch":1619558703,"event":"LD48","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":254155,"likes":8,"metadata":{"p_key":"156432","p_author":"ladybenko","p_authorkey":"1009932","p_urlkey":"376679","p_title":"Exiled: Dev log","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD48","p_time":"1619558703","p_likes":"8","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1009932","us_name":"ladybenko","us_username":"ladybenko","event_start":"1619222400","event_key":"109","event_name":"Ludum Dare 48"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD48","removed_author":false},"_superparent":233335,"_trust":4,"author":9932,"body":"I missed the last 3 editions of Ludum Dare, so it was good to be back for the **LD48 compo**! The game I ended up submitting diverged a lot from my initial idea, but nevertheless I'm happy I was able to finish it and add it a bit of polish as well. \n\nYou can see **the entry here** https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/48\/exiled You just need a web browser and a keyboard to play it, and I hope you enjoy the little story that this game presents.\n\n[![cover_ludum.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f25.png)](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/48\/exiled)\n\n\n## Saturday\n\nI woke up at 7:30 AM and saw the theme: \u201c_Deeper and deeper_\u201d. I had a short workout at home (thanks, RingFit Adventure), and then brainstormed some ideas while having a coffee. For this, I like to do mind maps:\n\n![brainstorming.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f1c.png)\n\n\nI was unsure of what to make out of it, so I went for a walk, and then did some house chores while still thinking on which kind of game I\u2019d be making. At lunchtime, I settled down for a Diablo-like game about a dark elf having to return to his home in the Underground after having been cast out. I quickly drew a mockup of how I wanted it to look like.\n\n![mockup.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f1d.png)\n\nOn game jams, I usually like to spend Saturdays coding and leave Sundays for art, music and level design. However, this time I got \u201ctrapped\u201d into doing 1-bit retro pixel art \u2014a poor decision in retrospective, but I was having fun!\n\n![draft.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f1e.png)\n\nAnd quickly after that, I re-designed the main character to make it cuter and have black skin (like the dark elves from _Forgotten Realms_).\n\n![main_character.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f1f.png)\n\nI _loved_ how it turned out. I posted it on Twitter and people really liked the character as well.\n\nI implemented rendering a level based on tiles, and also the character with basic movement. At this stage I decided not to follow _Diablo_\u2019s controls with mouse, and rely on arrow keys or d-pad, like _Zelda_.\n\n![rendering_level.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f20.png)\n\nI called it a day, and went to bed at a reasonable time.\n\n## Sunday\n\nI was behind schedule in any way possible, so drastic measures had to be taken: I dropped combat mechanics and introduced **dialogues** instead, so I could tell a story while the character was travelling down the different levels.\n\nAnd I hit a wall with this because I still don\u2019t fully understand how Godot handles UI, and it turns out that implementing a box that will expand and shrink depending on the length of the text is not trivial.\n\n![balloon.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f22.png)\n\nIn the end I managed to implement it, but I wasted a lot of time doing it. I could just have drawn boxes with three or four sizes and just picked one depending on text length. It would not have been perfect, but it would have been much quicker.\n\nIt was getting late, and I realised I still didn\u2019t have a **title screen or an end screen**, so I made those two. I used the title screen to display a short **tutorial**, and I re-used the main character and my new shiny dialogue bubbles to achieve that.\n\n![tutorial.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f23.png)\n\n> **SPOILER ALERT**: You may want to play the game before you continue reading!\n\nI only had a few hours left, so I quickly **decided the story**: the elf couldn\u2019t win. He had been banished forever by some cruel gods, and he would be forever stuck in a loop trying to get home in vain. To reinforce this idea of looping, I made the player to go through the same levels a few time before displaying the \u201cend\u201d screen, and the main character would say something before going downstairs to switch to the new level.\n\nAnd to make the levels a bit more interesting, I decided to introduce **doors and keys**, so the player would need to explore the level a bit before finishing it.\n\nOnce everything was in place, I added some retro sound effects I generated, and also quickly composed something in Garage Band as the soundtrack. I wanted something repetitive, that felt like endless work.\n\nAnd I was done! The game turned out like nothing I thought in the beginning, but I\u2019m happy I could submit something that felt complete somehow.","comments":0,"created":"2021-04-27T21:16:29Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":254155,"love":8,"love-timestamp":"2021-05-01T10:17:01Z","meta":[],"modified":"2021-05-01T10:17:01Z","name":"Exiled: Dev log","node-timestamp":"2021-04-27T21:25:03Z","parent":243400,"parents":[1,5,9,233335,243400],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/48\/exiled\/exiled-dev-log","published":"2021-04-27T21:25:03Z","scope":"public","slug":"exiled-dev-log","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":777504},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"254155","n_urlkey":"376679","n_parent":"243400","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/48\/exiled\/exiled-dev-log","n_slug":"exiled-dev-log","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"9932","n_created":"1619558189","n_modified":"1619864221","n_version":"777504","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/48\/exiled\/exiled-dev-log","text":"I missed the last 3 editions of Ludum Dare, so it was good to be back for the **LD48 compo**! The game I ended up submitting diverged a lot from my initial idea, but nevertheless I'm happy I was able to finish it and add it a bit of polish as well. \n\nYou can see **the entry here** https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/48\/exiled You just need a web browser and a keyboard to play it, and I hope you enjoy the little story that this game presents.\n\n[![cover_ludum.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f25.png)](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/48\/exiled)\n\n\n## Saturday\n\nI woke up at 7:30 AM and saw the theme: \u201c_Deeper and deeper_\u201d. I had a short workout at home (thanks, RingFit Adventure), and then brainstormed some ideas while having a coffee. For this, I like to do mind maps:\n\n![brainstorming.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f1c.png)\n\n\nI was unsure of what to make out of it, so I went for a walk, and then did some house chores while still thinking on which kind of game I\u2019d be making. At lunchtime, I settled down for a Diablo-like game about a dark elf having to return to his home in the Underground after having been cast out. I quickly drew a mockup of how I wanted it to look like.\n\n![mockup.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f1d.png)\n\nOn game jams, I usually like to spend Saturdays coding and leave Sundays for art, music and level design. However, this time I got \u201ctrapped\u201d into doing 1-bit retro pixel art \u2014a poor decision in retrospective, but I was having fun!\n\n![draft.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f1e.png)\n\nAnd quickly after that, I re-designed the main character to make it cuter and have black skin (like the dark elves from _Forgotten Realms_).\n\n![main_character.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f1f.png)\n\nI _loved_ how it turned out. I posted it on Twitter and people really liked the character as well.\n\nI implemented rendering a level based on tiles, and also the character with basic movement. At this stage I decided not to follow _Diablo_\u2019s controls with mouse, and rely on arrow keys or d-pad, like _Zelda_.\n\n![rendering_level.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f20.png)\n\nI called it a day, and went to bed at a reasonable time.\n\n## Sunday\n\nI was behind schedule in any way possible, so drastic measures had to be taken: I dropped combat mechanics and introduced **dialogues** instead, so I could tell a story while the character was travelling down the different levels.\n\nAnd I hit a wall with this because I still don\u2019t fully understand how Godot handles UI, and it turns out that implementing a box that will expand and shrink depending on the length of the text is not trivial.\n\n![balloon.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f22.png)\n\nIn the end I managed to implement it, but I wasted a lot of time doing it. I could just have drawn boxes with three or four sizes and just picked one depending on text length. It would not have been perfect, but it would have been much quicker.\n\nIt was getting late, and I realised I still didn\u2019t have a **title screen or an end screen**, so I made those two. I used the title screen to display a short **tutorial**, and I re-used the main character and my new shiny dialogue bubbles to achieve that.\n\n![tutorial.png](\/\/\/raw\/cc6\/2\/z\/40f23.png)\n\n> **SPOILER ALERT**: You may want to play the game before you continue reading!\n\nI only had a few hours left, so I quickly **decided the story**: the elf couldn\u2019t win. He had been banished forever by some cruel gods, and he would be forever stuck in a loop trying to get home in vain. To reinforce this idea of looping, I made the player to go through the same levels a few time before displaying the \u201cend\u201d screen, and the main character would say something before going downstairs to switch to the new level.\n\nAnd to make the levels a bit more interesting, I decided to introduce **doors and keys**, so the player would need to explore the level a bit before finishing it.\n\nOnce everything was in place, I added some retro sound effects I generated, and also quickly composed something in Garage Band as the soundtrack. I wanted something repetitive, that felt like endless work.\n\nAnd I was done! The game turned out like nothing I thought in the beginning, but I\u2019m happy I could submit something that felt complete somehow.","title":"Exiled: Dev log","wayback_source":[]}