{"author_link":"\/users\/polymathld","author_name":"PolymathLD","author_uid":"polymathld","comments":[],"epoch":1649198635,"event":"LD50","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":290760,"likes":2,"metadata":{"p_key":"165100","p_author":"PolymathLD","p_authorkey":"1259878","p_urlkey":"390800","p_title":"Postmortem: The Fire Will Die","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD50","p_time":"1649198635","p_likes":"2","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1259878","us_name":"PolymathLD","us_username":"polymathld","event_start":"1648857600","event_key":"110","event_name":"Ludum Dare 50"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD50","removed_author":false},"_superparent":276397,"_trust":2,"author":259878,"body":"Did one of these for my previous LD game and found it helpful for getting my thoughts together, so here we go again. If you haven't played my story-driven survival game [The Fire Will Die](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/50\/the-fire-will-die), feel free to check it out!  Otherwise, let the self-important ruminations begin.\n\n![banner_small.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/627\/f3\/z\/4ce48.jpg)\n\n## The Idea Process: Put Two Together\n\nOne of my mentors taught me that one of the best ways to come up with an idea is to take two or more unrelated ideas and combine them.  I found this idea particularly useful when prepping for this Ludum Dare.  The final round of theme voting is basically a set of unrelated concepts, and some of them work well together.  So I started smashing themes together and tried to think of games that could combine two or more of the ideas.  Then I came up with very brief designs based on that.  In this case, \"Folklore\" (specifically the talking bear from the fairy tale Snow White and Rose Red) combined well with the actual final theme, \"Delay the Inevitable\".\n\nOnce I had that combination, just thinking about what a talking bear might need if they stomped in on you during the winter got me 3\/4 of the way there; then it was just a matter of fleshing out the mechanics and characters and coming up with some sort of ending.  There was some thought of having the bear actually threaten to eat the player character if she wasn't fed, but I decided to go for the slightly-lighter route of two tortured souls commiserating.  Because that's the kind of story I like.\n\n## Game Design Challenges: Things that Get Cut 'Cause it's a Gamejam\n\nThe funny thing about game design is that the simpler the game is for players to understand and the developer to build, the harder it is to come up with a great gameplay hook to draw people in.\n\nIn this case, I knew I was making a survival game and the core mechanic would relate to a fire inevitably going out.  What I really wanted to do was involve wind and oxygen in it somehow.  I thought about having to protect the fire from the wind with stones when it's too windy, and maybe take them down when the wind dies out.  But in thinking about how to explain this to the player, I realized it just wasn't going to work in a game jam--both because it would take too long to develop and test the system, and also because I don't think lengthy tutorials about systems work well in this context.  At least, I couldn't accomplish those things while also trying to tell a story, which is something I really wanted to do this time.  So it got cut, and now you just have to throw sticks into the fire.  It's less interesting than I would've liked, and maybe more complicated mechanics can make a comeback in a future, full version, but it gets the job done without bogging the player down.\n\n## Development Challenges: Solo Development Is Hard (especially without outside assets)\n\nThe main thing I thought fell short in my previous (and first) Ludum Dare game was sound design.  I wanted to do better this time, including actually having music that I made and could be rated on. I have a little background in music (a very little), so I knew I could do it if I was set up correctly, which I made sure I was this time.\n\nI also wanted to actually make sound effects instead of just using a generator.  I have a semi-professional sound recording setup in my closet, so why not use it, eh?  So I got in there and did some foley work.\n\nI *also* wanted the art to be a lot better and feature animated human (or animal) characters.  Last time I defaulted to a space game out of being intimidated.\n\nSo uh, maybe you can see where this is going.  Doing all of this stuff by yourself is *hard*, and that's why some of the past winning compo games have impressed me so much.  To handle it all *and* do it in only 48 hours is insane; like the production values on Adam Younis' top-ten placing [Trauma](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/49\/trauma) last time around.\n\nBut it was seriously fun getting into the \"sound booth\" (it's a closet) and making animal noises and banging on things and such.  A totally new experience for me.  The music, I think, also came out well, mainly thanks to the power of virtual instruments, some of which sound insanely good.\n\nAnd *on top of all of that* the gameplay scope was two or three times larger than my previous entry.  Yikes.  Luckily, I've improved a ton as a developer since then, so I was able to (barely) get it done.\n\nMy advice for anyone wanting to do it all yourself is to have *everything* set up to the best of your ability ahead of time.  Every software package--know how to use it, have everything set.  Every piece of audio equipment.  You can't afford to waste an hour figuring out how to add a virtual instrument in Reaper and still plan to finish.\n\n## Final Thoughts: Play To Your Strengths\n\nI'm happier with this game than my last one, and I think that's because I focused intently on storytelling and mood instead of putting so much into mechanics.  I know that runs counter a bit to the typical focus for Ludum Dare, and it may hurt my overall ranking in the end, but those are the things I have the most experience with and they're the things I'm good at.  And really, being happy with your work is what this is all about, right?  Well, that and learning, and sharing the joy of development and gaming with the rest of the community.\n\nThank you to everyone who has played my game and anyone who is about to!  And for reading my incoherent ramblings, if you got this far.","comments":0,"created":"2022-04-05T22:08:02Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":290760,"love":2,"love-timestamp":"2022-04-05T22:49:32Z","meta":[],"modified":"2022-04-05T22:53:06Z","name":"Postmortem: The Fire Will Die","node-timestamp":"2022-04-05T22:53:06Z","parent":277258,"parents":[1,5,9,276397,277258],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/50\/the-fire-will-die\/postmortem-the-fire-will-die","published":"2022-04-05T22:43:55Z","scope":"public","slug":"postmortem-the-fire-will-die","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":900054},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"290760","n_urlkey":"390800","n_parent":"277258","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/50\/the-fire-will-die\/postmortem-the-fire-will-die","n_slug":"postmortem-the-fire-will-die","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"259878","n_created":"1649196482","n_modified":"1649199186","n_version":"900054","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/50\/the-fire-will-die\/postmortem-the-fire-will-die","text":"Did one of these for my previous LD game and found it helpful for getting my thoughts together, so here we go again. If you haven't played my story-driven survival game [The Fire Will Die](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/50\/the-fire-will-die), feel free to check it out!  Otherwise, let the self-important ruminations begin.\n\n![banner_small.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/627\/f3\/z\/4ce48.jpg)\n\n## The Idea Process: Put Two Together\n\nOne of my mentors taught me that one of the best ways to come up with an idea is to take two or more unrelated ideas and combine them.  I found this idea particularly useful when prepping for this Ludum Dare.  The final round of theme voting is basically a set of unrelated concepts, and some of them work well together.  So I started smashing themes together and tried to think of games that could combine two or more of the ideas.  Then I came up with very brief designs based on that.  In this case, \"Folklore\" (specifically the talking bear from the fairy tale Snow White and Rose Red) combined well with the actual final theme, \"Delay the Inevitable\".\n\nOnce I had that combination, just thinking about what a talking bear might need if they stomped in on you during the winter got me 3\/4 of the way there; then it was just a matter of fleshing out the mechanics and characters and coming up with some sort of ending.  There was some thought of having the bear actually threaten to eat the player character if she wasn't fed, but I decided to go for the slightly-lighter route of two tortured souls commiserating.  Because that's the kind of story I like.\n\n## Game Design Challenges: Things that Get Cut 'Cause it's a Gamejam\n\nThe funny thing about game design is that the simpler the game is for players to understand and the developer to build, the harder it is to come up with a great gameplay hook to draw people in.\n\nIn this case, I knew I was making a survival game and the core mechanic would relate to a fire inevitably going out.  What I really wanted to do was involve wind and oxygen in it somehow.  I thought about having to protect the fire from the wind with stones when it's too windy, and maybe take them down when the wind dies out.  But in thinking about how to explain this to the player, I realized it just wasn't going to work in a game jam--both because it would take too long to develop and test the system, and also because I don't think lengthy tutorials about systems work well in this context.  At least, I couldn't accomplish those things while also trying to tell a story, which is something I really wanted to do this time.  So it got cut, and now you just have to throw sticks into the fire.  It's less interesting than I would've liked, and maybe more complicated mechanics can make a comeback in a future, full version, but it gets the job done without bogging the player down.\n\n## Development Challenges: Solo Development Is Hard (especially without outside assets)\n\nThe main thing I thought fell short in my previous (and first) Ludum Dare game was sound design.  I wanted to do better this time, including actually having music that I made and could be rated on. I have a little background in music (a very little), so I knew I could do it if I was set up correctly, which I made sure I was this time.\n\nI also wanted to actually make sound effects instead of just using a generator.  I have a semi-professional sound recording setup in my closet, so why not use it, eh?  So I got in there and did some foley work.\n\nI *also* wanted the art to be a lot better and feature animated human (or animal) characters.  Last time I defaulted to a space game out of being intimidated.\n\nSo uh, maybe you can see where this is going.  Doing all of this stuff by yourself is *hard*, and that's why some of the past winning compo games have impressed me so much.  To handle it all *and* do it in only 48 hours is insane; like the production values on Adam Younis' top-ten placing [Trauma](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/49\/trauma) last time around.\n\nBut it was seriously fun getting into the \"sound booth\" (it's a closet) and making animal noises and banging on things and such.  A totally new experience for me.  The music, I think, also came out well, mainly thanks to the power of virtual instruments, some of which sound insanely good.\n\nAnd *on top of all of that* the gameplay scope was two or three times larger than my previous entry.  Yikes.  Luckily, I've improved a ton as a developer since then, so I was able to (barely) get it done.\n\nMy advice for anyone wanting to do it all yourself is to have *everything* set up to the best of your ability ahead of time.  Every software package--know how to use it, have everything set.  Every piece of audio equipment.  You can't afford to waste an hour figuring out how to add a virtual instrument in Reaper and still plan to finish.\n\n## Final Thoughts: Play To Your Strengths\n\nI'm happier with this game than my last one, and I think that's because I focused intently on storytelling and mood instead of putting so much into mechanics.  I know that runs counter a bit to the typical focus for Ludum Dare, and it may hurt my overall ranking in the end, but those are the things I have the most experience with and they're the things I'm good at.  And really, being happy with your work is what this is all about, right?  Well, that and learning, and sharing the joy of development and gaming with the rest of the community.\n\nThank you to everyone who has played my game and anyone who is about to!  And for reading my incoherent ramblings, if you got this far.","title":"Postmortem: The Fire Will Die","wayback_source":[]}