I don’t like writing post-mortems before the end of the voting. How can I say if the game is good or bad if I don’t know if people liked it? So, here is a pre-post-mortem + timelapse.

Wordskill

Idea.

I expected this theme to win, so I made up an idea beforehand. So, it’s a game a game about a cowboy, whose gun is made for suiciding only. What, is my game is not about it? I figured out it would be too relying at graphics. So, I made up a new idea pretty quickly, and I liked it. However, the actual game is not about fighting, I should’ve added a healthbar for the enemy/friend or something like that, just to make the theme usage a bit more clear.

Coding.

And again, my code is crap. I feel sorry for those who want to understand more about the game and look at the source code. However, it’s not hopeless, I wasn’t hurt by it being too messy.

Time-management.

Actually, I was ill during the LD, so I had a lot of free time. However, I had less time left by the end of the compo. I think, it was the only time I didn’t have time to make any music. Other than that, I have no complaints, I balanced sleeping, coding and designing well. Well, maybe I was a bit too careless, because I didn’t have a working demo for a long time.

Graphics.

Oh, a big thing. I used pixelart this time. Well, I always use pixelart. Not because I like it a lot, just because it’s easier. I use it as an excuse. I went McPixel-inspired and made each level have 2 frames of animation, so it looks like I can draw. Actually, I wasn’t able to make it perfectly pixelated, you might notice borders of speech/though bubbles are blurry. I couldn’t fix that.

Level design.

I knew my game needs a twist (not like it’s already twisted enough), so I made a smaller speech area for some levels, a bigger one for others, some syllable counting in forms of poetry and haiku e.t.c. Actually, the poet is Alexander Pushkin, though I’m afraid he doesn’t look alike. I also wanted to make a singing level featuring Freddie Mercury, but everything went well without it.

Title.

I made up a name quickly: “Words kill, words give life”. I drew the logo in the last couple of hours, and accidentally put “Words” and “kill” words too close. And I noticed they can be read as “Word” and “skill”! I quickly chopped of the second half of the title, making it “Wordskill”.

Rating entries.

I wasn’t able to play 100 games for some LDs, and I’m not close this time as well. But this time I made a thing I didn’t do before: during the compo and the jam, I bookmarked games I would like to play when they are released.

Timelapsing.

Nothing to say, just watch:

 

And here are some game highlights with little ratings:

 

Quality Television,

a compo entry by crazya02.

The TV is extremely addicting, but not for you! You your TV set to stun guards and escape the prison!

 

Mouton,

a compo entry by Noisette.

Trick the shepherd and get to the paddock! Or be a shepherd yourself, and kill those sheep! And it’s multiplayer!

 

Seamus’ Gun,

a jam entry by 01101101.

Use your paint-shooting gun to kill the enemies! But be careful, you only need a certain paint color!