This was my first Ludum Dare entry. Let’s just say I was totally unprepared.

I was a little disappointed when the theme was announced (I was hoping for companion). ‘Unconventional weapon’ seemed very mechanics based. Normally that would be fine for a programmer like me, but I tend to get over-ambitious. I started making a metroidvania game with a one-shot slingshot. All was progressing fine until I had to start creating the world. It was then that I remembered how bad I am at world design. It didn’t help that I was using a new unfamiliar tile-generating software.

Saturday night I realized I would not be able to finish on time. I was devastated. I had been anticipating Ludum Dare for so long, but now I had blown it. I spent some time sulking and pouting like a two-year-old. Then I thought of an idea: why not make a tiny little game? I mean, it’s better than nothing right? I didn’t have much time, but I was able to whip together Hacked pretty quick.

Hacked is just a simple typing game. I had a little time left over so I added a bit of a story, some prettier art, and little firewall turrets. It wasn’t the game I wanted to make, but Hacked isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.

So let’s break down Hacked.

What’s bad:

-Too simple

-Balancing issues

-Poor pacing

-No music

-Lots of little bugs

What’s good:

-Addictive gameplay

-Neat concept

-Okay-ish art

Overall, I think this LD was a success. At least I learned a lot. LD33, here I come!

Play Hacked here:

http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-32/?action=preview&uid=50898