{"author_name":"IamAcoconut","cat":"LD #32","comments":[],"epoch":1430177580,"likes":2,"metadata":{"p_key":"17588","p_author":"IamAcoconut","p_authorkey":"25337","p_urlkey":"52892","p_title":"An Amazing LD Story, and a Conventional Post-Mortem","p_cat":"LD #32","p_event":"LD32","p_time":"1430177580","p_likes":"2","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"25337","us_name":"IamAcoconut","us_username":"iamacoconut","event_start":"1429228800","event_key":"27","event_name":"LD32"},"text":"

Before I begin my story of awesome gamedev-iness, I would like to say:<\/span><\/p>\n

I FINISHED ON TIME!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Because that is truly an important part of the story, and a fact of awesomeness in itself. I did a lot this LD. I made\u00a0three levels, (which is really impressive considering my last entry: http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-30\/?<\/span>action=preview&uid=25337<\/span>), and implemented three different weapons! It was kind of crazy getting it all done\u00a0though….<\/p>\n

The day: April 19, 2015. Yesterday I wasted over an hour trying to create and generate music that I didn’t even use.\u00a0This morning I had to go to church, so I couldn’t work on my game for another hour. I still have to finish Level Two\u00a0and START Level Three, (including making its weaponry). At around 20 minutes till the competition’s over, I make a\u00a0build and decide to start testing. I edit, and tweak a few things, but so far everything’s going great and I’m happy.\u00a0Then at \u00a0around 5: 53 pm, I realize I haven’t play-tested Level 3 in the build. The game is too hard for me to be able to get to Level 3 in the current time frame, so I just make a second build with only that scene in it. Anyway, I’m\u00a0playing the game, and everything seems fine, it’s running at a good speed. But then, right off the bat, I die. No big deal, I think, I’ll just respawn! The problem is: I don’t. There is a null reference error, something that never showed up before!<\/p>\n

“I must of respawned thousands of times in this level, in the editor. Maybe the build’s just missing assets from other scenes”, prays the little voice in my head. I try playing in the editor and the same error happens. I look at the code. I have no idea what’s wrong. Everything should be there! I look at the clock, it’s 5:57. I have 3 minutes to solve the error, and absolutely no idea where to start. I try commenting out the line that errors, and the game just breaks down on a later one. It’s now 5: 59. I’m freaking out! In a mad rush, I delete that whole section of code and run the game. I let my character die. I watch the screen, hoping and praying that this works, that I haven’t completely failed! And then, in an instant (because my computer’s very fast), the character respawns correctly. I look at the clock: 6:00 exactly, the jam is over and so am I.<\/p>\n

My hear still th-thumping though. I’m sure it can’t work, how can it? I keep playtesting, each time finding nothing wrong with the respawn. I open my chrome tab and notice I need an update, so I let it restart. \u00a0I walk away from my computer, and look out the window: It’s over, I think. And then all of a sudden, I hear the start of the Rocky theme tune<\/p>\n