{"author_name":"benbateman","cat":"LD #32","comments":[],"epoch":1429629960,"likes":2,"metadata":{"p_key":"17945","p_author":"benbateman","p_authorkey":"51139","p_urlkey":"53255","p_title":"First game jam, first game","p_cat":"LD #32","p_event":"LD32","p_time":"1429629960","p_likes":"2","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"51139","us_name":"benbateman","us_username":"benbateman","event_start":"1429228800","event_key":"27","event_name":"LD32"},"text":"<p>After encouragement from friends I set about participating in my first game jam &#8211;<strong> it was hard<\/strong>. I&#8217;ve been teaching myself Unreal Engine from scratch over the last few months, and while I&#8217;m no programmer, it&#8217;s worked for me well so far. The event forced me to quickly learn elements of UE that I wasn&#8217;t familiar with, and to also &#8216;finish&#8217; a game. While what I&#8217;ve created is far from\u00a0something special, the comments and encouragement from everyone has been great.<\/p>\n <p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/UE4Editor-2015-04-21-16-14-16-45.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-459542 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/UE4Editor-2015-04-21-16-14-16-45-550x309.jpg\" alt=\"UE4Editor 2015-04-21 16-14-16-45\" width=\"550\" height=\"309\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/UE4Editor-2015-04-21-16-14-16-45-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/UE4Editor-2015-04-21-16-14-16-45-550x309.jpg 550w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/UE4Editor-2015-04-21-16-14-16-45.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n <span id=\"more-459428\"><\/span><\/p>\n <h2><strong>The good<\/strong><\/h2>\n <ul>\n <li>Puns!<\/li>\n <li>A cow that shoots milk from its udders.<\/li>\n <li>Moo! SFX provided by my brother moo-ing into his iPhone.<\/li>\n <li>Destructible Platforms. It was my first time playing with fractals and I think it looks okay.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n <h2><strong>The bad<\/strong><\/h2>\n <ul>\n <li>Not enough puns!<\/li>\n <li>Needs more enemies &#8211; had lots more planned, each with different types of behaviour.<\/li>\n <li>Scoring &#8211; The score and churn mechanic needs more refinement and explaining to the player. The ultimate goal is for them to speed-run the game choosing when to kill and when to avoid enemies for the best possible run.<\/li>\n <li>Lots of placeholder sprites\/animations &#8211; I started out to do orthographic, but had a change of heart and went with perspective, hence the strange blend of sprites and 3D.\u00a0I think at some point I was envisioning a Paper Mario-esque look. Either way, it kinda got lost somewhere between the two<\/li>\n <li>UE4+HTML5=Pain. I&#8217;ve seen that people with the web players get a lot more people trying their game &#8211; no shit &#8211; but I just couldn&#8217;t get it to work for me. Weird input lag and collision that stopped working.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n <h2><strong>Next Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n <p>There definitely will be a next time, and I plan to work with others! Reduce the workload and have a soundboard to bounce ideas off. It was tough to come up with a clear idea at 2AM (UK) but regular contact with my housemate (my brother) meant I could talk out some ideas or problems.<\/p>\n <p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n <p>If you want to check it out, you can see <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-32\/?action=preview&amp;uid=51139\">my submission here: Butter Luck Next Time<\/a>.<\/p>\n <p>Now to go back to my other game projects with a renewed vigor. <strong>Thanks game devs!<\/strong><\/p>","time":"April 21st, 2015 10:26 am","title":"First game jam, first game"}