My brother @Not (CODE) and I @jacky-san (ARTS) teamed up for Ludum Dare 58 and created Drunk Hunt. This is our second LD as a team (previous one was LD57 with Life&Depth contribution).

This post-mortem reflects on our development journey, detailing the creative challenges, the technical choices, and the atmosphere of the jam.

Read on, and please, try the game and share your feedback! 👇

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1. Creative Process: Reversing the Hunter/Hunted Concept 🔄

• The core idea was to reverse the classic hunter/hunted concept.
• Initial Concepts: Playing as a boar collecting hunter head trophies 🐗, or a direct Duck Hunt parody using hunter heads as targets.
• The Key Pivot Came on Day 2 towards the final concept: collecting the hunter’s items (the targets) while actively evading the hunter’s aim.

2. Art Direction & Pixel Art: The Duck Hunt Legacy 🎨

• The goal was instant recognition: an unmistakable Duck Hunt visual clone.

• I pushed the visuals further by using a 16-color palette (the LOSPEC "super palette" Birdguys-2x2-Lite), a tough challenge I adhered to throughout the jam.

• The first hunter design was scrapped for the current direction: an older, more stereotypically 'Gallic' hunter.

3. Music and Sound Effects: Bayou Mood 🎶

• SFX: Partially generated using sfxr online, with the rest being CC0 licensed assets from freesound.org and opengameart.org.
• Music: Composed in Reason 12, aiming for a distinct "bayou" mood. The secret ingredient (did you catch it?) was added just before the deadline! 🤫

4. Code & Tech Stack: Godot and the AI Boost 🤖

• We ultimately chose Godot Engine. After some hesitation with Unity3D, we preferred Godot for its fast iteration cycles, its accessible approach that was easy for the whole team to grasp, and its remarkably simple HTML export process. Frankly, Godot is perfect for Game Jam projects :sparkles:

• Coding with AI Assistance : our coding fluidity was significantly enhanced by using ChatGPT. Since we only use Godot for Game Jams—which occur about every six months right now—our knowledge of the engine is fairly shallow. Having fast access to syntax and language references was a major plus. While Godot has documentation and community contributions, these often contain time-wasting gaps (Godot 3 vs. 4, GDScript vs. C#, plus various bugs). We were genuinely astonished by how well ChatGPT navigated these complexities to deliver easy solutions for simple, well-defined issues. This made the coding process very pleasant; we didn't get stuck too long on basic problems, allowing us to keep our iteration frequency high. The result: time saved, better mood, and a better game!

5. Gameplay, gamefeeling & balance :straight_ruler:

• Late-Stage Balancing: :game_die: once we had enough core gameplay code and graphics (important for overall feedback), we began level balancing using several tunable parameters. (Note: This came very late—on the second day, in the afternoon! This was a mistake.) It took us a lot of time to develop a proper level strategy, configuring every level with a correct amount of customization. Frankly, it felt like using a cannon to shoot a mosquito.

• The Final Twist: :astonished: during the balancing tests, it became apparent that the game was missing a core gameplay mechanic to make it truly engaging. So, we successfully implemented the final gameplay twist: involving the hunter’s aim (the locking reticle) 🎯. This became the main lever for difficulty: in easier stages, the hunter takes more time to lock on and shoot; in later stages, this time is significantly reduced. It only took about 30 minutes to implement, but it undoubtedly saved the general feedback of the game. Late but quick !

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6. Jam Highlights ✨

• The project was incredibly fun to work on.
• Very satisfied with the core concept, ideas, iterations, and pivotal changes made during the 72 hours.
• The public feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and encouraging! 🥰
• Great satisfaction with the final delivered version's quality and polish level.
• Proud of successfully tackling our first 16-color Pixel Art direction.
• Improved coding workflow thanks to AI assistance.

7. Challenges & Hard Lessons 🚧

• Insufficient Testing: We failed to adequately test the progression curve, difficulty scaling, and, critically, did not conduct external playtests. 📉
• Team Friction: A few moments of tension and miscommunication, exacerbated by significant fatigue starting on Day 2 (a classic jam hurdle!). 😴
• Ambition vs. Time: Graphical/technical ambition (like the round parametrization system and achieving a global pixel art production with big sprites for hunter) took more time than the value perceived by the player.
• Accessibility: We ran out of time to implement any volume controls (SFX/Music). 🔇

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8. What's Next? The Itch.io V1.0 Director's Cut 🎬

• Personal Goals: Try solo jams but continue to team up for the competitive spirit. Aiming for 6 game jams per year (we're currently at 3).
• Planned V1.0 Content:
  • Integrating a full in-game music track.
  • Hunter animations (already done, but not integrated during the jam).
  • True Pixel Perfect rendering and Scan Line rendering options.
  • Reworking the Hunter's collider and fine-tuning the difficulty curve.
  • Visual and SFX feedback for the dash cooldown.
  • Volume balance: SFX about 50-60% less loud.

Haven't played the game yet? Go on! Give it a shot and tell us what you think! 🙏 TRY THIS DUUUUCKING GAME !