{"author_link":"\/users\/hawkin","author_name":"Hawkin","author_uid":"hawkin","comments":[],"epoch":1728932067,"event":"LD56","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":406044,"likes":3,"metadata":{"p_key":"209162","p_author":"Hawkin","p_authorkey":"1219411","p_urlkey":"447535","p_title":"\"Tiny\" Dev Log for \"Tiny Economy\"","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD56","p_time":"1728932067","p_likes":"3","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1219411","us_name":"Hawkin","us_username":"hawkin","event_start":"1728000000","event_key":"115","event_name":"Ludum Dare 56"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD56","removed_author":false},"_superparent":395186,"_trust":5,"author":219411,"body":"For me, every jam is an opportunity to focus on something I felt that I missed last time. This was also my return to solo-jamming after four team jams, and I had to acknowledge that I couldn't do everything on my own. But it also felt like an opportunity to focus on the things I wanted to. I really wanted to focus on feedback: how the player knows they are doing the right thing. For that, the designer needs to know what the right thing even is. \n\n### What I originally envisioned ...\nwas a tile laying game similar to **Dorf Romantik**, except you would be laying resource tiles and road tiles to expand a network of towns trading goods in their own \"tiny economy\". The features I planned were:\n1. Tile placement in a hexagonal grid.\n2. Collection of resources from nearby tiles.\n3. Connection of towns by roads.\n4. Trading of resources across towns.\n\nThis seemed like a decent enough framework to me. I assumed the objective would appear somewhere in the amassing of resources. Not to mention the UI and sound.\n\n### What I didn't expect ...\nwas that hexagonal grids are a lot of work. I began with some guidance to start, but then realized I would be  better off lifting someone else's solution. I came upon [Catlike Coding](https:\/\/catlikecoding.com\/unity\/tutorials\/hex-map), which had a really robust platform -- more than I really needed. I spent a lot of Saturday understanding what was there and what I needed, and building my own tiles from [Kenney](https:\/\/kenney.nl\/assets\/hexagon-kit) into it. \n\nIt wasn't until after the first 24 hours that I had the core mechanic (Feature 1) implemented. I was way behind.\n\n### What I ended up doing ...\nwas ditching the \"stretch\" features and instead forming the game around what I could get done. Generating a starting map, drawing from a deck of cards, counting resource tiles, and a basic UI was all done in the next 24 hours. I even gave up one of my labors of love (music), knowing that I needed to support the experience rather than my own pride. **To focus on what you want, git rid of what you don't need.**\n\nI felt good about this pivot, that I had salvaged something playable.\n\nHere's a snapshot of the build progress from hour 24 to hour 72. I had to work on Day 3, so I didn't get to put in so many hours. But by the end of it, I felt like I still had something playable and polished. But was it ... fun?\n\n![progress.png](\/\/\/raw\/319\/53\/z\/68d21.png)\n\n### What I forgot ...\nwas that a mechanic _does not equal_ an objective. **When you have to pivot, make sure the game's objective wasn't tied to something that got cut.** I got so wrapped up in _doing_ that I forgot to revisit my [design framework](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/49\/2nd-law\/2nd-law-dev-log-1-brainstorming-and-design) to see if what I had still met the criteria for a \"game\". \n\n**Really understand the differences between the \"mechanic\", the \"challenge\", and the \"objective\".**\nThis is what was unfortunately missing from my final entry. Sure, the mechanic was there, but what the player was supposed to do with it (the _objective_) was just missing. Something that underscored this was the lack of an end screen. How did the player even know they were _done_? \n\nI'm not being down on myself. There are reasonable explanations for the final result. It's just a good reminder of the aspects of a game that might go overlooked: feedback and measurement.\n\nSo if you've made it to the bottom, reading all this, and you are still interested in seeing what I made, please stop by!\n\n**Play [Tiny Economy](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/56\/tiny-economy)**\n\n_ -Hawkin_\n","comments":0,"created":"2024-10-14T18:27:43Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":406044,"love":3,"love-timestamp":"2024-10-26T16:59:18Z","meta":[],"modified":"2024-10-26T16:59:18Z","name":"\"Tiny\" Dev Log for \"Tiny Economy\"","node-timestamp":"2024-10-14T18:54:27Z","parent":401254,"parents":[1,5,9,395186,401254],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/56\/tiny-economy\/tiny-dev-log-for-tiny-economy","published":"2024-10-14T18:54:27Z","scope":"public","slug":"tiny-dev-log-for-tiny-economy","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":1276618},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"406044","n_urlkey":"447535","n_parent":"401254","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/56\/tiny-economy\/tiny-dev-log-for-tiny-economy","n_slug":"tiny-dev-log-for-tiny-economy","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"219411","n_created":"1728930463","n_modified":"1729961958","n_version":"1276618","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/56\/tiny-economy\/tiny-dev-log-for-tiny-economy","text":"For me, every jam is an opportunity to focus on something I felt that I missed last time. This was also my return to solo-jamming after four team jams, and I had to acknowledge that I couldn't do everything on my own. But it also felt like an opportunity to focus on the things I wanted to. I really wanted to focus on feedback: how the player knows they are doing the right thing. For that, the designer needs to know what the right thing even is. \n\n### What I originally envisioned ...\nwas a tile laying game similar to **Dorf Romantik**, except you would be laying resource tiles and road tiles to expand a network of towns trading goods in their own \"tiny economy\". The features I planned were:\n1. Tile placement in a hexagonal grid.\n2. Collection of resources from nearby tiles.\n3. Connection of towns by roads.\n4. Trading of resources across towns.\n\nThis seemed like a decent enough framework to me. I assumed the objective would appear somewhere in the amassing of resources. Not to mention the UI and sound.\n\n### What I didn't expect ...\nwas that hexagonal grids are a lot of work. I began with some guidance to start, but then realized I would be  better off lifting someone else's solution. I came upon [Catlike Coding](https:\/\/catlikecoding.com\/unity\/tutorials\/hex-map), which had a really robust platform -- more than I really needed. I spent a lot of Saturday understanding what was there and what I needed, and building my own tiles from [Kenney](https:\/\/kenney.nl\/assets\/hexagon-kit) into it. \n\nIt wasn't until after the first 24 hours that I had the core mechanic (Feature 1) implemented. I was way behind.\n\n### What I ended up doing ...\nwas ditching the \"stretch\" features and instead forming the game around what I could get done. Generating a starting map, drawing from a deck of cards, counting resource tiles, and a basic UI was all done in the next 24 hours. I even gave up one of my labors of love (music), knowing that I needed to support the experience rather than my own pride. **To focus on what you want, git rid of what you don't need.**\n\nI felt good about this pivot, that I had salvaged something playable.\n\nHere's a snapshot of the build progress from hour 24 to hour 72. I had to work on Day 3, so I didn't get to put in so many hours. But by the end of it, I felt like I still had something playable and polished. But was it ... fun?\n\n![progress.png](\/\/\/raw\/319\/53\/z\/68d21.png)\n\n### What I forgot ...\nwas that a mechanic _does not equal_ an objective. **When you have to pivot, make sure the game's objective wasn't tied to something that got cut.** I got so wrapped up in _doing_ that I forgot to revisit my [design framework](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/49\/2nd-law\/2nd-law-dev-log-1-brainstorming-and-design) to see if what I had still met the criteria for a \"game\". \n\n**Really understand the differences between the \"mechanic\", the \"challenge\", and the \"objective\".**\nThis is what was unfortunately missing from my final entry. Sure, the mechanic was there, but what the player was supposed to do with it (the _objective_) was just missing. Something that underscored this was the lack of an end screen. How did the player even know they were _done_? \n\nI'm not being down on myself. There are reasonable explanations for the final result. It's just a good reminder of the aspects of a game that might go overlooked: feedback and measurement.\n\nSo if you've made it to the bottom, reading all this, and you are still interested in seeing what I made, please stop by!\n\n**Play [Tiny Economy](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/56\/tiny-economy)**\n\n_ -Hawkin_\n","title":"\"Tiny\" Dev Log for \"Tiny Economy\"","wayback_source":[]}