LudumData

How do you tackle story in a Ludum Dare compo?

[raw] LD32LD #32 14. Apr 2015 · 18:41 UTC · 2 days before compo start by sydan · 2

Something that’s bothering me at the moment (as a newbie to LD) is that story takes a long time to write and to integrate into games. To make a story in a game you usually need dialogue screens which take a bit of time and care to code and you might need specific animations for certain characters or events during ‘cut scene’ like moments which can be very time consuming. Then there’s actually coming up a with a good story and developing characters, presenting a story arc etc to add to that time requirement.

How do you get a story into a LD compo game and still convey that story well in such a limited time frame?

Tags: story

Comments

YourLocalFax
14. Apr 2015 · 19:11 UTC
Try new things. “Story” does not imply the need for overly-fancy conversation screens, well crafted dialog, or verbose cutscenes. Plenty of information can be conveyed in other ways, and showing is always more powerful than telling. Rather than focus so hard on that, make the overall aesthetic match what you want to convey story wise. If you need a cutscene, it can be as simple as slowly panning the camera to an area while a quick even happens, then panning back to gameplay. This IS Ludum Dare after all, if you’re going to attempt a heavily-story based game you’re going to have to make some of these decisions, and also cut back on other aspects. Take time out of your graphics work and put it into music or world design, for instance, because that’s more important in conveying the mood than the graphics. I’ve seen some really moving pixel games before :p Don’t be afraid to sacrifice and experiment and your story will work itself out.
14. Apr 2015 · 19:21 UTC
Interesting question! There are several things you can do.
14. Apr 2015 · 19:32 UTC
Hee hee, this question is making me chuckle inside. =)
14. Apr 2015 · 20:12 UTC
Just finished reading the article too. Inspirational stuff. It’s got my mind buzzing with ideas for how to express stuff in a game that I can’t wait to try out! Thanks for your help :)
natalye
15. Apr 2015 · 12:44 UTC
Thanks for asking this and thanks to everyone who replied!

As a big fan of story-driven and story-heavy games (whether they are full of dialog or the story is told in more subtle ways), I really want to make a game that is both fun and conveys an interesting story.

I really got some good inspiration from this thread.