{"author_name":"GoudaGames","cat":"LD #31","comments":[],"epoch":1418548920,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"21987","p_author":"GoudaGames","p_authorkey":"504595","p_urlkey":"57351","p_title":"Carrot Chaos post mortem","p_cat":"LD #31","p_event":"LD31","p_time":"1418548920","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"504595","us_name":"GoudaGames","us_username":"GoudaGames","event_start":"1417737600","event_key":"26","event_name":"LD31"},"text":"<p>So this was my fourth Ludum Dare, and I&#8217;m very happy with the result. During this Ludum Dare I made the game <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-31\/?action=preview&amp;uid=29135\">Carrot Chaos<\/a>. This was probably one of the most successful Ludum Dares on my part.<\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/cc0.png\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-416874 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/cc0-550x305.png\" alt=\"cc0\" width=\"550\" height=\"305\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/cc0-300x166.png 300w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/cc0-550x305.png 550w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/cc0.png 1296w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n <p>So let&#8217;s talk about what went wrong and what went right during this Ludum Dare. Let&#8217;s begin with:<\/p>\n <p style=\"text-align: center;font-size: 20px\"><strong>What went wrong?<\/strong><\/p>\n <p><strong>Time<\/strong><\/p>\n <p>I think the biggest constraint for anyone during Ludum Dare is the time. During Carrot Chaos I was especially stressed. I had a lot of features planned which I didn&#8217;t have time to implement. I wanted the world to be a lot more beautiful and I wanted more variants of snowmen, but I just ran out of time. I focused a lot on the graphics for this game, and I do not regret this, but it meant I didn&#8217;t have as much time to implement more gameplay features. I also prioritized audio before more features which I think did the game good. Some features I planned were:<\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>Different kinds of snowmen. For example: A bigger, slower, but stronger snowman. And some kind of boss snowman.<\/li>\n <li>More powerups. Hot chocolate for temperature regeneration, something for increased damage and more.<\/li>\n <li>A more beautiful world, with frozen lake, abandoned houses and more.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p><strong>Procrastination<\/strong><\/p>\n <p>In the beginning I procrastinated a lot. I played games as well, and talked to friends. It did give me refreshing breaks, and gave me some time to think about the game and features, but I might&#8217;ve taken a bit to many breaks&#8230;<\/p>\n <p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n <p>I can&#8217;t really think about anything else that went wrong, so:<\/p>\n <p style=\"text-align: center;font-size: 20px\"><strong>What went right?<\/strong><\/p>\n <p><strong>Planning<\/strong><\/p>\n <p>Yes, planning. I spent a lot of time planning the game and idea before even starting development, which meant that I knew what to do the entire time. I never stopped to think what I would have to do next. The development process benefited from this A LOT, and it went really quick. This meant that the game turned out very much like the original idea, which also means I&#8217;m very happy with the result. Although it&#8217;s lacking some of the planned features, it got the core of the original idea, and nothing else. This is my advice to any game developer: Plan your game, I didn&#8217;t do this before, and I regret it. Planning before you do leads to much easier and faster development, and the it gets even more enjoyable.<\/p>\n <p><strong>Graphics<\/strong><\/p>\n <p>I spent hours on graphics for this one, and I must say, I&#8217;m quite satisfied with the way the game looks. I&#8217;m no pixel artist, it&#8217;s nothing compared to some other entries, but I&#8217;m proud of what I&#8217;ve done. I also spent a lot of time designing the GUI, which I think did the game good. It&#8217;s not the best UI, but I made sure that it would fit in with the theme of Entire Game on One Screen.<\/p>\n <p><strong>Instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n <p>The game I made for Ludum Dare 30, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.goudagames.com\/i-a-n\/\">I.A.N<\/a>, had no in-game instructions. I just had text instructions on the post. This meant that a lot of people didn&#8217;t understand how to play. For this game, I knew that it required clear in-game instructions early on. I&#8217;m very happy with how the instructions work, where the instructions come up as an overlay over the game scene, and doesn&#8217;t allow you to continue without pressing the up key. I personally think they&#8217;re very clear, without spoiling to much. It&#8217;s hard to miss the instructions, and I&#8217;ve already got some feedback from people saying they like the instructions.<\/p>\n <p>So that&#8217;s the conclusion for Carrot Chaos. Now that you&#8217;ve read everything, why don&#8217;t you go play it <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-31\/?action=preview&amp;uid=29135\">here<\/a>?<\/p>\n <p>It would also be really nice if you would check out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.goudagames.com\/\">my website<\/a>.<\/p>","time":"December 14th, 2014 4:22 am","title":"Carrot Chaos post mortem"}