48 hours isn’t a lot of time.  Seriously.

This will be my 5th Ludum Dare, and looking back, all my attempts have been overly ambitious.  While there’s value in having room to grow the game afterwards, I’m taking some steps to mitigate the damage this time.

Ask a Game Dev recently wrote a post talking about Core Gameplay Loops.  While the discussion focused on progression, the idea also feels like a good starting place when it comes to architecting a game jam design.

http://askagamedev.tumblr.com/post/101776602061/progression-or-skill-tree-systems-the-type-you

Frequently, I find my game ideas fall into higher level loops, and don’t have a strong base loop, or good feedback between the base loop and the higher level loops.  So, I’m starting there this time.  I can grow it upward post-compo, if it goes somewhere I like.

When we reach Round 5 for theme voting, I like to gather the voting data from the previous rounds and attempt to predict the outcome.  From there, I brainstorm potential ideas for the top 5-8 likely winners.  No code is written, no assets created.  I’m just getting past that hour of dead where I’m not prepared for the winning theme.

Meals and Sleep will be scheduled.  There will be an allowance for a couple breaks as needed, including dinner out Saturday Night, to clear my head.

That’s my plan.  Hopefully outlining it here is of use to someone.