WORLDS 2D<\/a>\u00a0if you haven’t already.<\/p>\n This was my first Ludum Dare, and overall I’m pleased with what I was able to accomplish. Obviously there were a few things that I didn’t get to finish before the deadline, and there are a few things I would do differently next time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What I was able to finish:<\/p>\n
Core mechanic<\/p>\n
Graphics, including an animated character, transparency effects on worlds, fuel gauge, “return to menu” icon, and end screen animations<\/p>\n
Sound effects and music<\/p>\n
Collision detection at world edges<\/p>\n
Title and ending screens<\/p>\n
Tutorial levels<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What I wanted to do but didn’t have time:<\/p>\n
More levels (I was just getting started)<\/p>\n
Glyphs at the end of each level instead of the “goal reached” message.<\/p>\n
Level selection on the main menu<\/p>\n
Option to switch to fullscreen<\/p>\n
Make the music quieter<\/p>\n
Indicator for when a world is within range<\/p>\n
Title music<\/p>\n
Endgame music<\/p>\n
Vanishing worlds (like ghost worlds except they fade out completely, killing the player. They do fade in again)<\/p>\n
Unstable worlds (worlds that shake more and more furiously as they dissolve, have to get out before they dissolve completely, but are only triggered when the player enters them)<\/p>\n
Non-numeric timer for unstable worlds<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What I did right:<\/p>\n
Finished key features and debugged them before moving on to the next item.<\/p>\n
Spent some time at the beginning planning and making a list of tasks to complete.<\/p>\n
Kept my normal sleeping schedule – I am far more productive when I’m not sleep-deprived.<\/p>\n
Divided tasks up appropriately – focussed on core mechanics and getting the basics down on Day 1, then spent Day 2 adding sounds, music, levels and polish.<\/p>\n
Spent the last couple hours making sure the repository was working right, that I understood the submission procedure and that there would be no complications at submission time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Things I would have done differently:<\/p>\n
I spent far too long trying to add obstacles within the worlds. I got bogged down trying to get the collision detection working for them. Thankfully I did eventually abandon in-world obstacles to focus on more important things, but I should have given up on it sooner or just put it on the list as an “if there’s time” feature.<\/p>\n
I spent a bit more time than I should have polishing the end-game screen, but I wanted to give the player some reward beyond just a “you won” message.<\/p>\n
I should have spent a bit more time designing and adding levels.<\/p>","time":"August 26th, 2014 5:44 am","title":"WORLDS 2D Post-mortem"}