{"author_name":"v_n_j","cat":"LD #29","comments":[],"epoch":1400243700,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"29841","p_author":"v_n_j","p_authorkey":"30018","p_urlkey":"65307","p_title":"Terror from beneath \u2013 Post Mortem","p_cat":"LD #29","p_event":"LD29","p_time":"1400243700","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"30018","us_name":"v_n_j","us_username":"v_n_j","event_start":"1398384000","event_key":"22","event_name":"LD29"},"text":"
\"WormSlayer\"<\/a>

That’s how one slays worms<\/p><\/div>\n

(sorry about grammar and over-complicated English)<\/span><\/p>\n

You can play the game here<\/a><\/p>\n

It was my first LD and, in fact, my first game. Actually I’ve been playing with Unity quite a long time, and wanted to make some simple game, but somehow I always tend to end up with some abstract and complex idea which is not-so-easy to implement, and do nothing.<\/p>\n

So my main goal was to actually finish my entry. And that’s the main thing that went right \":)\" I made it! The main thing that went wrong though is that I wasted too much time.<\/p>\n

Idea and general<\/strong><\/p>\n

Underground worms was literally the first thought that came to my mind (and just to mention: I never played death\/megaworm).\u00a0 So I started to make a worm immediately. And all that “worm” part of idea went OK I think.<\/p>\n

But when it came to the “player” part I just got stuck. I had some ideas including bombs, some distracting items, using of environment(e.g. some safe stone islands) but didn’t manage to have a clear enough picture of how it should work.<\/p>\n

So just to start I made throwing rocks mechanic. I actually made aiming with mouse first =\/ and then changed it to\u00a0 keyboard aiming. The main reason was that I wanted character to throw only ahead, so you have to face a worm\u00a0 before throwing, but for some reason it felt awkward to me with mouse. Anyway aiming doesn’t make much sense since you don’t have enough time to aim and in general shouldn’t even try.<\/p>\n

Really sad thing is that such simple idea as to make more weapons came to me too late. I decided to make some melee and shotgun but only managed to add some halberd-like weapon which actually made it more easy and fun. But it seems that a lot of people just didn’t see it \":(\" so if you’re one of them please just skip to the 4th level and try it<\/em>! (you can skip level after dying!)<\/p>\n

(some response to comments)<\/span>
\n Many told me that “it should give some indication where the worm is going to break the surface”<\/em>, but it doesn’t make much sense given the way the worm moves. The worm tries to reach you so it’ll break the surface exactly where you stand UNLESS you’re moving, then it would surface at some distance from you and more horizontally. And of course you cannot see the worm beneath the surface, because YOU CANNOT SEE WHAT’S BENEATH THE SURFACE, that’s the very idea.<\/p>\n

Audio<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since I received a lot of positive feedback about music here is the link to it<\/a>, just in case.<\/p>\n

“Soundtrack” was made relatively fast, I was playing with synths recently and had most of\u00a0 them already set-up, and music itself… well, it’s so simple and straightforward if you ask me. It sounds EPIC though \":)\" In the middle of the work I thought that it would be great to make a feel of total wormapocalypse, to match the music fully, e.g. add some burning and falling buildings and some people to save \":)\" but I would definitely need at least an artist to do this.<\/p>\n

Alas, I didn’t have any time to make proper sounds.<\/p>\n

Graphics<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is not much graphics, but\u00a0graphics took much time. Character took I beileve 2-3 hours overall. I made him twice actually, and have been tweaking come colors and animations every now and then. Worm took over an hour. At least I’m happy with graphics.<\/p>\n

Time management<\/strong><\/p>\n

Time management in general is what I’m bad at.
\n Fist day was productive I think. I made most of the graphics and most worm-related things. But somehow I totally wasted second day. I got stuck with gameplay. After making some gameplay I’ve been spending too much time playing game instead of making it \":)\" So I ended up with the game being far away from finished at the end of day 2 and decided to use 3rd day. Nonetheless there was a lot to do, and all “levels”, sounds and other finalizations were made in last few hours of Jam. I managed to made it just in time of deadline, and it was 5 a.m. for me… such crazy!<\/p>\n

Main things learnt<\/strong><\/p>\n

KEEP WORKING! If you’re stuck, switch to other things you’ll have to make, or just try to implement it as simple as you can, but keep working.<\/p>\n

Anyway I’m glad that I made it! And I had fun playing your games, can’t wait for another LD!<\/p>\n \n

Tags: ld29<\/a>, postmortem<\/a><\/p>","time":"May 16th, 2014 7:35 am","title":"Terror from beneath \u2013 Post Mortem"}