{"author_name":"ninjacharlie","cat":"LD #29","comments":[],"epoch":1399160640,"likes":1,"metadata":{"p_key":"29992","p_author":"ninjacharlie","p_authorkey":"24096","p_urlkey":"65458","p_title":"Ninja vs Worms \u2013 Post Mortem","p_cat":"LD #29","p_event":"LD29","p_time":"1399160640","p_likes":"1","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"24096","us_name":"ninjacharlie","us_username":"ninjacharlie","event_start":"1398384000","event_key":"22","event_name":"LD29"},"text":"

NINJA VS WORMS<\/a><\/h3>\n

What went right<\/h3>\n

I managed to get it done! This is my\u00a0second Ludum Dare submission, and I really cut it close this time, but I managed to release a fairly finished product 30 minutes before the deadline. I had a few issues with my physics library, but I managed to solve most of them before releasing. The only collision issues left were some minor issues with the wall.<\/p>\n

The game ended up being more fun than I though it would be, even though I didn’t plan ahead at all. I literally had no idea what I wanted to do before, other than wanting to have a ninja fire\u00a0a bow at something coming out of the ground. I just started writing code and saw what it came out.<\/p>\n

Some of the assets came out pretty nice. I really like the ninja, the arrows and the music (which I wrote in about 30 minutes). It’s not great, but I’m still proud of it \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n

What went\u00a0wrong<\/h3>\n

I didn’t do enough work on the worm asset. It looks\u00a0really choppy and awkward. If I could do it again, I would just draw an individual section of the worm and have the other sections follow it. I also wanted to add\u00a0line beneath the worms showing the tunnel the worms dug. I just ran out of time before I could.<\/p>\n

The balance was a little off. Some people figured out how to spam arrows and sit in the corner. I’ll have to add some safeguard against that.<\/p>\n

Finally, I wish I’d added more variation to the gameplay. Maybe another weapon, or mechanic.<\/p>\n

A few tips (if you want :P)<\/h3>\n

Good physics and collision solving are super important, guys<\/em>. If the physics don’t work right, it turns me off the game really quickly. If you really want to write a\u00a0physics engine for your submission, that’s fine, just practice it first. I spent a few days writing a simple AABB collision library, just to see how it works. I still prefer to use an external physics library, though.<\/p>\n

Try to limit the scope of the game.\u00a0<\/em>Game jams are for getting interesting core\u00a0gameplay, not for creating an entire game. A single level with fun gameplay is preferable to a multilevel game with stale gameplay.<\/p>\n

Keep the art simple.\u00a0<\/em>Unless you have a dedicated artist (for the jam). I recommend sticking to pixel art, because it’s easy, fast and usually looks pretty good.<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading. I learned a lot from this jam and I hope you got something out of it too. \":)\"<\/p>\n

– Chuck<\/p>","time":"May 3rd, 2014 6:44 pm","title":"Ninja vs Worms \u2013 Post Mortem"}