Well I submitted my game.

It’s incomplete. Terrible. And not a lot of fun. But I had a good time making it. When I had the time.

I joined LD48 at the last minute. I’m also a father and couldn’t take a break from that. I knew going in that it was unlikely that I’d be able to finish let alone compete. However the journey was challenging and interesting. You can learn more than you realize if you just give it a shot.

I now know what I cannot do. I don’t have forty-eight-straight free hours to do whatever I want with. I have to be tactical with what time I have. When I do get to spend it I need to know ahead of time what to focus on. And I have to make sacrifices to get to the goal. I cannot make games in my spare time with tight deadlines.

Some things I learned that I will carry with me if I ever decide to be crazy and sleep-deprived again:

1. Don’t try anything new. You don’t have time to look up API references or recall maths you haven’t used in a while.
2. Stick with tried and true designs. Shmups, platformers, and simple arcade games. You need to get it done not invent a whole new genre.
3. Leverage constraints more. See how minimal you can go. Maximize for fun. The less you have to do the better.
4. Plan to compete next time. Prepare.

All the best to all of the LD48 competitors and see you all next time.