{"author_name":"7Soul","cat":"LD #29","comments":[{"author_name":"","time":"April 25, 2014 12:40 pm","epoch":1398447600,"text":"very inspirational words and seems i have a challanger","spam":"N"},{"author_name":"","time":"April 25, 2014 1:12 pm","epoch":1398449520,"text":"This is why i like to read those posts before a ludum dare haha","spam":"N"}],"epoch":1398447480,"likes":3,"metadata":{"p_key":"32896","p_author":"7Soul","p_authorkey":"2958","p_urlkey":"68416","p_title":"Thoughts about themes in general, from a LD veteran","p_cat":"LD #29","p_event":"LD29","p_time":"1398447480","p_likes":"3","p_comments":"2","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"2958","us_name":"7Soul","us_username":"7soul","event_start":"1398384000","event_key":"22","event_name":"LD29"},"text":"<p style=\"color: #000000\">So I was on the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #336699\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/irc\/\">LD IRC<\/a>\u00a0and people were talking about their favorite themes or the ones they didn&#8217;t like. This got me thinking, and I realized a lot of people don&#8217;t quite understand the purpose of having a theme.<\/p>\n <p style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>All themes are good.<\/strong>\u00a0Anything that will just make you think and then make something is a great theme. It doesn&#8217;t have to be super original. If, for instance, &#8220;Deep Space&#8221; sounds boring, do something different with it!<\/p>\n <p style=\"color: #000000\">You can think &#8220;ah Deep Space&#8230; a lot of emptiness, maybe some ships and aliens fighting&#8221; but there&#8217;s so much you can do in space! Space can be the setting where some crazy shenanigans will happen, from an adventure game set in a lost ship, to a puzzle about meteors.<\/p>\n <p style=\"color: #000000\">And if you say &#8220;I can do anything and make it in space and I&#8217;ll be under the theme Deep Space&#8221;, thats great! Thats the point of a theme. It doesn&#8217;t have to be open to tons of interpretations, or require a game specific mechanic.<strong>The theme gets you thinking, and that&#8217;s what matters.<\/strong><\/p>\n <p style=\"color: #000000\">You can squish creativity out of every theme if you make an effort to think creatively.<\/p>\n <p style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Remember:<\/strong>\u00a0It&#8217;s not about rules. It&#8217;s not about score. Its about making a game.<\/p>\n <p style=\"color: #000000\">(Bonus points if you engage with the community. Talk to people, share on twitter, comment on their games afterwards!)<\/p>\n <p style=\"color: #000000\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/ludumdare\/comments\/23z5gd\/thoughts_about_themes_in_general_from_a_ld_veteran\/\">Also posted on reddit<\/a><\/p>\n <p style=\"color: #000000\">Oh, and I&#8217;m in<\/p>","time":"April 25th, 2014 12:38 pm","title":"Thoughts about themes in general, from a LD veteran"}