{"author_name":"Xanjos","cat":"LD #28","comments":[],"epoch":1388941500,"likes":1,"metadata":{"p_key":"34025","p_author":"Xanjos","p_authorkey":"21201","p_urlkey":"69569","p_title":"One Jump Post-Mortem","p_cat":"LD #28","p_event":"LD28","p_time":"1388941500","p_likes":"1","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"21201","us_name":"Xanjos","us_username":"xanjos","event_start":"1386892800","event_key":"20","event_name":"LD28"},"text":"<p>Since there&#8217;s less than a day left until ratings are finished and I haven&#8217;t gotten around to doing it yet, I figure I might do a little post-mortem of my LD28 Entry <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-28\/?action=preview&amp;uid=21201\">One Jump<\/a> (not to be confused with a couple of other entries with the same name). This was my 2nd Ludum Dare game but the first submitted for the 48 hour compo.<\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/LD28ss1-e1388948434344.png\"><img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-327773\" alt=\"LD28ss1\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/LD28ss1-e1388948434344-300x137.png\" width=\"300\" height=\"137\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/LD28ss1-e1388948434344-300x137.png 300w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/LD28ss1-e1388948434344-550x251.png 550w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/LD28ss1-e1388948434344.png 952w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n <p>My primary aim during the weekend was to avoid some of the mistakes I did in my last entry (such as time management) and submit something playable in time for the 48 hour compo. Prior to the competition, I decided I wanted to use Unity (specifically the new 2D tools) for a couple of reasons:<\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>Familiarity (I&#8217;ve used Unity before but not for a Ludum Dare entry) instead of trying to learn a new language\/engine in 1\/2 weeks<\/li>\n <li>More widespread deployment: Compared to my last entry (which used XNA), using Unity meant that I could easily deploy my entry to the web as well as create standalone versions in one go.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p>I also decided that I wanted to create a platformer (mostly because I haven&#8217;t made one before and also because I didn&#8217;t want to create a top-down game where you move something in 4 directions and shoot stuff). The day before the actual theme was announced, I did jot down a couple of ideas based on some of the themes that made it to the final round of voting (although I didn&#8217;t actually have an initial idea for the one that eventually chosen). After the theme was announced however, it took me some time to think of a core mechanic that would fit it (To be honest, I didn&#8217;t really like the theme although ironically, due to the primary mechanics, my <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-26\/?action=preview&amp;uid=21201\">last Ludum Dare game<\/a> would have been an absolute perfect fit for it). Eventually, I decided to interpret &#8220;You Only Get One&#8221;\u00a0 as being able to do something that you can normally do many times only once. In the case of a platformer, the primary mechanic is jumping hence the main objective of my game: To simply reach the exit but being only able to jump once per level (which led to some rather strange and interesting level design)<\/p>\n <p><strong>What went right:<br \/>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>Planning and Time Management: Compared to my last entry, I actually made much better use of my time thanks to the Unity workflow and managed to submit my entry in time for the competition.<\/li>\n <li>Levels: A common complaint with my last entry was that there were too few levels (about 4\/5). Thanks to Unity, I was able to rapidly prototype levels in the editor without having to recompile and restart the game and created around 8 levels for my entry.<\/li>\n <li>Mechanics: Initially, I thought that being only able to jump once was too gimmicky (trying to design levels based on that mechanic was pretty hard as well as I wanted to make the player use their only jump at the right moment). In the end however, I was pretty satisfied with the end result.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p><strong>What went wrong:<\/strong><\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>Graphics: I&#8217;m not a very good artist so I decided to use simple shapes again for my entry. Unfortunately, I didn&#8217;t have enough time to change those shapes into something more plausible (but still somewhat crude).<\/li>\n <li>Lack of background audio: I initially created a small audio loop for my entry but I wasn&#8217;t able to get it to loop properly in Unity.<\/li>\n <li>General Platformer Physics: Although the game generally worked, some of the primary platforming mechanics were a bit buggy (having to create some momentum in order to jump, unintended wall sticking etc.). Some platforming elements such as the moving platforms didn&#8217;t work as much as I had hoped.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p><strong>Initial Feedback:<\/strong><\/p>\n <p>Feedback for my game so far has been fairly ok (and better than I had originally anticipated) with level design being praised the most and some platformer physics\/controls being the main criticism.<\/p>\n <p><strong>Overall Experience and What I&#8217;ll do in the Future:<\/strong><\/p>\n <p>Compared to my last entry, I didn&#8217;t enjoy this one as much as I&#8217;d hoped (mainly because of the theme) even though I managed to submit something in time for the compo. I did have a fun time however and if there was anything new that I&#8217;ve learnt during that time, it&#8217;s that I shouldn&#8217;t be afraid of submitting to the jam instead (rather than treat it as a place where I didn&#8217;t submit my compo entry in time): if my entry needs one more day of polish then I should take advantage of that extra day. During the period of time before the next dare, I will try to make at least some improvement with my graphics skills (or failing that, just collab with an artist friend for the jam instead).<\/p>\n \n <p>Tags: <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/ld28\/\" rel=\"tag\">LD28<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/post-mortem\/\" rel=\"tag\">post-mortem<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/postmortem\/\" rel=\"tag\">postmortem<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/unity\/\" rel=\"tag\">unity<\/a><\/p>","time":"January 5th, 2014 12:05 pm","title":"One Jump Post-Mortem"}