{"author_name":"donaldducky","cat":"LD #28","comments":[],"epoch":1387582260,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"34167","p_author":"donaldducky","p_authorkey":"31430","p_urlkey":"69712","p_title":"Ludum Dare 28 part 3","p_cat":"LD #28","p_event":"LD28","p_time":"1387582260","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"31430","us_name":"donaldducky","us_username":"donaldducky","event_start":"1386892800","event_key":"20","event_name":"LD28"},"text":"

This is the third part of my LD 28 experience. You can read the previous parts here: part 1<\/a>, part 2<\/a><\/p>\n

The actual entry is here: Existence<\/a>
\n The game is playable here: http:\/\/pyjamacoder.com\/ld28\/<\/a><\/p>\n

People on the Ludum Dare<\/a> website seem to love doing these post mortem things.<\/p>\n

So, without further ado, here’s my post mortem on creating Existence.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Preamble<\/h2>\n

I mentioned in the first post that I entered the compo on a spur of the moment decision, without any real preparation. This isn’t quite true. I’ve looked at creating a component entity system for a while now…I just haven’t had any success with it.<\/p>\n

Tip 0: Be prepared<\/h3>\n

In reality, I’ve been thinking about how I wanted to set one up, which made it easier for me to get started. I’m also a developer in my day job, so I’m somewhat experienced with how to handle looming deadlines.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, it was still a challenge.<\/p>\n

My goal<\/h2>\n

I wanted to create a game from scratch, no matter how long or complex, just to see if I could do it.<\/p>\n

I’ve tried to create a game in the past, but for one reason or another, I lost interest. Most of the time it was because of something unrelated to the game itself or I would go down a rabbit hole trying to make something too…perfect.<\/p>\n

This was basically a way of testing my ability to cast aside some of my weaknesses and actually complete something.<\/p>\n

The game engine<\/h2>\n

\"Fire!\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Creating a game engine from scratch obviously puts me at a disadvantage compared to someone who uses something full featured like Unity<\/a>. It cost me time to create something that would do such basic things like running a game loop, parsing a sprite map, loading a map and drawing to a canvas.<\/p>\n

My engine couldn’t even play a sound or have a good way to load another screen. Heck, I couldn’t find a simple way to ‘reset’ my game after playing it without having to resort to the web browser’s refresh feature. Although…that is exactly what the refresh button in a browser is supposed to do!<\/p>\n

Revelations like that are part of the reason I learned so much during this 48 hour development period. If you think about it, it’s basically the same as hitting the good ol RESET button on an NES.<\/p>\n

Tip 1: Know your tools<\/h3>\n

As a web developer, refreshing the page or redirecting is the ultimate reset button. We don’t really like doing it but it’s there if needed. In a pinch, it works like a charm.<\/p>\n

Creating my own engine meant I knew what was possible at any given time. I wasn’t hit with any nasty surprises. I wasn’t restricted to doing things in a particular way. I knew where to extend it and didn’t really have to fight with it to see how something was “supposed” to be done.<\/p>\n

The drawback was that I had to create it. If I was proficient with some kind of framework, you better believe I would’ve used it \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

The theme<\/h2>\n

I spent quite a bit of time on the game engine and didn’t think too much about the theme, at first. There was no point in spending all my time thinking about a concept when I couldn’t paint any pixels on the screen. As I finished some of the initial setup, things started to fall into place.<\/p>\n

Tip 2: Don’t get sidetracked<\/h3>\n

As I started seeing what was possible, I focused my ideas on what could be done with the time left.<\/p>\n

For instance, I wanted to do something more than I had done on the final screen. But I didn’t even have an ending screen. In order to ‘finish’ the game, it needed an ending screen, no matter how simple it was. The primary goal was to finish a game.<\/p>\n

I didn’t have a good way of displaying screens with the normal game loop, so I had to resort to some hackery. I’m not too proud of it but sometimes dirty things need to be done :p<\/p>\n

In the end, the theme had to do with having one “life”, which is so clich\u00e9 but at least it was achieved in a unique way (I think).<\/p>\n

The game itself<\/h2>\n

I was very pleased with how it turned out.<\/p>\n

The game was only 3 screens, which doesn’t seem like much, but I was able to add some depth to it. I didn’t want the player going from screen to screen collecting ‘x’ items or destroying ‘y’ monsters. There wasn’t much of a story but each room gave you a sense of discovery and purpose.<\/p>\n

Here’s a (non-exhaustive) list of features:<\/p>\n