{"author_name":"Ysty","cat":"LD #28","comments":[],"epoch":1387195980,"likes":1,"metadata":{"p_key":"34620","p_author":"Ysty","p_authorkey":"17877","p_urlkey":"70169","p_title":"Leap of Faith","p_cat":"LD #28","p_event":"LD28","p_time":"1387195980","p_likes":"1","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"17877","us_name":"Ysty","us_username":"\/author\/ysty\/","event_start":"1386892800","event_key":"20","event_name":"LD28"},"text":"

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

So, this Ludum Dare I decided to take it upon myself to \u201cfix\u201d the first person platformer, and came up with a game called Leap of Faith<\/a> (it was only today that I realised that there\u2019s another game in the compo with the exact same name, is that some kind of game jam faux pas? :P). The basic premise is that prison overcrowding has lead to convicts being placed in to semi-real (sort of holodeck-like) simulations that provide them with basic exercise, and also serve as a test to see which prisoners may be competent enough to be released from the simulation and placed into the military. However these simulations are also very dangerous, and any fall means death. You only get one<\/em> chance at beating the program and returning to the real world.<\/p>\n

There are two main problems that arise whenever a game includes platforming from a first-person perspective as far as I see it. The first is that as you can\u2019t see yourself or your feet, it\u2019s impossible to know when you are at the edge of a platform. The solution I came up with is that you no longer press a button to instantly jump, instead you hold down the jump button as you are running and you will jump as soon as you get to the edge.<\/p>\n

The second problem is that you have very little situational awareness during a jump, making it easy to miss platforms. My solution was to make the arc of the jump very steep and giving you a lot of air control, so you can essentially fall on to platforms from above. I also added an air dash and the ability to clamber up walls, because both of those things are cool.<\/p>\n

The game I made last Ludum Dare was the first game I\u2019d ever made in Unity, and because of that it was really rushed and fairly poorly executed. Since then I\u2019ve become much more used to Unity and C# and it\u2019s been really great doing another Ludum Dare and seeing just how far I\u2019ve come. My last LD game had pretty much no gameplay, but I got the core mechanics of Leap of Faith down in the first half of the first day.<\/p>\n

Even though the game isn\u2019t terribly long, getting the core stuff down early did give me a lot more time to polish and add less important features (such as moving platforms) into the game. It\u2019s far from perfect, but I\u2019m pretty happy about how this one turned out. The only thing I kind of regret is how useless I am at any kind of music composition. I\u2019ve usually managed to get around this by having a lot of ambient sounds, but this game just ended up way too quiet. Maybe people\u2019ll think it\u2019s an intentional comment on the monotony of prison life?<\/p>\n

As always I learnt a lot making this game. Maybe before the next Ludum Dare I\u2019ll read a book on composition or something and maybe attempt some kind of theme tune or ambient soundtrack.<\/p>","time":"December 16th, 2013 7:13 am","title":"Leap of Faith"}