{"author_name":"patrickgh3","cat":"LD #27","comments":[{"author_name":"manuq","time":"September 17, 2013 4:08 pm","epoch":1379452080,"text":"I think you did really well in keeping the game level short, and keeping the gameplay simple. Thanks for the postmortem!","spam":"N"},{"author_name":"","time":"September 17, 2013 6:37 pm","epoch":1379461020,"text":"Agree on short. I think for compo games it’s important to make a 5 min experience that encourages people to actually finish it. I’d lean toward replayability vs some 30 min linear epic.","spam":"N"},{"author_name":"Erhune","time":"September 18, 2013 1:03 am","epoch":1379484180,"text":"Well done patrick, I definitely loved your game when I played it! It is well deserved! I didn’t find the game too short either, what mattered to me was the experience and the mood.","spam":"N"}],"epoch":1379443560,"likes":20,"metadata":{"p_key":"37874","p_author":"patrickgh3","p_authorkey":"14266","p_urlkey":"73490","p_title":"Clockwork Cat Postmortem","p_cat":"LD #27","p_event":"LD27","p_time":"1379443560","p_likes":"20","p_comments":"3","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"14266","us_name":"patrickgh3","us_username":"\/author\/patrickgh3\/","event_start":"1377216000","event_key":"18","event_name":"LD27"},"text":"

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

It’s my third time participating in Ludum Dare, and I got second overall! I’m ECSTATIC! Thanks so much everyone who played and rated my game, your kind comments mean a lot. ^^<\/p>\n

Clockwork Cat<\/a> has 40,000 views on Newgrounds, and a bunch more views and comments on a bunch of sites that rehosted it. I never would have thought the game would become so popular. Watching videos of people playing the game and hearing their reactions was heart-melting. And it was great playing other people’s amazing games too. Thank you guys so much for your support, I’ll definitely be back next time!<\/p>\n

What went right:<\/b><\/p>\n

Using tools I’m familiar with –\u00a0<\/strong>I was already very familiar with AS3 and FlashPunk, which really helped me work quickly. I’ve also programmed tile-based collisions before many times before, so a pretty big chunk of the code I wrote was very familiar to me. I had also worked with Ogmo Editor before. And also Paint.NET and FlashDevelop on that note. I did have to learn the basics of Linux MultiMedia Studio very quickly at the end to make the music, but fortunately that went really smoothly.<\/p>\n

Picking a style I’m confident with –\u00a0<\/strong>I’ve made many small games in the past, and almost all of them have been pixel-art-style 2D platformers. I stuck with what I know and love. \":)\" I do have ideas for future games that aren’t 2D platformers, so that will help me branch out and hopefully be refreshing.<\/p>\n

Great working environment –\u00a0<\/strong>I feel this is worth noting. I’m staying at my parent’s house over the summer, and everything was quiet and relaxed, so I had nothing to worry about except working on the game.<\/p>\n

What could have been better:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Level length, mabye –\u00a0<\/strong>I made the level really short because I couldn’t think up any interesting puzzles without having to introduce more gameplay elements, and didn’t want to put in any filler to drag the game out. Originally I had planned for a bunch more elements, like picking up and moving gears to connect certain machines, but I ran out of time and decided to keep it simple. But I think the game could stand to be a bit longer.<\/p>\n

Jumping leeway, mute button –\u00a0<\/strong>The blocks have 16×16 px hitboxes, but the graphics are a bit wider than that. This resulted in players jumping when they still looked like they were standing on the edge of a block, but had just fallen off. I played the game so much that I must have gotten used to it. Adding in a bit of leeway would have been nice. Also, I didn’t think to include a mute button. Things to do next time!<\/p>\n

Thanks for all the love! <3<\/p>\n

\"clock_heart_8x\"<\/a><\/p>\n

P.S. I tried to draw the cat rocking out on the wrench like a guitar, but I couldn’t get it just right.<\/p>","time":"September 17th, 2013 1:46 pm","title":"Clockwork Cat Postmortem"}