{"author_name":"My Milked Eek","cat":"LD #26","comments":[],"epoch":1367303340,"likes":1,"metadata":{"p_key":"43028","p_author":"My Milked Eek","p_authorkey":"7229","p_urlkey":"78663","p_title":"LD26 Post Mortem","p_cat":"LD #26","p_event":"LD26","p_time":"1367303340","p_likes":"1","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"7229","us_name":"My Milked Eek","us_username":"my-milked-eek","event_start":"1366934400","event_key":"16","event_name":"LD26"},"text":"

I didn’t post any updates here during the compo, I didn’t feel like it. But you can check out my progress at my\u00a0website<\/a>. I’ll crosspost the post mortem.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last Ludum Dare I had to drop out due to personal reasons. Thankfully nothing happened the past weekend. So that’s one of the things that went right. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Things that went right<\/strong><\/p>\n

– libgdx, if you’re a Java developer, check it out. I used Slick2D during my four entries before this one and I was satisfied with it. But libgdx is so much cooler. I tried a quick tutorial on Friday eve and jumped right in on Saturday. It worked out great.<\/p>\n

– once again, I kept the scope of my game small: infinite runner with minimal input<\/p>\n

– Android, this goes with libgdx, but deserves its own point. Porting it to Android is so easy and it takes no extra work at all.<\/p>\n

– Making the jar\/apk. When I used Slick2D I had to add the dependencies in myself as well as the resources. I don’t know if it could be done differently, I guess Maven could come into play here, but libgdx does all that for you. So once again, in case you didn’t get it:\u00a0LIBGDX<\/strong><\/p>\n

Things that went okay<\/strong><\/p>\n

– my code. I tried maintaining an as clean as possible codebase. But I dropped that notion. BUT contrary to the previous entries, the code I had written during the “clean” phase of my Ludum entry has saved me from entirely changing up the code when I added different enemies. Adding new enemies now isn’t a hassle, while with previous entries I… well, let’s not talk about it…<\/p>\n

Things that went wrong<\/strong><\/p>\n

– The theme. I don’t know why anyone thinks Minimalism is a good theme, because it isn’t. I was really rooting for anything related to Death\/Afterlife because I had an awesome idea that I really wanted to use. But there’s always next time right?<\/p>\n

– Ludum Dare isn’t really a challenge anymore. I can comfortably finish up the game by Saturday night\/Sunday morning and use Sunday afternoon to nag about how I have to do art and use the Sunday evening to create bad-to-mediocre art. This is either because the game I made now is reasonably easy to implement or because of the theme. But, for the next Ludum Dare, I am going to try to make a more interesting concept, a bit more difficult, so that there will be this tension to make the deadline.<\/p>\n

Ideas for next Ludum<\/strong><\/p>\n

– make it more difficult for myself. Ludum is a self-imposed challenge. It can’t hurt to make it harder on myself.<\/p>\n

– perhaps enter the Jam with some friends or fellow Ludum participants. (might be a good thing for the art)<\/p>\n

– practice art (an ever returning item)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I look forward to rating more of your games. If you want me to rate yours, drop me a message or tweet at @MyMilkedEek<\/p>","time":"April 30th, 2013 1:29 am","title":"LD26 Post Mortem"}