{"author_name":"rasmusrn","cat":"LD #25","comments":[],"epoch":1355751720,"likes":2,"metadata":{"p_key":"47713","p_author":"rasmusrn","p_authorkey":"15543","p_urlkey":"83378","p_title":"Postmortem, Globe Hacker","p_cat":"LD #25","p_event":"LD25","p_time":"1355751720","p_likes":"2","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"15543","us_name":"rasmusrn","us_username":"rasmusrn","event_start":"1355443200","event_key":"14","event_name":"LD25"},"text":"

This was my first ever game jam. And surely, it won’t be the last one.<\/p>\n

Several months ago I decided to devote the entire weekend to this competition. And I’m glad I did. If you are going to do something, you might as well do it 100%. And I think I did. I hope to be able to do the same thing next time.<\/p>\n

Also, I’m glad how I managed my sleep. My plan was to get just enough sleep that I’d still be able to think clearly and creatively. For me this was around 6,5 hours.<\/p>\n

The result was 48 productive and intense hours. Last night when I submitted my game (with 1,5 hours remaining) I was VERY exhausted. In a good way. I had the feeling that I really pushed the envelope and had given it everyhing I had. I love that feeling.<\/p>\n

After around an hour of idea brainstorming I had a favorite idea: A game where you play a hacker who wants to take over the Internet. I imagined the gameplay as a mix of Uplink, Galcon (by Phil Haynes) and another game I’ve made myself, Takeoff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During the entire period I took screenshots of the game as it developed.\u00a0In the beginning I focused on getting something playable as fast as possible. Here’s one of the first screenshots:<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>The first day I ended up spending several hours struggling with a path finding algorithm. I’ve implemented several path finding algorithms before (even the “hard” A* :)) but only with respect to grids\/fields. For this game, I had to do it for graphs.<\/p>\n

At some point I considered changing the gameplay altogether because I couldn’t get it to work. But I gave it another shot and it paid off.<\/p>\n

Then I started working on the graphics. I took inspiration from the dark blue colours from the hacker game\u00a0Uplink<\/a>\u00a0and came up with this:<\/p>\n

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

After implementing it I wasn’t really satisfied with the big numbers. Why use when you can use figures? And the numbers didn’t convey the total capacity of each “mainframe server” (the circles).<\/p>\n

So I came up with this:<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>I made the sounds with my own voice and a couple of Audacity filters. The sounds are OK but I don’t think they fit well with the desired mood of the game. But I figured it was better than nothing.<\/p>\n

I made the first draft for the music on the first day. I wasn’t quite satisfied. I blame my tool: GarageBand. It’s just a toy – but it was all I had. I especially struggled with GarageBand’s string instruments and their way to slow attack rate. The next day I listened to what I’d made. With a fresh mind, I suddenly had ideas on how to improve it. I’m satisfied how it turned out.<\/p>\n

I also spent some time making special ambient music for the menu screens, but due to the time constraints, I decided to scrap it. It wasn’t important.<\/p>\n

Then I wrote the story and implemented the menu system. The latter was rather borring, but I know it had to be done in order to make the game feel complete.<\/p>\n

Lastly, I made the splash screen. I decided to throw in a photo of myself to make it a little more personal \":-)\"<\/p>\n

Overall, I’m really happy with both the product and the experience. Today I’ve been flattered by the positive feedback I’ve gotten<\/a>. Thanks!<\/p>\n

I’d like to thank all (voters, ludum dare admins, players) very much for making this possible \":-)\"<\/p>\n

This Thursday, I’ll be giving a talk in our local Javascript user group<\/a> about my participation in Ludum Dare and Javascript game loops in general.<\/p>\n \n

Tags: postmortem<\/a><\/p>","time":"December 17th, 2012 8:42 am","title":"Postmortem, Globe Hacker"}