{"author_name":"Zabot","cat":"LD #24","comments":[],"epoch":1346642400,"likes":2,"metadata":{"p_key":"51540","p_author":"Zabot","p_authorkey":"14146","p_urlkey":"87234","p_title":"And Then There Was Pong (and then breakout, and then space invaders, and then another game)","p_cat":"LD #24","p_event":"LD24","p_time":"1346642400","p_likes":"2","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"14146","us_name":"Zabot","us_username":"zabot","event_start":"1345766400","event_key":"12","event_name":"LD24"},"text":"<p>So I finally got around to writing one of these post-mortem\/compo whatchamacallits and, looking back in a retrospective light, I probably should have chose a slightly better concept, especially for my first time.\u00a0 When the theme was announced, I sat there behind my computer and thought, &#8220;You know what I should definitely do?\u00a0 I should make 4 games in 48 hours and then tie them all together with transitions.&#8221; \u00a0 This temporary lapse of sanity lead to literately down to the last minute (and a few minutes after) coding.<\/p>\n <p><iframe width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hAhQsFAYbNY?fs=1&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n <p>So without further ado, <strong>What didn&#8217;t not go right:<\/strong><\/p>\n <p><strong><\/strong>-I finished a game for the first time in 48<\/p>\n <p>-I ended up with a product that was really pretty cool<\/p>\n <p>-I didn&#8217;t die of sleep deprivation<\/p>\n <p>-Because of my retro-esque theme, I didn&#8217;t have to worry for hours about graphics, which also plays into&#8230;<\/p>\n <p>-Sound, if there is anything that has ever stopped me from finishing a game more than graphics its sound.\u00a0 But with pong and space invaders as parts of my game,\u00a0 sound design wasn&#8217;t really a problem.<\/p>\n <p><strong>What didn&#8217;t do definitely not didn&#8217;t go wrong<\/strong><\/p>\n <p>-My concept,\u00a0 a mash up of several games getting progressively more advanced, did not lend itself well to a game jam.\u00a0 Particularly because of the mash up of several games part, which requires several games to be made in 48 hours.<\/p>\n <p>-Another issue with the down to the wire coding was the total lack of\u00a0 testing.\u00a0 I think I tested the game cover to cover 3 times.<\/p>\n <p>-GUI, I have nothing to say about how bad that was, apparently your not supposed to throw that in as an after-thought.<\/p>\n <p>-The lack of a replay button was something I spent the next hour and a half after the deadline thinking about, that&#8217;s another thing that&#8217;s usually a standard among games.<\/p>\n <p>-Scaling up was impossible.\u00a0 If I wanted to add another level, I would have had to spend 8 hours coding an entirely new game.<\/p>\n <p>This is a game that is definitely going on my shelf, and I&#8217;ll probably end up adding more levels to it over time.\u00a0 Over all this was an amazing experience, and I look forward to next time.<\/p>","time":"September 2nd, 2012 10:20 pm","title":"And Then There Was Pong (and then breakout, and then space invaders, and then another game)"}