So sends my first Ludum Dare!<\/p>\n
Looking back on it now, the choice to compete was the best choice I could have made for my weekend. \u00a0All last week I was working nights, spending most of the time doing nothing or conference calls with China, so I had some spare time. \u00a0I decided to pick up Java gaming once again (for real real this time!), and venture forth. \u00a0I started making an extendible tile-based game capable of being updated via the Internet, and made decent progress. \u00a0Come Friday, though, I was burnt out on the process, and put my computer away for a day.<\/p>\n
Saturday morning, I browsed Facebook and found an interesting entry – a friend was participating in Ludum Dare, a competition I had heard much about. \u00a0I decided to give it a shot, and dove right in.<\/p>\n
The topic was evolution, and like most people I focused on the mechanics of evolution – natural selection, mutation, reproduction – and started designing a game based around those principles. \u00a0I began with a color-based turn-based strategy game, where you’d upgrade (evolve, I guess) your village to a town, then city, and compete with your neighbors for scarce resources. \u00a0I continued with his game for much of Saturday, into the night, when I hit a wall. \u00a0I hit a wall like a driver at 200 mph, and the destruction of my ideas was total. \u00a0I found myself with nowhere to go with the game, bogged down in minutiae like UI programming. \u00a0I tried to think of a different path, but quit. \u00a0I also needed some dinner.<\/p>\n
On the way back from dinner, I had a spark – why focus on mechanics at all? \u00a0Why not focus on evolution as a whole? \u00a0One idea led to another, and I was met with Just a Theory – a game about educational reform. \u00a0In my game, you play a science teacher at a Texas school trying to retrieve pages from great scientific texts. \u00a0The school boards have been on a crusade to remove this, and other ‘inappropriate’ material from the textbooks, so you need to get it back. \u00a0The game would be in an overhead 2-D style, my favorite game style, with you running around, dodging teachers and school board members, interacting with students, and retrieving pages. \u00a0The final product is here:\u00a0http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-24\/?action=preview&uid=16532<\/a><\/p>\n As you can see, I did not meet all of my design goals – there are no students to interact with (in fact, the school is rather empty), and the \u00a0 hostile’s AI is horrible (to put it forgivingly). \u00a0The game lacks challenge, is quite void of interaction, and a rather dull affair – and I couldn’t be more proud of it. \u00a0This is the first time \u00a0I have EVER completed a game, start to finish, and implemented a top-down scrolling system and rudimentary AI.<\/p>\n So what did I learn? \u00a0To start with concrete examples, I learned how to implement a top-down scrolling system, a concept that had eluded me for some time. \u00a0I am thrilled to see how my scrolling system worked (and work it did, with minor tweaks). \u00a0I also learned how to implement a simple animation system as well as an AI decision-making system (a very simple one, and one frought with error and stupidity).<\/p>\n As for more abstract learning, I learned about planning and designing. \u00a0I have a tendency to jump into my task with little heed for documentation, error-handling, or story design. \u00a0When I find myself hip-deep in my own foul game-mess I lose concentration and will and inevitably end up giving in on the project. \u00a0This taught me a valuable lesson in the benefits of even a simple hour-long planning session with a class diagram, simple storyboard, and some concept art to inspire you. \u00a0I could have used this planning to find my final idea sooner in the process – I started Saturday afternoon (already many hours behind) and spent a few hours on a wasted project – putting me nearly 24 hours behind before I even really started. \u00a0A well-planned process would have given me much more time to polish the AI, add sound, and fill the space a little bit in my game.<\/p>\n As it stands, though, I am extremely pleased with and proud of my work. \u00a0It won’t be winning any awards for art or sound (unless you hear the sound in your head), but I like the creative idea and the execution of concepts previously unknown to me. \u00a0Thanks Ludum Dare for this chance to take the next step in my game development development.<\/p>","time":"August 27th, 2012 4:08 am","title":"Ludum Dare 1 (24) \u2013 A Personal Post Mortem"}