{"author_name":"hnjslater","cat":"LD #24","comments":[{"author_name":"","time":"August 27, 2012 3:19 am","epoch":1346055540,"text":"I’m in the UK, and I went with an early night Friday, and got up at 6am Saturday. Was waaay tempted to stay up to see the theme at 2am, but I think it probably worked out better this way.","spam":"N"}],"epoch":1346053800,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"51939","p_author":"hnjslater","p_authorkey":"16286","p_urlkey":"87637","p_title":"Species:Chappy \u2013 Ludum Dare Compo Post-mortem","p_cat":"LD #24","p_event":"LD24","p_time":"1346053800","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"1","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"16286","us_name":"hnjslater","us_username":"hnjslater","event_start":"1345766400","event_key":"12","event_name":"LD24"},"text":"

I completed my first Ludum Dare last night; submitted it around midnight local time (BST). The first issue was that the theme was only announced at 2AM my time, after a full day at work. I stayed up for it and brainstormed until I had a workable idea and a whole load of elaborations. This meant I didn’t sleep until nearly four and only started coding in earnest at midday on Saturday. I’d planned to sleep as little as possible but the way it played out, I had two full eight hour nights.<\/p>\n

I had decided ahead of time to aim simple, not use a framework and just get something working by the deadline. I did not shoot far enough, most of the work was done on the Saturday and by Sunday I was pretty pissed off with it. Turns out I love coding but not so much level design, also I got quite lonely. In my professional life, it’s all big groups and large teams. I need that more than I realized.<\/p>\n

I think next time, I’ll plan a couple of hours out of the house with other people for the Saturday night. Saying that, I had a friend on google plus which helped more than I thought it would. He play-tested for me and also when I was convinced my game was pants told me to just do it. Which helped, as I did.<\/p>\n

Next time, I’ll work out how to make some noises (or at least organize a microphone) ahead of time. Also plan some levels out properly before I get bored of it.<\/p>","time":"August 27th, 2012 2:50 am","title":"Species:Chappy \u2013 Ludum Dare Compo Post-mortem"}