{"author_name":"robbiehunt","cat":"LD #23","comments":[{"author_name":"","time":"April 27, 2012 10:42 am","epoch":1335541320,"text":"I thought it was just right. \":)\" I got to the point that I could plan what I wanted to do and do it. (I am famously bad at jumping games)","spam":"N"}],"epoch":1335533700,"likes":1,"metadata":{"p_key":"55916","p_author":"robbiehunt","p_authorkey":"10796","p_urlkey":"91634","p_title":"Flea Circus \u2013 Post-Mortem","p_cat":"LD #23","p_event":"LD23","p_time":"1335533700","p_likes":"1","p_comments":"1","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"10796","us_name":"robbiehunt","us_username":"robbiehunt","event_start":"1334880000","event_key":"10","event_name":"LD23"},"text":"

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I made Flea Circus! There’s not a lot to it, but I’m really proud of it, and this was my first LD. I just wanted to write a little bit about my what went right and wrong to clear my head and process the experience. Before you read this Post-Mortem, please check out the game by clicking here<\/a>. If you don’t want to read it, please at least go rate my game: click here.<\/a><\/p>\n

What went right<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/strong>Scope<\/em><\/p>\n

I did a really good job of taking each idea that came out of brainstorming and running it through a Feasability Filter\u00ae before risking taking the idea further in my head and becoming attached to it. I stripped out the idea of levels, and character creation and character selection that\u2019s typical of extreme sports games and just focused on the fun of jumping around and doing tricks.<\/p>\n

Originality<\/em><\/p>\n

This first images in my head when the theme was announced were of Super Mario Galaxy type planets with big oversized objects on them. So – I knew I didn\u2019t want to go with something like that because I wanted something fresh and different from the rest of the competition.<\/p>\n

Truthfully, though, there is one other flea circus meets extreme sport game in the competition. Weird.<\/p>\n

Mechanics<\/em><\/p>\n

Getting all the timing and the combos working was a really satisfying experience from a coding point of view – but I\u2019m also proud that it works, and works as expected. Granted, you can say the game\u2019s a little easy, but that\u2019s aside from the fact that it\u2019s very satisfying to make the little flea do his tricks!<\/p>\n

Think of fighting games : Yeah, you can beat me by button mashing – but can you beat me and know what you\u2019re doing?<\/p>\n

What went wrong<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/strong>Graphics<\/em><\/p>\n

Believe it or not I have a background in Graphic Design! But small pixel art … man, I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing. Those curtains look pretty good, right? And so does the wood of the stage. But those judges and the flea … could be better to say the least. I need to get good and I need to get fast. I wanted to have poofs of smoke and blood splatters and animate the fire in the hoop.<\/p>\n

I may have gotten a little too obsessed with wanting to use the same dimensions as the gameboy advance. I should have just made a game with the style that it needed and not with a style I wanted to try.<\/p>\n

Also, yeah, that flea needed more contrast, I don\u2019t know what I was thinking.<\/p>\n

Difficulty<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy. It\u2019s an easy game. In playtesting half said it was too hard and half said too easy – no one said \u2018just right\u2019 but me. So I went towards making it easier for those who said it was too hard and I think I made it too easy.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is was my first LD and it was an eye opening experience:<\/p>\n