play it!

I’ve written an extensive 3-part postmortem on my web site, narrating my thought process as I worked through the weekend on my compo project, and describing in detail some of my programming techniques (no code, download my source to see that).

Here’s the uber brief synopsis:

What went well:

1. Really liked the bacteria behavior.
2. Good use of translucent graphics.
3. Very happy with the effects I achieved using stochastic functions.
4. The controls ended up working out pretty well — this was the first time I’d done a game where the controls are so indirect, and you control hundreds of objects.
5. Performance is good despite having a few thousand objects in play.
6. <3 Game Maker for rapid development

What went wrong:

1. Didn’t get to complete all the features I’d planned.
2. Spent a lot more time debugging and tweaking the controls than I ever imagined I would need to.
3. Game is short.  <1min/play is pretty typical.
4. Could be more depth to it, if I’d made it a little more complex by including some of the features I’d hoped to complete.
5. h8 Game Maker for debugging.

What I’d like you to know:

1. This is the second weekend in a row that I built a game!  I’m taking a break next weekend:)
2. I’m really happy that I participated and completed my project.
3. I am looking forward to doing more of these.
4. Can’t wait to see people’s comments, find out how I ranked, and try other people’s games out!

Tags: Bactarium, Chris Sanyk, postmortem