{"author_name":"Isopod","cat":"LD #23","comments":[{"author_name":"dr_soda","time":"April 22, 2012 1:30 pm","epoch":1335119400,"text":"One of the points in Sol’s guide is that if your game requires clever or intricate level design in order to to be successful, you might well be doomed. Level design is incredibly time intensive, and the more of it you do the less you’ll have for anything else, like graphics, sound, or gameplay.","spam":"N"}],"epoch":1335118140,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"56724","p_author":"Isopod","p_authorkey":"12521","p_urlkey":"92473","p_title":"I give up\u2026","p_cat":"LD #23","p_event":"LD23","p_time":"1335118140","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"1","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"12521","us_name":"Isopod","us_username":"Isopod","event_start":"1334880000","event_key":"10","event_name":"LD23"},"text":"

Hi everyone,<\/p>\n

first of all I want to apologize for not having introduced myself before… I had ambitions to participate since I first heard of Ludum Dare a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn\u2019t sure if I would actually do it until the last minute.<\/p>\n

My idea<\/strong><\/p>\n

So anyway, I ended up doing it and decided to make a platform game using JavaScript and HTML5. My idea was to have kind of an “inverse super mario”… meaning that the player was normally a giant, but after collecting a power up (mushroom) could temporarily shrink in size. Then you would have parts in the levels where you had to be small to fit through tight spaces to progress. You would need to be quick enough or else you would start to grow in a tight spot and be crushed to death.<\/p>\n

I think the idea is not bad, but I failed at executing it…<\/p>\n

How far did I get?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, I made the “engine” and a couple of sprites\/tiles. It controls quite nicely, actually… But I\u2019m not happy with it. Problem number one is the graphics: While most of the images are decent, they don\u2019t really fit together… the problem, I think, is that they lack a theme. I have different ground tiles, trees, a background with mountains and trees, soldiers or whatever they are, a house, and my main character who is supposed to resemble mario but lacks detail (that I was planning to add later)… so basically I made random objects from all over the place.<\/p>\n

Problem number two is that I suck at designing levels. I don\u2019t know why, but I always find my levels lackluster… I don\u2019t know if it is just my perception or if I really just suck at it more that most people. Also, because I find my own levels boring, I tend to tune them forever, which results in me getting more frustrated because I\u2019m staring at the same level for hours and feel like I\u2019m not moving forward at all.<\/p>\n

Ludum Dare \u2013 Recap<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first day was exhausting but fun.<\/p>\n

During the second day I realized that the game was not shaping up as I had planned. And now, at the end of the second day, I have to admit, I\u2019m pretty frustrated… especially looking at all the awesome games that others have made. It\u2019s really amazing what some of you can get done in just 48 hours.<\/p>\n

I guess the good thing about this extremely short time period is that you don\u2019t waste too <\/em>much effort if you end up discarding your game like I did.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure if I will do this again…\u00a0 right now I can\u2019t imagine it due to lack of motivation, but this feeling will probably change once I take a step back.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just wanted to get this off my chest. I hope I\u2019ll do better next time (if I decide to participate)…<\/p>","time":"April 22nd, 2012 1:09 pm","title":"I give up\u2026"}