{"author_name":"TimBeaudet","cat":"LD #22","comments":[],"epoch":1324553820,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"60072","p_author":"TimBeaudet","p_authorkey":"1888","p_urlkey":"95824","p_title":"Postmortem: 10 Yards Alone","p_cat":"LD #22","p_event":"LD22","p_time":"1324553820","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"1888","us_name":"TimBeaudet","us_username":"timbeaudet","event_start":"1323993600","event_key":"8","event_name":"LD22"},"text":"

Last weekend was Ludum Dare 22: Alone, obviously why else would hundreds of people gather to make no less than 891 games not including those that were not submitted?\u00a0 I took part of this awesome gathering for the second time, with Ludum Dare 21: Escape being the first.\u00a0 During that entry I had the following postmortem<\/a> of which after reading I realize I didn’t put in all the things that went wrong.\u00a0 I feel to that list should have been “pick a smaller idea”, although I suppose that previous idea was very flexible in size.<\/p>\n

What went right:<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>I had the weekend to myself, with no interruptions or responsibilities.<\/p>\n

I picked a framework I was familiar with, and had tools to do what I needed.<\/p>\n

I followed the theme well with a simple idea of taking a team sport, and playing alone vs the other team.<\/p>\n

I spent little time debugging issues, crashing, etc.<\/p>\n

I added sound effects and music early on.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What went wrong:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The idea was far too big for a weekend project, too many little rules.<\/p>\n

The idea never turned into a game really, despite a win\/lose condition; It was too hard, or too repetitive if the player managed to learn the patterns.<\/p>\n

Some art; the player\/ai characters, was completely temporary and never replaced with something better.<\/p>\n

I spent far too much time programming.\u00a0 My framework needs to allow me to manage\/do less, if it is to be useful in LD.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What was learned:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I need to spend more time on art\/music and content.\u00a0 To help with this I am rewriting\/adding to my framework so that it will manage more things for me.\u00a0 Instead of loading a sound, and remembering to unload it, I should just be able to PlaySound(“Yada.wav”).\u00a0 <\/em>It would go a long way in reducing the time I spent programming, or at least the time spent programming “needless” things.\u00a0 An idea for a 48 hour game must be small.\u00a0 I went into this compo knowing I needed to aim to be complete with my game by the end of day 1, yet the idea I chose was far too big for that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am waiting for the next LD, where I hope I can shine through and get this done right.<\/p>\n

Play and Rate: 10 Yards Alone<\/a><\/p>","time":"December 22nd, 2011 6:37 am","title":"Postmortem: 10 Yards Alone"}