{"author_name":"codeapparat","cat":"LD #22","comments":[],"epoch":1324322040,"likes":2,"metadata":{"p_key":"60285","p_author":"codeapparat","p_authorkey":"505226","p_urlkey":"96038","p_title":"\u201cAlone with\u2026 things!\u201d post-mortem & timelapse","p_cat":"LD #22","p_event":"LD22","p_time":"1324322040","p_likes":"2","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"505226","us_name":"codeapparat","us_username":"codeapparat","event_start":"1323993600","event_key":"8","event_name":"LD22"},"text":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-22\/?action=preview&amp;uid=7512\" target=\"_blank\">Submission Page<\/a><\/p>\n <div style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hazardx.com\/hazard\/ld22_awt_shot1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.hazardx.com\/hazard\/ld22_awt_shot1_h450.jpg\" alt=\"Screenshot\" width=\"450\" height=\"349\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alone with... things!<\/p><\/div>\n <p><strong><br \/>\n What went badly:<\/strong><\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>I didn&#8217;t have any basecode and started from scratch. Thus a considerable amount of time was &#8220;wasted&#8221; on animation, landscape tiling and collision detection coding.<\/li>\n <li>Any form of storytelling or player guidance fell victim to the time limit<\/li>\n <li>The LD started at 3am here in Germany. I only got 4 hours sleep prior to the start and got unconcentrated and tired rather quickly.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p><strong><br \/>\n What went well:<\/strong><\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>Coding went smooth like butter. I never really used XNA previously, but working with it is easy as long as you know the coding language well enough.<\/li>\n <li>I&#8217;m not much of an artist, but i&#8217;m happy with the art. Nothing fancy, but it works.<\/li>\n <li>Using bitmaps with 256 indexed colors for levels. You won&#8217;t need a level editor this way and adjustments can easily be made. XNA doesn&#8217;t support those, but the BMP format for color-indexed bitmaps is VERY easy to load directly from data.<\/li>\n <li>The game idea turned out to be interesting and fun. Combining a traditional gametype with some unconventional twist in gameplay seems like a good way to go.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p><strong><br \/>\n Tips and learned lessons:<\/strong><\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>Sleep and eat well before and during the competion. You won&#8217;t be very creative or focussed when tired.<\/li>\n <li>Use a coding language and tools you are very familiar with.<\/li>\n <li>Use base code for animations and stuff. If you don&#8217;t have any participate in the warmup to create some base code for such things.<\/li>\n <li>Priorize planned features and keep the unessential untouched until you are done with the essential ones.<\/li>\n <li>Look at the themes during theme voting and try to come up with ideas for as many as possible. It helps to bring your creativity up to pace, even if a theme gets voted for which you haven&#8217;t got an idea yet.<\/li>\n <li>A drawing tablet (even a cheap one) helps A LOT with making art, even if you aren&#8217;t much of an artist and not good at drawing on paper. Take time to configure it and its buttons well for a smooth workflow prior to the contest.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p><strong>Timelapse:<\/strong><\/p>\n <p><iframe width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cbwLer_i6Xg?fs=1&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n \n <p>Tags: <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/alone\/\" rel=\"tag\">alone<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/post-mortem\/\" rel=\"tag\">post-mortem<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/timelapse\/\" rel=\"tag\">timelapse<\/a><\/p>","time":"December 19th, 2011 2:14 pm","title":"\u201cAlone with\u2026 things!\u201d post-mortem & timelapse"}