After a hectic last hours and far to few hours to sleep before work today I have gathered my thoughts on the weekends happenings. The first thing I’d like to point out is that I’m EXTREMELY happy that Ludum Dare exists. No other event has been able to push my limits so far that LD does. I’m no pro-developer, but I really feel that I’m getting better, and LD manage to show me my true capbilities.

Good stuff:

I set out to create a survival-exploring game with some type of craft system. I always set high value in good graphics (wish often is a bit of a problem) and when I looked at my sketches I felt confident in the game-idea. My abilities to succeed is a different story. It felt like too much in too little time (like always), but I went with it anyways. And I actually managed to make the whole game! I only had to cut out the tool-system I was aiming for at the beginning. I had too choose between tool-system and content, and the content was lacking as it was. I made the right choice.

Bad stuff:

I let my fiancée alpha test the game, and she thought that you died to easy. I told her that it was because she needed to play it a couple of times before she learned the right tactics. I should have listened to her. Players don’t want to stress when they play a explore-crafting game. The challenge is in learning the game, not learning how to survive. AND the lack of tutorial was a downer. I could have explained the game in a simple tutor-screen, but I didn’t, next time… I should!

Thank you all for a great LD and I hope to see you all next time!