{"author_name":"emilng","cat":"LD #22","comments":[],"epoch":1324161180,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"61287","p_author":"emilng","p_authorkey":"7518","p_urlkey":"97052","p_title":"Second day progress","p_cat":"LD #22","p_event":"LD22","p_time":"1324161180","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"7518","us_name":"emilng","us_username":"emilng","event_start":"1323993600","event_key":"8","event_name":"LD22"},"text":"

I’m about to take a dinner break, but figured I’d post my progress.<\/p>\n

When I started this competition I didn’t want to use any game frameworks because I didn’t want to be limited in the types of games that I would be able to create. The good thing about that is that I’ll have a game that doesn’t have to have the specific look and feel imposed by a framework. The bad thing about that is that I’m probably not going to finish implementing what I want within 48 hours =P<\/p>\n

Standard game convention is to show status with progress bars and number readouts. I was going to showing the player aging by having an abstract face that gets older as you play, but that still falls within the realm of a readout. Another thought was having the character move across a timeline which again is another type of progress bar. I settled on using the idea of seasons as a metaphor for aging. This allows the background to change in a meaningful way which integrates into the play experience instead of just being a backdrop.<\/p>\n

Another progress problem is how to show the status of health, relationships and career. I was going to have a tree on the back of each card that was going to change as result of the player’s actions. I started hand drawing the tree growth from a sprout when I realized that it would be way too much work to create all the different possible scenarios. So I’m learning how to implement an L-System for tree generation.<\/p>\n

Here’s a mockup of the visuals so far:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>","time":"December 17th, 2011 5:33 pm","title":"Second day progress"}