{"author_name":"Chaserbrown","cat":"LD #35","comments":[],"epoch":1461042900,"likes":3,"metadata":{"p_key":"6224","p_author":"Chaserbrown","p_authorkey":"61940","p_urlkey":"41662","p_title":"Mimic \u2013 Post Mortem","p_cat":"LD #35","p_event":"LD35","p_time":"1461042900","p_likes":"3","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"61940","us_name":"Chaserbrown","us_username":"chaserbrown","event_start":"1460678400","event_key":"33","event_name":"LD35"},"text":"

If you haven’t played my game yet, go check it out: Mimic<\/a><\/p>\n

This was my second Ludum Dare, and I had a good time, for the most part. As of about halfway through, I was excited to have a game, but was in constant stress. I wasn’t sure if I could make it in time, and I was right… I didn’t quite make it.<\/p>\n

I had been excited for Ludum Dare for a long time, and was attempting to enter the compo. I had a rough engine designed, but there were some problems – it hadn’t been tested yet.<\/p>\n

At the start of Ludum Dare 35, I had an idea with the theme (which, by the way, I thought was really good!). You see, I knew about an octopus that existed in real life that mimicked the look of other sea creatures. I then sketched out a basic idea, and got to work!<\/p>\n

I started off with some basic texturing. I feel like it went decently well – there hadn’t been many problems there. There was a funny moment where I had googled a picture of a cat, and my baby brother pointed at it and said, “Cat!”, excitedly. Then, he pointed at my pixel-arted kitten\u00a0and exclaimed, “What’s That?”… I took that as a sign that I had some reworking to do.<\/p>\n

Following pixel art, I started development, which was kind of slow, but I got a basic game. About 24 hours in, I decided to add a story. Was that a good idea? No.<\/p>\n

It took a good amount of more time, and I was also overambitious with levels. I hoped to add 24 unique levels, which all took some time.<\/p>\n

At the end of the time, I was rushing to finish the levels, and about half-an-hour before, I tried to export.<\/p>\n

That’s where problems really began.<\/p>\n

I had never tried exporting with this game engine, and while it was possible, I didn’t do it very well. I also hadn’t tested the level, and had some bugs in it. I posted the game, but later took it down. I decided to enter the Jam.<\/p>\n

I spent some time the next day doing some playtesting, adding a few sounds, improving the download, and fixing bugs. Now it’s up, and I’m proud of it.<\/p>\n

What Went Right?:<\/p>\n