my entry: Forever Running

This morning I finished my LD entry. It’s the second time I participated, so I somehow knew what to expect. Here are my experiences:

What went well

• personal basecode: At first I wanted to use an existing framework, but then I realized that I would learn more if I write one myself. It has very limited functionality but I know every single line of code. This helped a lot to speed things up.
• preparation: Before the competition started I had ideas for the top 4 themes (self replication, dreams, escape, adaption). Even though I prefered self replication, I could start coding early. Beside that I tweaked my sleep schedule, so I was awake soon after the competition started (4am).
• visuals: I’m not a great artist, but I’m happy with what I produced. It’s so much better than what I used to do four months ago. (Yes, I’m a bit proud of it)
• goals: I aimed low. It’s not a very original game idea but I was pretty sure I could do it in the given time. I was right.
• release often: I released two indev versions of the game.
• code first: At the end of the first day, I finished all core game mechanics so I could spent the entire second day on content.

What I should do better

• sound: I was unable to produce music or sound good enough to include in the game. I certainly need a) more practice and/or b) better tools
• got up too early: The competition starts 4am here. I got up at 4am and started coding. Soon I realized that I was too tired to produce quality code. After sleeping 3 more hours, things got better instantly.
• focus: After I finished the game mechanics I somehow lost the focus. I thought about other game elements to add, watched some TV, tried to create some music. This way I lost some hours. I went to bed early to clear my mind and was full of energy for the second day.
• timelapse: I tried to create a timelapse with CamStudio, but somehow all files are corrupted I need to find another tool.

All in all I had a very productive weekend, learned a lot, spent time with an awesome community and had a lot of fun. Now I’m going to play all the games you made 😀

Thanks for this fantastic event!

Tags: postmortem