{"author_name":"jovoc","cat":"LD #17 - Islands - 2010","comments":[],"epoch":1272040740,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"71455","p_author":"jovoc","p_authorkey":"34","p_urlkey":"107276","p_title":"Ready as I\u2019ll ever be","p_cat":"LD #17 - Islands - 2010","p_event":"LD17","p_time":"1272040740","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"34","us_name":"jovoc","us_username":"jovoc","event_start":"1271980800","event_key":"3","event_name":"LD17"},"text":"<p>Had a little list of stuff i needed to get ready before the weekend. Didn&#8217;t get to most of it but that&#8217;s ok&#8230;<\/p>\n <p>I&#8217;ve got an older post about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/2008\/08\/06\/ld-survival\/\">tips for LD48 Survival<\/a> that I think is mostly still true. I&#8217;ve changed my option about 2D vs. 3D, I think the real key is to let your gameplay dictate 2D vs. 3D, not your tools or engine. I made plenty of LD games (like Glacier and Crossroads) that would have worked better as 2D, but I&#8217;ve made others (like the long lost TIE) that made good use of it. If you&#8217;re going 3D, don&#8217;t make a 2D board with a little bit of perspective, use that 3D for all it&#8217;s worth.<\/p>\n <p>The one thing I did set up was my music kit. The iPhone is a fantastic music instrument with apps like DopplerPad, ThumbJam (is the bomb), EyDy Looper, etc.. I&#8217;ll use that along with my guitar, and trusty old Adrenaline effect processor, and other random noisemaking techniques. I&#8217;ll assemble it all with an older version of n-Track because I haven&#8217;t upgraded it in half a decade but it still works. I might throw in some Milkytracker if the style demands it. I&#8217;m a terrible musician but I have fun with it, so your ears can look forward to suffering at my expense. I&#8217;ve always run out of time to make music\/sound for my game, this time I&#8217;m going to make it a priority.<\/p>\n <p>This time, I picked 3 unusual goals (&#8220;finish a game&#8221; is sort of implied here) to push myself a little bit:<\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>Have music\/sound for the game.<\/li>\n <li>Do something unusual with the setting (i.e. no dungeons, zombies, spaceships or other familiar tropes)<\/li>\n <li>Establish a distinct and personal visual style<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p>The nice thing about these goals, other than the music, is that they are more about the decision making rather than adding work. We&#8217;ll see how it goes.<\/p>\n <p>Looking forward to this a lot. I think every one of the themes on the final list would make for an awesome contest.<\/p>\n <p>And for the record, the tools I&#8217;ll be using will be SDL, OpenGL, Pro-Motion, Photoshop, OGMO or TileStudio, Blender if 3D, maybe other stuff.<\/p>\n <p>Good luck everybody!<\/p>","time":"April 23rd, 2010 11:39 am","title":"Ready as I\u2019ll ever be"}