{"author_name":"recursor","cat":"LD #16 - Exploration - 2009","comments":[],"epoch":1261013280,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"71705","p_author":"recursor","p_authorkey":"1105","p_urlkey":"107527","p_title":"Thoughts on Bees n Flowers","p_cat":"LD #16 - Exploration - 2009","p_event":"LD16","p_time":"1261013280","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"1105","us_name":"recursor","us_username":"\/author\/recursor\/","event_start":"1260489600","event_key":"2","event_name":"LD16"},"text":"<p>Well this is my 2nd LD and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it once again.<\/p>\n <p><em>Tools I used<\/em><\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rtsoft.com\/novashell\/\">Novashell<\/a><\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rtsoft.com\/novashell\/\">Paint .NET<\/a><\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/notepad-plus.sourceforge.net\/uk\/site.htm\">Notepad++<\/a><\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/audacity.sourceforge.net\/\">Audacity<\/a><\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.drpetter.se\/project_sfxr.html\">sfxr<\/a><\/p>\n <p>Here are some random thoughts both good and bad about my experience making <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-16\/?action=rate&amp;uid=1105\">Bees n Flowers<\/a>:<\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>This time instead of spending time trying to do pixel drawings, I drew my graphics freehand, scanned them in, and touched them up using in Paint .NET. I got this process down pretty good and felt pretty good about the results.<\/li>\n <li>Aside from a few annoying bugs I fought with, the Novashell engine worked out well for me and it also has the advantage of being able to generate both Windows and Mac packages (which I still need to do). I know, Unity can too.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <ul>\n <li>I had originally intended to learn Unity beforehand and do the game with it, but alas I just &#8230; dropped the ball and didn&#8217;t get to looking at it until it was too late.<\/li>\n <li>I really wanted to get random generation of the sequences, and at least one enemy (a wasp)\u00a0 into the game but was unable to do so before the deadline<\/li>\n <li>I think the game could have used actual levels that change after you get a certain number of sequences. Then the locations of the flowers could be changed and maybe keep things a little more fresh.<\/li>\n <li>I had more flower types but they didn&#8217;t make it into the game<\/li>\n <li>I wanted to do more with the flowers as far as player interaction goes but again with the time&#8230;<\/li>\n <li>I had a list of features I wanted in my head, but I still found myself thinking &#8220;now what?&#8221; every so often<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p>In the end it all comes down to how prepared you are beforehand and how well you manage your 48.\u00a0 A few things I want to do do better next time:<\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>Get all my tools installed beforehand and familiarize myself with any new tools I plan to use.<\/li>\n <li>Figure out my process for generating art and sound and practice executing it.<\/li>\n <li>A written and prioritized list of the features I want to shoot for broken up further into &#8216;must haves for a complete game&#8217; and then &#8216;icing on the cake&#8217; features.<\/li>\n <\/ul>","time":"December 16th, 2009 8:28 pm","title":"Thoughts on Bees n Flowers"}