{"author_name":"NiallM","cat":"LD #16 - Exploration - 2009","comments":[],"epoch":1260811560,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"71750","p_author":"NiallM","p_authorkey":"785","p_urlkey":"107572","p_title":"Post mortem, timelapse, OSX & Linux versions","p_cat":"LD #16 - Exploration - 2009","p_event":"LD16","p_time":"1260811560","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"785","us_name":"NiallM","us_username":"niallm","event_start":"1260489600","event_key":"2","event_name":"LD16"},"text":"<p>First, I&#8217;ve now posted OSX and linux\/source code versions on my <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-16\/?action=preview&amp;uid=785\">entry&#8217;s page<\/a>.\u00a0 I noticed some serious slowdown when testing on my macmini &#8211; this is because it uses very large textures (1024 x 768), and there isn&#8217;t really anything I could have done (not within the 48hr time limit anyway, it would have been too fiddly and time-consuming).\u00a0 Fairly recent (\/non bargain-basement) graphics cards shouldn&#8217;t have a problem, but I apologise if you find the game getting slower and slower the more moves you make.<\/p>\n <p>Second, here&#8217;s my timelapses:<\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iJfv-MYpjbY\">Coding etc.<\/a><\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dzVwx0ypSoU\">Audio<\/a><\/p>\n <p>There&#8217;s two because I did the audio on a different computer, and I&#8217;m too lazy to edit them together properly.\u00a0 Read on for my post mortem.<\/p>\n <p><span id=\"more-14147\"><\/span>This actually went surprisingly well, especially considering I spent the best part of 7 hours on Saturday afternoon at work.\u00a0 It was definitely the most enjoyable Ludum Dare I&#8217;ve done so far.<\/p>\n <p>What worked:<\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>Setting my alarm for 2:15 am to see what the theme was.\u00a0 It may have been a fluke, or it may have been that my head was in a different place having just woken up from deep sleep, but literally within 5 minutes of seeing the theme I knew what I was going to do, and within 5 minutes of that I had the entire game fleshed out in my head (I don&#8217;t think I changed anything between then and the finish &#8211; I&#8217;m pretty sure I even came up with &#8216;Maggott&#8217;s Restorative Ship&#8217;s Biscuits at this point).\u00a0 Another 5 minutes and I was back to sleep.\u00a0 The whole thing was pretty much perfect.<\/li>\n <li>The map and background paper.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I did the map in black acrylic ink on cartridge paper, and I think it turned out really well.\u00a0 The compass is a bit wonky, and I maybe should have drawn those lines you see on old maps to go with it, but that&#8217;s just nitpicking.\u00a0 I was a bit worried about the background paper being too light and not stained enough, but a little fiddling with Paint Shop Pro fixed that.\u00a0 I&#8217;m really pleased with how the whole thing turned out, especially when the coloured segments get drawn on the map as the game progresses.<\/li>\n <li>Research.\u00a0 Getting to research old maps and food adverts on google was fun.\u00a0 I think I did a fairly good job of getting that old-fashioned (Victorian?) look for the game.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p>What didn&#8217;t work:<\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>The AI.\u00a0 The CPU players are useless and offer no challenge.\u00a0 I should really have spent more time on them to make their actions less random, and I should have used A* to get them to move towards unexplored spaces.<\/li>\n <li>That&#8217;s it, as far as I know.\u00a0 Maybe some comments will point other problems out, but I haven&#8217;t seen anything obvious yet.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p>What may or may not have worked:<\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>Not having the chance to play the game with other human beings yet, I&#8217;ve no idea whether it&#8217;s actually a good game.\u00a0 I think it has the potential to lead to arguments and people storming away in a huff (the mark of all good multiplayer games), but really I don&#8217;t know.\u00a0 The rule set is very simple, so maybe that&#8217;ll make it less fun to play, but until I can try it out properly I&#8217;ve no idea whether it works or not.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p>As a bonus for reading this far, here&#8217;s a picture of the stuff I scanned\/wrote down during the competition:<\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/drawingsEtx.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-14153\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/drawingsEtx-550x555.jpg\" alt=\"drawingsEtx\" width=\"550\" height=\"555\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/drawingsEtx-297x300.jpg 297w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/drawingsEtx-550x555.jpg 550w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/drawingsEtx.jpg 792w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n \n <p>Tags: <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/timelapse\/\" rel=\"tag\">timelapse<\/a><\/p>","time":"December 14th, 2009 12:26 pm","title":"Post mortem, timelapse, OSX & Linux versions"}