Ludum Dare 37 was my third ludum dare so far, and the first time I tried to familiarize my self with the community. In my opinion out of the dares that I have done, I have enjoyed this one the most.

Day 1: When ludum dare started with the theme of “One Room”, I was a bit skeptic at first, but I was able to get the base mechanics done before I went to bed.  like this ludum dare would be the best one I would have.

Day 2: Most of this day was adding the lose condition and how I would convey the instructions and story to the player. I decided to just give them a .pdf file that comes with the game to educate them on how the game would work. I ran into a lot of problems that day but I was able to make it so you had more buttons to press, telling them whats wrong by using flashing lights and text to move across the screen and I made a cutscene for the game when the timer ran out. At this point the game was done. I posted it later that day. The part about it was that I was shooting for the 72 hour version but I was able to make it to the 48 hrs. But I signed my game in as a jam game so if I wanted to update my game in the next 24 hrs. I was able to do so and if I messed up on the game to the point that it was irreversible I still had the 1st version that I had already posted. This gave me the ability to experiment with my game and do whatever I wanted with the game

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Day 3: Since I had a finished product. i could begin to build on it.  I ended up not having much time that day but I was able to add music and more situations for the player to go through.

What went right :

• Got the base mechanics done from the start
• Ended up with something that I really enjoy
• Was able to get it done sooner than expected
• Got my first game with my own music in it :)*
• I was able to be organized and get things done.
• I had more interaction with the community

What went wrong :

• Didn’t have as much player interaction with as much as I wanted.
• Some of the art was kind of sloppy.

It, was hard to find stuff that I personally found “wrong”, but I am sure there are some things that are defined as “wrong”,  with my game that I can’t see but I would appreciate the criticism to help me improve my game.

Overall, I learned a lot about the community of the game industry and about the creation of games. More than any other ludum dare, I have participated in. I am planning on improving on this game in the near future. In fact I am working on an update for it right now. From this experience I have enjoyed it so much more than the previous dares. The last two dares I participated in were filled with stress and fear of not meeting the deadline without sacrificing a mechanic or something that would make the game really special. This one was different. I was able to get most of the stuff I wanted done, done without the fear of the deadline. This might be the only time I don’t have the fear of the deadline on my back. But, I will be back for the next ludum dare, for better or for worse.

See you next year!

My game : NPPTF

*May not be good but music is music.