{"assets":[],"author_link":"author\/gokuhd\/","author_name":"fierysquirrel","cat":"LD #21","categories":["LD #21"],"comments":[],"epoch":1314305040,"event":"LD21","likes":7,"metadata":{"p_key":"76602","p_author":"fierysquirrel","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"284365","p_title":"Caramelo Post-mortem (I prefer to call it what I learned)","p_cat":"LD #21","p_event":"LD21","p_time":"1314305040","p_likes":"7","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":null,"us_name":null,"us_username":null,"event_start":"1313712000","event_key":"7","event_name":"LD21"},"source_url":"2011\/08\/25\/caramelo-post-mortem-i-prefer-to-call-it-what-i-learned\/","text":"

Hi!, this is the first time I do this and I\u2019m not so good in English but I\u2019ll try:<\/p>\n

For those of you who don\u2019t know which game is it, it\u2019s right here<\/a>.\u00a0 The game has a very simple concept (platform running), before the competition I was thinking about what would I make if the escape theme were selected then the runner was one of the first ideas but not the concept, I just thought about something I could draw (simple stuff) and could complete in 48 hours.<\/p>\n

The reason to select XNA as the main tool for creating it was that I already worked with it before and I heard about the competition two days before it started then\u2026 no time to learn new languages or tools, anyway I learned very interesting stuff about Inkscape and Gimp, such as the cool texture effect I used to make the graphics.<\/p>\n

Things that gone well (in my opinion):<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 The most important, I could finish a game, don\u2019t know if it\u2019s fun or not but I was happy I could finished it.<\/p>\n

\u2013 <\/strong>Learned new stuff about graphics, sounds and found some bugs in the libraries I used for animation and camera (which I coded before and shared in assembla <\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2013 The time was managed relatively fine, except for the level design.<\/p>\n

\u2013 A new concept was created, simple and under pressure, which means (not really) maybe with more time I could get something better.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Things that gone wrong (again, in my opinion):<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 Level design was the biggest mistake. I should be using a tool to create the level, I have been thinking about polishing the level creator I started years ago and I haven\u2019t completed it yet. I think this is one of the most important points and stuff to learn about.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Coins placement, due to the short time (taking into consideration I started trying to code the level late) I wrote a very simple and naive algorithm, didn\u2019t like it so much but at least it worked.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Due to the lack of experience making sounds the music was not so good, it made me think I should have a library of sounds made previously when I have time to learn about it.<\/p>\n

Things I learned (which is the topic I like the most):<\/strong><\/p>\n

First of all I think we (programmers) should be wise when we decide which tool will we use to do something. In my case I used XNA because of the previous experience I had and lack of time to learn something new. But\u2026 (as the LD recommendations said) it would be better to use some tool which could be deployed web, such as Flash or HTML5, I would say Unity but I think maybe sometimes is boring if you have to wait too long to load the game but\u2026 anyway it\u2019s good too.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to take time to think about the game, I mean, the designing part. It is true that 48 hours are too short and we have to code as soon as possible and draw and bla bla bla, but\u2026 if we make good plans, there will be good results and not only good results but \u201cnot wasting time\u201d (coding things again and again or starting an idea from the beginning in the middle of the compo is not good).<\/p>\n

Finally, it\u2019s really nice to get others comments about your work, to see what the rest of the people made and what the thought when they created their games and when they tried yours and criticize it I think it should help us to be better programmers, designers, etc, etc.<\/p>\n

Here, a screenshot of my game:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0I hope this can be helpful for somebody and you enjoy the competition :).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

PS: I will try next LD with flash or something like that.<\/p>","time":"August 25th, 2011 8:44 pm","title":"Caramelo Post-mortem (I prefer to call it what I learned)"}