{"assets":[],"author_link":"author\/murrayl\/","author_name":"MurrayL","cat":"LD #23","categories":["LD #23"],"comments":[],"epoch":1335377340,"event":"LD23","likes":5,"metadata":{"p_key":"76892","p_author":"MurrayL","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"284839","p_title":"Things I\u2019d Like to Fix in subAtomic","p_cat":"LD #23","p_event":"LD23","p_time":"1335377340","p_likes":"5","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":null,"us_name":null,"us_username":null,"event_start":"1334880000","event_key":"10","event_name":"LD23"},"source_url":"2012\/04\/25\/things-id-like-to-fix-in-subatomic\/","text":"

Note:<\/strong> If you haven\u2019t already played our kooky adventure game subAtomic<\/em>, please go here<\/a> and check it out! We think it\u2019s brill.<\/p>\n

\"subAtomic<\/a>

But I NEED to go through - that's where the game is!<\/p><\/div>\n

At the time of writing, subAtomic<\/em> has received 43 ratings, which is way more than I expected (I barely got over 10 with my last entry). If the ratings are as good as the comments people have left, I\u2019m pretty confident we might actually be able to show up somewhere notable on the final results! Not that Ludum Dare is really about that.* Incidentally, thanks muchly to everyone who has expressed their joy at having played the game. It\u2019s good to know that the jokes don\u2019t just sound funny while they\u2019re bouncing around inside my head, and I\u2019ll definitely be doing more adventure game stuff in the future.<\/p>\n

Shameless plug: If you want to keep up-to-date with what I\u2019m doing, make sure to follow me on Twitter (@GameDevIdeas).<\/p>\n

But how would I change subAtomic, given the chance? I\u2019m sure my dev-buddy Dave has his own ideas for improving the character animations, but here\u2019s my two-pence:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Full voice-acting\n<\/strong>Yeah, for every character, in a separate (optional) voice pack file. I\u2019m not 100% sure about adding this, as I\u2019m a bit worried that the voices I record could never be as amusing as the ones people come up with in their heads. I\u2019d love to hear your thoughts on the matter!<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • More variety in music<\/strong>\nI didn\u2019t really take much time over the music; I just wanted something in there other than deathly silence. As a first attempt, I just sort of whacked my face onto the keyboard a few times in FL Studio and saved what came out. I like that the tracks all sort of feel like they fit together (thanks to using the same instruments), but I do wish they were a bit longer\/more varied. I hate hearing loops.<\/li>\n
  • Saving\/Loading<\/strong>\nSo AGS has save\/load features built in. They\u2019re right there, in the game. Right now. You just can\u2019t use \u2018em. I\u2019d like to turn them back on and shoehorn a GUI on top.<\/li>\n
  • A GUI<\/strong>\nYeah, it was meant to have one but we just didn\u2019t have time. You didn\u2019t seriously think we were sadistic enough to deliberately on-purpose no-kidding release a game that has no GUI, did you?\nThe game needs a simple help screen and a button to click if you want to quit, at the very least.<\/li>\n
  • Some major code re-writing\n<\/strong>If you could see the AGS script for the last few scenes of the game, your brain would probably scream for mercy, do a backflip and die outright. By the time I wrote it, I was tired, hungry and smelly. I\u2019d like to re-write it so it doesn\u2019t make my vision go fuzzy when I try to understand it.<\/li>\n
  • Re-make the title screen\n<\/strong>This was totally my fault. I forgot that it\u2019s pretty difficult to get AGS to rotate a sprite (without delving too deeply into the more complex graphical scripting capabilities), and as a result really regretted putting a FRIGGIN\u2019 CURVED HILL on the title screen of the game. If seeing the car make its way over it made you cringe, don\u2019t worry. You are not alone.\n<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Add an extra warning before you stand there and get nuked\n<\/strong>SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT\nI\u2019d say 50% of new players choose the option to just stand there and get nuked, expecting it not to work. It works. They do a sadface. Now I\u2019m all for player choice, but I\u2019d like to at least give them one extra chance to say \u2018oh, crap. This is actually going to let me do this.\u2019\n<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Misc. rewriting\n<\/strong>This is scraping the bottom of the ideas-barrel somewhat, but there are a few bits of dialogue that I\u2019m not properly happy with. I\u2019d like a chance to go and smooth over the rough spots with 400-grit sandpaper of love. Lovepaper, if you will.\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \u201cOkay Murray,\u201d I hear you saying cynically, \u201cit\u2019s all very well posting a wishlist, but what are you actually going to DO about it?\u201d Well. Provided I have the time to spare (I will) and reception of the game has been good (it has), I\u2019m hoping to release a\u2026 SPECIAL EDITION!<\/p>\n

    That\u2019s right, folks, for just an extra \u00a30.00 you could find yourself the proud owner of a brand-spanking new copy of subAtomic<\/em>, replete with gobsmackingly awesome new content and features! Now wouldn\u2019t that be something?<\/p>\n

    * Okay, it is a bit about that. No-one really enters Ludum Dare without at least a little bit of them going \u2018WOOO! YEAH! LET\u2019S GET ONTO THOSE MOTHERFLIPPING SCOREBOARDS!\u2019. Unless that is just me. Which would be worrying.<\/em><\/p>","time":"April 25th, 2012 6:09 pm","title":"Things I\u2019d Like to Fix in subAtomic"}