{"assets":[{"original":"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/cow.png","local":"\/data\/posts\/2012\/05\/d435e09275a9eca0719868e0a9cc44f7.png"},{"original":"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/cow.png","local":"\/data\/posts\/2012\/05\/d435e09275a9eca0719868e0a9cc44f7.png"}],"author_link":"author\/benjamin-soule\/","author_name":"Benjamin","cat":"LD #23","categories":["LD #23"],"comments":[],"epoch":1336221900,"event":"LD23","likes":5,"metadata":{"p_key":"78258","p_author":"Benjamin","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"287268","p_title":"Super Strict Farmer !","p_cat":"LD #23","p_event":"LD23","p_time":"1336221900","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\/05\/05\/super-strict-farmer\/","text":"

I\u2019m a bit late but here\u2019s the Post Mortem for \u00a0\"\"<\/a>\u00a0Super Strict Farmer<\/a>\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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

It tooks me some time to figure out what to do with the Tiny world theme. I was just thinking to a little piece of ground floating in the air. So I decided to adapt a famous boardgame ( my favorite ) named Agricola <\/a>to a short and more accessible version .<\/p>\n

I think I succeded in making it shorter ( boargame version play are 2h-3h long ) but the result is still very difficult to handle and not very intuitive.<\/p>\n

You can play Super Strict Farmer \u00a0here <\/a>!<\/p>\n

The Timelapse is here<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

What went right :<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 Preparation \/ Efficiency<\/em><\/p>\n

On the week before LD23,\u00a0I focus my attention to go to bed early and slept at least 9h-10h per night \u00a0( that\u2019s a lot for me ). It made my 48h very pleasant, I slept only 6h in one shot and had almost no focus problems. It didn\u2019t help to take good decisions, but I had my head clear when I had to implement them \":)\"<\/p>\n

\u2013 Animation and arts :<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m used to graphics gale<\/a> and can work fast with it. I spend a few percent of my time on graphics and could focus on the core of the game. I just wish I had more time for particles and special effects<\/p>\n

\u2013 Artificial Intelligence :<\/em><\/p>\n

Well. I was thinking I wont have time for this in 48h. So I first decided to make the computer player play random move and balance difficulty with initial advantages ( more food, peoples or ressources ). I finally decided to give 2 hours for AI and I dont regret it. I mean, the result is not perfect but working on it was the most fun part of the project. Trying to give score for each possible action, made me think like a player ( not a game designer ) and it works like actually testing your game and detecting his weaknesses. At the end, I made the AI compute opponet best actions so it can try to steal them from you. It made the game more interesting and in my case very introversive, because I really had the feeling to play versus myself.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Title<\/em><\/p>\n

I had fun imagine it and draw it in 90\u2019s super street fighter style.\u00a0I was thinking that maybe, it could be the best title and then\u2026 I saw Copulous <\/a>\ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

\n<\/em><\/p>\n

What went wrong :<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 Simplification of the orginial Gameplay :<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the bad points of Agricola is that you have to wait the end of the game to have a clear view of your score. It make it very obscure to new player, and I was thinking I could avoid it by creating ingame-actions that let the player trade ressources for victory points. I could not balance them in time, and was forced to add a final grain\/sheep\/cattle count. It ruined my original idea.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Balancing :<\/em><\/p>\n

Even if the result is playable, the game balance is unstable and took me most of my time. It\u2019s difficult to estimate it, but it should be around 9-10h . I could have better intro screen and better ingame help if I didnt spent all this time on balancing.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Boardgame :<\/em><\/p>\n

Trying to adapt a boardgame to a short casaul game for LD is not the best choice I could make. This kind of boardgames are not very popular and I know that only few people enjoy their mathematics. I think I ended with a game too simple for boardgame veteran and too complicated for unitiated.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Loneliness in a crowd :<\/em><\/p>\n

One more time I had a chance to share this Ludum Dare with a lot of friends who was participating in the same place ( deepnight<\/a>, 01101101<\/a>, thotor <\/a>, valandre <\/a>). And once again I stayed focus on my work not trying to go around and see what they were doing. But this time I have the solution : LD24 will be a jam entry for me \":)\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>","time":"May 5th, 2012 12:45 pm","title":"Super Strict Farmer !","title_was_empty":false}