{"assets":[{"original":"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/icon_250_200.png","local":"\/data\/posts\/2013\/05\/70cabb7b47534164cc301c304d045440.png"},{"original":"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/ceci.png","local":"\/data\/posts\/2013\/05\/cee5da9b1ffc3c8631bed1f14f04a79a.png"}],"author_link":"author\/volute\/","author_name":"Volute","cat":"LD #26","categories":["LD #26"],"comments":[],"epoch":1367577480,"event":"LD26","likes":9,"metadata":{"p_key":"79256","p_author":"Volute","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"288266","p_title":"This is not a minimalist game \u2013 Postmortem","p_cat":"LD #26","p_event":"LD26","p_time":"1367577480","p_likes":"9","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":null,"us_name":null,"us_username":null,"event_start":"1366934400","event_key":"16","event_name":"LD26"},"source_url":"2013\/05\/03\/this-is-not-a-minimalist-game-postmortem\/","text":"

Hello, <\/p>\n

It was my fourth participation to the Ludum Dare, and it\u2019s a great experience every time ! Here\u2019s the game I did for the compo :<\/p>\n

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

This is not a minimalist game<\/a><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

About the game<\/em><\/strong>\nIt\u2019s a platformer \u2013 adventure game. You play a warrior in a medieval fantastic universe who does quests for various NPC. Suddenly the world changes. It has no more colors, no more details, and the people are talking rectangles.<\/p>\n

The theme<\/em><\/strong>\nAt first, I had minimum inspiration for \u201cMinimalism\u201d\u2026 \":)\"\nIt made me think of Mondrian, but also of Magritte (\u201cThis is not a pipe\u201d, \u201cThis is not an apple\u201d). I like Magritte\u2019s work, so I wanted to put a reference to it in the game, but I didn\u2019t know how. <\/p>\n

\"Ceci<\/p>\n

Then I had this idea of a basic character from a medieval fantastic game who finds himself in a minimalist world. I tried to imagine what a minimal NPC would be like, then I thought of this rectangle who wants squares and tries to use the minimum of words to interact with the player. And I started from there.<\/p>\n

\"bring_me\"<\/p>\n

The development<\/em><\/strong>\nI roughly had the whole story in mind when I started to code. In my timezone, you discover the theme at 4 a.m., so you can really sleep on it.\nI was convinced I\u2019d had to make cuts because there were so many scenes. In my previous LD, I was never able to do everything I wanted. For Tinysasters (LD23 \u2013 Tiny World), I had to rush the graphics and the sound during the last hour, and the gameplay was not working. For Lucas\u2019s Quest Backwards (LD24 \u2013 Evolution), I had to abandon the compo and go for the jam. And for Crime in the City (LD25 \u2013 You are the villain), I couldn\u2019t work on the graphics at all.<\/p>\n

When the first day was over, I had 6 scenes left. No work had been done on the graphics or the sounds. Although, what was very convenient about this theme was that all my prototype-looking graphics for the minimalist world could almost be considered as final \":)\"\nFortunately, it only took me 1 hour by scene, so I had plenty of time to finish when he gameplay was done.<\/p>\n

Tools<\/em><\/strong>\nFor the code, I used As3 (flash) with the framework Flixel<\/a>. I never use Flixel or heavy frameworks outside the Ludum Dare, because I like to code more freely. But it was great for this LD and it saved me a lot of time.<\/p>\n

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

For the level design, I used DAME. It works great with Flixel. It\u2019s nice to be able to draw the maps so easily with a set of tile.<\/p>\n

For the graphics I used Photoshop CS2. It\u2019s not the best tool for pixel art but it\u2019s the one I\u2019m comfortable with. It\u2019s also good enough for animations, although not very handy.<\/p>\n

For the music, I used ThumbJam (iOS). This is a fantastic app that lets you compose music like you were playing an instrument. And the interface is so simple !<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Things that went (a little) wrong<\/strong><\/p>\n

Flatland<\/em><\/strong>\nA lot of people on the comments of Kongregate and Newgrounds said that the game was inspired by Flatland. It\u2019s not, I\u2019ve never read this book and I hadn\u2019t heard of it before I released the game. But I will probably read it now, sounds interesting !<\/p>\n

\"Flatland\"<\/p>\n

The puzzle aspect<\/em><\/strong>\nThe game looks like a puzzle game, but it wasn\u2019t supposed to be one. Actually, there are only two puzzles in the game\u2026 The mirror one wasn\u2019t even planned, it came to me when I was developing the scene. <\/p>\n

The idea is that the character brought the change with him to the minimal world. He doesn\u2019t make the change happen, the change is already there (the red squares, etc.). The character is only the spark that lights things up, he\u2019s not really active in this. That\u2019s why things can feel a little random to people used to puzzle games, This is not a minimalist game is a story before everything. If I had more time, I would have made more dialogs, NPC, choices and alternate storylines.<\/p>\n

\"Player<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

Time is on my side<\/em><\/strong>\nThis is the first time in a Ludum Dare that I didn\u2019t run out of time. I had 7 hours to do the graphics, the music and some polish. It was very comfortable. I\u2019d definetly like to do it again ! But I wonder how much it had to do with the theme\u2026<\/p>\n

Lots of plays<\/em><\/strong>\nThe game is currently featured on Kongregate and Newgrounds. I\u2019m very happy so many people get to play the game !<\/p>\n

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

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thanks for taking the time to read my post-mortem.\nHere\u2019s the link to the game : This is not a minimalist game<\/a>\nI hope you\u2019ll enjoy it \":)\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll make a post in a few days about my favorite games. I\u2019ve rated 60 so far and saw some great entries !<\/p>","time":"May 3rd, 2013 10:38 am","title":"This is not a minimalist game \u2013 Postmortem","title_was_empty":false}