{"assets":[{"original":"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/pon_FB-550x203.jpg","local":"\/data\/posts\/2013\/08\/b0397f94d16bf30d7b87b338c8f59602.jpg"}],"author_link":"author\/the-jack\/","author_name":"Dark Acre Jack","cat":"LD #27","categories":["LD #27"],"comments":[],"epoch":1377606540,"event":"LD27","likes":6,"metadata":{"p_key":"80153","p_author":"Dark Acre Jack","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"289163","p_title":"10 Seconds Down","p_cat":"LD #27","p_event":"LD27","p_time":"1377606540","p_likes":"6","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":null,"us_name":null,"us_username":null,"event_start":"1377216000","event_key":"18","event_name":"LD27"},"source_url":"2013\/08\/27\/10-seconds-down\/","text":"<p>remote\u2026 remote control.<\/p>\n<p>Well, that\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/dark-acre.com\/ludum-dare\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Jack's LD entries\">9 for 9 in a row<\/a> for LD compos. Happy, exhausted, all the usual emotions plus a handful more. Congrats to all successful entries. The following is reprinted from the <a href=\"http:\/\/dark-acre.com\/ludum-dare\/ld27\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"official dataset\">official project page<\/a>:<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>What Went Right<\/h3>\n<p><strong>1. Continued Apolicy<\/strong><br\/>\nOnce more total radio silence on the theme proved a good strategy. I wonder what would happen if no one voted? But then again I think about that every time there\u2019s any kind of democracy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. New Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"375\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZLu1erXUHOA?feature=oembed\" width=\"500\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The new Dark Acre office in Nanaimo is game development heaven compared to the apartments in the West End of Vancouver. I felt more relaxed, focused, &amp; at ease throughout the compo, despite complications (see 1 below).<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Outside Time<\/strong><br\/>\nWent for walks, something I hadn\u2019t purposely done in previous compos. Also smoked a bit of pipe tobacco, a dirty habit I hadn\u2019t really touched much for the past 5 years. Not advocating, do what you want. Did it help me think clearly? I believe so, health concerns aside.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Riding a Wave of Successful Ludum Dare Compos<\/strong><br\/>\nI\u2019ve done this so many times now it\u2019s become routine. It\u2019s a major advantage but also something of a drawback (see 2 below).<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>What Went Wrong<\/h3>\n<p><strong>1. That Damn Cat<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Pon Pon\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-290861\" height=\"203\" src=\"\/data\/posts\/2013\/08\/b0397f94d16bf30d7b87b338c8f59602.jpg\" width=\"550\"\/><br\/>\nThe Dark Acre cat, Pon Pon, escaped a few days before the compo began. We recovered her with a dislocated jaw and chip in her spine. This was stressful in itself, but we were glad to get her back in relative safety. <\/p>\n<p>Then on the Saturday of the compo I was carrying her to the vet for a progress check up &amp; she broke out of the carrier. She holed up in an inaccessible crawlspace under our apartment for 10 hours, causing stress &amp; distraction. We once again recovered her, &amp; were forced to re-schedule the check up for the Sunday of the compo. More lost time.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m never one to make excuses, but accidents <i>do<\/i> happen. Due to the lost production time I was unable to process audio &amp; expand the level design. This was the first time 9 compos that such a thing happened, so I count myself lucky in that regard.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Familiarity Breeds Contempt<\/strong><br\/>\nI love the compo. It\u2019s the closest I\u2019ve come to feeling like there\u2019s actual value in hardcore production. The sweat, the tears, the neglected health &amp; family members. But in the last year it\u2019s come with ever-diminishing returns on educational value, &amp; only reinforced my belief that long-term projects are where it\u2019s at.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Overall Lack of Practice\/New Tools<\/strong><br\/>\nI think I executed well, given the circumstances, but it could have been better not only with the full amount of time but with a little more time spent in the new tools. I\u2019d recently upgraded to the \u201914 versions of my Autodesk stuff, 3.6 of Substance Designer, &amp; I hadn\u2019t even opened Unity3D since the last compo. There were a few minor hiccups, like losing all my keysets for Max, or completely forgetting how to assemble a Substance, but overall I was pleased with how the coding went &amp; the discovery of the improvements Unity\u2019s made to its engine.<br\/>\n<hr\/><br\/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-27\/?action=preview&amp;uid=2947\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"10 SECONDS - DARK ACRE JACK\">Play &amp; rate \u201c10 Seconds\u201d<\/a>. Thanks for throwing your eyeballs across these words.<\/p>\n<p>Tags: <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/cat\/\" rel=\"tag\">cat<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/kingindie\/\" rel=\"tag\">KINGINDIE<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/post-mortem\/\" rel=\"tag\">post-mortem<\/a><\/p>","time":"August 27th, 2013 12:29 pm","title":"10 Seconds Down","title_was_empty":false}