This time I had little time to make a game so I decided to go for the jam. I used open game art since coordinating with a team would have taken more time.

When the jam started I asked myself:”What do I want to do?” I love making artsy games during jams, developing a fun arcade game was another good choice, but lately I’ve been playing great games like “Towerfall”, “Nidhogg” or “Samurai Gunn” and I wanted to create something I would play with my friends. I tried to do something similar during last jam but it was too ambitious and the multiplayer wasn’t really that fun.

I mixed capture the flag and super mario to make “Doors and Secrets”, I think that even if it’s a fast prototype it can be pretty fun when played with a friend. Without further delay … let’s start with what went right and what went wrong.

What went right:

-Camera: It may need some tweaks for specific situations but it’s great I decided to spend some time working on it instead of using a fixed one.

-Open Game Art: I love making games as part of a team, sadly I always have to work online because I can’t find local devs. Writing emails and explaining what I want takes a lot of time, even with modern technology; as I had little time I used open game art and music from newgrounds, that went pretty good.

-Polished: There may be some bugs, but it’s pretty solid and I spent a good amount of time polishing some little details, they might not seem that important but the game wouldn’t be the same without them.

What went wrong:

-Level Design: I designed the levels in almost no time, it’s a hard process of trial and error that I couldn’t afford. I know that one classic Ludum Dare advice is not to depend on level design, but I wanted to make this type of game so I knew where I was getting in from the beginning.

-Testing: I tested the game to find bugs but it would have been incredibly helpful to have more people around me for the last hours to tweak the gameplay in order to make the game more fun.

-Time and energy: Some personal stuff took a lot of time and energy. I submitted 3 hours early because, even if I could use the time left to re-design the levels, I couldn’t go on and I was starving. I ordered a lot of chinese food, ate it, fell asleep immediately and woke up 10 hours later.

After this “adventure” I think I’ll make an artsy game for my next Jam. You can try “Doors & Secrets” here, grab a friend and have fun!

Tags: postmortem