Here is a Post Mortem of my game Castle Uno, a mini platform adventure in a dream-like castle. The idea is that each room contains a gadget or item that will make the room unique. I sort-of succeeded in this, so read on for more details, or play it HERE

What Went Right

Controls
Despite some issues with the physics, I was happy with the controls overall, especially with the 360 controller. The jumping was variable and responsive once you got used to it, and the wall climbing made me feel like a platforming ninja. I added a few signs in the game, challenging players to make it to some high places; this happened because I accidentally made scenery that you could climb on, and when I realised I wasted an hour of development time trying to see if I could get up there.

Graphics
Well I certainly didn’t expect to be writing this here, when the other members of the team can’t take part, the art is the bit I dread. I always start thinking “I can’t do art”.  So I went back to using Excel and making graphics with shapes, and it ended up working really well. I’ve had quite a few positive comments on the graphics, and I think that is the main thing I can take away from this LD; it’s a real confidence boost.

Mood & Music
I always enjoy writing music, and I was pleased with the simple melody I came up with for this game. It created the sort of dream-like atmosphere that I like. It made me go back and change the colour palette of the game slightly to fit the overall mood

What Went Wrong

Time & Biology
The game was definitely meant to be a compo entry, my team was busy so I did it all on my own, all the gameplay, art and music was done over the weekend. But unfortunately things didn’t go quite so well; I had a cold and a damaged muscle in my arm, so I felt horrible most of the weekend and that meant I was way behind by Sunday night. But instead of giving up, I pressed on into the Jam, and overall I’m glad I made that decision, as I ended up with a finished game.

Gadgets & Level Design
The idea was that each room would have 1 special item, as in “you only get one… something”. In reality this was a bit over-ambitious, and although I finished a few I’m that I’m happy with, this link to the theme got more and more tenuous as the levels went on. I had the same problem with the level design, as it was closely linked with the special gadget or item. I think I managed to make the game coherent, but it’s nowhere near my initial design.

Boxes & Physics
The physics of the game – running, jumping, climbing and pushing etc – were OK I think, fairly robust, but far from perfect. The boxes especially have caused a few people problems and it was possible to get stuck inside one. It is difficult to feel like a hero when you can’t outwit a box, so sorry about that! The wall jumping and sliding wasn’t perfect either, if I did it again I would use a gravity change for the wall slides, instead of creating and destroying invisible platforms

Conclusion
Overall I’m really happy with the game and the responses, and it has taught me some lessons for sure. It has taught me that I shouldn’t start a project assuming that I’m terrible at art, that maybe I can do it. The other things I’ve learned are about pushing boxes and climbing walls, and should help me do better next time. It was tough to get the game finished this time, but I already want to do it again

Castle Uno Submission Page

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 22nd, 2013 at 1:33 pm and is filed under LD #28. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.