{"assets":[{"original":"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/home-550x309.png","local":"\/data\/posts\/2014\/08\/daafd093b207284818dcf63727cf95bc.png"}],"author_link":"author\/jangobrick\/","author_name":"JangoBrick","cat":"LD #30","categories":["LD #30"],"comments":[],"epoch":1408990680,"event":"LD30","likes":5,"metadata":{"p_key":"82593","p_author":"JangoBrick","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"293325","p_title":"LD #30 post mortem: I am dead","p_cat":"LD #30","p_event":"LD30","p_time":"1408990680","p_likes":"5","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":null,"us_name":null,"us_username":null,"event_start":"1408665600","event_key":"24","event_name":"LD30"},"source_url":"2014\/08\/25\/ld-30-post-mortem-i-am-dead\/","text":"
I wanted to devote a few minutes to thinking about the last few days \u2013 the preparation for Ludum Dare, and eventually taking part in it.<\/div>\n
(First of all: the pun in the title is not<\/em> intended! I just noticed it. Fun times!)<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\"This

This is the aftermath of this Ludum Dare \u2013 my desk is full of all kinds of stuff. And it\u2019s already cleaned up a little \u2013 looked even worse before!<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Preparation<\/span><\/h2>\n

I did two things in preparation for this Ludum Dare.\nI improved my game engine a lot<\/em> in the recent days, so that I had something good to work with. That went nicely, I added a whole lot of things that I actually made use of in the compo.\nI also did something I didn\u2019t do for the last Ludum Dare, I thought about the themes a lot. I looked at the 20 \u201cfinalists\u201d, sat back, and wrote one or two sentences about all of them. Well, almost all of them \u2013 I didn\u2019t have any ideas for some\u2026 unfortunately, the winner, \u201cConnected Worlds\u201d, was one of those.\nStill, this was a good exercise; I got to use my fantasy and be creative (which is fun!). Also, it wasn\u2019t too bad that I didn\u2019t write down an idea for Connected Worlds \u2013 a very basic part started to grow soon after the theme was announced.<\/p>\n

The Compo Itself<\/span><\/h2>\n

I will split this into different parts, so that it\u2019s easier to read and also easier to write \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

The theme is announced: getting a fundamental idea<\/span><\/h3>\n

This was a critical part. As I said it earlier, I got the base idea<\/em> pretty fast \u2013 that is, two worlds in a splitscreen window, where you have to do things in both screen parts (worlds) to win the level.\nBut there was a problem arising: I had no plan how to push that further. Well, somehow I got to some jumping things, then I decided to make them slimes, and then they started to move to the right by themselves.\nThere was the game idea: move them in an intelligent way, so that they don\u2019t get stuck. When one goes out-of-screen, the player has lost.\nStill, this was a very slow process. It could have been faster. A LOT faster. You can\u2019t really develop a game when you have no idea what you want to do, can you?<\/p>\n

The first playable build, advancing from there<\/span><\/h3>\n

It took a lot of time until I had something playable. That was mainly caused by the missing ideas, I guess.\nBut after I had that, things were a lot quicker. I added more tiles, made the worlds\u2019 backgrounds, and implemented power-ups (which I removed from the game later on, they were unnecessary).\nAlso, since I was livestreaming the whole thing (will talk about that later), I was able to gather a few useful ideas from my viewers. The most remarkable one is the eponymous rubber band between the slimes. This also added to the \u201cconnection\u201d part of the theme. I am happy this was mentioned!<\/p>\n

Graphics<\/span><\/h3>\n

I absolutely loved<\/em> making the graphics for this game! Especially the lowres ones, for example the slimes. This was also quite a quick process, with a nice outcome.<\/p>\n

Sounds and music (first music I ever made!)<\/span><\/h3>\n

Making the sounds was also relatively simple with the help of Bfxr. The rubber band sound comes from an actual rubber band, though.\nCreating a piece of music was fun! It also was the first time I ever<\/em> made any music in my whole life. Considering that, I think I can be proud of the soundtrack.<\/p>\n

Level design & testing<\/span><\/h3>\n

Level design is a completely<\/em> different topic. That went horrible! I\u2019m never going to make a game similar to this in any game jam \u2013 simply because of this one experience.\nIt really was a pain to do: paint some pixels on the level sheet, start the game, play the level, find out it\u2019s impossible to do, change a few pixels, need 7 tries to get to the specific location, works, screw up on the next part, another 15 tries, make it easier, back to the game, \u2026\nI think you got the point by now. This, by the way, went on for probably more than 6 hours without a break.\nNope<\/strong>, not doing that again. NEVER.<\/p>\n

Eating and sleeping<\/span><\/h3>\n

I slept way too little, nobody can prove me wrong. That resulted in my being completely dead<\/em> when the compo ended. It likely lowered my enthusiasm, too. Although, if I had slept more, then I wouldn\u2019t have made it in time I suppose.\nOpposed to my expectations, I ate and drank enough. Heck, I drank even more than I normally do! But that really was necessary, otherwise I would\u2019ve gotten a bad headache.<\/p>\n

Some thoughts about livestreaming<\/span><\/h3>\n

Livestreaming is a great thing in Ludum Dare, it is both fun for the viewers and support for the streamers. So, it is a win-win thing, isn\u2019t it?\nYes, it is \u2013 for the popular streamers at least. For people like me, who are not<\/em> popular and also maybe new to the overall streaming thing, this doesn\u2019t apply unfortunately. I got 5 viewers at one or two occasions, but that was it. I wish there had been a bit more people coming to the smaller channels as well. I mean, it\u2019s about watching people make games, isn\u2019t it unimportant who the streamer is?<\/p>\n

After submitting<\/span><\/h2>\n

After submitting my game, I still had about three hours left. I used these to watch a few livestreams. The people there have come up with absolutely nice ideas, I have to say! Well, then the compo was over, and the only thing I could think was \u201cSLEEP!\u201d.\nHere I am now, after having slept way longer than I usually do. I am editing my timelapse footage and writing this \u2018post mortem\u2019, which literally feels like after death.\nI am waiting for things to normalize again\u2026 it is a bit of a strange feeling now.\nBut more importantly, the overall experience during the compo, all that excitement and fun (I had a lot of fun! This post is just more focused on stuff I could improve, that\u2019s why it sounds rather negative.) lead to the wish of repeating this.<\/p>\n