Color.Lerp()<\/code> between 2 colors defined in the Unity inspector.<\/p>\nI stuck with one very simple colour pallete for almost all of the graphics in the game, and that colour pallete can be seen by simply looking at the gradient in the background of the game! I found 2 colours I really liked that contrasted each-other well, and you can see aspects of these colours in nearly all of the sprites\/textures in the game.<\/p>\n
Gameplay<\/h3>\n
![](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/04XXrnP.jpg\")
\nI\u2019m pleased I got as many masks as I did in. I started out with just the Richard mask, then I would add more when I thought of them during the development of other parts of the game. The Richard mask has no effects on gameplay, it\u2019s just there to be a baseline. The default \u2018playthrough\u2019.<\/p>\n
My main goal for each mask was to provide a slightly altered way of playing, i.e. Graham is more about hit and run attacks due to the high movement speed, Aubrey is for \u2018spraying and praying\u2019 due to the decreased cooldown, and so on. The only exception to this is the Molly mask (named and styled after my cat!) which was designed to be an Easy Mode for the game.<\/p>\n
The score and combo system was an almost last-minute addition, and I\u2019m glad I put it in. It makes the game have a more \u2018arcadey\u2019 feel to it, and in my opinion the funnest part of the game is chaining insane combos between levels. This is pretty much the reason I made the Zack mask.<\/p>\n
Music<\/h3>\n
I really like the genre of music that Hotline Miami (both 1 and 2) used. It\u2019s called \u201cSynthwave\u201d, you should listen to some!<\/p>\n
Anyway, I\u2019m by no means good at making music, so the music in this was created through about 3 hours of smashing keys on a MIDI controller, but I think it came out pretty well. I managed to get 4 songs in there! Each one has a \u2018hug pun\u2019 on an existing Hotline Miami track: \u2018Hug Steppin\u2019 (Horse Steppin)<\/em>, \u2018Hugdrogen\u2019 (Hydrogen)<\/em>, \u2018Deep Hugger\u2019 (Deep Cover)<\/em>, and \u2018Roller Hugster\u2019 (Roller Mobster)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\nThe not-so-good bits<\/h1>\n
![](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/wq4g6Gi.jpg\")
\nBased on all the feedback I\u2019ve received thus far, I\u2019ve compiled a list of things I didn\u2019t do that well. Feast your eyes upon them!<\/p>\n
Slow movement speed<\/h3>\n
The slow player movement speed subtracted from the feel of the game. It made it feel much more slow-paced than it should have been, and I should have increased it.<\/p>\n
Collision issues<\/h3>\n
The heart projectiles are notorious for not going where you want them to go, and this is very prevalent in tight spaces like single tile-wide corridors. I did fix this post compo, it was an issue with the mouse raycast colliding with walls that were between the camera and the floor, but I\u2019m not going to put this version up. I\u2019m a firm believer that when I submit the game I can\u2019t make anymore changes.\nThere was also issues with enemies colliding with one-another. This can be seen in full effect on Chapter 5. I\u2019m gonna say this bug is canon though, because that level was totally a nightclub, and that huge cluster of vibrating enemies was just them having a grand old time.\nPathfinding was also a bit iffy, and you can blame this on me not wanting to spend hours tweaking tiny settings in Unity\u2019s pathfinding system. It can probably be fixed, but not without lots of testing.<\/p>\n
Not very innovative<\/h3>\n
The game is literally Hotline Miami but isometric, slower paced, and with less content. Maybe I should have thrown something new into the mix.<\/p>\n
Not really based on the theme that much<\/h3>\n
Swap out hearts for bullets, you have a conventional weapon!<\/p>\n\n
Stuff I\u2019m totally doing next time<\/h1>\n\n- Livestreaming\n
\n- Livestreaming can be really helpful for getting instant feedback.<\/li>\n
- I can also make a fancy timelapse if I livestream, and everyone knows timelapses are the bomb<\/strong><\/em>, so I\u2019ll definitely livestream next Ludum Dare.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Post an early build somewhere other than just Twitter\n
\n- I don\u2019t have many followers that aren\u2019t robots on Twitter, so maybe it\u2019d be a good idea to actually garner some feedback by making a post on the Ludum Dare website, or the subreddit, or IRC, or something. Instant feedback!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- I would also not use the web player next time due to this whole NPAPI palaver. Hopefully by the next Ludum Dare Unity will have finalized their WebGL builds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
Conclusion<\/h1>\n
To conclude; I think I done did good. Obviously we\u2019ll wait for the judgement period to end before I say anything concrete, but everyone seemed to like it.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m definitely making a post-compo version, though I\u2019ll remove the connection to Hotline Miami by changing the title, and making a completely new visual style, but I\u2019ll stick to the 80s aesthetic. I\u2019ll also expand upon the core gameplay, maybe add RPG elements or something, maybe a story. Experimentation!<\/p>\n
Finally, I\u2019ll livestream my development of an entry for the next Ludum Dare. So then I can subject everyone who tunes in to the shenanigans I will inevitably end up dealing with during it\u2019s development!<\/p>\n\n
Epilogue<\/h1>\n
If anyone can beat my high score then I\u2019ll be very impressed. You\u2019re dealing with a pro here.\n![](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/CYFxsMS.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
Shameless plug<\/h1>\n
Follow me on Twitter or I\u2019ll call the internet police<\/a><\/p>","time":"April 21st, 2015 12:38 pm","title":"Hugline Miami Postmortem","title_was_empty":false}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/yqz2swG.gif\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/kq4QKfW.jpg\")