{"assets":[],"author_link":"author\/onlyslightly\/","author_name":"OnlySlightly","cat":"LD #32","categories":["LD #32"],"comments":[],"epoch":1429979220,"event":"LD32","likes":20,"metadata":{"p_key":"83668","p_author":"OnlySlightly","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"294407","p_title":"Crump Rush Postmortem \u2013 Ludum Dare Lessons","p_cat":"LD #32","p_event":"LD32","p_time":"1429979220","p_likes":"20","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":null,"us_name":null,"us_username":null,"event_start":"1429228800","event_key":"27","event_name":"LD32"},"source_url":"2015\/04\/25\/crump-rush-postmortem-ludum-dare-lessons\/","text":"<p>I made a game about speed running and using your weapon for mobility. You can play it <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-32\/?action=preview&amp;uid=1959\">here!<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"aligncenter\" height=\"139\" src=\"http:\/\/img.itch.io\/aW1hZ2UvMjM5ODMvOTQ5NDYuZ2lm\/250x600\/j1FMHN.gif\" width=\"250\"\/><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not a jam veteran but I have a decent number under my belt and there are a few lessons I\u2019ve learned the hard way.\u00a0These aren\u2019t cold hard facts, just things that have worked for me. \u00a0This is for people trying to make a complete game.\u00a0If you are\u00a0just looking to explore and experiment\u00a0then the list doesn\u2019t necessarily apply.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t save title screens and menus for last:<\/strong>\u00a0 This is probably the least exciting part of your game development process which is\u00a0why it\u2019s so important to get it out of the way.\u00a0It\u2019s the first impression players get of your game.\u00a0If you rush at the\u00a0last minute you\u2019ll be so uninterested that you\u2019ll probably just throw something together. Also menus you can add some extra value to your game.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/levelselect.png\"><img alt=\"levelselect\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-463140 aligncenter\" height=\"187\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/levelselect-300x187.png\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/levelselect-300x187.png 300w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/levelselect-550x343.png 550w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/levelselect.png 804w\" width=\"300\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With Crump Rush I took advantage of menus to display your best time along side my best time for each level. It\u2019s a small detail but it added replayability and gave your score some meaning.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Add polish early:\u00a0<\/strong>A lot of people are going to disagree with me on this one. The common procedure is program your mechanics in with programmer art and then add the polish at the end. There\u2019s a problem with this. A lot of times you\u2019re not really sure how fun a game is until you\u2019ve added those extra touches. Especially the\u00a0visual and audio feedback for the actions you want to encourage or discourage. \u00a0For the people that think the graphics and audio have nothing to do with making a game fun watch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Fy0aCDmgnxg\">this<\/a>. If you want to know more about game feel I highly recommend <a href=\"http:\/\/www.game-feel.com\/\">this book.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-463139\"><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Treat every part of your game like a lesson.\u00a0<\/strong>Make sure that someone can play your game and understand it without reading any instructions on your description page. Always be preparing your player for what\u2019s to come.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" class=\"aligncenter\" height=\"179\" src=\"http:\/\/i.imgur.com\/JdaWZpB.gif?1\" width=\"350\"\/><\/p>\n<p>In Crump Rush I only gave players a portion of the controls and instructions at a time. And I made sure they couldn\u2019t get to the next level until they\u2019ve proven they knew how to use them. After I fed them the controls,\u00a0I gave them a level\u00a0that you could only complete\u00a0after understanding how to transfer your momentum from one sphere to another. I removed obstacles to prevent any distraction. \u00a0Once I knew they understood, I added levels of complexity and danger.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Playtest! <\/strong>This is probably one of the most important things that largely gets ignored during jams. I guarantee that people will play your game not as you expected. Have someone play it and resist the urge to say \u201cNo you\u2019re supposed to\u2026\u201d Also you probably made your game too hard. If you die more than a few times on a level during your own game, players will find it impossible. Every level of my game was tweaked. Blocks moved slightly. Extra safety nets added. Care was put into\u00a0prevent players from getting stuck. Of course it\u2019s a Jam so you can only get so many people to playtest. So I added a catch all. It\u2019s a bit of a cheap trick but it works in a pinch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pressntoskip.png\"><img alt=\"pressntoskip\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-463144 aligncenter\" height=\"201\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pressntoskip-300x201.png\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pressntoskip-300x201.png 300w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pressntoskip-550x368.png 550w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pressntoskip.png 723w\" width=\"300\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If the game detected that you were\u00a0dying too many times it made a level skip option available to you. Nothing ruins the fun of a game more than frustration. Even if your game is about challenge, there are a lot of games to rate. You can\u2019t assume that audiences will put up with frustration to get to the end.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Manage your time:<\/strong>\u00a0This might be obvious but there are a lot of tricks you can do to keep track of whether it\u2019s possible to finish your game on time. Find some task\u00a0management tool like Trello. And break down everything you need to do into as tiny pieces as possible and throw it on a to-do board. Get it down to details like what functions you need to implement, which individual sprites you need to draw, etc,. Now overestimate the time it will take to complete each of those tasks. No matter what you\u2019re going to run into an obstacle you didn\u2019t expect. \u00a0If it\u2019s not possible move on to this next lesson.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t be afraid to cut features:\u00a0<\/strong>You\u2019re probably going to realize that you can\u2019t fit all the features that you wanted. Don\u2019t be disappointed! This is a not a bad thing. When you figure out what you need to cut, you begin to realize what is essential to the essence of your game and what\u2019s just fluff. Sometimes you even end up with a better, more elegant game this way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sleep. <\/strong>Don\u2019t stay up\u00a0all night trying to squeeze every second of time given to you. It\u2019s counter productive. You\u2019re not as smart or creative on no sleep.\u00a0Also don\u2019t go to sleep after you\u2019ve finished a big task. Go to sleep right before you finish something. Wake up excited, knowing exactly what to do.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Get a grasp of scale and what you\u2019re capable of.\u00a0<\/strong>This is one\u00a0of the most common mistakes I see. Some one gets really excited about a really cool idea for a game. And it is a really cool idea. But it isn\u2019t a 48 hour jam idea. It\u2019s easy to be overly ambitious with your concept. You need to get a firm grasp of what you\u2019re capable of in a certain amount of time. Unfortunately this takes a lot of practice to get a feel for.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not claiming to be an expert and these don\u2019t necessarily apply to all games, but I hope you gain at least a tid bit of knowledge from it. And wish you luck for all your future Jams!<\/p>\n<p>Tags: <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/crump-rush\/\" rel=\"tag\">Crump Rush<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/ld-32-ld32\/\" rel=\"tag\">ld 32 #LD32<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/ld32\/\" rel=\"tag\">ld32<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/ludum-dare-32\/\" rel=\"tag\">ludum dare 32<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/post-mortem\/\" rel=\"tag\">post-mortem<\/a><\/p>","time":"April 25th, 2015 4:27 pm","title":"Crump Rush Postmortem \u2013 Ludum Dare Lessons","title_was_empty":false}