Judging has yet to commence but I am writing this with the creation still fresh in mind. I'll start with what I think I did badly and what went wrong.

The Bad:

I had a hard time coming up with ideas. "A Small World" was a very vague theme and most of the entries will likely be a stretch of the theme. I did manage to come up with a few ideas though and continued.

For the sake of finishing a game I had to pick something simple enough for my skills and interesting enough for people to enjoy. I hit a couple hurdles throughout the development and I think 4 hours were spent in total fixing bugs. My endless frustration was with my groundcheck system.

Overall, not a lot went terribly bad.

The Good:

I had a plan written out that was simple. I established what I could do and what I could not. One thing that may seem odd, is that I decided to forsake trying to make my own music / audio. I don't mind trying but it is very time consuming and I don't know the tools or process very well. I'd like to learn at some point but it is not for a 48 hour game jam.

I laid out 5 small quests for my hero to go on. Each level needed some item or another to seek out and obtain. Half way through the compo I wasn't sure if I had time for all five levels but I managed it somehow. Each level introduces some added difficulty or new obstacle. I'm happy with how each level I got better at creating them. I think given more time I could of made it more refined with puzzles, interactables, and better art.

I won't spoil the contents of the end, but I feel it captures the message I meant to deliver and brings the levels together.

The Future:

I enjoy these Ludum Dare compos because it gives purpose to my learning. I don't have any aspirations to be a professional, but I do enjoy the process and the results.

I don't plan to continue this particular game but I do hope to create one to completion at some point.

So, onto judging games later this week and continuing my search for ideas.