{"author_link":"\/users\/antaresvaldemar","author_name":"AntaresValdemar","author_uid":"antaresvaldemar","comments":[],"epoch":1493237358,"event":"LD38","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":28631,"likes":2,"metadata":{"p_key":"91652","p_author":"AntaresValdemar","p_authorkey":"1015091","p_urlkey":"304570","p_title":"KeyPuppers Development Recap","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD38","p_time":"1493237358","p_likes":"2","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1015091","us_name":"AntaresValdemar","us_username":"antaresvaldemar","event_start":"1492732800","event_key":"69","event_name":"LD 38"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD38","removed_author":false},"_superparent":9405,"_trust":5,"author":15091,"body":"![keypuppers_recap_header.png](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28aa.png)\n\nAs soon as the theme was announced I grabbed a pen and notepad and started mapping out ideas. \n\nI decided the keyboard world idea was the most original and also simple enough to create in the available time, so I slept on the idea and began fleshing it out the next morning.\n\n![devnotes_2and3.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28af.jpg)\n\nSome mechanics evolved or were cut but the idea remained mostly intact. I decided to focus purely on programming the core mechanics to being with, so by the middle of day 2 I had a playable prototype but the characters were still grey capsules. I spent the second half of day 2 designing, modelling and animating the game's characters and objects.\n\n![keypupper_concept_sheet_small.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28a5.jpg)\n\n![pupper_modelling.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28ab.jpg)\n\n![iceblock_modelling.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28ad.jpg)\n\nI made myself a to-do list for day 3, prioritising the elements that were most lacking.\n\n![devnotes_4.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28a9.jpg)\n\nWhen I woke up on the morning of day 3 my game still had no sound whatsoever, so I set about creating sound effects using household objects (and recording puppy barking noises with my own voice...), once the sound effects were in place I grabbed my acoustic guitar and recorded an arrangement of the theme tune, which I had hummed into my phone the night before.\n\n![themetune_recording.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28ae.jpg)\n\nI was able to get through most of my to-do list but as the deadline was approaching I decided to abandon the ideas of difficulty settings or multiple levels, and just make sure what I had was as polished and balanced as possible.\n\nI was anxious about not having the tutorial done so I got that made probably earlier than I should have. I found myself remaking the tutorial pages as I updated the game's mechanics and controls, which in hindsight was wasted time. Once I realised how long the tutorial was I added in the page numbers, just so a player wouldn't be put off by clicking through seemingly endless pages.\n\n![tutorial_making.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28be.jpg)\n\nI uploaded my game a few hours before the deadline. After playtesting it in my browser I realised I'd made a huge error by choosing the Alt key as one of the controls (it kept bringing up a menu in the browser and shifting the whole game on the screen, distracting to say the least).\nSo I hurriedly reprogrammed the controls, updated the key sprite and reuploaded. \n\nWith a couple of hours to spare I was totally burnt out but satisfied with what I had created. \n\nI think a deciding factor in how things played out was my choice of a relatively simple idea. I think it has the potential for added features and greater variety, but I was able to execute on the core idea due to its simplicity. \n\nA couple of things I think I could have done better: \n\nFirstly, brushing up on my knowledge of the softwares I was using before the event started. I wasted quite a bit of time looking up how to do things that I knew before but had simply forgotten. I should have anticipated what type of methods I was going to use and practiced ahead of time.\n\nSecondly, I started with great planning and work rate but as the event progressed my focus started to drift. There were times when I sat there spacing out, weighing up in my head what to do next and wasting valuable time. Burnout was partly to blame for sure, but I could have done a better job of small-scale time management.\n\nOverall, it was a great experience. Honestly I never would have thought it possible to create something like this on my own in such a short time frame.\n\nSo thanks Ludum Dare for the inspiration to push myself to the limits and find out what I was capable of!\n\nHere is a full timelapse of my LD38:\n\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IVGMHO0HJ4A\n\nPlay the final product here! \n\nhttps:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/$15179\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","comments":0,"created":"2017-04-26T19:00:04Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":28631,"love":2,"love-timestamp":"2017-05-02T19:30:05Z","meta":[],"modified":"2017-05-02T19:30:05Z","name":"KeyPuppers Development Recap","node-timestamp":"2017-04-26T20:19:41Z","parent":15179,"parents":[1,5,9,9405,15179],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/keypuppers\/keypuppers-development-recap","published":"2017-04-26T20:09:18Z","scope":"public","slug":"keypuppers-development-recap","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":68620},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"28631","n_urlkey":"304570","n_parent":"15179","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/keypuppers\/keypuppers-development-recap","n_slug":"keypuppers-development-recap","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"15091","n_created":"1493233204","n_modified":"1493753405","n_version":"68620","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/keypuppers\/keypuppers-development-recap","text":"![keypuppers_recap_header.png](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28aa.png)\n\nAs soon as the theme was announced I grabbed a pen and notepad and started mapping out ideas. \n\nI decided the keyboard world idea was the most original and also simple enough to create in the available time, so I slept on the idea and began fleshing it out the next morning.\n\n![devnotes_2and3.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28af.jpg)\n\nSome mechanics evolved or were cut but the idea remained mostly intact. I decided to focus purely on programming the core mechanics to being with, so by the middle of day 2 I had a playable prototype but the characters were still grey capsules. I spent the second half of day 2 designing, modelling and animating the game's characters and objects.\n\n![keypupper_concept_sheet_small.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28a5.jpg)\n\n![pupper_modelling.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28ab.jpg)\n\n![iceblock_modelling.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28ad.jpg)\n\nI made myself a to-do list for day 3, prioritising the elements that were most lacking.\n\n![devnotes_4.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28a9.jpg)\n\nWhen I woke up on the morning of day 3 my game still had no sound whatsoever, so I set about creating sound effects using household objects (and recording puppy barking noises with my own voice...), once the sound effects were in place I grabbed my acoustic guitar and recorded an arrangement of the theme tune, which I had hummed into my phone the night before.\n\n![themetune_recording.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28ae.jpg)\n\nI was able to get through most of my to-do list but as the deadline was approaching I decided to abandon the ideas of difficulty settings or multiple levels, and just make sure what I had was as polished and balanced as possible.\n\nI was anxious about not having the tutorial done so I got that made probably earlier than I should have. I found myself remaking the tutorial pages as I updated the game's mechanics and controls, which in hindsight was wasted time. Once I realised how long the tutorial was I added in the page numbers, just so a player wouldn't be put off by clicking through seemingly endless pages.\n\n![tutorial_making.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/3fa\/3\/z\/28be.jpg)\n\nI uploaded my game a few hours before the deadline. After playtesting it in my browser I realised I'd made a huge error by choosing the Alt key as one of the controls (it kept bringing up a menu in the browser and shifting the whole game on the screen, distracting to say the least).\nSo I hurriedly reprogrammed the controls, updated the key sprite and reuploaded. \n\nWith a couple of hours to spare I was totally burnt out but satisfied with what I had created. \n\nI think a deciding factor in how things played out was my choice of a relatively simple idea. I think it has the potential for added features and greater variety, but I was able to execute on the core idea due to its simplicity. \n\nA couple of things I think I could have done better: \n\nFirstly, brushing up on my knowledge of the softwares I was using before the event started. I wasted quite a bit of time looking up how to do things that I knew before but had simply forgotten. I should have anticipated what type of methods I was going to use and practiced ahead of time.\n\nSecondly, I started with great planning and work rate but as the event progressed my focus started to drift. There were times when I sat there spacing out, weighing up in my head what to do next and wasting valuable time. Burnout was partly to blame for sure, but I could have done a better job of small-scale time management.\n\nOverall, it was a great experience. Honestly I never would have thought it possible to create something like this on my own in such a short time frame.\n\nSo thanks Ludum Dare for the inspiration to push myself to the limits and find out what I was capable of!\n\nHere is a full timelapse of my LD38:\n\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IVGMHO0HJ4A\n\nPlay the final product here! \n\nhttps:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/$15179\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","title":"KeyPuppers Development Recap","wayback_source":[]}