{"author_name":"dcRfj15","cat":"LD #34","comments":[],"epoch":1450321320,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"9611","p_author":"dcRfj15","p_authorkey":"49644","p_urlkey":"44831","p_title":"Emergency Cleanup Post-Mortem","p_cat":"LD #34","p_event":"LD34","p_time":"1450321320","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"49644","us_name":"dcRfj15","us_username":"dcrfj15","event_start":"1449792000","event_key":"31","event_name":"LD34"},"text":"

I had a fun time this Jam making my game, Emergency Cleanup<\/em>. It is a game about cleaning up toxic waste from a cave, all the while avoiding laser beams. It uses the “Two Button Controls” theme.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-34\/?action=preview&uid=49644<\/a>
\n What went well<\/strong>:
\n – The core game mechanic<\/strong>: I am very happy about how the main game mechanic turned out. Using the <A> and <D> keys on the keyboard, the player controls an emergency drone which must go into a cave and clean up toxic waste. I think that the drone was pretty fun to control, and that destroying the laser beam receivers with a water gun is pretty fun.
\n – Particles<\/strong>: I really liked the way that the particles added to the game’s atmosphere. I think that they were definitely worth the time that I spent on them.
\n – Graphics<\/strong>: The graphics are nice for the most part. I think that the atmosphere definitely would have benefited from the addition of a more diverse tile set to break up the long stretches of background tiles though.
\n – Sound Effects<\/strong>: I liked the sound effects for the game. There are a few sound effects that could have been nicer, but overall, I think that they enhance the game’s atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Things that could have been better<\/strong>:
\n – Sound Effect Volume<\/strong>: Some of the sounds I made were loud, and were not headphone friendly D: . Next time I need to make sure to make my audio levels are much softer, as to not be too loud.
\n – Level Design<\/strong>: I created a long passage from my game’s spawn to the first obstacle with the intention to have the player practice controlling the drone, however, I didn’t take into account that after a few deaths, spending about 20 seconds getting to the first obstacle is very tedious. Next time I should spend more time thinking about how the level will affect gameplay.
\n – Checkpoints<\/strong>: I made a game that takes about 10 minutes to complete, is hard to beat and has no checkpoints. Therefore, I probably discouraged a lot of people from beating the game because of the lack of checkpoints, combined with the tedious level design to begin with. Next time I will be more attentive to making my game much less tedious.<\/p>\n

What I learned:<\/strong>
\n – I learned that the way I was reading in audio crashes on some Linux versions (I don’t use Linux, so I never would have known). I did some research on StackOverflow, and apparently there is a better way that I should have read in sound files which wouldn’t have crashed on Linux. I am glad that I learned about the issue so that I can avoid it in the future.<\/p>\n

Thank you very much to everyone who played my game and provided helpful feedback and to the Ludum Dare community for being awesome!<\/p>\n \n

Tags: ld #34<\/a><\/p>","time":"December 16th, 2015 10:02 pm","title":"Emergency Cleanup Post-Mortem"}