I once again forgot to write this at the weekend, I've had too much else going on recently. Ah well, better late than never!
Time to dissect my Ludum Dare 58 entry, Carrot Collector, looking at what went well, what didn't, and what I can improve on for next time. Once again, a big thank you to everyone who's rated and reviewed it so far - and if you haven't, there's still time! I'm gonna do my best to get through as many of the games of those who've reviewed it as possible before voting ends.
What Went Well
- As I mentioned in my tech analysis, Carrot Collector is one of my smallest Ludum Dare entries, at barely over 10 KB of code, yet still contains plenty of content (for comparison, Deliver Us From Evil has only three more levels, and not much more variety in terms of gameplay mechanics, yet its codebase is twice as large and it took me a whole extra day). I take this as a sign that I'm getting more skilled and efficient at game development, which is a big part of why I started competing in Ludum Dare in the first place, and is a valuable skill to have in game jams like this.
- I believe I'm getting better at pixel art and animation too: my last two Ludum Dare games have featured non-human protagonists as opposed to the "bean" humans of my previous entries, and have been much less static. Things like the bunny's hopping animations, and the squash-and-stretch motion of the mushrooms when you step on them, are things I wouldn't have thought to implement in past entries, but they make Carrot Collector feel much more alive.
- While Color Critters added textual descriptions of each game mechanic as they were introduced, for Carrot Collector I took a more diegetic approach by introducing each mechanic in a way that forces you to interact with it and figure it out for yourself. This approach appears to have been well-received and is something I should bear in mind for the future.
What Went Badly
- With the possible exception of BreakEven, this is the first Ludum Dare where I completely hit a brick wall and ran out of ideas. I eventually managed to scrape together enough game mechanics for 12 levels, but I'd been aiming for 15 (the same number as Deliver Us From Evil and Color Critters), and I published the game several hours before the deadline because I just had no further ideas or motivation to work on it. Part of me thinks the game's concept is too underdeveloped as a result, and part of me thinks I simply cornered myself into pursuing a game concept that simply can't be developed any further than I managed to.
- My ADHD continues to affect my game dev abilities. The delays caused by my struggles for ideas were compounded by my struggles to focus on the game even when I did have ideas to work on. Again, this sapped my motivation. I'm on a waiting list to have my heart looked at to make sure I can handle ADHD meds, but until then there's not really much I can do about this.
- Just as I was patting myself on the back for releasing a bug-free game, I had it pointed out to me by multiple reviewers that I'd accidentally programmed the final level with a move limit that was too strict, making the game impossible to beat. I'd put down a placeholder value and then was so busy wrapping up development that I forgot to change it to one that was winnable. I may not be able to do much about my ability to focus, but I really should know by now to playtest my games properly to avoid making these sorts of obvious errors, especially after the debacle with Prism Indigo's release.
What Comes Next
I still want to make a post-jam update for Carrot Collector, adding custom animations and fail texts for various fail states, as I've had people assume that some of them are glitches or map mistakes when they're very much intentional. That's as far as I plan to go with it, though.
After that, I'll be back to working on Prism Warriors - it's starting to look like I won't get it finished by the end of the year as I'd hoped, but a 2026 release is very much possible. I have another puzzle game I've been kicking around for years, that I plan to finish off as a cooldown project, and after that I'll be working on a full-size version of Color Critters from LD56. I can definitely use some of what I've learned from developing Carrot Collector to help me with those projects.
As for next Ludum Dare, I'd like to try and make something more story-based again, and preferably not a puzzle game - I don't like doing the same genre over and over as I don't want to pigeonhole myself or get stuck in a rut. Part of the fun of Ludum Dare for me is trying new things and pushing my limits. Hopefully, by next Ludum Dare, I'm in a place where I can do that without burning myself out.
Thank you for reading this far! Good luck to everyone when the scores come out!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/58/shell-hunter
