Tactical nuclear warfare party minigame

Scorched Earth + Missile Command + War Games + Box2D

[Competition entry]

This is the first time I have entered Ludum Dare competition. The game is a multiplayer missile battle on a small planet.

What went right

• Brainstorming: I took my time to collect inspiration and meditated a bit to refresh my mind before I came up with the idea to mix Scorched Earth with Missile Command and add planetary physics.
• Local LD gathering: I co-organized a LD gathering at my faculty. Having people around working towards a similar goal helped me a lot to keep focused on the task.
• Karimba sound effects and music: Among other stuff I could possibly use at the gathering, I brought a karimba. Marek Lisý (big thanks!) brought a microphone I used to record a short melody and sounds for the game. I think the combination of the sounds with the visuals and the theme is fresh and the sounds reduce the gloominess of the whole game.
• Art style: The movie War Games’ iconic symbolic depiction of global nuclear conflict matches my game’s setting, my personal taste and the constraints of LD compo. The short film Cannon Fodder from the collection Memories helped me decide the looks of the war instruments.
• Using the GameMaker tool: I had some prior experience with the tool. I was able to produce a prototype with the basic gameplay and visuals in about five hours, using especially the integrated physics engine (Box2D).
• Project management: Most of the time I managed to focus on features that were lacking the most. I think I managed to keep the game simple (perhaps too simple in the end) and to prepare a quite consistent version for the competition deadline.

What went wrong

• Insufficient playtesting: Working solo on a game in which tight interaction between several player controlled machines is crucial is lacking. I was able to improve the gameplay a lot after the competition in a couple of sessions with a friend.
• Game name: The projectiles in the game aren’t self-propelled but I decided to stick with the placeholder name “missls”. If I continue expanding the game (which I’d love to), I’ll try to change the name.

Tags: postmortem