My background is not video games. Until recently, I didn't really play any video games. So when my friends @zerocomms and @windfall890 called me literal hours before the theme was released, I didn't even know what Ludum Dare was. So naturally I agreed to create the art assets. Here are the lessons I got from working on Nessie Alliance (having no game dev experience whatsoever)!

1) It helps to have a deadline. So knowing time was the most valuable resource, we hacked up a concept for a game during a 60 min conference call. We had a limited amount of time and that forced us to keep the end goal in mind and stick to the core of the game.

2) "Good enough" has to be good enough sometimes. As the artist for Nessie Alliance, I decided the best thing to do was to get as many assets as possible to the programmers in the early phases. There were stand-ins for almost every asset by midday Saturday. These assets help the programmers understand the scale and shape of the game, even if they aren't refined.

3) Pixel art is time consuming. I had done a handful of pixel art projects in my life. It wasn't until I had to animate for Nessie Alliance that I understood the time commitment to achieving something that works. There are 4 frame animations that were tough. There were 12 frame animations that were in another league. Art is hard, but this was a new medium that I'm learning to love.

4) Your team matters. The three of us worked really well together. We all have some hefty obligations when away from our workstation, but sitting down to work on the game never felt like a chore. We shared our screens and kept eachother company while we worked some late nights. The team grew because of that. We had a goal to publish on time, and part of my personal drive came from my commitment to support the other two in that goal.

5) Outside support matters. We couldn't have possibly published anything close to our product if not for the support of our families. We lost some sleep and put in some hours, but our families really pulled the slack. Things are returning to normal on my front, but for a few days I felt my family was taking care of me and for that I'm grateful! (I'm sure @zerocomms and @windfall890 feel the same)

BONUS: The Ludum Dare community is awesome! I've been able to get feedback and that's worth a ton. This has been such a great experience partially because of people like you, and I'm itching to get on a longer project! I'm hooked!!

Link to Nessie Alliance: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/nessie-alliance