Post Mortem and LD thoughts
Thoughts on LD
The first thing I would like to say is: Play some games. Oh man, there are some really cool entries this time around. There are so many games that I've played so far where I've said "I wish this was a beta for a full release." If you aren't playing a ton of games, you really should be.
The second thing I'd like to throw in - it'd be nice if maybe there was a secondary theme. I think the 'tiny game' variant (last time it was one room) is likely to win because the safe choice is likely to get a lot of votes, and if you only have 72 hours, nothing is safer than a small game. You could use both themes, or neither, or one or the other. Just a thought.
Post Mortem
First of all, if you haven't played my game I'd like invite you to do so: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/dispyria
I came into this LD with a vague idea that could have been worked into multiple themes. The one that ended up getting chosen didn't really worry me, as I figured the game would be pretty short anyway, and honestly I was really hoping something else would win. The blood drops and pots found in the chests replenishing not just your life but your attack as well was something I had planned for 'Everything has a cost'. The ZX Spectrum style colors were also the idea for two colors (each 8x8 tile should only be black or a color, but I might have broke that rule with the trees, oh well).
Speaking of the colors, they were indeed inspired by the ZX Spectrum. I'm an American, so I missed out, but some videos by some British youtubers turned me on to the system and soon I downloaded some freeware releases and gave it a shot. I was in love with the short, punchy, colorful games. I decided I wanted to try something in that style.
As far as gameplay, I love classic platformers and have always wanted to make one. I'd never done one by myself, so I thought LD would be the perfect challenge!
What went right?
- I really like the color palette
- I'm especially proud of that idle animation.
- The rainbow explosions ended up looking better than I'd ever hoped.
- The keys/doors ended up being pretty cool looking
- I really like the music
- game play in general is pretty much what I'd envisioned
What went wrong?/room for improvement
- The walk animation is pretty rough and needs work when I continue with this project.
- Some of the SFX can be a little grating.
- The Statue at the end was intended to have an attack that ended up cut due to time. I should have made time.
- Should have had slightly more area to cover and at least one more monster type
- As some have pointed out, the controls aren't tight
Conclusion
I'm super proud of what I've accomplished on this LD, and even more blown away by the sheer quantity and quality of this Ludum Dare! I also love this concept so much that I'm going to run a kickstarter in the attempt to scrape some money together to get my idea to a full release! Ludum Dare Friggin' rules!