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After getting some well-deserved sleep, I settled my thoughts and want to share them =)
It was my first LD, and a really fun one too! The theme felt pretty complex at first, but luckily it didn’t take long to get an idea that was doable in 48h.

The good parts:

• Although it’s always tempting to try new tools for a new project, I followed the advice to get into an environment I’m comfortable with. That probably saved me a lot of time and stress. Nice!

• The ideas came pretty naturally as I made the game.
• My motivation was at a constant high level, thanks to all the nice people in the chats!
  That ensured a happy mood too. Especially when you’re at the boring part of wrapping things up and upload stuff, and then someone posts an hilariously over-the-top game, that makes you laugh so hard you wake up the neighbors!

• I’m overall pretty happy with the outcome.

The bad parts:

• I wish I had more time to add some more levels and mechanics, but you can do just so much in 2 days. Post compo version? Maybe.

• I wish there was sound. I just can’t do it. No chance. Uh-uh.

So thanks everyone for the good time – and now back to playing/rating! =)

Hey everyone! It’s time for another Post Mortem.

It’s my second time participating, and I couldn’t be happier that I finished a game again!
I felt a bit more pressure this time, because I really wanted to get something out, and also improve over last time. But I’m very satisfied with the result, and I hope you enjoy it too

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The good parts:

• The theme. Although it came kinda unexpected, it opened a lot of possibilities for both setting and gameplay. So many in fact, that I was really concerned to find something that wasn’t too big in scale. So I did some scribbles on my two best ideas, and then decided. Turned out great!
• The graphics. I felt really inspired and I knew what I was going for: Even though it’s about being evil, I wanted to keep the representation rather cute than dark and sinister. And I had a lot of fun creating it too!
• The people. Once again it was such a blast to hang out on irc, discuss game mechanics, playing prototypes, helping people out, watching streams – just having fun. Motivation++

The bad parts:

• I had a lot more in mind for the gameplay, but time was working against me. Damn you, time!
  But on the other hand, I wanted to make the things I’ve got a solid experience, rather than having some features that just don’t feel right.
• No audio. Despite the fact that it’s still a pain to get sound right in HTML5, I’m also very bad at creating it. Like very, VERY bad. Forgive me
• I ran out of M&Ms.

Conclusion:

• It doesn’t matter what you start with, be it gameplay, graphics or whatever, as long as it inspires you and keeps the flow going.
• If you need a break, grab some snacks and hang out in #ludumdare.

So thanks everyone for the great time, I hope you enjoy, and have a nice day!

Tags: html5, postmortem

Hey everyone! Voting is about to end soon and I’m getting excited. So many talented people!

After some time of absence, I’m really glad I could participate again. It was a rather spontaneous decision, and I also stepped out of my comfort zone this time around. But all the more did I learn!

I wasn’t too familiar with tools like Blender or Unity, but I really wanted to make this happen, so I just went for it. And it went surprisingly well! However, within the final hours I ran into problems exporting the game (that’s what you get for using unfamiliar tools, haha), which wasted all the extra time I saved for adding sound effects and actual enemies. But I’m still satisfied with the result, and I hope you’ll enjoy it too

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Starting almost a day late, I suddenly had a fun idea for a game that would fit the theme just right: Playing a giant Kraken in the ocean, destroying passing boats!

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I instantly knew how I wanted it to look, but just like my last entry, it really took me out of my comfort zone – which is risky for such a short amount of time, but also makes it much more interesting for me personally.

The good parts:

• I’ve made some pixel-art before, but never did I create such large sprites. I also wanted to recreate a somewhat Game Boy Advance looking style. In the end, I’m really satisfied with the looks.
• I was already familiar with the tools I used, so development itself was pretty straightforward, without any unexpected technical difficulties.
• I started with the graphics first, so even until the very last hours, I was unsure if I could even get a playable version of this done. I did!

The bad parts:

• I started with the graphics first. While I knew how I wanted the game to look, I only had a vague idea of how it would actually play. Originally, I had some multi-sprite tentacles in mind, that you would fling at the boats with your cursor, but I was really unsure if I could get that implemented within time. Long story short: I couldn’t. With literally 4 hours left before the deadline, I had to get the most basic gameplay in as possible.
• No sound effects.

Conclusion:

When trying multiple new things at the same time, it can be hard to determine how much time each segment will take, and sometimes compromises need to be made. And even if I’m not exactly satisfied with the gameplay, it was still a fun little project that taught me a lot. Also, being part of the community by chatting, or just watching other people developing is always super enjoyable.

So I hope you had a good time, and take a minute to check out my game – And make sure to comment, so I can play your game as well