Panzerantix Post-Mortem and Continuation

I consider this Ludum Dare a success even before seeing my ratings, as I finally managed to create a reasonably finished little game, without great difficulty. Plus I had fun! All whilst sick.

Interestingly, this is the first LD I’ve done that has decent gameplay, yet it was actually a theme I voted no to and which I didn’t have any ideas for. When the theme was announced, I quickly brainstormed ideas, picked one and that was that. All within 5 minutes. It turned out a lot better than games where I’d previously had an idea of what I wanted to make. I suspect that my perfectionism can get in the way when I have more time to focus, especially since I don’t usually focus enough on gameplay.

Lessons Learnt:

If possible, having someone to playtest your game can be very useful. The majority of constructive feedback I got was exactly the same from everyone (the speed), and that was also something that’s relatively easy to change – so some player feedback could have greatly improved my ratings. As the “Let’s Play” videos remind me – watching someone play your game can be extremely cringeworthy and embarrassing for the developer but is necessary to find out how people play the game and the problems they have.

On a similar note, be aware of things that players could find annoying, as little things can sometimes have a big impact on what was otherwise an enjoyable game (e.g. don’t force them to redo the tutorial).

Continuation:

I would love to continue working on this. I kind of have a track record for saying that and never doing anything, but I feel like this game has more of a chance than my other ones because it has more direction.

A huge number of relevant gameplay mechanics can be imagined in just a few minutes, such as:
– Different game modes (they pick the turns, or alter the map, or a combination)
– Different weapons and enemies (e.g. Weapon that takes two turns to reload)
– Different levels – moving platforms vertically and horizontally, rotating, etc.
– Portals (oooh)
– and so on

And obviously better level design – I was running out of time and energy so the levels weren’t that great.

If I do continue it, I do want it to still have personality though. Sometimes games can be great and fun but they lack the “character” and stuff that I feel makes it more memorable.

So, yeah. I just need to actually do it, when I can. That’s more the difficult part for me, but I guess if it’s truly something I want then I’ll make it a priority.

You can try Panzerantix here!