The Post - Mortem for....

Ah yes, Ludum Dare: The Game, for LD43 and thus far my best game jam entry to date!

But nonetheless, I might as well dissect and see what went right, what went wrong.

WHAT WENT WRONG

The Planning Phase... did not exist

There was no planning AT ALL prior to the start of LD43. This was partially due to me being lazy and mainly due to be wanting to just YOLO it.

However, there turned out to be one major drawback.

By effectively not even looking at the possible themes, I had no idea of what those themes were and therefore, could not hype about them. So by the time it began, well, I wasn't as hyped as I wanted to be.

Better to be sure to plan well next time

The Planning Phase part two... I-just-went-with-it

'I-just-went-with-it' basically just summed it up. When I finally had the idea for Ludum Dare: The Game, I only planned up till the moooost basic of mechanics.

Everything else: real life events, the Tutorial:tm:, the Infobar:tm:, etc... were all slapped on as good ideas as we went.

And although everything came together quite nicely, once you really start digging into the game you will realise it's quite shallow.

And that means a likely and completely re-designed sequel, stay tuned for some random future game jam.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

The art style

I spent a sh-tton of time dithering, and I regret NIL.

Not only was this the first time I had dithered in my life, but I had learn't something, and the result wasn't half bad.

Now it ain't perfect mind you, look closer and its pretty sh-t when compared to more professional pixel art. But it looked slightly better than good-enough and that's what mattered.

Better designed mechanics

Back then, I used to do all the dialog and words and paragraphs and stuff as static pictures. This was horrendous and a very bad idea, since this took forever to edit and make.

This time however, I used strings, and that safely shaved at least 4 hours off the development time.

Enough to add the Infobar:tm: and Tutorial:tm: with still a god load of time to spare.

Sound design

This game featured the second song I have composed, digitally, in my life. It was waaaaay better than the first.

In fact, every single blip and boop in the entire game was made by me, no third party, no outside help. And this was great. Not only did I get comfortable with the sound-makey-makey-software that I was using, but the entire game had a consistent, 'retro-ey' like sound.

Unfortunately for those playing on Mac or Linux you might not be able to hear this as Wine does something that removes all the sound. Very very unfortunate, and idk how to export to ether.

:/

THE FINAL WORD

I had greaaat fun during this LD, I exceeded expectations and limits, and I learn't a lot during the process.

I hope everyone else has a good time during the Game Jam as well, may it be a challenging one, a relaxing one, or a fun one. And good luck, smooth sailing.

ONE FINAL AD FROM THE DEVELOPER

Have fun: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/ludum-dare-the-game#/comment-283054