Neural
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Hey everyone!
After 3 days of work I finally got it finished, my second Ludum Dare game! :D
Neural is my first puzzle game.
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Controls, important!!!
Click on the box with the triangle to launch the simulation into action.
Click and drag on dots to create connections between them.
_Right-click_ to remove connections
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*Development process*
*Day 1:*
The first idea I had was to make a game in which you had to organize a power grid connecting power nodes to keep a city "alive". After coding up nodes and connections I stopped and thought about the idea for a second and came to the conclusion that it was too big to create in 3 days without burning myself out completely.
*Day 2:*
I came up with a second idea and it was to create some sort of neural connection between 2 points and have some sort of logic gates to complicate that. I continued work and liked the idea of the game being inside someone's brain. At the end of the second day I didn't like the gameplay that much so I scrapped that idea too.
*Day 3:*
Final day, no real gameplay, what am I going to do? I was thinking some sort of physics game, because I had an entire engine worth of physics at my disposal. I came up with this. I scrapped a lot of code, created some gameplay and levels, stitched an intro and an outro to it and I kind of rushed the project in the end. That's why there are only a few levels :( I'm happy with the end result though!
The theme is incorporated in two ways
Story-wise: The player is hooked up to this machine that gives control to one's neurons. If they cannot create connections, they will experience 'minor side effects'.
Gameplay-wise: I didn't have time to create a destruction effect to the triangle :D but the point was to destroy it if it didn't reach the goal node.
-----------------------------------------------------
*What did I learn?*
Good gameplay is extremely important. Before starting development, think about your gameplay thoroughly and whether it is entertaining. This time I struggled with creating good gameplay. Puzzle-games take quite a bit of time to create, especially good ones.
After 3 days of work I finally got it finished, my second Ludum Dare game! :D
Neural is my first puzzle game.
---------------------------------------------------
Controls, important!!!
Click on the box with the triangle to launch the simulation into action.
Click and drag on dots to create connections between them.
_Right-click_ to remove connections
-----------------------------------------------------
*Development process*
*Day 1:*
The first idea I had was to make a game in which you had to organize a power grid connecting power nodes to keep a city "alive". After coding up nodes and connections I stopped and thought about the idea for a second and came to the conclusion that it was too big to create in 3 days without burning myself out completely.
*Day 2:*
I came up with a second idea and it was to create some sort of neural connection between 2 points and have some sort of logic gates to complicate that. I continued work and liked the idea of the game being inside someone's brain. At the end of the second day I didn't like the gameplay that much so I scrapped that idea too.
*Day 3:*
Final day, no real gameplay, what am I going to do? I was thinking some sort of physics game, because I had an entire engine worth of physics at my disposal. I came up with this. I scrapped a lot of code, created some gameplay and levels, stitched an intro and an outro to it and I kind of rushed the project in the end. That's why there are only a few levels :( I'm happy with the end result though!
The theme is incorporated in two ways
Story-wise: The player is hooked up to this machine that gives control to one's neurons. If they cannot create connections, they will experience 'minor side effects'.
Gameplay-wise: I didn't have time to create a destruction effect to the triangle :D but the point was to destroy it if it didn't reach the goal node.
-----------------------------------------------------
*What did I learn?*
Good gameplay is extremely important. Before starting development, think about your gameplay thoroughly and whether it is entertaining. This time I struggled with creating good gameplay. Puzzle-games take quite a bit of time to create, especially good ones.