2nd Law | A Post-Mortem [Dev Log 0]

"Within the limits of mortal understanding, there are certain immutable laws. Time marches forward, and the world becomes more disordered. This is the second law." _- My Submission Text_

This is my first blog post about my entry to LD49, 2nd Law: a game about unintended consequences. This is my third gam jam (second Ludum Dare), and I learn so much more every time. I haven't really attempted a dev log before, but I think this would be a good exercise to put my lessons into words. And if you like, please follow along!

Reflections

I thought I'd start with the conclusions up front. As always, my ideas were bigger than my limits. As much as game jams are technical challenges, they are also design and planning challenges. What is achievable in the limited time remaining, and what is truly value added? While I'm overall happy with the finished product, and despite some quirks with the main mechanic, I think I hit the high notes of making a "game".

Still, I feel the weakest part in my final result is communicating the objective. As developers, I think we get so familiar with our game by the end of the jam that we underestimate what fresh eyes can intuit or miss. That's something that I'd like to improve upon next time. In the aspect of planning and for me personally, it may be a good idea to spare at least half a day for some amount of focus-testing and improving the "feedback loop".

What's next?

I'm excited to talk about more aspects of my experience. If you'd like, please follow along!
- Brainstorming and Design
- Development
- Music
- Artwork

_- Hawkin _