This was my first entry, and boy was it a crazy experience. Next time I will definitely create something simpler, and alot less focued on the nice shaders. I did a timelapse for some time, but then I just debunked it because I wasn’t getting much done during “streaming hours.” I have come to learn alot about game design in general, but more importantly what and what not to do during crunch time. Time for analysis!!

The Game Itself:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/50008295/WebPlayer.html

The game itself is pretty basic, a 2d platformer where you maneuver a guy through a set of rooms. Not original in the slightest, but I wasted enough time on crazy ideas. Performance wise it ate up alot of draw calls (I had no time for serious optimization) and the WebPlayer seems a little shaky because of it. I think the graphics are nice and fit quite well. Not really a whole lot of fun, besides walking around you try to push some crates around to solve some sort of puzzle. As for theme, I actually tried to cook up something good. The lighting, sounds, and layout were all part of some creepy-alone atmosphere. Of course, it is a 48 hour game experiment and I couldn’t put as much time as I wanted into it.

The Problems (many)

-Why is my game so damn short?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     This was simply due to not enough time. The level was made on the spot in Sauerbraten, ( an FPS game). I had to play it safe because I didn’t know, for example, how far the player could jump while creating it within the FPS game. I couldn’t keep exporting, so the level design, in an attempt to be puzzlish, is just downright annoying and sloppy.-

Why are my walls all Glitchy?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            -Although I came up with a good solution for collisions, I blame it all on sauerbraten. Each material represented a different surface type, and missing a surface in sauerbraten meant glitchy walls. It’s hard to explain, really. The controller is fairly decent, it uses realistic physics and the controls are tight, while mantaining a pseudo-realism feel. But alas, poor level design just ruins it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 -

Um……Y u give us no controls?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Well, I wanted you to feel like you were really alone, with no guidance to help you. Apparently, most people can’t even get past the first room! (why don’t you go challenge yourself now?  )                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 laglaglaglag                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              poor optimization, sorry guys.

What I learned:

DO NOT RELY ON CLEVER LEVEL DESIGN  :  Your level will get nowhere and it will be extremely short much like mine. I cannot stress this enough, I didn’t believe it at first. Also, don’t rely on 3rd party games to do your dirty work.

BE ORIGINAL/SILLY/WEIRD. DONT TAKE YOUR GAME SERIOUS:  Why do I say this? in an attempt to make a serious (hears laughing) story based platformer, I ended up with a barely playable graphics prototype. I would much rather tenderize chicken upside down while tenderizing my shoelace than 30 seconds of pointless rooms.

X FACTOR:  My game lacked this as well. What will make your game stand out? is it original? Clearly, this is what makes the 48 hour game fun to play with the limited time.

GRAPHICS? DEPENDS WHAT YOUR GOING FOR  :  Everyone likes nice graphics, just remember, they eat up alot of time.

——Conclusion——

I really enjoyed the Ludum dare, although I was quite stressed at times. I really need to make my game more user friendly. Even more importantly, next time I will take my time and simplify everything.  I will just get the basis of my entire game as simple as possible, and If I have time, then I’ll add cool features.

TehWut out!

This entry was posted on Monday, December 19th, 2011 at 1:02 pm and is filed under LD #22. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.