First off, thank you so much for all the kind words about the game, I’m really happy that so many people seem to like it.

Second, since so many people seem to like it, I’ve given the game a much needed update based on the comments I received. Biggest change in the new version (1.1) is time trials. Once you get a three star ranking on a level you can also strive for the best time. Other changes include updated ui, difficulty tweaks, tighter controls, lots of tweaking, and bug fixes. Oh and there’s replays too, so you can show your friends your awesome time attacks.

The compo page for both the old and the new version is available here: A Super Mario Summary. I hope you enjoy the new features!

Almost a week has passed since LD23 started and I think it is time to look back at what actually happened. I didn’t really have a favorite among the themes, so when Tiny World popped up I had nothing prepared. I got a few ideas while having breakfast, but nothing that I thought was interesting enough. Tiny World to me is about relative sizes, but all I came up with was not relative to anything else in the game. So I took a shower and not only did I get clean, but the idea of summarizing another game into tiny bits was born. I went with Super Mario Brothers pretty much straight away as it both widely known, but also said WORLD x-y on every other screen.

Can’t be bothered to read the post mortem? Go straight to the game and play/rate it here.

Things that what went right

Engine

I used my own developed engine Pixelizer. Even if I’ve been working a lot on it lately and this would be the first true test. Luckily it stood up to the challenge and allowed me to cram a lot into the game in little time.

Graphics

Straight and simple, but colorful. I obviously had original graphics to start from, but I wanted to put my own touch to it to make the game as a whole a quite different experience from the original. The first thing I did on the project was actually animating the main character as I knew I would be spending a lot of time with him and didn’t want to stare at a purple box. From there I build the rest of the graphics to work with the character.

Scope control

I knew making 32 distinct levels would take it’s time, so I decided to find a way to control the scope in case I ran out of time. The solution I choose was to alternate between making levels from the start and making levels from the back. Ie, first I made world 1, then I made world 8, than world 2, then 7, etc. Should I run out of time, I would at least have the start and the end of the game. Also I didn’t implement anything until it was needed in a level. That way I could focus on the task at hand at all times.

Company

Being part of the LD meet up at Free Lunch Design worked great for me, it was very relaxing which allowed me to focus when needed, and chat with friends at other times. Kept me from burning out which very easily could have happened.

Things that what went less right

Original scope

In retrospect, this was way to big for a single weekend. I churned out levels like a crazy person the last few hours before submission. Even if I had control of the scope, it would have ruined the idea as a whole if I had failed to recreate every level.

Engine

Pixelizer was good to me in many ways, but there are also some glitches in the game which are due to the engine. Needs more work.

No music

The game feels a bit flat without any music. But there was simply no time for this and I am no composer by any means. I decided not to include music as it would probably do more harm than good unless it was really good.

Misjudgung the audience

A lot of the decisions I made for the game design concerned how to make the  game more puzzly and less actionly. I thought I would get away with this, but it caused the game to be somewhat less similar to the original than what players expected. For instance being able to jump over the flag pole or nog being able to stand safely on pipes, made a lot of players frustrated.

The aftermath

I didn’t do much noise about having completed my game. I was tired and went to bed. When I woke up again the game was mentioned on some sites and I thought ‘hey that’s great’ but didn’t think more about it. Later that it started appearing on more sites and suddenly it was featured on Kotaku. From there everything exploded, with the game appearing on everything from destructoid and boingboing to barstoolgames. Tweets kept rolling in with comments and questions, from all over the world. It was an amazing experience to see something that I had created spread like a wildfire. I had never imagined that people would take the game to their hearts the way they did and I feel incredibly humble and fortunate to the whole experience.

Conclusion

Ludum Dare 23 was an amazing experience for me. Not only did I had a great time making the game, seeing the response has been thrilling beyond compare. Browsing the entires I am amazed by the sheer range of awesome game concepts and implementations. The sky is truly the limit for this fantastic event. I am happy and proud to be a part of it and so should you!

If you’re still interested in the actual game after reading this, please play/rate it here.

Big thanks to everybody who showed up to our Ludum Dare gathering at Free Lunch Design. It was great fun to meet you and to see you make and play your games!  Here’s the list of games made during the gathering:

The Island <- – - -> Dude Rescue

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The Story of a World <- – - -> Tiny Wizard

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Head Trauma <- – - -> Astro Break

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Tiny Stomp <- – - -> A Super Mario Summary

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It’s always a joy to participate in LD and I can only hope you enjoy our games as much as we enjoy yours! Trying to play as many games we can at the moment and really enjoying the experience. Congrats to all who submitted!

Didn’t have time to post an announcement yesterday as my internet broke down whilst trying to submit. (The horror!)  But it eventually worked again so without further ado, here is A Super Mario Summary!

The game is a puzzle platformer containing the essence of every level in Super Mario Brothers game, in tiny single screen versions. Try aceing all 36 levels by getting all coins and jumping to the top of the flag pole!

Play, rate, and enjoy right here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=608

One of the main reasons I like to jam solo is the ability to swap between disciplines. If I were to code for 48 hours I would surly burn out pretty quickly but as long as I can swap from coding to pixeling to level designing to making sounds, I can stay on top. Just got tired of coding and decided to make a title screen. What can it be?

I’m making a platformer (as usual) with AS3 (as usual) and finally putting my engine Pixelizer to the test! Working relly well so far.

Woke up early today and decided to redraw yesterday’s graphical efforts. The result is a much more cheerful version of something I am sure you recognize. I’m quite happy with yesterday’s progress. The game is basically done (save a few enemies) so I can spend the entire day on making levels and polishing.

Biggest problem yesterday was eating too late too fast. Oh well.

Here’s my warm up entry Bee’s Knees Bees! Was quite fun to make and is weird to play. Help the bees collect nectar and make honey, watch out for the bear!

Play now: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23-warmup/?uid=608

Good luck and see you next weekend!