Hey all,

Thanks everyone for the feedback thus far on my entry, most notably Daniel X. Moore’s comment about not being able to run Unity on Linux. I’ve put together the above walkthrough of the game from start to finish.

So, for anyone having issues running it or beating it, you’ll get the whole experience here and hopefully still be able to contribute a rating!

I’ve also prepared a version of the video without commentary. Thanks again for checking out my stuff, I’ve had a blast playing through everyone else’s!

For people who like this kind of thing, I tried to keep it light-hearted.  It’s got a stellar cast, a decent script, and a happy ending.

Enjoy!

Also, check out the Post-Compo review of PRIOR to see where the game has gone since LD19 <3

PRIOR
You know nothing

GAME LINK

This was my first Ludum Dare, and to be honest, it really kicked my ass. I’ve done a 48-hour game challenge before but not solo and nothing on the scale that I worked towards in LD 19. That being said, it was an awesome experience and I am truly proud of the product that I ended up creating.

PRIOR: Screenshot: Maintainance Room

PRIOR is a 2D platformer built in Adobe Flash, in which you find out the answers to all the questions in your head – who am I, where am I, why am I here, what’s going on – etc. Throughout the game you must piece together the history of what happened by reading scraps of paper, and learning from certain events. There are three endings to it, and about 15-30 minutes of gameplay per ending.

Now, on review of PRIOR’s final build and the development thereof…

WHAT WORKED

KNOW YOUR SCOPE. I would like to clarify what I mean by that. Obviously it’s important to keep your project’s scope manageable, but note I did not say “keep a small scope”. I knew that my scope was very large and ambitious, especially for only 48 short hours. However, it was clearly defined, and I had an excellent workflow established early on, which helped me deliver.

KNOW YOUR SKILLS. I am not an artist, by any means. I have a basic understanding of how to create visual assets using Flash, and a ‘very’ basic understanding of Photoshop. Knowing these limitations, I decided on a stylized and abstract visual theme, rather than beautiful and proficient art. I could achieve this. Also, I knew my core skills were in level design and programming, which is what I focused on. Honestly, almost all the art was done after 4:30 PM on the final day.

I could go on about all the little things that helped make this game, but those were easily the two most important things I kept in mind. I didn’t worry about character art or animation – the player is just a little block and animation is limited to his eye and a slight stretching as he falls. I didn’t even really focus on the story – that came out of sheer dumb luck. I had vague ideas of what I wanted the story of this game to be, and from the beginning I knew “The player will know nothing off-hand, and will have to DISCOVER everything that’s going on.” But the story as it is just grew as I developed, and happened to grow into a self-contained, full story that not only spans between several different lives, years, and nations in the game world, but fits together perfectly.

(Yes, there IS a zero-sum, written-out & perfectly explainable story to this game. However, you must figure it out for yourself in-game!)

WHAT NEEDED WORK

KNOW WHAT YOU NEED. I made the mistake of trying to implement features that were both non-mandatory to the game as a whole, but I didn’t even know properly how to program. For example, my game had a CONTINUE option, which let you continue from the last room you were in. It would’ve been very useful, but wasn’t necessary for my project given the time constraint. I nearly went over-time trying to implement that feature, then eventually just removed it. (Really: my last submission was at 5:59.)

PLAN OUT YOUR STYLE/ATMOSPHERE. PRIOR was always supposed to be a creepy, mysterious game, and it is. However, if I had planned out what exactly I wanted to ultimately deliver, I wouldn’t have lost 45 precious minutes trying to find and implement sound effects. And it could’ve been much worse – I have a pretty big sound library available, and finding the sounds was no problem. I could’ve lost upwards of 2 hours if I had to search for those sounds online. In the end I decided to have just music, and the game seems much better for it. I wish I’d realized that sooner!

In the end, most of this seems like it could’ve been avoided with more planning, and pre-production time is not very abundant in a Ludum Dare. That said, I’ll keep these things in mind on my next project, and maybe you will too

Check out PRIOR’s Ludum Dare game page

-Nick Yonge

I went full retro this time, I love that style of gfx.

4 different ambient “songs” made with renoise to set the mood.

An end with a twist, which I hope will make ppl remember it.

Should take about 5-15 minutes to finish.

Play it @ http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-19/?action=preview&uid=1087

Made with Ruby & http://ippa.se/chingu

I’m pretty excited about the compo. I’ll definitely be entering, and using my regular tools: Slick, LWJGL or possibly Java2D. I’ll also be using my SlickTemplate again.

Greetings Ludum Dare Community my name is Ariel Yust.

I’v been in a 48hour compo long time ago and couldn’t stay and compet because I was in the army and had no time…

Mow! I have finally free from that prison which calls the army! I no longer a soldier and I have finished myservice therefor I have the time to join and enter this LD12 compo

My Tools… 

I’ll be using Fenix with Bennu as a compiler because I’m on vista >_< and writing all with Context, GraphicsGale and Photoshop as for the graphics of course. I’ll be using SFXR\Ejay\VoiceChanger for sounds and music

I Hope I’ll manage to finish this one hhh I wish everyone good luck! may the crazies mofo wins!

I think I shall try my hand at this LD48. I remember back to when it all started but unfortunately free time and inspiration have never seemed to coincide – until now. Convalescence after a bad road accident has it’s own reward

I will be using the free Flex 3 SDK developing for the Flash 10 player. All other libraries for the game will be written by me during the 48 hours.