{"author_name":"Paul Sinnett","cat":"LD #33","comments":[],"epoch":1440542460,"likes":2,"metadata":{"p_key":"13437","p_author":"Paul Sinnett","p_authorkey":"11312","p_urlkey":"48694","p_title":"A troll\u2019s life","p_cat":"LD #33","p_event":"LD33","p_time":"1440542460","p_likes":"2","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"11312","us_name":"Paul Sinnett","us_username":"paulsinnett","event_start":"1440115200","event_key":"29","event_name":"LD33"},"text":"<p>My initial plan for this game was to make an experience for what it would be like to be a &#8220;monster.&#8221; But when I thought about it I realised that what defines a monster is not the creature itself but our reaction to it. That led me in a somewhat relentless and melancholic direction.<\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-33\/?action=preview&amp;uid=11312\">A troll&#8217;s life<\/a><\/p>\n <p>My inspiration for the style of this game was the early home computer games of the 80s like <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Frak!\">Frak<\/a>. <\/p>\n <p>I painted the sprites in the Gimp directly onto the canvas. This was somewhat laborious. I&#8217;ll look for a better pixel editor if I decide to create any pixel animations in the future.<\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/troll-sheet.png\"><img src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/troll-sheet-300x100.png\" alt=\"troll-sheet\" width=\"300\" height=\"100\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-494785\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/troll-sheet-300x100.png 300w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/troll-sheet.png 384w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n <p>The only useful feature of the Gimp I used was in producing the flash effect for the lumberjack selfie. <\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/human-flash-large.png\"><img src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/human-flash-large.png\" alt=\"human-flash-large\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-494802\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n <p>Other than that it was all pixel by pixel painting. I&#8217;d like to have got a few more frames into the troll walk cycle to give the animations a little more bounce, but I started late and was already running short of time.<\/p>\n <p>I think in depicting the troll&#8217;s death I was unconsciously influenced by the pictures of the death of Cecil the lion. I think that helped to capture the mood I was going for:<\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/troll-dead-large.png\"><img src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/troll-dead-large.png\" alt=\"troll-dead-large\" width=\"128\" height=\"128\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-494817\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n <p>With the music I lucked out. I tried several of the tools in an attempt to create a sombre backing track. On my very first try with Otomata, as I was testing the ability to capture a wav, I got exactly the feeling I was after by pure chance. (I was unable to recreate it over several subsequent attempts.) So I edited the capture I had into a loop and went with that.<\/p>","time":"August 25th, 2015 5:41 pm","title":"A troll\u2019s life"}