POST MORTEM:

Well, it's been a while since I last took part in Ludum Dare. I have previously submitted three games to the Compo; Fartboy (LD32 - An Unconventional Weapon), Square Peg Round Hole (LD35 - Shapeshift) & Space Aliens Are Coming! (LD38 - A Small World). Apart from those, I have tried and failed numerous times. I don't know if I'm trying to do too much sometimes, or if I'm just too critical of myself. A couple of those failed attempts were ideas that I really liked at the time, but was unable to finish.

Because of this - being unable to submit a game when I enter Ludum Dare has become a great fear of mine. I was determined to not let that happen this time - but things got hairy indeed! I nearly did give up.

Read my LD45 Post Mortem below!

BEFORE THE COMPO:

After not having programmed much for the past year because of time restrictions I was in need of refreshing my memory of coding. I did this by making a little random game idea generator based off one I found on the internet at Boardgamizer. - I always enjoy me some randomness. This was a fairly simple thing to do, but I also wanted to make it to randomize a few ideas to use for my own personal "Game Jam" scenarios. I also had plans of doing a platformer, because I've never tried that. Never got around to practicing any of that, which was probably the main reason this Ludum Dare almost went down the drain... again.

THE THEME:

I certainly had no complaints. What I did experience, though, when the theme was released was a bit of anxiety! Why? Well, that was my suggestion that won the votes - thank you to all for voting.

It was an interesting experience for many reasons. I've been submitting that theme for many Ludum Dares before. Originally I had an idea that I wanted to make for it, but over time I had come to the conclusion that that idea would never be done in 48hrs. So, really I had no idea at all what to make.

I also found it interesting to read up some on the expected This theme sucks! comments. Some, I could sympathize with, but mostly it just goes to show how differently we all interpret and understand things. In the end - the theme is just there to inspire you to make a game, and for that I feel Start With Nothing was a good one. It doesn't tell you of any game mechanics you need to use. It does not force a specific genre. And, most importantly (to me), it is not specific enough that the majority of games will be too similar to one another.

The other thing that happens when ones own suggestion becomes the theme is pressure. I could not fail this time!

WHAT WENT WELL?

Well... not much.

I mean - I did submit a game. I did get the game to work surprisingly well and found that it was actually quite fun to play.

The other thing I would say went well is that I stuck to it. I had pretty much given up on this Ludum Dare after 20hrs or so of work - but I didn't quit. That was important to me. The last 24+ hours of work I stayed very disciplined and focused and was able to put together a game against all odds (more on that in the What Went To Hell? section below). An idea just popped into my head from out of nowhere when I was about to give up. I have been playing a lot of board games lately, and I thought I could quite quickly put something like that together.

The idea was to make an eco system game. You would start with a completely empty world (Start With Nothing), and have a hand of cards that would represent terrain and animals. Placing these on your grid, while trying to maintain a balanced eco system. There would be carnivores and herbivores and they would all have a natural habitat where they could live. They would need access to water or they would die. I liked it, and I believe I put together something that is rather fun to play and watch unfold.

For a game made in just over 24 hours - I am pleased with what I accomplished.

WHAT WENT TO HELL?

Did I mention above that I had wanted to try make a platformer? That I never got around to practicing doing that, and that I have never ever attempted something like that? Dumbass me still decided to make a platformer for the jam. The idea was that you would start with a character in a totally black space. There would be nothing there and your player character would talk to you - the player. He would tell you that "there is no game here", and then he would sort of suggest ideas to you - through this you would build a level from scratch based on random suggestions from the PC and what you choose to put together from that.

Well, boy did I overscope that idea. First of all, I never even got a player controller that felt smooth. I am definitely looking to make a platformer before the next LD to learn a few things. Second - for the game to be fun I would need a ton of different types of weapons, platforms and NPCs - there was absolutely no way I would finish the game when I barely had anything after 20 hours of work.

That's when I went to bed. Dejected and close to tears, deciding that I would not make a game this Ludum Dare.

WHAT WENT SO-SO?

Well, under the circumstances I pretty much decided to not care about the graphics side of the project. I am a terrible graphics artist and even the most simple of things take me a very long time to make. The game does suffer quite a bit from the very basic art that I put together to make the game. I did hope to make them slightly more pleasing to the eye - but of course time ran out.

I also never got time to do any sounds. I did throw in a randomly generated cgMusic track to keep you company while playing the game at the very last second (I believe I put that in the game with less than 5 minutes to go).

The other thing that could have improved the game was if I had play tested a bit more during creation. One thing that has become apparent from the comments I've received is that the map is too big and you have too many cards to play. I would agree - especially for the state of the game at that time. There is also no real way of knowing how to keep your creatures alive. And, terrain changes were way too frequent - meaning sometimes when you play a particular type of terrain, it would change to something else right away. Dryland had a tendency to take over the entire map.

AFTER THE COMPO:

I am currently working on a Post Ludum Dare version of the game. I actually find the game quite fun to play, and so I wanted to give it some more love to put it into a playable state.

Originally I intended to give it 'til the end of October and then call it finished. I'm not sure that I'll stick to that, as I feel there are more things I want to do to make it feel more polished. I do not aim to make this a game for profit - it will be free. So, I am also not looking to put too much time into completing it.

So, what have I done and what do I plan to do?

I have already replaced the tiles and made them look pretty. I have also done a good bit of balancing and bug-squashing. While I haven't yet added any new features I have made some significant changes to the existing ones.

I removed the ability to discard cards, forcing every card to be played (this required a system to ensure the player will always have playable cards in hand). I added pathfinding for the animals to help them make better decisions (previously they would just wander aimlessly and hope to find what they need to survive). I have also done some other quality of life improvements like faster World Simulation, fancier text displays and some animated UI. I also made the animals have different attributes for a bit more variety in their behavior.

Here is a sneak preview of the new tiles I made for the game:

Many more things are in the pipeline for the Post LD version. I want the highscore that I never got done for the Compo, and I am doing a complete overhaul of the points system. I'm looking to add some particle effects and a few more bells and whistles to make the game look prettier.

Of course, sounds for all events need to be done. I'm adding different map sizes for quicker games, and I hope to add some new cards as well as specific goals for the player to try to achieve for some bonus points. One of the main challenges that I have left to do is to make a new logo for the game... that should test my graphics skills.

The Post LD version will be released on itch.io, and I do hope you decide to check it out when released.

In the meantime - check out the Compo version. Rate and give feedback to help me improve the game.

Find the game here: A Brand New World.