{"author_link":"\/users\/realitycheck","author_name":"RealityCheck","author_uid":"realitycheck","comments":[],"epoch":1572091066,"event":"LD45","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":176342,"likes":3,"metadata":{"p_key":"137543","p_author":"RealityCheck","p_authorkey":"1002571","p_urlkey":"353819","p_title":"Ludum Dare 45 - Post Mortem","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD45","p_time":"1572091066","p_likes":"3","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1002571","us_name":"RealityCheck","us_username":"realitycheck","event_start":"1570147200","event_key":"78","event_name":"Ludum Dare 45"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD45","removed_author":false},"_superparent":159347,"_trust":2,"author":2571,"body":"### POST MORTEM:\n\n![pm_01.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d93.jpg)\n\nWell, 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.\n\nBecause 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.\n\nRead my LD45 Post Mortem below!\n\n![pm_02.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d94.jpg)\n\n### BEFORE THE COMPO:\n\nAfter 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](http:\/\/www.boardgamizer.com\/).* - 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.\n\n### THE THEME:\n\nI 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.\n\nIt 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.\n\nI 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.\n\nThe other thing that happens when ones own suggestion becomes the theme is pressure. ***I could not fail this time!***\n\n![pm_03.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d95.jpg)\n\n### WHAT WENT WELL?\n\nWell... not much.\n\nI 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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nFor a game made in just over 24 hours - I am pleased with what I accomplished.\n\n![pm_04.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d96.jpg)\n\n### WHAT WENT TO HELL?\n\nDid 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.\n\nWell, 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.\n\nThat's when I went to bed. **Dejected** and close to tears, deciding that I would not make a game this Ludum Dare.\n\n![pm_05.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d97.jpg)\n\n### WHAT WENT SO-SO?\n\nWell, 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.\n\nI 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)*.\n\nThe 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.\n\n![pm_06.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d98.jpg)\n\n### AFTER THE COMPO:\n\nI 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.\n\nOriginally 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.\n\nSo, what have I done and what do I plan to do?\n\nI 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.\n\nI 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.\n\n*Here is a sneak preview of the new tiles I made for the game:*\n![NewTiles_Comparison.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d99.jpg)\n\nMany 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.\n\nOf 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.\n\nThe Post LD version will be released on itch.io, and I do hope you decide to **check it out when released**.\n\nIn the meantime - check out the Compo version. **Rate and give feedback** to help me improve the game.\n\nFind the game here: **[A Brand New World](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/45\/a-brand-new-world).**","comments":0,"created":"2019-10-26T11:03:54Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":176342,"love":3,"love-timestamp":"2019-10-27T08:26:46Z","meta":[],"modified":"2019-10-27T08:26:46Z","name":"Ludum Dare 45 - Post Mortem","node-timestamp":"2019-10-26T11:57:46Z","parent":163227,"parents":[1,5,9,159347,163227],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/45\/a-brand-new-world\/ludum-dare-45-post-mortem","published":"2019-10-26T11:57:46Z","scope":"public","slug":"ludum-dare-45-post-mortem","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":532387},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"176342","n_urlkey":"353819","n_parent":"163227","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/45\/a-brand-new-world\/ludum-dare-45-post-mortem","n_slug":"ludum-dare-45-post-mortem","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"2571","n_created":"1572087834","n_modified":"1572164806","n_version":"532387","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/45\/a-brand-new-world\/ludum-dare-45-post-mortem","text":"### POST MORTEM:\n\n![pm_01.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d93.jpg)\n\nWell, 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.\n\nBecause 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.\n\nRead my LD45 Post Mortem below!\n\n![pm_02.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d94.jpg)\n\n### BEFORE THE COMPO:\n\nAfter 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](http:\/\/www.boardgamizer.com\/).* - 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.\n\n### THE THEME:\n\nI 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.\n\nIt 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.\n\nI 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.\n\nThe other thing that happens when ones own suggestion becomes the theme is pressure. ***I could not fail this time!***\n\n![pm_03.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d95.jpg)\n\n### WHAT WENT WELL?\n\nWell... not much.\n\nI 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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nFor a game made in just over 24 hours - I am pleased with what I accomplished.\n\n![pm_04.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d96.jpg)\n\n### WHAT WENT TO HELL?\n\nDid 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.\n\nWell, 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.\n\nThat's when I went to bed. **Dejected** and close to tears, deciding that I would not make a game this Ludum Dare.\n\n![pm_05.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d97.jpg)\n\n### WHAT WENT SO-SO?\n\nWell, 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.\n\nI 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)*.\n\nThe 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.\n\n![pm_06.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d98.jpg)\n\n### AFTER THE COMPO:\n\nI 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.\n\nOriginally 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.\n\nSo, what have I done and what do I plan to do?\n\nI 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.\n\nI 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.\n\n*Here is a sneak preview of the new tiles I made for the game:*\n![NewTiles_Comparison.jpg](\/\/\/raw\/b0a\/z\/29d99.jpg)\n\nMany 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.\n\nOf 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.\n\nThe Post LD version will be released on itch.io, and I do hope you decide to **check it out when released**.\n\nIn the meantime - check out the Compo version. **Rate and give feedback** to help me improve the game.\n\nFind the game here: **[A Brand New World](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/45\/a-brand-new-world).**","title":"Ludum Dare 45 - Post Mortem","wayback_source":[]}