{"author_link":"\/users\/gamebuilder","author_name":"gamebuilder","author_uid":"gamebuilder","comments":[],"epoch":1673127029,"event":"LD52","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":319265,"likes":2,"metadata":{"p_key":"170370","p_author":"gamebuilder","p_authorkey":"1075625","p_urlkey":"399237","p_title":"Postmortem of A L I C E  *  R E D U X","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD52","p_time":"1673127029","p_likes":"2","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1075625","us_name":"gamebuilder","us_username":"gamebuilder","event_start":"1672963200","event_key":"116","event_name":"Ludum Dare 52"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD52","removed_author":false},"_superparent":313060,"_trust":11,"author":75625,"body":"My aim was to do this in the spirit of the old Ludum Dares \u2014 i.e., get a game done in 24 hours. Thanks to the fast work of @bcav and @genie we were able to do it this time (albeit including an extra hour for submission and final adjustments).\n\n\n** Friday 5:00 pm: **\n\nBy this time I had an idea in place. It was an old idea I had from years ago, after designing the smash hit, **Gretchen\u2019s Head** (LD 42). In its essence the game would have an old tree in a dark woods with the heads of several children \u2014 presumably Gretchen\u2019s offspring \u2014 attached to the ends of the branches. It was going to look something like this:\n\n![old-version-screenshot.png](\/\/\/raw\/967\/21\/z\/53fc7.png)\n\nI worked until midnight. I had high hopes for it, as I\u2019ve been toying with this idea on and off for quite some time. I got the skeleton code and some graphics in place, but I wasn\u2019t very close to a finished product.\n\n**Saturday 3:30 am:**\n\nMy alarm went off. My plan was to get up around this time, or maybe 4:00, but I went back to sleep.\n\n**Saturday 6:58 am:**\n\nThis is when I got up. I had breakfast and worked further on the game. I kept thinking: what if I got rid of the tree and allowed the player to move around the screen? The problem with the tree was that it couldn\u2019t move. All you could do was open a mouth on a child\u2019s head and eat a growing heart. That could have been turned into a game but I lost all inspiration for it. Part of the problem is that @genie would have to draw several heads, and with a 3:00 pm deadline, I doubt she wanted to do that. Aside from that, the game was too static. It occurred to me that maybe a single protagonist that the player could move around would be a better idea.\n\n**Saturday 10:00 am:**\n\nBy this time I had the skeleton of the new game in place. Fortunately some of last night\u2019s code was still usable.\n\n**Saturday 1:00 - 2:00 pm:**\n\nBy this time lunch was done and I was 100% into coding and design. Also, @genie and I had decided on the look of the protagonist \u2014 as usual, she would be a derivative of Alice, Lewis Carroll\u2019s beloved angel. Surprisingly it didn\u2019t take long to animate the drawing that @genie sent me. Sound effects were quickly added using https:\/\/sfxr.me\/ \u2014 an old mainstay if there ever was one. Yes, I know, the sound effects in this game aren\u2019t the best in the world, but they do add a little spice, I like to think.\n\n**Saturday 2:00 - 3:00 pm:**\n\nMainly I spent this time play-testing. I wish I had more time for this, but I was able to iron out all the major bugs (I hope). I am confident that the game is beatable, but not too difficult and not too easy. We\u2019ll see \u2014 you folks will be the judges.\n\n**Saturday 3:00-4:00 pm:**\n\nSubmission hour. Yeah, if we include this, it took us 25 hours \u2014 still, close enough. No major changes here, except for adding a final music track that @bcav sent me. Mainly I made minor adjustments \u2014 e.g., I added in-game instructions, a game title, and so forth.\n\n** Lessons Learned: **\n\n**1.** Sometimes doing a major re-design is a good idea, even when very little time is left. Last night\u2019s idea \u2014 I\u2019m glad I ditched it. In hindsight, it seems too lackluster. The one we finished today has a certain aura to it, and it\u2019s good to see Alice again.\n\n**2.** It was a lot more fun with only 24 hours to finish a game. In the past, Ludum Dare weekends really dragged. I squandered the time trying out too many ideas and often waited until the last day before I dug in.\n\n**3.** In the final hours, @bcav suggested an extension but fortunately he pulled through. Oddly enough, his music is just as good this time, if not better \u2014 a shorter time-frame seems to have helped us.\n\n \n![screenshot4.png](\/\/\/raw\/967\/21\/z\/53fd6.png)\n\n","comments":0,"created":"2023-01-07T20:48:28Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":319265,"love":2,"love-timestamp":"2023-01-07T22:13:24Z","meta":[],"modified":"2023-01-07T22:14:19Z","name":"Postmortem of A L I C E  *  R E D U X","node-timestamp":"2023-01-07T22:14:19Z","parent":317515,"parents":[1,5,9,313060,317515],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/52\/alice-redux\/postmortem-for-a-l-i-c-e-r-e-d-u-x","published":"2023-01-07T21:30:29Z","scope":"public","slug":"postmortem-for-a-l-i-c-e-r-e-d-u-x","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":985183},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"319265","n_urlkey":"399237","n_parent":"317515","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/52\/alice-redux\/postmortem-for-a-l-i-c-e-r-e-d-u-x","n_slug":"postmortem-for-a-l-i-c-e-r-e-d-u","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"75625","n_created":"1673124508","n_modified":"1673129659","n_version":"985183","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/52\/alice-redux\/postmortem-for-a-l-i-c-e-r-e-d-u-x","text":"My aim was to do this in the spirit of the old Ludum Dares \u2014 i.e., get a game done in 24 hours. Thanks to the fast work of @bcav and @genie we were able to do it this time (albeit including an extra hour for submission and final adjustments).\n\n\n** Friday 5:00 pm: **\n\nBy this time I had an idea in place. It was an old idea I had from years ago, after designing the smash hit, **Gretchen\u2019s Head** (LD 42). In its essence the game would have an old tree in a dark woods with the heads of several children \u2014 presumably Gretchen\u2019s offspring \u2014 attached to the ends of the branches. It was going to look something like this:\n\n![old-version-screenshot.png](\/\/\/raw\/967\/21\/z\/53fc7.png)\n\nI worked until midnight. I had high hopes for it, as I\u2019ve been toying with this idea on and off for quite some time. I got the skeleton code and some graphics in place, but I wasn\u2019t very close to a finished product.\n\n**Saturday 3:30 am:**\n\nMy alarm went off. My plan was to get up around this time, or maybe 4:00, but I went back to sleep.\n\n**Saturday 6:58 am:**\n\nThis is when I got up. I had breakfast and worked further on the game. I kept thinking: what if I got rid of the tree and allowed the player to move around the screen? The problem with the tree was that it couldn\u2019t move. All you could do was open a mouth on a child\u2019s head and eat a growing heart. That could have been turned into a game but I lost all inspiration for it. Part of the problem is that @genie would have to draw several heads, and with a 3:00 pm deadline, I doubt she wanted to do that. Aside from that, the game was too static. It occurred to me that maybe a single protagonist that the player could move around would be a better idea.\n\n**Saturday 10:00 am:**\n\nBy this time I had the skeleton of the new game in place. Fortunately some of last night\u2019s code was still usable.\n\n**Saturday 1:00 - 2:00 pm:**\n\nBy this time lunch was done and I was 100% into coding and design. Also, @genie and I had decided on the look of the protagonist \u2014 as usual, she would be a derivative of Alice, Lewis Carroll\u2019s beloved angel. Surprisingly it didn\u2019t take long to animate the drawing that @genie sent me. Sound effects were quickly added using https:\/\/sfxr.me\/ \u2014 an old mainstay if there ever was one. Yes, I know, the sound effects in this game aren\u2019t the best in the world, but they do add a little spice, I like to think.\n\n**Saturday 2:00 - 3:00 pm:**\n\nMainly I spent this time play-testing. I wish I had more time for this, but I was able to iron out all the major bugs (I hope). I am confident that the game is beatable, but not too difficult and not too easy. We\u2019ll see \u2014 you folks will be the judges.\n\n**Saturday 3:00-4:00 pm:**\n\nSubmission hour. Yeah, if we include this, it took us 25 hours \u2014 still, close enough. No major changes here, except for adding a final music track that @bcav sent me. Mainly I made minor adjustments \u2014 e.g., I added in-game instructions, a game title, and so forth.\n\n** Lessons Learned: **\n\n**1.** Sometimes doing a major re-design is a good idea, even when very little time is left. Last night\u2019s idea \u2014 I\u2019m glad I ditched it. In hindsight, it seems too lackluster. The one we finished today has a certain aura to it, and it\u2019s good to see Alice again.\n\n**2.** It was a lot more fun with only 24 hours to finish a game. In the past, Ludum Dare weekends really dragged. I squandered the time trying out too many ideas and often waited until the last day before I dug in.\n\n**3.** In the final hours, @bcav suggested an extension but fortunately he pulled through. Oddly enough, his music is just as good this time, if not better \u2014 a shorter time-frame seems to have helped us.\n\n \n![screenshot4.png](\/\/\/raw\/967\/21\/z\/53fd6.png)\n\n","title":"Postmortem of A L I C E  *  R E D U X","wayback_source":[]}