{"author_name":"modwizcode","cat":"LD #30","comments":[{"author_name":"","time":"August 25, 2014 9:32 am","epoch":1408977120,"text":"Actually using libgdx it shouldn’t be THAT hard to do assuming you know c++ pretty well.
\n It’s my second time here and I used directx with just simple framework I’ve made
\n but I actually made games [bad ones but still]
\n I think the problem was that you were inconfident because you haven’t worked alone before
\n So next time before you start LD try to make a game, maybe participate in the warmup
\n So you’re ready and confident ^^","spam":"N"}],"epoch":1408976640,"likes":1,"metadata":{"p_key":"26766","p_author":"modwizcode","p_authorkey":"41062","p_urlkey":"62199","p_title":"My First Competition \u2014 Connection For The Damned","p_cat":"LD #30","p_event":"LD30","p_time":"1408976640","p_likes":"1","p_comments":"1","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"41062","us_name":"modwizcode","us_username":"modwizcode","event_start":"1408665600","event_key":"24","event_name":"LD30"},"text":"

(Note: Pictures will be added when I am not blocked from twitter and the images I posted there)<\/p>\n

So this dare, Ludum Dare 30 was my first time submitting a game to the competition. Not only that, it’s also one of the first times I’ve tried to make a game on my own. Most of my previous work was either very simple and not much of a game, or it’s been in a team of some friends. I had such a clever idea too, make a platformer that progresses from a hellish place, to paradise as the player works off their sins. However I never made such an elaborate game, I started 5:30 am on Saturday and planned to possibly stay up all night and work on it Sunday. As I worked on it, I eventually realized that my engine was going to be far too slow and I quickly jumped to libGDX. I got up and running pretty quickly. Then I hit a brick wall, I’ve never made a platformer. Ever. Not even a side scrolling, or tile based game of any sort.<\/p>\n

[Picture of progress at that point]<\/p>\n

I quickly decided that I would give up the scrolling movement and do one screen sized levels. Then it came to collision detection, collision detection was simple, I already had the code for the bounding boxes done, but I didn’t know what to do. How do I handle the intersection of player and npc, or player and moving platform or still platform even. So I took a glitch in one of my attempts to do the calculation, turned it into the win mechanic and cleaned up the background a bit. I finished the game about 12-1am and woke up very tired on Sunday to finish homework<\/p>\n

[Picture of finished product]<\/p>\n

So while I resign myself to learn platformers, and improve my graphics abilities and the like, it shows a clear lesson to be learned. Have a basic kind of game in your ability to make, know basic physics and collision code, don’t write an engine if you need alpha compositing to be complicated.<\/p>\n

[Picture of work environment]<\/p>\n

I don’t know what I’m going to do next competition, maybe I’ll try to make it with Unity, which I am not a fan of because I can’t use C++ and don’t really know how it actually works internally. I might use a C++ framework like SFML to handle the higher speed I need. I will definitely be able to do physics and a platformer in any language, but I may try and embrace some of the “magic” provided by engines that abstract away the actual work of programming.<\/p>\n

Expect a better game next year, and please post comments of your favourite articles on physics, collision detection and handling, and platformer creation. The more language agnostic the better.<\/p>","time":"August 25th, 2014 9:24 am","title":"My First Competition \u2014 Connection For The Damned"}