{"author_name":"Worse","cat":"LD #25","comments":[],"epoch":1357507800,"likes":2,"metadata":{"p_key":"47315","p_author":"Worse","p_authorkey":"18395","p_urlkey":"82978","p_title":"Post-compo release and post-mortem","p_cat":"LD #25","p_event":"LD25","p_time":"1357507800","p_likes":"2","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"18395","us_name":"Worse","us_username":"worse","event_start":"1355443200","event_key":"14","event_name":"LD25"},"text":"<p>I managed to finish my first LD entry and I now present you a post-compo version of it. Play it <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-25\/?action=preview&amp;uid=18395\">here<\/a>. Title screen:<\/p>\n <p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/2013\/01\/06\/post-compo-release-and-post-mortem\/intro-15\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-219774\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-219774\" alt=\"intro\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/intro.png\" width=\"554\" height=\"414\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n <p>I made improvements based mainly on what people said about the game:<\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>Added music (from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nosoapradio.us\/\">http:\/\/www.nosoapradio.us\/<\/a>)<\/li>\n <li>Added sound effects (with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.drpetter.se\/project_sfxr.html\">sfxr<\/a>)<\/li>\n <li>Added intro\/help screen (as seen above)<\/li>\n <li>Polished the graphics a bit, lowered window size<\/li>\n <li>Increased player control<\/li>\n <li>Made it more game-like instead of a simulator<\/li>\n <li>Let the player control destinies of Igor and Dmitri<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p><strong>Some post-mortem thoughts:<\/strong><\/p>\n <p>Comments gave mixed feedback about the graphical style of the game. Graphics were made in about 10 minutes, and I doubt more time would have made them any better, considering my interest and skill in art.<\/p>\n <p>Lack of music and sound was perhaps worse than I thought. Next time I&#8217;ll try to include those in the compo release. The post-compo sounds are not impressive by any means, but I guess it&#8217;s better than nothing.<\/p>\n <p>Intro screen to explain the game and controls is also something I&#8217;ll try to get into the actual release next time around.<\/p>\n <p>Player control was a central issue in this game. The player can only vaguely affect the behavior of a large number of independent AI agents to indirectly achieve his goal. Many players reported they didn&#8217;t feel like they were in control and I&#8217;m not entirely satisfied with the improvements of the post-compo release I made to address that.<\/p>\n <p>The game was an experiment in emergent gameplay created by multiple AI units &#8211; a simulator type of game. I think the emergence was limited as the minions do not really interact with each other, only the Hero. That is, the game wasn&#8217;t complex enough to be really interesting. I have a feeling I&#8217;ll be trying something similar in the future, using what I learned here.<\/p>\n <p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n <p>In conclusion, I think my first LD entry was quite successful. I learned a lot and want to make more games in the future. I was also very impressed by entries by other people and look forward to seeing the results of voting!<\/p>\n \n <p>Tags: <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/emergence\/\" rel=\"tag\">emergence<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/goat\/\" rel=\"tag\">goat<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/post-compo\/\" rel=\"tag\">post-compo<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/postmortem\/\" rel=\"tag\">postmortem<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/pygame\/\" rel=\"tag\">pygame<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/python\/\" rel=\"tag\">python<\/a><\/p>","time":"January 6th, 2013 4:30 pm","title":"Post-compo release and post-mortem"}