{"author_name":"dx0ne","cat":"LD #23","comments":[],"epoch":1335606360,"likes":2,"metadata":{"p_key":"55901","p_author":"dx0ne","p_authorkey":"11733","p_urlkey":"91619","p_title":"Tiny World Big War Postmortem","p_cat":"LD #23","p_event":"LD23","p_time":"1335606360","p_likes":"2","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"11733","us_name":"dx0ne","us_username":"dx0ne","event_start":"1334880000","event_key":"10","event_name":"LD23"},"text":"

\"\"<\/a>First LD done – game submitted<\/a>. Well of course I haven\u2019t implemented lot of ideas but the main idea is there. Endless waves of soldiers and player can possess one of them to help others. It\u2019s more of a simulation than an actual game but we will get there \":)\"<\/p>\n

LD is great thing. First: you can try ideas you hadn\u2019t time for. Second: I don\u2019t feel pressure to do everything tip top as when I’m doing normal games(mostly ones that end up in limbo). There\u2019s not much \u201cok now let\u2019s rewrite it again adding bazzilion new features\/cleaning\u201d<\/em> or \u201cit sucks because is laggy\/buggy\u201d<\/em>. It works == it\u2019s good. Next please. So this is really about being creative and work fast which is great test of skills.<\/p>\n

Things I \u201clearned\u201d \/ went good:<\/h3>\n

Time is of the essence.<\/strong> (always wanted to say this) This weekend I was kind of busy with some social activities – thus didn\u2019t fit into 48h (btw it came out that suspiciously lot of my friends are taking lessons in sword\/katana fighting – incoming zombie apocalypse or what?). Next time I will go off the grid for two days. But no regrets there because…<\/p>\n

I submit == I win.<\/strong> I don\u2019t see LD much as a competition with others. It\u2019s all about fighting with clock\/skills\/monsters\/ideas. Lots of people say \u201cthe failed\u201d because their game is incomplete or drifted away from original idea. I\u2019ve tried, I\u2019ve learned. Those are things earned. No loss there.(oh yeah I like some preaching from time to time)<\/p>\n

I love to code.<\/strong> Don\u2019t know if I should share this but there were moments, rushes of code compiling into new features, that almost gave me a boner. Let\u2019s hope my girlfriend won\u2019t consider this as cheating(I know she won\u2019t – she\u2019s great). There is something about writing games that makes my soul smile. It\u2019s like this feeling when you were kid and was unpacking new box of LEGOs but here you have unlimited amount of bricks and shapes. It gives wings. Also in narcissistic spirit I must admit that I was implementing things pretty smooth. Particles arrived in no time from scratch(they are total mess though) same with shooting and obstacles. But next time I will come with more ready blocks and focus on gameplay\/logic.<\/p>\n

Game development is about making lies.<\/strong> You don\u2019t have to code things as there really are. They only need to ACT like they are \u201creal thing\u201d. Applies to physics, AI, general game logic. I remember in \u201cGame programming gems\u201d book there was a part about pathfinding in Total Annihilation. It was in old days, not so powerful computers. So while unit was computing path to given destination it was performing tricks: blinking lights, rotating turrets\/body, releasing smoke etc. It looked great, making units seems to be more alive when in fact they were dead stupid and lying about it(like some Miss World candidates).
\n In my game there is obstacle avoidance. At first I was thinking about some A* pathfinding or sth like this. But then added simple \u201cIf(obstacle before you) go up\/down for few seconds then check again\u201d<\/em>. It\u2019s not perfect and would break with rotated buildings but who cares, right?<\/p>\n

Details matter.<\/strong> Visually at least. Added particles and it was more alive. Blood, dirt from explosions, guns urinating, I mean shooting. The last one actually hides fact that soldiers are not really shooting bullets. Each few seconds they look for enemy and do simple luck test:
\n if (this.doYouFeelLuckyPunk()+0.3 >= enemy.doYouFeelLuckyPunk())<\/em>
\n which compares sums of random roll, experience, cover, hits taken etc. Works right?<\/p>\n

Artist is of the HUGE FUCKING essence.<\/strong> I don\u2019t have fellow artist able to do decent game graphics. It shows especially with cars – yep those small obstacles are cars. But… but I was focusing on the code \ud83d\ude09 Anyway even small games\/experiments with good graphics have better experience. I know that with great gameplay it doesn\u2019t matter(old S.T.A.R.S. player here) but it adds a lot.<\/p>\n