{"author_name":"Olofson","cat":"LD #22","comments":[],"epoch":1324430160,"likes":0,"metadata":{"p_key":"60130","p_author":"Olofson","p_authorkey":"2901","p_urlkey":"95883","p_title":"The Grumpy Pinball Ball \u2013 Postmortem","p_cat":"LD #22","p_event":"LD22","p_time":"1324430160","p_likes":"0","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"2901","us_name":"Olofson","us_username":"olofson","event_start":"1323993600","event_key":"8","event_name":"LD22"},"text":"

Well, if you spent the last few years being slapped around a table all day, you’d be grumpy too! This ball just wants to be alone on his blocky islands.\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Entry is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(And yes, the .eel files are plain text source files, so that’s the full, hackable game source right there. The language is a bit like Lua with a C-like syntax.)
\n <\/em><\/p>\n

Well, the other balls don’t really do<\/strong> anything, as I didn’t get around to implement any AI. And I didn’t get around to do any music either. And, it might have been a good idea to “tilt” the terrain of the higher level maps towards the viewer, or just select a few good areas from the Perlin terrain, as it gets a bit tricky when you can’t see what you’re doing. \":-)\"<\/p>\n

What went wrong<\/h3>\n

Decided to go for isometric 3D, so I had to code the engine for that, along with some physics. Not strictly a bad idea, but it was actually my first attempt at that particular kind of engine, so getting it to work correctly while not melting the CPU might have cost a few hours extra. And, I still got the depth sorting wrong in some cases…<\/p>\n

Also got this crazy idea of coding a tiny MIDI sequencer, instead of just typing music in as ChipSound script, but the net result of that was just a wasted hour or so, as I didn’t have enough time to do any music anyway.<\/p>\n

The biggest problem, however, was that I just caught a cold with fever, and couldn’t cope with the kind of tempo and short naps I planned for. All in all, I put in 27 hours of effective work time. Could have used 5-10 more hours – and they would have been there, even in the 48 h compo, had I been in proper shape.<\/p>\n

What went right<\/h3>\n

Initially, all I had was this vague idea that the game would be about someone or something that wanted to be left alone. I decided right away that I’d go for isometric 3D and focus on low level game mechanics, so I drew a block in GIMP and coded away.<\/p>\n

I realized I wouldn’t have time to do a proper character with walk cycles and stuff with the tools and (lack of) skill at hand, so I considered giving the rubber pig<\/a> starring in my Fixed Rate Pig<\/a> SDL example a call – but then remembered I need to work alone, and drew a shiny steel ball in GIMP instead.<\/p>\n

Going with a steel ball actually turned out to be a brilliant move, as it became instantly obvious that the game mechanics would focus on bouncy physics, which can be a fair bit of fun in it’s own right, without any “artificial” game rules. In fact, there’s only one rule: A ball that touches the lava dies.<\/p>\n

And of course, I did finish in time to submit for the Jam, so failing the main event wasn’t a complete disaster. (Actually did try to submit in time, but it just wouldn’t work – and probably for the better, as that version was pretty useless anyway.)<\/p>\n

Lessons learned<\/h3>\n

No real surprises here, but well worth pointing out:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Coding a custom engine for a time limited event like this is a gamble, unless you really<\/strong> know what you’re doing. Each kind of engine has it’s own set of problems, and unless you’ve written one of that particular kind before, a few hours will likely be lost understanding and solving problems that are brand new to you. That can be fun and challenging, but the gamble is real: If you fail, you’ll still be struggling with the engine by the time of the submission deadline.<\/li>\n
  2. Make sure you have a functional, complete<\/strong> and efficient<\/strong> toolchain that you’re up to speed with, for anything you want to use in the game! I could have leveraged ZeeSpace<\/a> and ChipSound better, but I don’t yet have a functional authoring tool for the former, and I don’t have a proper music setup. I’ve been having the same problem with Kobo II<\/a>, and the LD #22 just made it more obvious that I need to fix this ASAP.\n <\/ol>\n

    Conclusion<\/h3>\n

    One would think that after a full weekend of being ill while working frantically, especially after previously having worked for weeks in a similar manner to get the Kobo II<\/a> tech preview out, one would just want a long vacation – but I’m more excited than ever to get back to work! I’ll probably start by adding some more gameplay elements to Kobo II for a Christmas Special Tech Preview 2, and then I actually will take a break – by hacking a sequencer\/editor for ChipSound…! \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

    UPDATE:<\/strong> Timelapse video<\/a> uploaded!<\/p>\n

    David<\/strong><\/em><\/p>","time":"December 20th, 2011 8:16 pm","title":"The Grumpy Pinball Ball \u2013 Postmortem"}