Implementation<\/strong><\/p>\n The first step is always to get a black screen which responds to keypresses. I hate that part. I cheated a little this time, by copying snippets of code out of a past entry (sprout) to get the sdl initialisation and keypress code working. Knowing I did this is a tiny lead weight which my soul will carry forever.<\/p>\n
Next up was running around a test map. I love this part. It doesn’t take much to get a guy running around 2d blocky landscape, but it’s instantly satisfying to start leaping around and exploring the limits of the world. I spent a lot of time tweaking the physics until it had a good feel to it.<\/p>\n
The whole time I was doing this, I was imagining how the fireworks might work. I knew how the sparklers and rockets would be, and they took very little time to draw and code. The roman candles I wasn’t so sure about, and I ended up spending 5x as much time on them. Writing code and drawing gfx doesn’t seem to be the bottleneck — it’s just deciding exactly how things should look and behave.<\/p>\n
I had just moved back from overseas when I did this compo, and in the midst of daylight savings confusion and lack of internet connectivity, thought I was finishing at 3pm instead of 4. I realised my mistake quite close to finishing, and was very happy to have the extra hour. I didn’t leave enough time for the vital task of designing maps, but was still able to try out what I imagined to be the defining moment of the game – being chased down a corridor of exploding crates.<\/p>\n
I did the sound in about 5 minutes with sfxr. I would formally like to donate my audio points to Dr. Petter for that one. I just grabbed the first 5 randomised explosion sounds that came out.<\/p>\n
:: What Went Right<\/strong><\/p>\n \n - Not using placeholder graphics. They have a weird way of finding their way into the finished game.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n
\n - Being familiar with the tools. I could concentrate on designing stuff rather than fighting with technical issues.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n
\n - Making sure of the design before getting deep into implementation. I didn’t end up spending much time reworking code or graphics.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n
:: What Went Wrong<\/strong><\/p>\n \n - Bad time distribution. Even 30 more minutes working on level design would have improved the game a lot.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n
\n - Not budgeting time for details. Little things like a nice txt file to go with the game, windowed mode support, hardly take any time but would have been worthwhile.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n
:: The Fucha<\/strong>
\n The problem with making 48h games is that I alway want to spend more time brushing up my entry and re-releasing it. Splode is no exception — I’m thinking to make a nicer 10-level arcadey version with online scores and recording at some stage. I’ll post here when it happens.<\/p>","time":"December 20th, 2007 4:26 am","title":"Mr. Splode Post Mortem"}
![\":)\"](\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-includes\/images\/smilies\/simple-smile.png\")
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