{"assets":[],"author_link":"author\/matthias_zarzecki\/","author_name":"matthias_zarzecki","cat":"LD #22","categories":["LD #22"],"comments":[],"epoch":1324962480,"event":"LD22","likes":5,"metadata":{"p_key":"76708","p_author":"matthias_zarzecki","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"284544","p_title":"How 2 days of crying will result in a game \u2013 A post-mortem","p_cat":"LD #22","p_event":"LD22","p_time":"1324962480","p_likes":"5","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":null,"us_name":null,"us_username":null,"event_start":"1323993600","event_key":"8","event_name":"LD22"},"source_url":"2011\/12\/27\/how-2-days-of-crying-will-result-in-a-game-%E2%80%93-a-post-mortem\/","text":"

So I made an ego-adventure-story-cat-experiment called 5 DAYS<\/a>. Allow me to recap.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

What went right<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Graphics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Creating graphical assets is a time-consuming task, so I immediately dropped it and only concentrated on stuff I could efficiently produce. The current style is a nice trade-off between detail and costs.<\/p>\n

Level-Design<\/strong><\/p>\n

I started this thing from the ground up on tiles, which allowed me to make changes and updates right till the end. Having everything based on clean tiles also meant I could easily add objects, like the lamps, which effortlessly clamped into the architecture.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Intro<\/strong><\/p>\n

I \/love\/ the intro. This is the closest I have ever come to a cut-scene, and even now it\u2019s completly gameplay, not a video.<\/p>\n

The original idea had everyone dying in a scripted explosion, while the player could do nothing (but walk around). Having the player actually kill the reamaining crew (be it by accident, admittedly), would only further compel her to save the cat.<\/p>\n

The cat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your only companion is a cubic cat (no time to model, as mentioned above), which is aptly named Boxy. You have to feed for it to survive, but doing so will deplete your own ressources.<\/p>\n

Title-Cards<\/strong><\/p>\n

The game starts with a cold open right in the action. The title is only seen after the first room, and then perfectly sets up the story.<\/p>\n

My original title was ALONE. After the player would have watched his friends die \/ kill them, she would be ALONE. But because the name would probably be overused, I changed it to 11 DAYS. Eleven turned out to be too long, so I shortened it to 5.<\/p>\n

I love how the title 5 DAYS becomes a chapter-card, turning into 4 DAYS, and so on. I contemplated putting the title at the end (Hot Fuzz\/The Dark Knight-style), but only few people would see it then. I guess this doesn\u2019t work in games.<\/p>\n

The only downside of this title is that I already made a game called 5 Days in Charleroi<\/a>. I was already trying furiously too get the gameplay to work, so this didn\u2019t even occur to me \":-)\" . Oh well.<\/p>\n

Timelapse<\/strong><\/p>\n

The video went alright<\/em>. If you comapre it to my previous<\/a> ones<\/a>, you\u2019ll notice I frown a lot in this one.<\/p>\n