{"assets":[],"author_link":"author\/jimmypaulin\/","author_name":"jimmypaulin","cat":"LD #23","categories":["LD #23"],"comments":[],"epoch":1336304400,"event":"LD23","likes":9,"metadata":{"p_key":"76871","p_author":"jimmypaulin","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"284818","p_title":"It\u2019s war! A Tiny World War postmortem","p_cat":"LD #23","p_event":"LD23","p_time":"1336304400","p_likes":"9","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":null,"us_name":null,"us_username":null,"event_start":"1334880000","event_key":"10","event_name":"LD23"},"source_url":"2012\/05\/06\/its-war-a-tiny-world-war-postmortem\/","text":"

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

Link to my game<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 (ratings and feeback very much appreciated!)<\/p>\n

@BigDaveIsCheap\u2019s LD23 video roundup<\/a>\u00a0featuring Tiny World War (at 3:40)<\/p>\n

Timelapse<\/a>\u00a0of the creation of Tiny World War<\/p>\n

Preparing For War<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having followed LD for yonks it was finally time to bite the bullet and jump in with both feet. I was so excited to spend the weekend entirely devoted to the hobby I love, I couldn\u2019t wait to get started, so preparation was no problem whatsoever. The first thing I did was<\/p>\n

Tip #1 \u2013 Buy McFunkypants \u201cThe Game Jam Survival Guide\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

And from this flowed forth much insight and timesaving! So I decided on Flash and Fllixel since I was familiar with the tools and could easily share the game \u2013 and I got my toolchain all setup and ready with a HelloWorld app that built and ran. I won\u2019t reiterate all the great tips in McFunkypants\u2019 book, I recommend you buy it! However, as a happily married chappy one of the most important tips I will add here is<\/p>\n

Tip #2 \u2013 Plan the weekend around your loved ones<\/em><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t overemphasise how important this was. With my lovely wife on board (and guaranteed a place in the credits \";)\" ) I not only felt free to indulge\u00a0gratuitously\u00a0in my hobby, but I had a superbly supportive playtester, motivator, and carer on hand making sure I ate, drank and slept in appropriate proportions! Going out for dinner on Saturday night not only helped me chill out and come down from the intense day, I woke up after a great night sleep full of ideas for day 2! Speaking of ideas:\"\"<\/p>\n

Tip #3 \u2013 Have some rough game outlines in the back of your mind, pre-jam<\/em><\/p>\n

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

Controversial, perhaps, but I found great inspiration from a recent trip visiting World War 1 battlefields near Ypres in Belgium, and I knew I fancied making a WW1 themed game. I felt WW1 was under-represented in games, so I figured I\u2019d have something niche. Fitting this with the Tiny World theme took some creative thinking, but hey that\u2019s the whole point!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s War!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tip #4 \u2013 Have a battle plan<\/em><\/p>\n

Since this was my first LD I really had no idea how much I\u2019d be able to achieve in the time available. I knew I\u2019d have all day Saturday and all day Sunday and that would be it (EU timezone thing). So my plan was to have the game basically \u201cfinished\u201d, and then spend all Sunday polishing it. This definitely paid off as I\u2019m happy with the level of polish the game has. I\u2019m not so happy with the very simple gameplay but it\u2019s finished, and without the text boxes, menu screens, music and sounds it would not be a complete game. Of course ideas and features popped up in my mind throughout, but I had to discard loads of these and hopefully just keep the best ones, so<\/p>\n

Tip #5 \u2013 Make bold decisions and stick with them<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no time to restart in a different direction. A highly polished turd still has artistic merit, that\u2019s the risk you take. At least your experience will be a \u201csomething\u201d rather than a mashup of nonsense. The same principle applies to tweaking and balancing. There\u2019s no point making tiny adjustments to the game; it\u2019s going to be rough but as long as all the parts are there you have something you can call a game at the end, so concretely:<\/p>\n

Tip #6 \u2013 If you tweak a variable in-game, double or half it, don\u2019t micro-adjust<\/em><\/p>\n

This tip, from Jesse Schell\u2019s excellent \u201cThe Art of Game Design \u2013 A book of lenses\u201d saved me so much time and helped to pin down things like: player move speed, enemy firing rate, map size, the interval between random explosions, the number of enemies\u2026 the list is endless, pretty much every tuneable parameter in the game got to where it is by doubling and halving until it felt right. It\u2019s a binary search logarithmic complexity thing (I guess). It relates to a general principle:<\/p>\n

Tip #7 \u2013 Get into \u201cthe zone\u201d and get over \u201cthe wall\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

That flow state where you are deploying your skills to their fullest and the challenge is worthy of your ability. In a jam you set your own level of challenge, so know yourself and know your limits. Know what you need to keep you flowing (quiet, breaks, food, sunshine, IRC, feedback, whatever). The \u201cWall\u201d was an interesting one. I genuinely didn\u2019t expect to hit it because I really do love this hobby so much \u2013\u00a0wrong<\/strong>! After spending an hour on player controls I felt my love for the game waning. Time to stop that path. I pushed on and finished that nasty section, then did something fun and \u201ceasy\u201d \u2013 generated a ton of sound effects in BFXR! What a juicy tool, that was great. I finished day 1 with a game that looked and sounded more or less the finished product. For keeping motivation high, nothing beats<\/p>\n

Tip #8 \u2013 Go directly to final art<\/em><\/p>\n

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

Programmer art being what it is, front-loading the art creation task seems sensible. The art is hard, the code is easy (relatively). Now I may have to revise this because I think the main problem with my game is that it is too simplistic, and the only thing harder than art is that holy grail:<\/p>\n

Tip #9 \u2013 But don\u2019t forget the fun<\/em><\/p>\n

A sad fact is that in a competition with 1400 entries, no-one is going to play anywhere near all of them. You have to stand out and your main channel for this is graphical screenshots. A pretty game *will* get more plays, initially. However as time passes and word of mouth comes to dominate ratings, a fun game will eventually outshine a boring pretty one. A game that is well balanced, full of game-y pleasures and surprises will always win the day, just not initially. However if a game jam is the nursery from which games grow, the real world is where games that stand the test of time will flourish. Tiny World War is fun, but not for as long as I\u2019d have liked. I\u2019d like to know what you think in that regard\u2026 Which brings me onto the final point<\/p>\n

Tip #10 \u2013 Share the joy<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s perhaps obvious, almost too obvious, but the point of this competition as far as I see it is not to make money or have glory (for most), it is quite simply the opportunity to dive right into an enormous bubbling conversation about the fantastic experience of satisfying the highest of creative urges under extraordinary conditions with hundreds, indeed, thousands of like-minded individuals. It\u2019s a celebration of gaming, creativity, humour and\u00a0perseverance. If you create your game in a bunker, release it on the quiet, tell no one, post nothing on the blog, ignore irc and don\u2019t bother to play anyone else\u2019s games, wow that is some crazy behaviour. Community and feedback is what this is about. I just wish I\u2019d spent time on IRC as I feel I really missed out there. I\u2019m trying to make up for it now by leaving the most useful ratings I can and keeping the conversation going.<\/p>\n

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

In a nutshell, that was one of the most intense 48 hours periods of my life. It was an emotional rollercoaster, and at the end of it I have a game I\u2019m proud of, despite its problems. There are highs and lows in an escapade like this, but wow, what an unforgettable experience! I can\u2019t wait to do it all again for LD24 ;D<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tags: postmortem<\/a>, timelapse<\/a>, tips<\/a><\/p>","time":"May 6th, 2012 11:40 am","title":"It\u2019s war! A Tiny World War postmortem"}