{"assets":[{"original":"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/SWHP_ld.jpg","local":"\/data\/posts\/2012\/12\/fe9429c425739c5a84fdb486b49413ca.jpg"},{"original":"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/SWHP_artwip.jpg","local":"\/data\/posts\/2012\/12\/3f9e4918490518827c01266b37802061.jpg"},{"original":"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/SWHP_assets.jpg","local":"\/data\/posts\/2012\/12\/43bd766c5f1b6d92f7cf124dca25456f.jpg"},{"original":"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/SWHP_unity.jpg","local":"\/data\/posts\/2012\/12\/2a7d6f8fa23f962158633db06b466fed.jpg"}],"author_link":"author\/gungnir\/","author_name":"Gungnir","cat":"LD #25","categories":["LD #25"],"comments":[],"epoch":1356387900,"event":"LD25","likes":13,"metadata":{"p_key":"79940","p_author":"Gungnir","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"288950","p_title":"SUPER Witch Hunter Pro \u2013 LD25 Post Mortem","p_cat":"LD #25","p_event":"LD25","p_time":"1356387900","p_likes":"13","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":null,"us_name":null,"us_username":null,"event_start":"1355443200","event_key":"14","event_name":"LD25"},"source_url":"2012\/12\/24\/super-witch-hunter-pro-ld25-post-mortem\/","text":"<p>Greetings all! A week-and-a-bit after the fact, here\u2019s a mini post-mortem of our LD 25 Jam entry \u2013 <strong>SUPER Witch Hunter Pro<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/2012\/12\/24\/super-witch-hunter-pro-ld25-post-mortem\/swhp_ld\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-218056\"><img alt=\"SWHP_ld\" class=\"wp-image-218056 aligncenter\" height=\"302\" sizes=\"(max-width: 538px) 100vw, 538px\" src=\"\/data\/posts\/2012\/12\/fe9429c425739c5a84fdb486b49413ca.jpg\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/SWHP_ld-300x168.jpg 300w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/SWHP_ld-550x309.jpg 550w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/SWHP_ld.jpg 896w\" width=\"538\"\/><\/a><em>level layout sketch compared to final version<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><b>General<\/b><\/span><br\/>\nOverall, the Jam was a fantastic experience for us both. It\u2019s the first time\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0worked as a team on a finished indie game, and has whet both our appetites for more of the same. \u00a0At the very least we\u2019ll be taking SWHP to a further finished version after LD judging is completed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/2012\/12\/24\/super-witch-hunter-pro-ld25-post-mortem\/swhp_artwip\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-218054\"><img alt=\"SWHP_artwip\" class=\"aligncenter\" height=\"302\" src=\"\/data\/posts\/2012\/12\/3f9e4918490518827c01266b37802061.jpg\" width=\"538\"\/><\/a><em>arting in progress<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><b>Hits<\/b><\/span><br\/>\n<em>Overall, things went quite well.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Theme <\/b><br\/>\nWe made good use of our first hour with a focused discussion about how villains can be interpreted in various media, and the different approaches to playing as one. It wasn\u2019t long before we settled on subject of history judging once righteous\/heroic actions as villainous or unseemly. The most compelling villains are often well-intentioned, and history often decides where villainy lies. Our scenario \u2013 What if 17<sup>th<\/sup> century European witch burnings were today widely perceived as good and heroic deeds, and how would they have been realized as a series of hit arcade games? We were both inspired by this, and it energized us both from the offset.<\/li>\n<li><b>General design &amp; Scope<\/b><br\/>\nSince subject matter and history were quite \u201cheavy\u201d \u2013 what with women being burned alive at the stake (and worse) \u2013 we decided a simple arcade gameplay treatment would help lighten (or conceal) the tone, as well as forcing us to boil down a complex situation into basic elements. Those elements became Pyre, Wood, Witch and <i>Fire<\/i>. We looked at Game &amp; Watch titles as an example of the sort of \u201cplate-spinning\u201d gameplay we wanted, though we decided to take it a step further, with many small simple loops operating in a single screen layout. We set ourselves a gameplay goal that wasn\u2019t too ambitious, but suitable for LD. It was important to us that we could realize something relatively final, without too many obviously unfinished elements.<\/li>\n<li><b>Teamwork<\/b><br\/>\nWe both knew exactly what we were doing as a team, and where our individual strengths and responsibilities were. There was little to no downtime during the Jam due to this. We prioritized tasks that were dependencies for each other, so that there was no waiting for one another.<\/li>\n<li><b>Mechanics<\/b><br\/>\nImplementation per design\/plan went without too many hitches or serious bugs. The Pyre object acted as a nice anchor for much of our gameplay events, which helped concentrate development efforts.<\/li>\n<li><b>Art, 2.5d Approach<\/b><br\/>\nWe decided early to go with 2.5d, largely sprite animation due to the short dev time and classic arcade inspired gameplay. A fixed camera allowed us to exploit a lot of time-saving tricks, and provided the game with a strong visual style. This choice allowed us to very quickly test and finalize character, gameplay and level assets.<\/li>\n<li><b>Scoring &amp; General Feedback<\/b><br\/>\nAlthough we certainly could have had more, we were both pleased enough that we managed to address most important game events with visual and aural feedback. A decent variety of text dialogue\/copy lent the game some added character. Scoring with combos and a basic rankings system being intact helped us get closer to our arcade game goal. These things went a long way towards making our entry feel complete.<\/li>\n<li><b>Sound<\/b><br\/>\nThough not our collective strong suit, it was great we managed to get in as much as we did \u2013 ensuring no screen was too aurally empty and key events had sound. As well as boosting the final presentation, ranting about burning heretics\u00a0 for the VO recording was a great way to release some pressure during rapid development.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/2012\/12\/24\/super-witch-hunter-pro-ld25-post-mortem\/swhp_assets\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-218055\"><img alt=\"SWHP_assets\" height=\"302\" src=\"\/data\/posts\/2012\/12\/43bd766c5f1b6d92f7cf124dca25456f.jpg\" width=\"538\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>final asset art<\/em><\/p>\n<p><b><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Misses<\/span><br\/>\n<\/b><i>We\u2019re planning to add all of these and more in a future (post-LD) version.<\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Difficulty curve<\/b><br\/>\nThough we had several avenues for adding a difficulty curve, and it being fairly necessary; we knew we wouldn\u2019t have time to properly adjust or test it, or to make It obvious enough it was in effect. We left it out so that everyone that played the game once would at least be exposed to all it had to offer.<\/li>\n<li><b>Victory Conditions<\/b><br\/>\nYou can\u2019t technically \u201cwin\u201d. Though this is true to the arcade and game &amp; watch references, it\u2019d still have been nice to provided round\/levels for a\u00a0 greater sense of progression and encouragement. As we didn\u2019t include a difficulty curve, however, there was little basis for inserting this (and not enough time).<\/li>\n<li><b>Pyre score feedback<\/b><br\/>\nOne important feedback layer we didn\u2019t have time for was the score earning display which would appear at the pyre on \u201cBurn Complete\u201d. Unfortunately, though the combo (Serial Burn) bonus multiplier is working in the final game, it\u2019s not really something the player is aware of due to this feedback not being there.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gating, Rain, Cauldron Bombs\u2026<\/strong><br\/>\nEvolving level design to include dynamic blocking and slowing volumes, rain clouds which slow or reverse fire growth, wood thieves, witches flying overhead with cauldron goop bombs, other stuff to set on fire\u2026 all the \u201cnext step\u201d ideas that you gotta drop due to time \ud83d\ude09<\/li>\n<li><strong>More Power-ups!<\/strong><br\/>\nTo go hand in hand with more hazards, a greater variety of power-ups would have exposed further gameplay depth.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Piety loss feedback<\/strong><br\/>\nSince this is essentially player HP, more obvious feedback is needed \u2013 especially when failure was imminent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/2012\/12\/24\/super-witch-hunter-pro-ld25-post-mortem\/swhp_unity\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-218057\"><img alt=\"SWHP_unity\" height=\"302\" src=\"\/data\/posts\/2012\/12\/2a7d6f8fa23f962158633db06b466fed.jpg\" width=\"538\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>it lives<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>Play the game:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-25\/?action=preview&amp;uid=15389\">SUPER Witch Hunter Pro \u2013 Ludum Dare #25 Entry Page<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;ved=0CDMQtwIwAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9c5P7HrZqBk&amp;ei=lu3XUPCwNqKciQLXvoG4Dg&amp;usg=AFQjCNEFmiqIFi9oFfCbUTBF2Jr1RZbTpQ&amp;bvm=bv.1355534169,d.cGE\">Song of the Entry<\/a>\u00a0(I still have this stuck in my head\u2026)<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As happy as we are with the game, I think the biggest positive for us was our proven ability to work well as a team, and under within the time constraint. LD has really empowered us to push harder at making indie development a personal reality. So \u2013 <strong>thanks LD!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/2012\/12\/24\/super-witch-hunter-pro-ld25-post-mortem\/goatlockxmas\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-218053\"><img alt=\"goatlockxmas\" class=\"aligncenter\" height=\"162\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/goatlockxmas.png\" width=\"197\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>from Ben &amp; Jerry<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">@JerryVerhoeven | @benjkers<\/p>\n<p>Tags: <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/2d\/\" rel=\"tag\">2D<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/compo\/\" rel=\"tag\">compo<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/jam\/\" rel=\"tag\">jam<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/ld25\/\" rel=\"tag\">ld25<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/post-mortem\/\" rel=\"tag\">post-mortem<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/postmortem\/\" rel=\"tag\">postmortem<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/unity\/\" rel=\"tag\">unity<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/unity3d\/\" rel=\"tag\">unity3d<\/a><\/p>","time":"December 24th, 2012 10:25 pm","title":"SUPER Witch Hunter Pro \u2013 LD25 Post Mortem","title_was_empty":false}