{"assets":[],"author_link":"author\/meszka\/","author_name":"meszka","cat":"LD #29","categories":["LD #29"],"comments":[],"epoch":1402824540,"event":"LD29","likes":4,"metadata":{"p_key":"81536","p_author":"meszka","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"290653","p_title":"Seriously late post mortem\u2026","p_cat":"LD #29","p_event":"LD29","p_time":"1402824540","p_likes":"4","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":null,"us_name":null,"us_username":null,"event_start":"1398384000","event_key":"22","event_name":"LD29"},"source_url":"2014\/06\/15\/seriously-late-post-mortem\/","text":"<p>Ok, this is a bit embarassing\u2026 It\u2019s been almost 2 months and I still haven\u2019t posted my post mortem for LD29. I actually had some rough thoughts written down right after the compo but have been postponing writing a proper post because of school and such\u2026 I know, excuses, excuses\u2026 So anyway, here goes:<\/p>\n<p><strong>The\u00a0bad<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Idea was not very coherent<\/strong> \u2013 This time around I spent less time thinking up an idea and started a little quicker. The problem was that I had a few loose ideas which seemed nice at first, but later I had a hard time getting them to fit together.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Panic<\/strong> \u2013 Because of the above, some time around the middle of the compo I was worried I wouldn\u2019t be able to finish anything playable and was starting to think about quitting.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Not enough\u00a0polish<\/strong> \u2013 Some parts of the game were a little rushed, like the level design (same problem as in my last compo, will I ever learn? :P). Other things that could use some more love: the graphics, the HUD and I\u2019m also not 100% happy with the \u201cphysics\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The good<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Kind of fun movement mechanics<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 This was what prevented me from giving up on the game. I wasn\u2019t sure if my overall gameplay ideas made any sense but in my moment of weakness I\u00a0just sat and played around with the small prototype that I had so far. I noticed that the movement mechanics, though kind of wonky, were pretty fun and I decided to keep going, thinking that at the very least I\u2019d have a boring game with fun character movement.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ideas somehow fit together in the end<\/strong> \u2013 I threw in most of the elements I wanted to include and to my surprise something more or less playable came out\u2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Other observations<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Even simple platformer physics take time to code (compared to simple top-down movement).<\/li>\n<li>Pixel-based maps are fun and easy to edit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Next time<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Spend more time on graphics to get a nice art style?<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t worry so much about finishing.<\/li>\n<li>Get something playable on day 1 (and later polish).<\/li>\n<li>Maybe finally make some music\u2026<\/li>\n<li>Start playing with level design early (having an interesting map helps to come\u00a0up with game mechanics).<\/li>\n<\/ul>","time":"June 15th, 2014 9:29 am","title":"Seriously late post mortem\u2026","title_was_empty":false}