{"assets":[{"original":"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/tq_vimeo-300x167.png","local":"\/data\/posts\/2013\/12\/fdbfcfc9d45becffc6ff25712690c493.png"}],"author_link":"author\/andrewkennedy\/","author_name":"andrewkennedy","cat":"LD #28","categories":["LD #28"],"comments":[],"epoch":1387403640,"event":"LD28","likes":13,"metadata":{"p_key":"81637","p_author":"andrewkennedy","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"290754","p_title":"Treasurequest \u2013 Postmortem","p_cat":"LD #28","p_event":"LD28","p_time":"1387403640","p_likes":"13","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":null,"us_name":null,"us_username":null,"event_start":"1386892800","event_key":"20","event_name":"LD28"},"source_url":"2013\/12\/18\/treasurequest-postmortem\/","text":"<p> <a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/82255547\"><img alt=\"tq_vimeo\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-324319\" height=\"167\" src=\"\/data\/posts\/2013\/12\/fdbfcfc9d45becffc6ff25712690c493.png\" width=\"300\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/82255547\">Vimeo video link<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hey everyone!<\/p>\n<p>Well Ludum Dare has come to a close, that makes the third one I\u2019ve done! I wanted to write this post-mortem sooner, but I defended my thesis proposal today, so I\u2019ve had a bit of a full schedule. For those of you reading this who don\u2019t know what Ludum Dare is, it\u2019s a 48 hour game development competition based on a theme. Once the theme is announced, you have 48 hours to make a game- from scratch \u2013 and submit it.<\/p>\n<p>I made a on-rails style game (think star Fox, or those arcade machine games with the guns) where you need to use items picked up along the way to reach the end of each level. However, there\u2019s not just 1 way to beat a level \u2013 multiple paths could bring you to the end, or even to another level altogether. The game features 4 unique levels and 2 special stages.<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-28\/?action=preview&amp;uid=20990\">Click here to play the game!<\/a><\/h2>\n<h2>POST-MORTEM:<\/h2>\n<p><strong>What went well:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Art style definitely worked well in my favor. I got to take advantage of my background in lighting in order to make some cool levels.<\/li>\n<li>The concept of an on-rails adventure game is pretty neat. I\u2019m going to visit it later in a post-compo entry.<\/li>\n<li>Picking up and using items felt pretty good<\/li>\n<li>Lots of unique levels for the amount of time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What didn\u2019t go so well:<\/strong><br\/>\nPacing is pretty slow, right up until you get killed unexpectedly. There seems to be this big gap between too easy and too difficult, and not much \u201cmedium\u201d difficulty in this game. That\u2019s something I can fix with more time to playtest and adjust levels.<br\/>\nLow quality texture. Even though they were solid colors, there\u2019s still quite a bit of jaggies and some rendering artifiacts. Spending some time doing research on this is going to produce much better results in the future.<br\/>\nThe boss fight. It wasn\u2019t a complete disaster, but it was one of the last things I worked on, I was super-tired and it shows.<\/p>\n<h2>DEV DIARY:<\/h2>\n<p>It took me 2 hours to decide on an idea. My first idea was bad, my second one was so-so, and I probably had a dozen micro-ideas that weren\u2019t so good. Finally I decided on an idea: You run through a level but you can only use an item once.<\/p>\n<p>Alright, an on-rails game, that\u2019s manageable!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/1-getting-the-waypoints-to-work-2.5hrs-.png\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-265\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/1-getting-the-waypoints-to-work-2.5hrs--640x360.png\" title=\"1 - getting the waypoints to work -2.5hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>2.5hrs \u2013 Getting the waypoints to work.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I didn\u2019t want to write a character controller from scratch, so I modified the one that Unity ships with. You will always move forward, and when you hit a waypoint the character will rotate to face the next one (my game called them \u201cdirection changers\u201d, great name I know).<\/p>\n<p>First person was necessary because I just don\u2019t have the time to model\/rig\/animate a full character on top of everything else.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/2-bomb-tossing-and-first-FX-5.5hrs.png\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-266\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/2-bomb-tossing-and-first-FX-5.5hrs-640x360.png\" title=\"2 - bomb tossing and first FX - 5.5hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>5.5hrs \u2013 Bomb tossing and first FX<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I had a lot of ideas for items, the first one I had was a bomb. If this game is going to be similar to Star Fox in gameplay, why not take it a step further? I wanted the player to be rewarded by figuring out some puzzles, not just following the same fixed path. A bomb is a pretty clear tool for opening up a new path, so I wanted to get the tossing mechanic and item inventory working. The inventory works at this point, but I had not made icons for the items yet.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/3-modeling-and-render-test-6.75-hrs.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-267\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/3-modeling-and-render-test-6.75-hrs-640x360.jpg\" title=\"3 - modeling and render test - 6.75 hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>6.75hrs \u2013 Modeling and render test.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For a while I\u2019ve wanted to do some of these stylized low-poly renderings. Both of my past LD entries were 2D platformers so I thought this would be a good way to branch out. I used Maya to do the basic models, Blender to do fractal displacement of the verticies and reduce polycount, then back into Maya for texturing and light baking. An advantage of doing the lighting\/texturing in Maya is that I can use things like soft shadows and global illumination, which free Unity does not allow.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/4-level-1-complete-9hrs.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-269\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/4-level-1-complete-9hrs-640x360.jpg\" title=\"4- level 1 complete - 9hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>9hrs \u2013 Level 1 complete<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I finished modeling level 1, just a short tutorial level, about 6am on Saturday morning. Definitely ready for bed at that point. I fiddled around with texture baking, set the level to bake, and went to bed.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/5-redoing-the-first-level-for-light-baking-17hrs.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-270\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/5-redoing-the-first-level-for-light-baking-17hrs-640x360.jpg\" title=\"5-redoing the first level for light baking - 17hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>17hrs \u2013 Redoing the first level<\/em><\/p>\n<p>So, that light baking didn\u2019t work. I\u2019ll summarize my lessons for doing light baking quickly: have as little geometry as possible. I didn\u2019t have enough time to really research what was causing some of the issues, so I had to make all the levels very low poly. That bridge in the image didn\u2019t make it into the game, instead I used a quick rock bridge. RIP bridge :'(.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/6-item-pickups-damage-still-19.5hrs.png\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-271\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/6-item-pickups-damage-still-19.5hrs-640x360.png\" title=\"6 - item pickups - damage - still -19.5hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>19.5hrs \u2013 Item pickups and damage<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/6-item-pickups-damage-19.5hrs.gif\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-272\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/6-item-pickups-damage-19.5hrs-640x360.gif\" title=\"6 - item pickups - damage -19.5hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\nSorry about the low quality of the gif<\/p>\n<p>Picking up items is pretty crucial in the game, so I like to prioritize those important mechanics when doing LD. I think if you get them working early, it pays off later. Last-minute changes don\u2019t really have time for tweaking. At this point, you can pick up a chest and get the item inside. Also, you can take damage! It depletes your heart count, and the screen edges flash red.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/6.5-tutorial-level-finished-most-programming-done-full-guis-level-transitions-22.5hrs.png\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-273\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/6.5-tutorial-level-finished-most-programming-done-full-guis-level-transitions-22.5hrs-640x360.png\" title=\"6.5 - tutorial level finished - most programming done - full guis - level transitions - 22.5hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>22hrs \u2013 Tutorial level finished, full GUI, level transitions<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Just under 1 day and the first level was complete. I planned on 6 levels, so I knew I\u2019d have to pick up the pace. Luckily at this time, most of the programming was finished (except for some level-specific things) and I had an established workflow for level creation. I determined that each level would take 2 hours for the art and 2 hours for programming and implementations. That turned out to be pretty accurate.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/7-level-2-modeled-24-hrs.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-274\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/7-level-2-modeled-24-hrs-640x360.jpg\" title=\"7 - level 2 modeled - 24 hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>24 hrs \u2013 Level 2 modeled<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Level 2 art was finished right at the halfway point. This is the first level that features divergent paths \u2013 the normal route takes you into the mountains, but the (not so) secret route takes you to the crystal caves.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/8-level-2-modeled-24-hrs.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-275\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/8-level-2-modeled-24-hrs-640x360.jpg\" title=\"8 - level 2 modeled - 24 hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>The starting view.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/9-level-2-modeled-24-hrs.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-276\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/9-level-2-modeled-24-hrs-640x360.jpg\" title=\"9 - level 2 modeled - 24 hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>Crystal caves entrance<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/10-level-2-modeled-24-hrs.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-277\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/10-level-2-modeled-24-hrs-640x360.jpg\" title=\"10 - level 2 modeled - 24 hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>A view of the level from the end looking backwards.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/11-level-2-finished-26.75hrs.png\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-278\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/11-level-2-finished-26.75hrs-640x360.png\" title=\"11 - level 2 finished - 26.75hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>26.75hrs \u2013 Level 2 finished<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Level 2 had a lot of programming \u2013 I needed decision points for certain paths, as well as destructible objects and moving objects that damaged the player. In a particularly evil mood, I put 2 rocks at the end of that level that hit you, which I think frustrated 99% of the players into choosing the crystal caves route.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/12-leve3-caves-modeled-28.15-hrs.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-279\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/12-leve3-caves-modeled-28.15-hrs-640x360.jpg\" title=\"12 - leve3 - caves modeled - 28.15 hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>28.15 hrs \u2013 Crystal Caves modeled<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The caves had to do 2 things: 1- look cool, 2- be kind of difficult. I felt the difficulty was a fair price of being able to completely skip the mountain level. Any mistake in this level will instantly kill you, and the beginning has a relatively difficult double-jump to perform. I wish the texture resolution of the level were high enough to show off the glow of the crystals, but that\u2019s something I had to sacrifice for time\u2019s sake. Instead I threw in millions of particle effects in an attempt to distract everyone.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/14-level4-mountains-modeled-32.75-hrs.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-280\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/14-level4-mountains-modeled-32.75-hrs-640x360.jpg\" title=\"14 - level4 - mountains  modeled - 32.75 hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>32.75hrs \u2013 Mountain level modeled<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to call this \u201clevel 3\u2033 now because there\u2019s 2 \u201clevel 3\u2019s\u201d based on which route you choose. This is the default route\u2019s level 3. The mountians features 3 paths (though 2 take you to the same end). The rightmost path, if you take it (and suffer some damage) will take you to the christmas level! The mountains are probably the most difficult level because if you don\u2019t destroy 1 of the 2 ice walls soon enough, you\u2019ll meet a cold and pointy demise.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/15-mountain-finished-35-hrs.png\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-281\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/15-mountain-finished-35-hrs-640x360.png\" title=\"15 - mountain finished - 35 hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>35 hrs \u2013 Mountain level finished<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The end was in sight at this point. It was 6am on Sunday and I had not slept since those 6 hours on Monday night. But I only had 1 level left to go, and 1 special level (the Christmas one was very very short). I wished I had more time to work on this level.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/16-hauntedForest-modeled-41hrs.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-282\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/16-hauntedForest-modeled-41hrs-640x360.jpg\" title=\"16 - hauntedForest modeled - 41hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>41 hrs \u2013 Haunted forest modeled<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I started to take less progress photos at this point because I realized how tight time would be. I probably lost 1.5 hours on this level simply because of how tired I was at the time. I don\u2019t know why I decided to model, rig, and animate a character at this point. I can\u2019t rig or animate to save my life. Oh well, the boss is a tree. I added rigs and animation in about\u2026 20 minutes. It\u2019s a hackish combination of a y-shaped joint chain and hand-animating verticies. It works alright for the context that it\u2019s in however. The level is pretty small \u2013 it\u2019s just a figure-8 loop that constantly passes the boss. You have to use the endless supply of bomb chests in order to defeat him.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/17-Menu-screen.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-283\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/17-Menu-screen-640x360.jpg\" title=\"17 - Menu screen\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>Time Unknown \u2013 Menu screen<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know the time of this photo, it was sometime after the boss was completed and before the Christmas level was done. I actually really like the feel of this menu, the camera animation worked out really well, and it\u2019s probalby something I\u2019ll keep doing in the future if people like it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/18-travel-log.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-284\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/18-travel-log-640x360.jpg\" title=\"18-travel log\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>Time Unknown \u2013 Travel Log<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Nothing like some last-minute programming! I decided to have a travel log that kept track of your path. That way the player can see which paths they have traveled and try to go back and unlock all of them (a pretty bold assumption thinking people would actually play this game 2 times, let alone 3).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/19-winter-wonderland-47-hrs.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" class=\"alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-285\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/andrewkennedy3d.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/19-winter-wonderland-47-hrs-640x360.jpg\" title=\"19- winter wonderland - 47 hrs\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a><br\/>\n<em>47 hrs \u2013 Winter Wonderland<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Christmas level was finished an hour before the finish. It\u2019s a small message to all the LD participants. If you want to read it, go play the game!<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for reading! So glad for all of the feedback and support I\u2019ve gotten on this game already. I\u2019ll make sure to let you all know when the post-comp game is ready!<\/p>\n<p>Til next time,<br\/>\nAndrew Kennedy<\/p>\n<p>P.S., check out my friend\u2019s entry titled <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwnscone.com\/sakuyan\/FowlPlay\/\">\u201cFowL Play\u201d.<\/a><\/p>","time":"December 18th, 2013 9:54 pm","title":"Treasurequest \u2013 Postmortem","title_was_empty":false}