{"author_name":"madjackmcmad","cat":"LD #34","comments":[],"epoch":1451930040,"likes":6,"metadata":{"p_key":"9254","p_author":"madjackmcmad","p_authorkey":"5448","p_urlkey":"44469","p_title":"Power Outage? Ship it! Spirit of the Dare","p_cat":"LD #34","p_event":"LD34","p_time":"1451930040","p_likes":"6","p_comments":"0","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"5448","us_name":"madjackmcmad","us_username":"\/author\/madjackmcmad\/","event_start":"1449792000","event_key":"31","event_name":"LD34"},"text":"<p>It was bound to happen one of these Dares. On the Saturday night of the compo, I lost power at my house and succumbed to sleep. Between the initial outage (around 11:30pm) and my ensuing extended power nap, I lost about 12 hours of development time in a 48 hour contest. Then I lost two more thinking that I should just give up and write this one off.<\/p>\n <p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-34\/?action=preview&amp;uid=5448\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-531734 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/demon_truck_final_smaller.gif\" alt=\"demon_truck_final_smaller\" width=\"624\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n <p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>What was I thinking!?<\/strong><\/p>\n <p>For me, the spirit of Ludum Dare is that you <strong>make what you can and ship it<\/strong>. This time around, surprise:\u00a0that limit was suddenly 36 hours instead of 48&#8230; and that&#8217;s it. Nothing else changed. Sure, 12 hours is a full 25% of the time allotted, and that means drastic cuts, but it doesn&#8217;t have to mean an unfinished experience.\u00a0Does any of this sound familiar to you?<\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>Had to drop a number of features.<\/li>\n <li>Didn&#8217;t have as much time to polish as was necessary.<\/li>\n <li>Game felt full of potential but didn&#8217;t get a chance to deliver.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p>In other words,\u00a0<strong>Demon Truck felt just like every other Dare project,\u00a0<\/strong>just shorter. When I realized that, I was able to put the final hours into making the game a closed experience&#8211; one that starts and ends satisfactorily.<\/p>\n <p><strong>Enemies got cut<\/strong>\u00a0and there are only two bad guys with two bad guy behaviors, all the other ones were dropped.<\/p>\n <p><strong>Upgrades<\/strong> are handed out in a static pattern over the course of four waves, and not randomized choices after each wave.<\/p>\n <p><strong>Waves<\/strong> are all built by hand in some awful code, and not the dynamic endless-wave style of previous LD projects of mine.<\/p>\n <p><strong>The game ends<\/strong> after a short set period of racing and demon-fooming, with a humorous nod to the power outage that made me cut things short.<\/p>\n <p>Compared to many other LD compo entries, Demon Truck lacks complexity and challenge. However, the spirit of the Ludum Dare is not to make something complex and challenging, it&#8217;s to use the time you have to <strong>make what you can and ship it.\u00a0<\/strong>Players can sit down with Demon Truck, have a fun ride, and be done in a few minutes. I&#8217;m proud of that, and it&#8217;s a lesson I&#8217;m taking with me to April&#8217;s contest as well.<\/p>\n <p>Play it here if you&#8217;d like!\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-34\/?action=preview&amp;uid=5448\">http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/ludum-dare-34\/?action=preview&amp;uid=5448<\/a><\/p>\n <p>&nbsp;<\/p>","time":"January 4th, 2016 12:54 pm","title":"Power Outage? Ship it! Spirit of the Dare"}