{"author_link":"\/users\/jeremy-ryan","author_name":"Jeremy Ryan","author_uid":"jeremy-ryan","comments":[],"epoch":1494205074,"event":"LD38","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":30498,"likes":2,"metadata":{"p_key":"93022","p_author":"Jeremy Ryan","p_authorkey":"1015034","p_urlkey":"305940","p_title":"Seven Pillars \u2013 Post Mortem","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD38","p_time":"1494205074","p_likes":"2","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1015034","us_name":"Jeremy Ryan","us_username":"jeremy-ryan","event_start":"1492732800","event_key":"69","event_name":"LD 38"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD38","removed_author":false},"_superparent":9405,"_trust":14,"author":15034,"body":"LD38 was my first Ludum Dare and my first game jam, and I wasn\u2019t sure exactly how far I would get or what to expect, but I\u2019m really satisfied with my final product. I entered the Compo, programmed in Python, and made all the art, animation, and music in the 48-hour time period.\n\nMy game: https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/seven-pillars\n\n\n## What went wrong:\n\n### Ideation:\nThis theme was not particularly inspiring to me, and I had a hard time thinking of anything beyond \u201cdoing x activity on a tiny planet.\u201d It took me several hours before I came up with a solid game idea.\n![Cat_1.gif](\/\/\/raw\/aba\/3\/z\/4116.gif)\n\n### Animation scope:\nAt first, I was going to create around eleven animation sequences for the main character (eight attacks for each direction!), plus a crumbling pillar animation and a dynamic background. I quickly discovered that this was WAY outside the scope of what I could do in 48-hours, so I backtracked, made one attacking animation, and reversed the \u201cjump right\u201d animation for jumping left.\n![Cat_3.gif](\/\/\/raw\/aba\/3\/z\/4115.gif)\n\n### Distribution:\nI didn\u2019t have a good idea of how Python is packaged and compiled, and was unfamiliar with tools for this like pyinstaller and py2exe. Once the Compo ended, I figured that my game was essentially unplayable because it would require Linux, python, pygame, and git to install (whoops). A few days later, after a few hours, I finally figured out how to create a Windows executable. In the future, I\u2019ll probably use an engine like Unity for easier distribution.\n\n### Sleep:\nJesus Christ. I need to learn to take care of myself.\n\n\n## What went right:\n\n### Visuals:\n\nI really like how my game looks. The animation is smoother than I anticipated (I haven\u2019t done animation since the DSi and Flipnote), and the overall theme and style is nice. I originally was going to make it darker, with a more serious, ninja-like character; however, I\u2019m glad that I pivoted because the sword cat was more fun to animate.\n\n### Music:\n\nI totally expected complete writer\u2019s block for the music, but I managed to sit down with Sibelius and make the tune in an hour or two. It\u2019s pretty brief, but it loops well and has some depth to it.\n\n### Fun:\n\nI had an incredible time making this, and I\u2019m planning on doing Ludum Dare a lot in the future. The community is great, problematic website aside, and I had a great time making this little game and sharing it with the world.\n","comments":2,"comments-timestamp":"2017-05-08T02:22:43Z","created":"2017-05-08T00:47:49Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":30498,"love":2,"love-timestamp":"2017-05-08T08:45:34Z","meta":[],"modified":"2017-05-08T08:45:34Z","name":"Seven Pillars \u2013 Post Mortem","node-timestamp":"2017-05-08T00:57:54Z","parent":25567,"parents":[1,5,9,9405,25567],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/seven-pillars\/seven-pillars-post-mortem","published":"2017-05-08T00:57:54Z","scope":"public","slug":"seven-pillars-post-mortem","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":80284},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"30498","n_urlkey":"305940","n_parent":"25567","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/seven-pillars\/seven-pillars-post-mortem","n_slug":"seven-pillars-post-mortem","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"15034","n_created":"1494204469","n_modified":"1494233134","n_version":"80284","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/seven-pillars\/seven-pillars-post-mortem","text":"LD38 was my first Ludum Dare and my first game jam, and I wasn\u2019t sure exactly how far I would get or what to expect, but I\u2019m really satisfied with my final product. I entered the Compo, programmed in Python, and made all the art, animation, and music in the 48-hour time period.\n\nMy game: https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/seven-pillars\n\n\n## What went wrong:\n\n### Ideation:\nThis theme was not particularly inspiring to me, and I had a hard time thinking of anything beyond \u201cdoing x activity on a tiny planet.\u201d It took me several hours before I came up with a solid game idea.\n![Cat_1.gif](\/\/\/raw\/aba\/3\/z\/4116.gif)\n\n### Animation scope:\nAt first, I was going to create around eleven animation sequences for the main character (eight attacks for each direction!), plus a crumbling pillar animation and a dynamic background. I quickly discovered that this was WAY outside the scope of what I could do in 48-hours, so I backtracked, made one attacking animation, and reversed the \u201cjump right\u201d animation for jumping left.\n![Cat_3.gif](\/\/\/raw\/aba\/3\/z\/4115.gif)\n\n### Distribution:\nI didn\u2019t have a good idea of how Python is packaged and compiled, and was unfamiliar with tools for this like pyinstaller and py2exe. Once the Compo ended, I figured that my game was essentially unplayable because it would require Linux, python, pygame, and git to install (whoops). A few days later, after a few hours, I finally figured out how to create a Windows executable. In the future, I\u2019ll probably use an engine like Unity for easier distribution.\n\n### Sleep:\nJesus Christ. I need to learn to take care of myself.\n\n\n## What went right:\n\n### Visuals:\n\nI really like how my game looks. The animation is smoother than I anticipated (I haven\u2019t done animation since the DSi and Flipnote), and the overall theme and style is nice. I originally was going to make it darker, with a more serious, ninja-like character; however, I\u2019m glad that I pivoted because the sword cat was more fun to animate.\n\n### Music:\n\nI totally expected complete writer\u2019s block for the music, but I managed to sit down with Sibelius and make the tune in an hour or two. It\u2019s pretty brief, but it loops well and has some depth to it.\n\n### Fun:\n\nI had an incredible time making this, and I\u2019m planning on doing Ludum Dare a lot in the future. The community is great, problematic website aside, and I had a great time making this little game and sharing it with the world.\n","title":"Seven Pillars \u2013 Post Mortem","wayback_source":[]}