The main mechanic is done and the sample level is working. Nothing else is even started yet. Need to cut some corners and stop polishing shaders.

:heavycheckmark: story idea, :heavycheckmark: player, :heavycheckmark: player movement - keyboard and controller, :heavycheckmark: level building blocks, :heavycheckmark: shaders,

:x: main menu, :x: ending, :x: player visuals, :x: levels, :x: fail state info, :x: music, :x: sound, :x: level background visuals, :x: polish, :x: a few other things...

Game is playable from start to finish now with a few levels. My main focus the last few hours will be more levels, background music and polish polish polish.

:heavycheckmark: story idea, :heavycheckmark: player, :heavycheckmark: player movement - keyboard and controller, :heavycheckmark: level building blocks, :heavycheckmark: shaders, :heavycheckmark: main menu, :heavycheckmark: ending, :heavycheckmark: improved player visuals, :heavycheckmark: fail state info, :heavycheckmark: sound, :x: levels - 75%, :x: music - 50%, :x: level background visuals - 50%, :x: level transsion, :x: polish, :x: a few other things

After two hours trying to get a WebGL build working it's finally done! Had to extract everything and import into another project to get the WebGL build to load. Overall the weekend was quite stressfull but I don't regret it.

Retrospective: * Wasted lot of time learning Unity new input system. * Should have finished more of the game before starting to polish. * Really happy with how the shaders turned out. * Playtesting takes time, especially on hard levels.

Almost everything in my original plan was completed: :heavycheckmark: story idea, :heavycheckmark: player, :heavycheckmark: player movement - keyboard and controller, :heavycheckmark: level building blocks, :heavycheckmark: shaders, :heavycheckmark: main menu, :heavycheckmark: ending, :heavycheckmark: player visuals, :heavycheckmark: fail state info, :heavycheckmark: sound, :heavycheckmark: levels, :heavycheckmark: music, :heavycheckmark: level transition, :x: level background visuals - 50%, :x: polish - 50%, :x: a few other things - 30%,

Please enjoy my rage inducing short platformer, Unpredictable Processes! It's only 10 levels but they ramp up in difficulty.

Making games is both easy and hard

• Figuring out an idea based on a theme can be easy, but distilling it down to something achievable in two days is hard.
• Getting started with a few clicks for some shapes and a bit of code for a basic concept is easy, but having a plan for a project and follow through is hard.
• Polishing a single thing until it works great is easy, but seeing the bigger picture and make the bits into a whole is hard.

What I learned

The good

• Making something by and for yourself is really fun and satisfying. Even though the weekend was quite stressful I had such a great time.
• When you must do everything on your own lean on your strengths. I have a decent understanding of unity and how it works so I leveraged the basic systems like game loop and physics instead of making a new game engine. Mathematics and computer science come naturally so working with code for systems and shader graph was a great idea.
• Just getting started without a solid plan the first hour and then stopping to make a plan worked great. Setting up the project, box out stuff, while thinking of the greater picture and what you want to do. Since it was quick project I just had a small to-do list in a text file.
• Posting progress during the project was a great way to see what was done and get a good feel for the progress I made. Reading through the short updates after release felt great.

The bad

• Since I’m not an artist I choose to avoid graphics this time around. Overall it was a good idea but it made the game look generic. At least using a more expressive font could have made the game stood out more. Could have made a logo for the game using some online tool.
• Music is fine, but the loop is too short and become repetitive. Should have planed more time to create a longer tune. Happy with the sound since it fits the overall theme well.
• I had two prior commitments during the weekend. That took a lot of time from my project. When I was away I thought about what I would do and fix in my project when I got home. Make sure you plan your weekend in advance so you don’t end up with other stuff to do.

The ugly

• Learning something new during Ludum Dare is maybe not recommended for a beginner. Spent a few hours learning Unity’s new input system. Still, I couldn’t figure out how to get the controller working properly on the main menu in time. The basic input system would have been okay for this prototype.
• Build to WebGL refused to work at the end of the compo. Had to export everything and import into another project to get a build working. A few days later I figured out it was a bug in Unity. If the field company name includes quotation mark the WebGL build won’t start. I’ve reported it to Unity in case 1370946.

Post compo

I’ve been working on my prototype after release. Got some great feedback on my submission page here at Ludum Dare that I learned from. After the play and rate period is over I will update the game. Here is what I’ve been working on so far.

Change log: * Better detection if player is grounded. * Visuals indicate if player can jump. * Player can no longer partily land on an edge. * Player is a bit faster and feels more nimble. * Level is less bright and shiny. * End of level animation improved.

Please play my game Unpredictable Processes and give me more suggestions in the comment section.

I was really looking forward to Ludum Dare 50 but when the theme was revealed I felt nothing. The three loose ideas I had been thinking about for the last week didn’t fit into “delay the inevitable” theme.

After some soul searching, I came up with a new idea and a story. The game is an endless shoot ‘em up that you will eventually fail. It’s a sad story about a spy that have been busted and need to flee. Unfortunately, the fate is sealed as soon as the spaceship lift off the planet Lluna. Endless homing missiles will shoot the craft down sooner or later.

So far Saturday morning started of decent. Started a new project and set up some scaffolding. Added source control and opened Corel PaintShop Pro and hit my first wall. I’m not a painter. After more than an hour I had a spaceship done in “programmer art” style. Back into Unity and writers block hit hard. Last Ludum Dare I spent way too much time fiddling with the new Input System. Didn’t want to make that same mistake. Got some basic movement going felt that this wasn’t going well.

Took a break to clear my mind. Had to make some more… “art” for the Lluna surface. Created some green mess and figured out how to make a repeating tile of it in Corel PaintShop Pro. Wasn’t that hard once you found the menu option. Back in unity I made it a scrolling background and added some clouds via a particle system. That looked convincing enough.

Spent the evening trying out a few different enemy ideas. Settled on one and continued with health and effects. Got tired of clicking to fire so I added auto fire. Not happy with the game but decent progress.

Sunday means finishing the game and it was missing some systems. First, I tackled the game states. With a way to lose the game it immediately got more fun. Fixed everything related with menus and buttons to restart.

A lesson from my last game jam was to add audio early. Oh well, better late than never. Fired up Rytmik Studio and had a blast making a cheesy song. Fixed some sound effects with the awesome SFXR tool. Implemented an audiomanager and main menu. Since there was time to spare I made sure the game was fully playable with a controller too.

Time to build the game for Windows and WebGL. As usual the WebGL build fails and you must solve a new issue every time. 😂 Took screenshots, made a logo and created both Ludum Dare and Itch pages.

Finished the compo with lots of time to spare but I’m just relieved that I’m done. A lesson for next time is that if it’s not fun then maybe do something else than the theme.