https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/operator
BUG FIX:
FIXED: Name input not being set correctly
FIXED: Unintended misinterpretation of a string.
REMOVED: Unintended repeat of a string.
FIXED: Intro and Death fades, as well as fixing unintended availability of input.
FIXED: Death sequence.
FIXED: Spawn sequence speeds.
FIXED: Tutorial
Even though I wish I could have done more with OPERATOR, it was a great learning experience. I was originally going to submit for the Compo, but I ran out of time. I almost ran out of time with the Jam itself, finally publishing about 84 seconds before the end of the Submission Phase.
https://hellocoder.itch.io/operator-ludum-dare-submission
So, what happened?
Well, last Monday I was watching one of Tim Ruswick's videos. In it, he was talking about the Ludum Dare and encouraging anyone and everyone to join. What got me thinking was when he said: "Maybe this is your first game, maybe it's not, maybe you just want to make something really really cool."
I was always thinking, "I'll get my first game done, however simple it is, and then maybe think about game jams." I always thought that I would be like a toddler giving scribbles to professionals. I thought it was best to have at least a small game done before joining a jam. I was wrong, and Tim was the one who pushed me off the fence.
Now, we'll fast forward to Friday, which is when I watched his video: "Ludum Dare - 9 Tips in 90 Seconds". I wasn't even planning on joining until I watched that. Late that night, he started a stream when he started development on his LD game "Gnome Country for Old Men". I started soon after watching him, and got the basic text elements and Gatling working that night. I stayed up until about 4AM, and woke up about 8AM the next morning.
Saturday was a busy one. I worked hard to get things up and running, figured out how they should look, and ironed out lots of bugs as I went along. That night was my school's Formal (Prom). It was poor timing, but I enjoyed the night. I probably got to bed around 3AM and woke up the next morning at 9AM for church.
Sunday, I started cranking down as soon as I got home. By "home", I mean a friend's house. I was hoping to finish up for the Compo, but things didn't work out. There simply wasn't enough depth to the game yet, and a lot of the core features were missing. As a side note, I'm glad I didn't because there were extra things I'd missed in the guidelines for the Compo, and I might have missed the deadline while implementing them. At that point, the exhaustion had caught up with me. I went to bed at 2AM and woke up at 11AM.
Monday, I got home from a friend's house at 1PM and started hustling. I had to add in the story, a death sequence, and all the audio at that point. I panicked because I realized I only had a few hours to do so. I got most of the audio work done, but no story! I had sports practice that evening, and I got back a half hour before the Jam ended. I quickly added the final sounds--Oh wait, there's 8 minutes left and I still don't have a story!
I was typing my copyright info into the game just as my alarm, to signify the Jam ending, went off. I was so focused that I jumped, even though I had set it only minutes ago. I was disappointed that I couldn't write at least another few minutes of the story or add in all the other features I had planned for, but at the same time I was glad to finally get to work on publishing the game.
I tested the game a few times, made a logo, added it to Itch with a description and the necessities--Oh my word there's 5 minutes left. I managed to finally publish the game with 84 seconds left. It was finally processed 10 seconds later. If I had waited another minute, the site probably would have been so burdened that I might not have made it.
Now, going back a bit, you might be thinking, "How the crap did he write a story in 8 minutes!?" Well, I didn't exactly get to that. I clocked my typing speed to turbo and started typing the script in for the tutorial, and then I added a prompt and a few waves of enemies. That's as far as I made it before having to sum it up with the credits.
Thanks so much! Out of thousands of games, this is awesome! Nearly the top 20s in Mood, and nearly the top 100s in Innovation!
I'm glad the feel of the game got through to you guys. I have an Extended Version up! I watched several streamers play my game, got their feedback as well as many others, and molded the game accordingly. I also added some new things to add to the feel of the game, adjusted the difficulty, and added a little more to the story. You can play it here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/operator. Thanks again :).
