The Game
The History
I guess I should start out by saying that is my fourth Ludum Dare. I haven’t been able to participate in a while, for reasons, but I got the opportunity to participate in Ludum Dare #31.
If you are curious, my previous Ludum Dare entries were Voxterium (LD22), Mage Duel (LD23), and # (LD26).
Preperation
My three previous Ludum Dare entries were all done in XNA. For my next “real” project, I wanted to get away from the XNA framework, and try something a little more… um… well… supported. Also, wanted to finally do a web game for this competition, to get rid of all the stigmas of running a windows only game that required a redistributable.
I decided to give Haxe a run, as it seemed to be pretty straight forward, and of course it’s cross platform features are extremely interesting. And, hey, making a game in 48 hours is a good way to learn a new language, right?
The Build
When the theme was announced, my mind was blank. After like an hour of pacing my office and staring at a blank screen, this one just sort of popped in there. No idea where it came from or why.
Having done this compo three times before, I had a pretty good idea of what pacing should be… but like the other LD’s I threw that to the wind. Taking into account I was learning a new programming language, I allotted more time for programming. That being the case, when I got into the programming part, HaxeFlixel was sooo easy to use, and so well documented (for this sort of game), that I felt like I could spend more time on the audio and graphics, and I did. Overall, the process went really well and I actually finished a couple hours early.
Targeting the web was kind of a cool experience as well. I was able to post early builds, and get feedback. This helped a lot with finding some glaring issues. One was a bad design decision with the second control (below), that would have been disastrous, had it not been pointed out to me early.
What went right
- I think the game turned out pretty ok.
- I learned a lot about a new language.
- I made a web game!
What went wrong
- Some of the controls are awkward. Some extra time could have been spent on making them more intuitive.
- Would have liked to spend more time on the music
Plans for the Future
I would like to spend some time on a post-compo version. It doesn’t feel complete right now. Some games just feel like they deserve to be fleshed out.
I have received a number of good suggestions and insights on where this game could go, and I totally agree. I also have a lot of ideas I would have liked to implement.. but you know… time… It will also help me to get even more familiar with Haxe, as I believe it can be a great platform for my next game project.
Conclusion
Had a blast last weekend making the game, and have had a great time playing your games. Can’t wait to play more! I wish you all a great Ludum Dare!
Love,
Ross
