Initial thoughts:
Going into the compo I had a general idea of what I wanted to accomplish in my first ludum dare. My goals were simple:
- Keep the scope of the project relatively small.
- Make a complete game. (i.e. have an ending, sound effects, music, etc…)
- Make the core game play function very well.
The theme:
I really struggled to come up with a decent idea for this theme. Plus this being my first ludum dare, I didn’t want to attempt anything really crazy. I wanted to make something complete and functional.
Ultimately I went with an idea I had been wanting to implement for awhile, a top-down 2D platformer, and somewhat disregarded the theme. I wanted to see how this idea would pan out and if I could do it in 48 hours.
Tools:
- Engine – Unity
- Language – C#
- Graphics – PyxelEdit
- Sound effects – Bfxr & microphone
- Music – LMMS
What went right:
- The core mechanics of the game function well. (i.e. movement, jumping, and sliding on ice is fluid and accurate)
- Once I built all the elements of the game. I was able to produce a decent amount of content, due to the reuse of elements to create different challenges.
- I kept the scope small and the input minimal. (i.e. you can move with left click and jump with right click)
- The game is complete!
What went wrong:
- I am not an artist. The game art is functional but nothing more than that.
- Time management. At a few points I got stuck on game play issues. Due to being slightly OCD, I couldn’t move on without fixing them to “perfection”. This may not be entirely a bad thing, but when you have a deadline to consider I could have managed my time better.
- Didn’t attempt to really use the theme.
Conclusion:
I am happy with my game. It is challenging and offered more depth than I initially thought with such a simple movement/jumping scheme. My motivation behind entering the compo was more to develop my game development skills and see what aspects of a game I need to focus on. I learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses. Next ludum dare I will try and really engage with the theme.
Play and Rate
Any comments/criticisms are welcome!