Hello! I am static_boy123 and I just wanted to share my experience in my first LD, and first game, with others:
I found out about this competition last year when Notch(The maker of Minecraft) entered Prelude of the Chambered, I immediately said to myself, “I will do this next year.” So now I did it, I entered in my first, but not last, Ludum Dare.
I was watching tv one night when something popped into my mind, the Ludum Dare. I checked the website to see when it was, two hours. I ran to my computer and started memorizing my basic -5 file- library inside and out, after an hour I was able to repeat most of it from memory and the rest, thankfully, wasn’t needed. So I waited the longest hour of my life hoping the theme would be kittens.
Once the competition finally started I cursed everyone who voted anti-kitten, opened up handy dandy Visual Studio, and got to work. I typed out what I remembered of my library only two classes, but I was able to make a bunch of edits to one to make a new class. I had lots of trouble starting and coming up with ideas for what to do, but I did the basic things, like changing the screen size and creating the controls for moving.
After an hour of sitting and thinking I had an idea, a game that is more based on story than game play, but still has game play. I sat down and started, I added in textures, added a way to shoot, and realized just how inexperienced I am when it comes to game making.
Coding was crazy, I had tons of road blocks; bugs, bugs, and more bugs. I had to go into untraveled land to create the game, and I also spent plenty of time in well worn territory. Overall my game was very fun and frustrating to make, but it was well worth it.
Now a list of what was good and what wasn’t:
Good Things:
- It was fun
- I learned a lot
- I coded in XNA which I am very comfortable in
- Everybody was very supportive of my first game
- I am happy with my work
- My coding works
- Others enjoyed my game
- The ultra great graphics game “Real Life” didn’t distract me that much
Bad Things:
- My entry has two huge bugs
- I didn’t get to finish
- My original texture looked more like a guy masturbating than holding a gun(tip: if this happens move the arm higher on the body and refine the angle :P)
- It was very frustrating
- The story wasn’t clear because it wasn’t finished
- I spent a lot of time doing nothing during the challenge(SLEEEEEEEEP)
Conclusion:
Coding is very fun, but can be frustrating, therefore it is good to have time between each competition. It is also great to get feedback from a good community who knows what you go through to make a game for your first time, because they had to do it themselves.(And it was most likely as crappy as yours) So I would like to thank all who read this, and hope you enjoy my game.
Thanks for reading,
-Static