So, i finally finished my first Ludum Dare … kinda…
After following Ludum Dare for years, wanting to participate, but never finding the time, i finally made it. And loved it. It was not how i thought it would be, but i learned a lot.
Goals i had:
- Finding new tools and learning how to use them
- Creating a game from start to finish in a restricted timeframe
- Curiosity what i could come up with grafix and gameplay wise
- Wanting to start from scratch, going from 0 to 100 km/h, seeing where that would get me (0 to 62mph that is 😉 )
Inherent problems with my goals that i now see:
- Not knowing some tools i wated to use (PIXI.js) i didn’t realize how much additional work would be needed, this could have been avoided with some research and tests before the Compo started. This is how i wanted it, thats how i got it, lesson learned, i am now one experience richer.
- Starting from scratch means that even the basic and simple game mechanics like start screen and tutorial screen had to be created. This is nothnig fancy, basically just routine work, those things could have been avoided by using boilerplate code (which a lot of ppl do, i didn’t like the idea of this, but in the end, it effectively gives you time to sleep/work on other things that pertain to the actual game idea you have).
Thoughts about the theme:
It was not my first choice, to me it seemed very generic, sth. that you didn’t have to create a game for, just use any game idea you have, and you can adapt it a bit to match the theme, e.g. just apply a time limit. “10 seconds” is more a GAME MECHANIC than a THEME.
Themes like Evil vs. Evil are really a THEME, because it influences the GAMEPLAY and great ideas will emerge. Maybe 😉
My Theme interpretation:
As i didn’t want to go the obvious way: “AAAAwesome, we can make a game that, waaaait for iiiiiit, …. lasts 10 seconds and you have to play reeeeeeeal fast, wooooow, duuuuuuude, EXCELLENT!…” i wanted to move in the oposite direction, make it reaaaaally slow. Nothing came to mind, but then i thought about the fact that they always tell us “time is relative”!? So i came up with the idea of calculating the time relative to an external beholder, while the players time goes faster or slower depending on the gravity field the ship is currently in.
The science of this is aaaabsolutely and a huuuundred percent … something… dunno,ask someone else about that 😉.
The simple principle i used is: the more gravity, the slower time passes, relative to an external beholder. Exagerate this by several orders of magnitude, threw in some wormholes for good measure to make up lost time, et voilà, you have “10 seconds are an eternity” (please comment btw :-) ).
Conclusion
It was a very interesting experience, i learned a lot and i am very content with the idea i came finally up with (took me 4h).
I am amazed by the beautiful games and designs ppl came up with, i can’t wait for the final scoreboard to see the best of the best. So, lets keep on voting and congratulating each other :)It is a bit sad that i couldn’t finish it 100% in the given time, but i think you will see what i was getting at, and i definately plan to make a post – Ludum Dare version of it.
Saludos
Lars
p.s.: please comment on my game too :-) 10 seconds are an eternity
Leave a Reply