I’m really happy with my entry for the actual Ludum Dare event. The game itself feels very consistent and the feedback is very good so far. Hence I’m actually working on a post-compo version of the game. It is in open beta at the moment and shall become a free puzzle strategy game for Windows, Linux and maybe Mac PCs.
I will post development updates on this blog with some spare additional posts on the Ludum Dare site.
So finally I’ve found some time to write up my impressions of the past Ludum Dare event. As ever it was a big pleasure to participate and I’m really impressed with the sheer amount of games being made and the overall quality which feels a little higher than the last times.
Now about my game “Bottlecolonies” which you can play here.
The good
I finished everything I planned to minimally have in the game in time.
The creation of a windows executable with py2exe worked immediately this time, thanks to experience from past Ludum Dares.
I’m pretty happy that I really took my acoustic guitar to make ingame sound and music.
I managed to make a game with quiet a consistent style and feel due to the hand drawn graphics.
I’m totally happy with the game I’ve made. With my third LD this time I noticed how much my self-organisation and the outcome progressed from event to event.
The bad
I totally underestimated the effort even to record only a small music track with a real instrument.
There are still some small issues that could have been solved within time (especially some sort of marker where one builds).
To solve the challenges stated in the levels requires more training and strategic thinking than I expected. It’s the standard issue that usually the developer himself is the most experienced player of his game and tends to make it too difficult.
To sum it up
You can see I’m really glad with my LD entry this time. I’m very confident now with my tools (especially python/pygame) and know roughly how much time different steps in development needs and what I’m able to achieve in 48 hours. I think that is the most valuable experience you get from an event like this.
Already put a marker for positioning in the post compo version.
Additionally the reception of my game has been quite positive. Hence I’ll put some more effort in a post compo version which shall at least include:
A marker for the building position (done)
Additional music (one new track already recorded)
More levels
Highscores of past plays
As I’ve already written twoteasers for this post mortem I’ll stop here and just give you a visual impression of the development details:
From first prototype to post compo – with handdrawn graphics and self made guitar music.
