Ludum Dare 19: “Lost Races’ Artifacts Recovery”
According to Daniel, my Ludum Dare concepts are hit-or-miss. As of now, I have participated in four Ludum Dare 48-hour game development competitions, and it’s hard to gauge if I have improved or not.
For Ludum Dare 19, our theme was “Discovery”.1
Much time was spent finding a suitable game idea before I actually started working on it. The reasons are many and varied, and I won’t get into them here. Suffice to say, my gigantic ego cannot bear the thought of choosing a “normal” mechanic, or one that may be used by others during the competition. This is where Daniel’s “hit-or-miss” principle comes into play. Before the project gets rolling, the driving force is that I’d rather have a badly-made game with an interesting mechanic or concept, than a well-made game with a trivial or obvious mechanic.
Of course, after it’s all over, and the score cards and criticism come pouring in, I realize I would have done better if I had made a simpler game. Indeed, I would rather have made a good, fun game, even if the mechanics had been obvious or even trivial.
In any case, the game I made is called Lost Races’ Abandoned Artifact Recovery, and you can play it here. You can also see feedback and rating (scores will be published when the voting round is over).
If you are interested in the concept, I wrote a Coroner’s Report, which is more about the technical details, but also manages to flagellate me nicely.
Thanks to all who provided feedback, and to anyone who played my game. As always, Ludum Dare is a learning experience, and I look forward to the next one.
1It occurs to me that there must be a better system for theme voting. As it works today, anyone can “upvote” or “downvote” any number of themes. This dull sword layers vague clouds of desires, and the thickest point becomes the chosen theme. As soon as “Discovery” appeared on the final list, it was fairly obvious it would be chosen, because who doesn’t want a game about discovery? (One year ago, it was “Exploration”.)
It might be wise to limit the number of upvotes per round per person, or to have voters order the themes from highest interest to lowest. This way, only the themes that invoke the deepest resonance with the voters will float to the top and get chosen. It is my opinion that this will increase each vote’s weight, and reduce the generic, flat themes chosen.