Ludum Dare, Postmortem
Inner Demons (LD29) Postmortem
Voting has officially ended for Ludum Dare 29. My entry was ranked as follows:
| Rank (of 1493) | Category | Rating | Percent | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #63 | Mood | 3.88 | 95.8% | +31.9% |
| #70 | Humor | 3.64 | 95.3% | +22.0% |
| #101 | Innovation | 3.88 | 93.2% | +26.5% |
| #116 | Overall | 3.76 | 92.2% | +23.3% |
| #148 | Fun | 3.60 | 90.1% | +10.9% |
| #149 | Audio | 3.50 | 90.0% | N/A |
| #227 | Theme | 3.64 | 84.8% | +52.3% |
| #551 | Graphics | 3.17 | 63.1% | -8.0% |
Average score: 88.1% (+23.0% improvement from previous entry)
If you’re curious, you can play my game, Inner Demons! Let’s dive into the postmortem…
First, I feel great about the results. I increased my ranking significantly from Diner Devil! in December. I feel as though Inner Demons is representative of my skills, so the rankings mean that much more to me. Overall: I am very happy.
What Went Right
- Time management was perfect. I had a playable game by noon on Saturday. By the time I went to bed on Saturday night, I had a “completed” game, which gave me all of Sunday for audio and polish. I finished on Sunday with six hours to spare.
- The story is compelling enough to turn some heads. Yes, it’s a bit strange – but strange can be good. Some people saw the twist coming from a mile away… other people weren’t impressed… but most feedback I received was that the twist was well done.
- “Mood” was my target, and it was my highest ranking category, putting me in the top 5%. Story and audio can do amazing things… it’s too bad my previous game barely had any!
What Went Wrong
- Graphics. By far. It’s my lowest ranking category, and I agree with the community. Compared to other games, my graphics are quite ugly. They’re not “charming” in any way, and look like childish MS Paint.
- Gameplay mechanics were a bit weak. The mace game in particular received a lot of complaints about the difficult controls. I thought it was obvious (and it was, to me!), but I was wrong.
- Audio is good, but could have been a bit better. I got lazy towards the end, and just looped the main bass line. I had plenty of time to add more variety – I just didn’t.
Overall
I am very happy with my performance, ranking, and most importantly: the game I created. I was happy with the game the moment I finished. I’m glad I took a creative risk, and I think it paid off.
That being said: I need to beef up my graphics skills. I need to find a style that I can create great graphics quickly. I also need to work on more intuitive controls. I think I will focus on controls and innovative/fun gameplay in August, with a secondary focus on graphics.
It was great seeing all the games everyone else made, and it’s always fun hanging out in the chat room and talking to other like-minded people. Thanks for all the feedback, and I’ll see you in August!