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Goal and Explanation

With the successes of past Ludum Dare projects Lunaculture and Liver Die, me and my ragtag group of developer friends felt confident heading into the 54th Ludum Dare game jam. While past Ludum Dares presented challenges and stress, with two game jams already under our belt, we felt confident in our ability to produce a stand-out game.

Besides, our team had 8 people. What could possibly go wrong?

Haha...

Suffice to say, this Ludum Dare jam was a harsh reminder of the realities of game development. We ran into a lot of problems, panics, and stress; the fact we were able to finish this game on-time should be considered lucky. Nonetheless, this jam was extremely valuable experience, even if the moment-to-moment experience wasn't as good as our previous entries.

Problems and Growing Pains

The very first problem hit us right as the jam began. Due to illness or general disinterest, some members of the team didn't participate. 5 people were expected to complete a jam scoped for 8-9 people. Of the people who could participate, not all of us had the time to commit, either.

I'd also consider overengineering to be a big problem in this particular jam. The hallway and room system - the actual level you get to play in - was not completed until the last 24 hours of the jam, leaving very little room to balance anything with regards to how they fit inside the level. Not to mention, a game-breaking bug was found during the last few hours of the jam, but we couldn't fix it in time; we had to patch our game after submission hour once we were able to debug and fix the issue.

Lessons Learned

Overall, the amount of work you can achieve is not linear with the amount of members on a team.

This Ludum Dare game jam served as a healthy reminder to limit the scope of a jam game, no matter how many people may or may not be available to help.

While I'm happy we were able to complete our entry on time, and didn't score too terribly either, it's certainly an experience I'd like to not repeat in future game jams.

Let's collaborate.

Feel free to reach out to ask questions, connect, or if you want to work with me.