Development Story and Goals

The theme was delivery. But between me and my group of 8 friends, that theme felt too boring. Delivering… what? Mail? Pizza? Newspapers? Everyone was going to create games about that. The first few hours of the 53rd Ludum Dare game jam was spent thinking of creative spins and takes on the delivery theme.

Then, it hit us.

Instead of delivering any goods or services, we set out to create a game where you de-liver people in an endless hospital. And thus, Liver Die (a pun on “live or die”) was born.

Liver Die takes a lighthearted approach by incorporating a simple low-poly theme and heavy use of our group’s humor. This helped the game achieve an enjoyable experience from an otherwise crazy (not to mention gruesome) take on the jam’s theme.

Technology Stack and Development Tools

Primary Technologies:

• Unity - Game engine providing robust 3D capabilities and rapid iteration
• C# - Programming language for game logic, player controls, and system interactions
• Git - Version control for coordinating work across 8 team members
• Blender - 3D modeling for hospital environments and character assets
• Discord - Team communication and real-time collaboration

Specialized Systems:

• Procedural Hospital Generation - Dynamic corridor and room creation for endless gameplay
• Custom Audio System - Spatial audio for immersive hospital atmosphere
• Dialogue System - Dynamic NPC conversations with humor-focused writing

Rationale Behind Technology Choices: Unity was selected for its excellent 3D capabilities and our team’s collective expertise with the engine. The new Input System provided the responsiveness needed for the fast-paced “de-livery” gameplay. Our decision to implement procedural generation allowed for replayability within the 72-hour development window.

Technical Challenges and Project Management

Time Management Under Pressure: The biggest challenge in any time-sensitive game jam is exactly that: Time. Ludum Dare usually gives you a total of 3 days to make a game; the jam starts on a Friday afternoon, then ends on the same time Monday. Needing to balance expectations and goals to match a short time-frame is no easy task.

Large Team Coordination: Managing a game jam project among a larger team was a challenging yet ultimately fun experience. We all knew each other well, so there was no problems with getting along and working together. The biggest project management challenge was coordinating which team members were working on what part of the project, and making sure no one was stepping on each others’ toes while we were all working as asynchronously as possible.

Technical Implementation Challenges:

• Performance Optimization - Ensuring smooth gameplay with procedurally generated environments
• Audio Integration - Implementing spatial audio for the hospital setting while maintaining performance
• Procedural Content - Balancing randomization with intentional game design
• Multi-platform Compatibility - Ensuring the game worked across different devices, especially the web

Lessons Learned and Development Growth

Project Management Insights: Liver Die was the most game development fun I’ve had in a while. Not only was Liver Die a blast to create, it was also a healthy learning experience on time-sensitive projects and project management with a larger (8+) team.

Technical Skills Development:

• Advanced understanding of Unity’s systems and optimization techniques
• Experience with real-time collaborative development workflows
• Skills in balancing technical ambition with time constraints
• Improved debugging and problem-solving under pressure

Team Collaboration:

• Effective task delegation and parallel development strategies
• Communication protocols for asynchronous work across time zones
• Conflict resolution and decision-making in high-pressure situations

Project Impact and Jam Results

Our game jam results were impressive for our 2nd submission. Among 2310 submissions to Ludum Dare 53, Liver Die placed 140th overall, roughly the top 6%. In specific categories, Liver Die placed:

Jam Results:

• 55th in Fun - Demonstrating our successful implementation of engaging gameplay
• 24th in Theme - Recognition for our creative interpretation of “delivery”
• 11th in Humor - Validation of our comedic approach to the dark subject matter

Technical Legacy: The procedural generation system and team coordination workflows developed for Liver Die influenced our approach to subsequent game jam projects. The success of this project established our team as a competent collaborative unit for future creative endeavors.