This will be the temporary devlog for my 1-Room RPG project codenamed "1 Lodge, 4 Friends". Each post on this devlog from me will go through each day of development, covering different aspects of building this game up.
Day 1
One of the first things I wanted to cover in this game was establishing the "one room" that this game was going to take place in, especially since this aspect is the most essential to a game jam that is entirely focused on this very room. Sure, there are doors that will eventually be placed in said room, as well as a front door that one can go out of like a normal lodge, but in spirit of the jam, no one can see what's beyond those doors through gameplay.
This was only one of the earliest sketches of the lodge that I managed to capture; the floor had its own work-in-progress texture before this screencap while I was working on the tiles externally through Photoshop.
I brainstormed a few ideas on how I wanted to play around with the concept of having everything in one room beforehand. The following is what I noted down in my game design document before the jam began:
As a breakdown [of the rules]:
- Gameplay is restricted to this one room.
- Specifically, JUST GAMEPLAY.
- Since the one-room limitation only applies to gameplay, other rooms can exist. You just can’t go inside them.
- Likewise, a world outside of the room can also exist. You just can’t go to those parts.
- Non-playables can go into other rooms and outside. You, the player, can’t.
- Anything that happens within another room or outside must only happen through a cutscene or, for the best jam feeling, offscreen.
- Things [or people] can come from the outside into the room.
I only established the basic room layout of this game on day 1; I would finalize the rest of the design on the upcoming day.
