I know there are people here that worked as a team and people who worked on their games alone. I wanted to ask you guys:
- Why did you decide to work solo/as a team?
- If you are working with other people, how did you meet?
I started learning programming a while ago because I loved videogames, but in the end, I never tried doing game development. So a few days ago, I got a sudden urge to try that out and decided that the best way to do it was to learn an engine and actually create something. That’s when I opened up itch.io, found out about this jam, and decided it was perfect for that objective. Since it was very last minute, and because I wanted to test myself, I went for it alone.
It was a very good experience. I slept really little during that week of the jam, but it was a lot of fun and I learned a ton of things. Having made a project from start to finish for the first time was wonderful.
Thanks for asking!
I worked alone because I had been on a train of working with teams and not finishing projects(also on the off-chance that any of my teammates are reading this, I don't mean any offense to you), and because I do like working by myself sometimes. I compensated for my lack of visual skills with a collection of assets that I fused to create my final art style. That was pretty fun.
You can see the art style here: https://keveatscheese.itch.io/skeletons
On the topic of teams though, I am looking to join a team in a composing role! Some games I like the vibe of/take inspiration from are: Inscryption, Alan Wake, Alan Wake II, Control, Dont Starve Together, Plague Tale, and Pony Island.
If you want to work together, contact me on Discord!
Discord: KevEatsCheese
How curious! I always thought that working as a team would probably have the opposite effect, because more work could be done quicker, and because of the commitment with the team. Anyway, I also like working by myself sometimes, so I understand that.
BTW, I played your game and think it looks really good! If you don’t think you have the skills to create art, at least you can be confident that you do have a good eye.
I worked with one other person. my partner had been telling me that they wanted to try making some sprites in aesprite for a few weeks. a couple days before the deadline, I learned about the jam and impromptu suggested that we submit something. they got to practice making art and I got to learn how godot and combination locks work, so it was a win win :)
met a few years ago in a course.
I was planning to work with a friend, but they unfortunately had to bail. Solo for me! Unity was our common game engine and thus the engine used for this jam, but if I had known ahead of time it would be a solo jam, I would've used Godot.
I got to use state machines for my first time this jam! Usually, my friend would have handled the movement code but I'm glad I got to stretch that muscle.
I see! It’s great that you had an idea already coming into the jam. Must have saved you some time! The first two days I spent them basically thinking what I was gonna do, only to scrap the whole story in the middle of the week, lol.
I get the struggle of working on those parts you’re not very used to, as well. My case was the opposite, though. I am a programmer, and had to come up with a simple idea to make the graphics for my game. I think they turned out alright, luckily!
I always tried finding a team in a game jam. It is nice meeting a stranger who has a common interest. I mean it is a jam, why work solo? :p
We met in this jam when I posted a thread about finding a team member. Luckily, I found a really passionate teammate and we made great progress in just a week. kudos to all of my teammates if you are reading this!
That’s so nice! Kudos to you all for working together and finishing a game. I definitely agree that the jam can work wonders for meeting new people to work with. But I can see people working solo to test/try their own skills, or just as a personal challenge. Some people may also find it stressful to work with other people in something that is supposed to be for fun! The pressure is definitely different.
I'm working solo because I don't have friends that are game developers(besides my good old friend Google) and I wanted to challenge myself to see if I can finish a game in only one week. Also I'm just more used to doing game Dev alone(because all my projects were alone) I did use some assets mostly for sound design though and I don't have any idea how tonkske sfx myself so I think that was for the better😂 What do you think of my game for it being developed by only me? https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-11/rate/2535578
Oh and for the second question I met myself when I was born in a hospital. 😂
Oh, but your friends don’t have to be game devs to be able to participate. They can be artists, writers, composers… that’s the cool think about videogames! You can also try to find people participating in the jam if you ever want to work with other people in the future. Based on the screenshots though, the game you made looks great! I am all for voxel art. I don’t know if I’ll have much time to try it out, but I hope I do!
PD: I, too, met myself when I was born. Perhaps even sooner, when my brain developed! :p
I work by myself because I want to learn as much as I can about all aspects of game dev. I will be doing a lot of jams this year and each one will be a lesson in project management. By the end of this year I should have a cohesive grasp and what it takes to get a full project out within a limited timeframe. That being said, it also shows me the elements of design that are not my strongest and should thus be left to other contributors. I've been an artist most of my life, musician for many years, and a game dev hobbyist since I was able to get my hands on a computer. In a team I could contribute to any of these, however my focus has been on becoming a stronger generalist and have better time/project management skills. I feel like being more well rounded will contributed greatly when working with a team in the future. That being said, I know that communication is something I'll need to work on, so I will be looking to joining teams at some point this year on future jams/random projects.
This sounds awesome! Best of luck on this endeavour and your future projects. Practice makes perfect, and managing projects is definitely no easy task. Alos, being well rounded will definitely help you when working with a team in the future. You’ll more easily adapt to the needs of the team and, you’ll also be able to provide better feedback.
I just decided to take part in a Jam for the first time in my life (I’ve never taken part in something like this before) and saw this one. I invited my classmate from university to participate and he agreed. He also brought a programmer to our team. Yes, it's that simple :)
I apologize for the small amount of details in the story, English is just not my native language.
No need to apologize! English isn’t my native language either.
That’s such a cool story! Must be really nice to work in a game with friends from college. It also sounds like it was a good idea to invite that friend in particular, since he also brought someone else to join the team. Hope you had fun participating! And good luck with the ratings c: