Skip to main content

Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines

Is it Okay if the end result is not fun, not beautiful not anything? + I could use some advices

A topic by Kucei created Aug 03, 2020 Views: 278 Replies: 6
Viewing posts 1 to 6
(+1)

There was stress, there was procrastination, and i was'nt home at the begininnig of the Jam.

Day 1 I did almost no thinking about the game untill the evening and ended up sleeping late because my thoughts were running wild.
Got a few different concepts but either they did not interest me that much or they interessed me as a bigger project wich I was sure I could'nt finish before the end of the Jam .
I kept those that i could reduce, but had to thing about how to expoit it in an interesting way for example, one of my ideas was the "classical" ressurection in the past when you die. What I found interesting at first was the opposition "reinforcing your body" wich was usefull in the actual run, or "reinforcing your mind "wich would be usefull for the next runs.  At first I wanted a "semi" open world with npc so you could be at different places at different time and experience the world differently . I also wanted for your actions to have an impact ( talk about the treasure you will hunt and some bandits may wait for you in this run when they wern't there else ) . Of course this original idea was set aside because too big . I decided to focus on one "place" A caravan wich would go from a point A to B and you had to understand why it was attacked (had some issues with the how to do)? A town you had to defend or escape from (too big)? A Inn where there was some kind of monster that you had to find ? -> Problem it became more about finding how it became like this so more about the mind than about this body because of the short scale on wich it could happen.

Sorry for the length. I won't spend more time on the other ideas.

Day 2 I took the train. I left this idea behind for another one that seducced me. Once I got home I tried to open Unity to try to see how i would do the "world" of this game , but closed it with nothing done.

Today I found out that my concept wsn't even clear to me. At this point in time I elaborated a bit more but I m not even sure where is the fun , and I d like to do more thinking.
My personnal situation is : I ve done only one game that i "finished " Saturday before the game Jam. I learned some things. But it took me a month of trials and errors to end up with a final result that I could have done in 1 week with what I already knew. A bit disapointing, but also, Im very slow.

So at this point, I just want to dig further in my concept to have a "complete concept " for a game I won't make. And I m thinking about creating a "museum " like game where you can juste walk from A-> B (But you enter at B so at least we can rewind to A ) . And what it ll do is simply tell my thinking process through the jam and present the concept of the game I wanted to do ( I don't think I can start and do this game with the remaining time ) . I m not good with music. Average-low in art . Average-lower in code . Slow and not experienced in game.
So.
Is it acceptable to do this?
It it something I can do regarding my poor skillset in the remaining time (would consist on a long 2D map with pannels you could interact with to make an explanation appear) ?
Should I still try to make my concept a reality ? (I think that the minimal requirements are still a bit long to set up for a noob like me ).

I m open for your opinions. Sorry about all the text, I m this kind of guy who want to explain (too much ) . And sorry about possible mistakes regarding the language.

Submitted(+2)

Don't worry bro. My game is also not fun, not beautiful and no nothing. If you just managed to finish the game, you rock! Game Jams are about having fun and learning.

Thanks for rew..reminding me of what is important, I ll try my best to enjoy the process if not the final content !

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

As @Mono Pixel  said, Game Jams are about having fun and learning, there is no money at stake, nobody is losing anything if your game isn't what you hoped it to be. Everything will be fine, just enjoy the process, try and have fun and you will learn so much along the way. Who knows, maybe part way through you think of a way to make the game awesome, just make sure you finish on time. Good luck with this! Edit: proof of concept is completely acceptable as well, a very rough prototype is fine to end the game jam with, just make sure whoever sees it somewhat knows what it's about

Submitted(+1)

If you complete your game, you've already done better than half of the people that entered. The Great thing about game jams is that it really doesn't matter if you do well. I know we all want to win but do the best you can and you'll find the experience to be worth more than winning ;)


Goddamn I should write hallmark cards!

Submitted(+1)

I won't say the classic things people say when people feel bad in game jams like "just have fun" and "it's for learning" cuz they're overused. I will say this: whether your going to become a game developer or not, this experience is massively useful to you. Even if in the end you don't get much of anything finished, you will take with you some important lessons about planning, organizing, programming, and designing. Even if in the end you did none of these things, you now know what to not do the next time, and these lessons stick not just with game jams but for other areas in life.

So I say, keep going with it. If you're worried that you won't finish it or it won't be good, then get that out of your head and just go at your own pace. Not everyone wins in every competition, but everyone gets something out of it. 

Thanks your kind answers gave me motivation and hope to keep going.
But it was too hard for me on this Jam.
I ve been trying to write how I felt about it for a while now. But I just can't find words. Either I m too pessimistic or I start doubting my English so much that I erase everything.
So I ll stop trying and go get some rest first, even if it s the hard way, videogame creation is slowly making me learn how to let go of things at the very least.
Have fun playing and creating!