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Did you learn something new during the jam? Please share!

A topic by VictorBurgos created Feb 21, 2021 Views: 609 Replies: 53
Viewing posts 1 to 25
Submitted

Every jam I've done, I always come out a little smarter about game dev or UE4. 

In UE4, I learned how to use the new water system in 4.26, I completely broke the material, but I doubt anyone will notice (it's supposed to be blue...lol)

Did you learn something new during the game jam? Comment below with what you learned!

If you have time, please check out our game and rate it:

https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-5/rate/929213


Thanks and take care, everyone! Can't wait to see all your comments :0

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

Definitely. This was my first jam and my second (ish) game. I've learnt so much about what I can do. And also learnt how to use tile mapping, but then couldn't use it because it interfered with my current level system

Submitted

Congrats on your first jam! This must be easily my 20th or so. I used to do them monthly, then quarterly, now whenever I get the chance. 

They are very fun!

Ohhh tile mapping, I haven't done 2D in a while, but yeah, I need to relearn that for sure!

Submitted(+1)

Finally solved getting a seamless transition from an intro to a loop for a song... There's somehow zero tutorials out there for that (not even Brackeys could save me...) and it's been driving me nuts for ages lol But I've finally learned enough about programming to do it myself.

Def gonna give your game a try too, looks like a really fun concept!

Submitted

Ohh, seamless transitions are hard in music...well, music is hard actually for me 100% LOL. I want to learn it, but it always seems out of reach. I don't do bad chiptunes I guess though!

(+1)

I learned that my game was unplayable (due to lag), so I quit the jam. At least I'm a little bit better at programming now...

Submitted

Awww, I am so sorry about that. You should never quit though! You could have reduced your scope and just polished/optimized your game and submitted something!

But glad that you learned a little more coding!

(1 edit)

I left the jam 15 minutes before the deadline. I was testing my game to see what it would look like in a browser. It was very laggy, like 8fps. But my game is basically png files that move around, and it was like 24MB.

Guess I'll have to learn about optimization (and I think I'll expand it to a full-fledged game in the future).

Submitted(+1)

I just learn Godot in a week. My game is really basic, but I'm happy with the result I made in such a short amount of time. 

Submitted

Oohh Godot... I haven't tried it yet. I've done LOVE, Unity, SFML, random things, but my go-to will probably always be Unreal Engine. 

I might give it a shot one day though, the hype is real for it!

Submitted(+1)

i learned that game jams give you headace.

Submitted

lol. Aye, it definitely can.

Submitted(+1)

In my game (https://jhawk-studios.itch.io/ants) I used Lists in code for the first time. I had always been intimidated by them, but my idea required me to use them so I had to get over that fear

Submitted(+1)

Ah, containers, there are so many of them depending on the language, but yeah, learning all the way you can store data is very beneficial! 

Submitted(+1)

I learned that using UnityEvents are really useful and that sleep is important and apparently sleeping less than 2 hours isnt healthy haha


btw if u wanna check my game here it is 


Submitted(+1)

Very nice! I haven't used Unity is awhile, I might give it another go for some random game jam again though, I feel like knowing a whole bunch of random engines is good for the soul!

And yeah, you need proper food/sleep during a jam!

Submitted(+1)

https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-5/rate/928000

I learned a lot during this jam, I hadn't experimented with proper 2D AI until this jam! It's also my first game jam! Please check my game out and give it a rating, it helps a bunch :)

Submitted

Ohh, 2D AI does sound interesting, IMHO, it should be easier than 3D, because there's one less axis, but I suppose it depends on how they navigate and collisions :) 

Submitted

I learned how to make a 2d game

Submitted

Well, that's very impressive! I've only done a few 2D games in my life in various engines, they have a great following, so it's always good to keep those skills from getting rusty. 

Keep it up!

Submitted

I learned so much this jam! I learned how to make multi-surface movement, i learned a lot about camera work, scene transitions, and triggering animation through events.

Submitted

Camera work/scene transitions are like bread and butter for almost every game, those are good skills to pick up! 

Submitted (1 edit)

I learned better technique to hide level streaming 

Four different locations with different lighting and skyboxes, all without a single loading screen

https://peacock-games.itch.io/through-the-closet-door

Submitted

Ah, level streaming, especially if you can't keep the hitching down definitely makes some games look terrible. 

But,  I'll definitely check it out! 

Submitted

I learned a whole new way to burn out!
=D

Submitted(+1)

LMAO, I hear you. Well, next time, learn from these mistakes and try not to burn out! Or lessen the impact :)

Submitted

I learned that writing good code - or almost it -, is better than making the project so complex that you have to remove several bugs in the deadline... Being more specific, I used UnityEvents, and the game core are basicaly done, only need put more mechanics. I also learned that resting more, makes your head more creative and productive.

ps: my english sucks

Submitted(+1)

For gamejams, speed is key. But yes, unperfomant, sloppy, uncommented code will hinder you, especially a few days in. 

And yeah, proper food and sleep is critical to success!

Submitted

Yes! Learned a lot about how lists, arrays, and how to code them to work, randomize, and order them... Was really a good experience!

Submitted(+1)

Containers are super important to learn! Each of them has their pros/cons. 

Glad you made the best out of it!

Submitted

I learned more about the Light system of Godot and more about puzzle design. 

https://arithmetic.itch.io/shine-bright

Submitted(+1)

Ohh, very nice, another Godot game. While mine was in UE4, it is still cool to see non-Unity games!

Submitted (1 edit)

I learn how to use unity input sistem an a lot of functions/methods of unity and list, I before use game maker


https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-5/rate/928211

Submitted

Ohh, yeah, the input system is very important thing to learn. 

Unity is very different from Gamemaker, but they both have their pros/cons. 

As long as you get better with each gamejam, you should make bigger and better games!

Submitted

Pretty much a new way of handling scene camera management, text parsing with pretty text, and level scripting in a way that doesn't require making MANY child instances to create a story flow with all actors. Gave me a new understanding of rapid prototyping and really will help with future Jams.

https://sbnewsom.itch.io/fiducia

Submitted(+1)

Camera handling is like super important in games. In game dev school, we learned that the 3 C's were the most important thing to get right in a game:

  • Character
  • Controler
  • Camera

Once you have those polished, you work on other stuff. 

Submitted(+1)

Yup, learned the same thing back in college. Pretty much the same concept applied to UX. Though not much applied to my game as what I learned was the system in which the controller works with the camera network and how it handles scene based functions. Which was something I've never managed to do before in any of my projects.

Submitted (2 edits)

I learned how to make NavMesh AI, as well as buttons that needed multiple player objects to be on it. I also learned how to make Cinemachine custom blends. This was my first fully 3d game! I learned a lot even though this isn't my best work :D That's what game jams are for!

Here's my game Monkey See Monkey Do! Please check it out and Rate it!

Submitted

AI is super tricky, there's so much forethought, planning, and testing involved. 

Grats on making your 1st fully 3d game! Hope to see more in the future!

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

I learned that, no matter how hard I try to finish the complete game with tons of extra time before the deadline... ALWAYS ended uploading just a few minutes before the deadline :)

Also learned to use a little better the Unity particle system (which I never had before) and the Avatar Mask for animations.

As always, I really enjoy the experience of not sleeping for one entire night fixing bugs and adding stuffs I forgot to add a few days earlier.

If anyone wanna try my game, here it is: 
https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-5/rate/928191

Submitted(+1)

This is a common issue for sure. You need to make sure you clear out time for food and sleep.

My goal is to always have an MVP by Day 2 (Day 3 the latest) in 5-7 day jams. And then get to 90% by Day 3/4, and playtest, balance, polish until submission time.

Submitted

Nice tip. I thought i was doing that. Spent too much time on polishing the combat system and the animations. That was my biggest mistake, for sure

Submitted

Learned how to use heck out of Unity's render textures, sprite masks, and layers to create a split-screen game on top of a 3D background, with in-game cameras to boot. I love when you try something that feels super hacky it works perfectly.

Also pixel fonts in Unity. Although I'm not sure I learned about them so much as thwacked it until it worked lol.

https://garden-naom.itch.io/jupiter-contract

Submitted

Ohh, split-screen is a fun thing to do. Once you figure out the render pipeline in any game engine, you basically become a god. Good job becoming a god ;)

Submitted

Lol thanks, but it feels more like a "the more you know the render pipeline, the more you understand how little you know the render pipeline" kind of thing. I've but glimpsed the eldritch horrors lurking in the underbelly of the game engine

Submitted

I went to the game jam with the objective of learning RPG building blocks, including creating cutscenes, creating 3d characters on my own, doing animation blending and working with terrain.

I learned so many things along the way around the subtleties of camera controls and state management (making the cutscene skippable was a nightmare). I also learned that working with terrain slopes is hard. I didn't learn how to deal with it yet, I just now know that it is hard!

You can see how far along I got in my submission: https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-5/rate/928738

Please play and rate it :)

Submitted

RPG building blocks come in many flavors, depending on if you're doing CRPG, JRPG, or something else. 

Camera work is super important in games!

Submitted

This was actually my first real game so i learned pretty much everything you need to make a 2d platformer over the course of this jam and im really really proud of how the game turned out!

Submitted

Well, please make sure to look at other jams, and IMHO, you should strive to do at least one jam a month. It looks very nice on your portfolio, but also it will increase your skills tremendously. 

Try a new genre each jam!

Submitted(+1)

I learned that if after over 30h of developing a game you make a level and think it is difficult but not too much, then in fact noone else will be able to beat it ><

I also learned that with enough stress and adrenaline from incoming deadline 3,5h of sleep becomes more than enough

Submitted

TOTALLY AGREE :D

Submitted

Haha, yeah, same here. Most people gave up, but I saw a streamer play, and he was able to beat the whole game pretty quickly. 

But yeah, balancing is hard in a gamejam.  You definitely should try to still get ~8 hr of sleep everyday.

Submitted (3 edits)

I worked with Unity's scriptable objects for the first time and it has been a blessing!
I think I wouldn't have gotten this far without them.
Other than that tons of new things I experimented with.

Here's my game: https://unicae.itch.io/hexandagon

Submitted(+1)

Very nice! Learning about how to code faster/easier is always a great thing!