Hello all!!!

I hope everyone is having fun out there and it's great to finally join one of these! Before I go into what progress I've made and some stumbling blocks I've come across just for completeness I have just got into learning Unreal Engine, so I doubt I'll be able to have something "Final" as a lot of my time is spent following tutorials for aspects of the game I'd like to have, but it's great to see that I'm learning and that everyone else is doing so well... 

July 21st - July 31st

So my game Idea (using the theme of cycles) was to make a slow-burner horror game in which you play a lone Fast food worker who is forced to serve customers, otherwise, you'd meet the same fate as the other workers a demented mascot has killed. As a person who suffers from feature creep/scoping, I had thoughts of making this go over multiple instances, each time you complete a shift you get the coveted "Employee of the Month" picture frame, and as time passes the more messed up the place becomes. 

So in making this game its been hard going, and if it weren't for the amazing youtube tutorials, ChatGPT, and the talented asset creators on this site and others (https://itch.io/profile/ggbot - PS1 Style Cars, OpenGameArt - Literally Most other things) I would still be dealing with cubes.

The idea was to make a step-by-step detailing all aspects of what I've done and the trials and tribulations, but I didn't have time to do that, so here's a screenshot of a creepy Ronald Mcdonald: 

To cut it short it's been an experience working in Unreal Engine, Trying to attach a crawling run ended up in a Pennywise Janky Run, Footsteps took an age to add and I still want to add the customer orders AI but currently, my brain is not functioning properly and no answer is coming to me. I have about 6-9 hours left to add to the game between now and the deadline so I might have to axe the ordering and create a simple run and escape game if I want a playable demo. Hope everyone else is coming across fewer issues and it's been great working on this Jam! 

Also if you didn't believe me on the Janky Run here it is :) 

I am totally gonna let's play this and have a grand ol time

Little Update: August 1st - August 3rd

Since my last post, and on the back of realising I don't have much time I made a simple 'get the key' and escape mechanic (tabling my idea of the slow burner horror / fast food simulation for after the jam). Given that it's my first jam it's been an eye opener on how I should be tackling the Dev side of things, mainly just trying to figure out stuff myself and use my brain 🧠 (I'm sure it's in there somewhere) instead of running to tutorials...

I have also added very basic primitive light switches and even a way to distract the killer by playing a jukebox (which is a square at the moment) 😅 I'm close to adding the exit condition to the level and then I will work on making the UI elements (which I have never done, think it might be something I have to run to a tutorial for though my brain probably can't handle too much 😂).

and thanks to @Figerox for the suggestions on improving the look of the game to make it more ps1 era looking. Hope everyone is progressing well with their games 🙏 

I like your concept. Its silly, its horror (not usually my cup of tea), but in a wacky scenario. Especially Ronald McDonald lol. 

I dabbled in Unreal Engine 5 a few short weeks ago and realized how much of a learning curve it has. Its complex, but its so powerful. All these options that just overwhelmed me for this jam. I jumped over to Unity and felt the same. 

If you gave yourself three full months, you can have this game made. Probably.

Good luck. :D

-Matthew

Last Devlog: 05/08/23 

Only having a few hours today I thought I had managed to get something potentially working in terms of a demo of the game, and for the most part, I have managed this. I learned about adding UI elements, bug fixing in "cooking" the game, exporting it to a Windows file and creating icons, etc... 

The problem came in actually playing the game. It bugs out a lot, the key doesn't show even though every time I tested the game it appeared, but standing over the area allows you to still leave. I think a big lesson is to not leave it to the last minute and maybe book time to work on times as fitting even a basic project between work/life is very difficult especially when you are starting out. 

But moping aside I've enjoyed this Game Jam and have done a lot in an engine I have not used and made a game that can be completed. Everything from starting out with lighting, controlling the player, interaction systems (Very Primitive), AI, and other things. Hope everyone else has learned something from the Jam and can't wait to see everyone else's submissions... also here's a little chip icon ;) Good luck to everyone!