Hi everyone I'm Landonscribbles and I created a (nearly) solo entry Angels and Tigers for this game jam!

Short Game Description:

Angels and Tigers is a (very) short first person exploration game centered on the idea of pets being left behind when their owners move. After moving the away the pets eventually become spirits that haunt the house.

Initial Goals:

Initially I wasn't going to do a solo entry for the jam but a few days after the jam started the idea of a house haunted by former pets struck me as something interesting and worth exploring. I decided that the best way to approach this would be through a first person perspective (as even semi-horror games seem to fit very well with the perspective), additionally I hadn't ever used Unity to do anything in 3D so it seemed like a natural fit for the jam.

Successes:

I finished the jam! Seriously this is a big step for me, I've played with Unity for a while now but never really completed anything. Outside of that I learned (or started learning really) a number of skills that I know will prove to be useful for game dev!

• I started learning how to use Blender! (I also learned to use Sketchup but more on that later) Prior to this jam I had downloaded Blender but never really did anything with it, but by the end of the jam:

• I also got more familiar with Unity's particle system which I had barely used before as well:

• I also took advantage of assets/scripts from Unity's asset store (and other sources) for the first time:
  • Purple Space Nebula Skybox was excellent for putting something together for my sky
  • LeanTween was great for some subtle floating animations I used for spirit lights
  • First person drifter by Ben Esposito was a great solution to get a basic first person controller/view working quickly

• Last but by far the best was beginning to connect with the community surrounding making games. This has been huge for me, it's very encouraging to see and work with some very creative people and seeing what and how they create so many amazing things.

Failures:

• I learned that Sketchup while easier to get something completed than Blender comes with some interesting quirks that can cause problems later on down the road.
  • I had problems with origins on Sketchup models I imported from a larger scene that I couldn't figure out how to fix:

(The origin is way down in the bottom left)

• I also found it harder to modify a completed Sketchup model compared to Blender leading to unfortunate things like:

(Yeah I also spelled "Kludge" wrong in the scene)

• I didn't do nearly as well as I had hoped in time management leading to crunching pretty badly on the last couple of days
  • I wouldn't have had any sound without the helpful music contribution from my SO near the end

• My primary goal was to complete a game with a team which I am a bit bummed about not happening but I still got to know some excellent people and their work in our efforts.

What I learned:

I learned that: I really enjoy 3D modelling much more than any spriting or any other 2D art work I've attempted, I want to keep finding and working with new people to create new visions and worlds for players to experience, and that it's very satisfying to release something into the world that you've worked very hard on.

The biggest takeaway for me was this is what I want to be doing with my life, seriously. I know a lot of people are in the market right now trying to make it but I'll be happy making that struggle even if it's for projects that aren't my own. I've got a way to go still but I know I'll get there.

See you all again in the future making games and please send me a message if you want to make some more games with me!