Log 1 (1/7/2018)
Hello everyone. I am a software engineer and gamer. I've never participated in a game jam before. I've played around with game development in the past, but very few of my projects get very far. I kinda want to change that.
Since I don't have a ton of experience making games, I am going to keep it to a simple puzzle platforming game. I am not artistically talented AT ALL, but I do find myself doodling quite often. The doodles aren't great, but they litter the pages of my notebooks. I thought I would use this to my advantage.
The idea is to draw out levels and characters on a piece of paper and then scan them in with my printer. So the game will have a very rough, doodle-y aesthetic. I am not really going to put much effort into incorporating the "memories" theme, but perhaps the game will invoke memories of your kindergarten drawings that your parents put on the refrigerator (because that's the pinnacle of artistic achievement, AMIRITE?).
Sample player "sprite"
For now, I think I will just jot down the notes I took in my initial brainstorming session.
Mediums (levels):
- Binder Paper
- Post-it Notes
- Whiteboard
- Napkins?
- Printed papers (newspapers, pamphlets)
The player will be drawn on a little slip of paper that sits over the level. Maybe the player can become different mediums that would grant abilities to help solve puzzles?
Mediums (player):
- Pencil
- Pen (Potential ability: immune to erasers)
- Marker (The lines of a marker are thicker, so maybe the potential ability could be heaviness?)
- Metallic Ink (Potential ability: can connect electrical circuits draw on the level to solve puzzles)
- Laminated (Potential ability: waterproof)
Hazards:
- Scissors
- Erasers
- Blow dryer (maybe these are dangerous, but can be used to move things?)
- Fire
- Water
- Whiteout (both liquid and strips. Maybe these can also be useful in erasing walls drawn in ink?)
- Drawn on hazards, like spikes, monsters, etc.
Random thoughts:
- Paperclips (maybe these can keep you still when you turn on a blow dryer to move obstacles?)
- Stickers (because why not?)
- I could write things directly on the paper for tutorials or sarcastic remarks when you die
- Maybe when the player falls, you can fall either regularly straight down like a rock or you could press a button to sway from side to side like a piece of paper would. This could present some interesting platforming challenges.
Story: The idea for this game started as just a platforming game with hand-drawn and scanned art assets. Any story that I come up will sort of be after the fact and I am not going to stress about having anything super compelling.