While I am happy that progress has been made over the past number of days, I am finding that my project is looking rather amateur and unrefined at this point in its development. But after some reflection and consideration, I am actually okay with that. I am starting off simple and deliberately small scope, even minimalistic, in order to attempt to finish a project before the gamejam's submission date.
Currently, I am working under some imposed limitations, not only limitations of time, but also limitations of my own experience level in both designing and producing games generally, limited experience in my particular toolchain of Apps used to produce graphics and audio, and a limited amount of individual experience programming using a particular game engine or development system (in this case, AppGameKit). Taking these current limitations into consideration, I understand that this project is not going to be a highly refined game, nor a commercially viable product (at least not in its current iteration). But I am ok with that, and I need to accept that.
My point is, I hope that anyone reading this will be encouraged to pursue developing game projects if that is something you want to do. As a point of general advice, do not necessarily expect your first projects, especially your very first few projects, to be spectacular or high quality, to contain rich seamlessly integrated assets, to have great depth, to have underlying fine-tuned honed gameplay mechanics, or possibly even to be entirely playable.
At first, in the initial stages of designing and producing games, the experience gained is more valuable than the game / finished project itself. This gained experience carries over into pursued future projects whose quality level will only increase and exceed past initial/early projects.
And there is also something intangible about completing a project (no matter how seemingly small or lacking that project may be) in and of itself. That satisfaction and joy of completing a project is not always apparent in the finished project itself that others see or download, but it is something that is a reward in its own right, apart from the end product and regardless of its quality.
To clarify, my goal was and remains to design and produce high quality games. I am not changing my goal. But in the process and pursuit of fulfilling and accomplishing that goal, it is okay to benefit from the experience of what some might interpret to be failure or shortcoming, or unrealized potential.
So, I hope that this message is a source of encouragement to aspiring or developing game developers. I continue to enjoy participation in this game jam and working on my project toward completion, even such as my project is with all its present limitations and as-of-yet unrefined aspects. Thanks, and have a great day!