Hey everyone! I just saw the rankings come out and, since this was my first jam, I wanted to take this opportunity to collect and share some thoughts on my experience.
First of all, I was beyond impressed with the quality of the other submissions. My cousin and I took turns playing all of your games for hours while I was voting, and we had a blast doing it. I was especially impressed by the variety of enemies and mechanics many games had.
Secondly, I was beyond honoured to have my submission be voted 4th overall and 1st in Art & Visuals. The feedback I received was so positive and constructive that I feel I couldn't have chosen a better jam for my first venture into the space. Coming from a programming background, to see the work I've put into the visual arts pan out in a tangible way has been a major motivator for me to get into game development more seriously.
While I will continue to make many of my own assets in the future - as growing a well rounded workflow and skillset for myself is important to me - I recognize that I neglected the gameplay and player enjoyment a lot during this jam by focusing too heavily on asset development. In next month's jam, I hope to spend more time on completing development for the gameplay loop, and I'll be spending the time between then and now hammering out a more efficient workflow for the visuals and basic gameplay elements.
I look forward to competing and cooperating with you all in future jams,
Ethan