💀 SCREAM JAM 2021 💀

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💀 SCREAM JAM 2021 💀 community

Game mechanics VS. Looks - What do you think?

A topic by Merphin created Oct 25, 2021 Views: 204 Replies: 5

Viewing posts 1 to 4

MerphinSubmitted3 years ago

Hey guys!

I mentioned it in another post but I figured I could just create a new discussion out of it:

In past jams I often focused so much on the actual game and the mechanics that most of the time my games lacked of a nice visual style or even sounds! That's why I wanted to try something different and instead in this jam I tried it the opposite way by mainly taking care of the overall look and details like sounds, particles, lighting, shaders, ... and I am really proud about how my game turned out! But of course this time I noticed that it lacks of gameplay a little bit :D

So what do you guys think? Focus on either one of them? Try to balance them in the right way? What's your experience about this topic? I would love to hear your experiences since this was my third jam at all!

Also if you want to convince yourself about my afore mentions, take a look for yourself and feel free to leave some feedback :)
https://itch.io/jam/scream-jam-2021/rate/1245691

Mutagen R.Submitted3 years ago(+1)

I'd say the right balance creates an overall more fulfilling experience. The aesthetics alone will entice more people to try the game, strong mechanics and depth means more replayability. Your game looks awesome and feels great, with some gameplay improvements, story and atmosphere, this could be a solid game!

MerphinSubmitted3 years ago

Thanks for your opinion on this one!
I agree, I guess that's the challenge to really find the right balance between both of them, because with only either one there's something missing :)

Thank you very much for your feedback, appreciate it!

Octopus StudiosSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

visauls more matter i am not saying dont work on game mechanics but i think visuals are more important

AzkabalSubmitted3 years ago (1 edit)

Somehow the game always fills better and fuller with cooler "Look".

But that works until the point where player stucked with the point, where is not much to do actually -> because Mechanics are not implemented.

So the balance is that what makes the cool game working.
But I personally concatrate at Look at first, so I and team could be more motivated and creative by developing Mechanic later.

We have tried to achieve the balance too, but you know how it works in the Jam XD
Would be gratefull for some feeback of our game too: https://itch.io/jam/scream-jam-2021/rate/1243386

MerphinSubmitted3 years ago

Yea I agree with you, it really provides a game with a soul. Nonetheless there are great examples of games which's main focus is gameplay, e.g. Among Us, it's quite a game you could (at least the early version) develop in a game jam, but maybe this is just a popular exception who knows :D
But I definitely gained a lot of new experience in this jam regarding this topic! Also thanks for sharing yours! :)