itch.io

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. There's a day 14 update up and I hope it's reasonably better for you to enjoy. 

I strive to grow so I created a list of my conclusions for this Game Jam, I post it here as accountability, and in hopes it might help someone else, too, in the future. It would also be nice to look back on in a year if I'm still doing this then :) 

Here it is:

Conclusions:

1. If you sign up for a Game Jam, align time expectations.
   
   1. I had 10 days, but used around 2 days in total, maybe even less 
   2.  I planned for the full 10 days 
2. Mechanics first, content second, polish last 
   1. I spent little time on mechanics or levels and way too much time on art which was subpar. Basically, my game would work with much less effort put on art and animation
3. Add minimal amount of ALL game components first, then iterate
   1. Game was submitted with no music or sounds, which is a big component of the score 
4.  If it works in editor doesn't mean it works on build 
   1.  Collisions, level loading were broken on the uploaded build

Lessons derived from them:

1. Plan for the minimum time you will spend:
   1.  If I have 10 days but will work for a minimum 10 hours, my plan should be for 10 hours. Anything extra will be a blessing and improve the product, but I shouldn't count on time I may not have. 
2. Divide my time to three (uneven) parts for mechanics, content and polish. The amount for each area depends on the type of game. 
   1.  Sound may be more important than visuals. I can play a minimalistic game but playing a silent game is a bummer.
   2.  My art level is not enough to carry a game, so the game has to be fun and functional first. 
3. Add some basic art, music, writing, as necessary, after the mechanics and code are in a decent shape. 
   1. Cycle through all areas, start with something minimal but presentable, if you have time, you can improve it by cycling iteratively again (it will be weird if the art for level 1 will be amazing and the art for level 2 will be placeholder assets, improve everything by a bit each time) 
4.  Upload a test build early (As soon as there is something controllable, and after each new feature or piece of content) to make sure it works at all and to identify bugs that don't exist in the editor (such as collision in this case)