This project was a lot of firsts for me - first game jam, first time working with a team, first 3D game. This is my second game overall, done in a quarter of the time of the first one. With that said,
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Good: Working with a team of talented individuals was really great. I felt motivated throughout the jam and it was a nuanced feeling that someone cared about the game as much as I did. Taking vacation time to do this project was an excellent idea, as most of my days were consumed just thinking and planning and searching stuff for the game. We paced ourselves well and had hard deadlines set between phases of the game (Concept -> Prototype -> MVP -> Polish), and kept everything neatly in a Trello board to keep track of stuff. I learned a lot of things about Unity, modelling, texturing, animation and mathematics while making the game. It was an experience like none other for me, and something that did help with the otherwise bland year this has been. Getting feedback was new and very welcome, as it helped deepen my understanding of things I took for granted - level and game design, the impact of sound and consistent style, what people pay attention to.
The Bad: Despite our best wishes, not everything got done on time and we have probably overscoped. What seemed like simple ideas took longer than anticipted and we were working and changing things up to the last hours of the original deadline. Life got in the way a lot, and some critical parts of the project got delayed and didn't receive the polish they would require to be fully implemented - as it turns out, it was par for the course in game jams.
The Ugly: We didn't playtest the game on time. Most of the mechanics were made in a vaccum without feedback, and what seemed obvious to a designer was a total mystery to the player. Some of the work we spent time on didn't even get into the game due to performance reasons, and it was a crying shame. While the vision of what the game was supposed to be was mostly there, we didn't have specifics nailed down and just kept throwing stuff in that soudned cool, but was very hit and miss. From a programming side, I noticed my quality degrade as the deadline drew closer - it was important to ship the feature rather than make it extensible or well documented. I was also very anxious about the project and treated the whole thing way too seriously, a challenge to prove myself that I can make games. Only now that the scores are down I feel certain relief and satisfaction from a job well done.
Takeaways and lessons
- For me, this is a hobby, not a job - don't stress over it.
- Temper expectations - everyone has their own lives to live and a game jam might not have the same priority for others as it does for me.
- Be more firm with timelines - this will come with experience, but plans should be created flexible, not bent and broken later on.
- When planning, create 3 groups of items - must have, good to have, nice to have. Implement in that order and make sure your must haves work perfectly
- Always get feedback - be it from team members, friends or strangers. Your game needs to be tempered in order to withstand criticism and scrutiny.
- Don't be afraid to fail - failure nurtures future success, if you learn from it.