Day 2: Tuesday, 6/12
Planning
Two days into the game jam, and it's already turning out to tougher than I thought to make time for it. Yesterday was completely packed, and I have less than two hours today.
If there's one thing I've learned since starting at my current company, it's to start planning by defining your goals. This sets the foundation for the rest of the development process, and gives you something to refer back to when you're making a decision. Here are mine:
- Don't overstretch myself. I'm still recovering from crunching, and the last thing I want to do is burn out.
- The game should not turn non Christians away. I have a lot of friends who are turned off by anything that's too overtly Christian. While this game is based on a verse, I think some subtlety can be afforded here.
- Become more familiar with the art pipeline. This is the first time I'm soloing a game jam, which means I won't have anybody to beautify my programmer art. It'll be interesting to learn about the process involved in getting something presentable out.
Already, Goal #3 has informed my decision of creating a 2D game, and Goal #1, to use Unity and GitHub, tools I'm familiar with.
Next comes the timeline. It's crucial to know how much time you have before you start scoping out your project. I estimate I'll be able to carve out at least 10 days worth of time.
Day 1: Brainstorming- Day 2: Planning and initial design (today)
- Day 3: Finish design and set up GitHub repo.
- Day 4: Implement core mechanic. Create a test build and get some eyes on it.
- Day 5: Add additional features. Iterate on feedback. Create another build to playtest.
- Day 6: Finish additional features. Iterate on feedback. Last day of feature work. Create another build to playtest.
- Day 7: Polish mechanics and bug fixes. Start figuring out art. Create another build to playtest.
- Day 8: Create sprites. Create another build to playtest.
- Day 9: Finish sprites and start animating them. Create another build to playtest.
- Day 10: Finish art. Search for audio and hook them up in the game.
- Additional days: Polish and make the game feel juicier
As you can probably tell, playtesting is incredibly important to me. I'm a strong believer that if you don't feel at all embarrassed at the state of your game when you start playtesting it, you've started playtesting too late. The earlier you get feedback, the better the product.
Initial Design
Chosen verse:
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Breaking that down into points:
- You are the main character in your life
- You are surrounded by people all the time
- When you interact with strangers enough, they become acquaintances
- After awhile, acquaintances become friends
- We are to encourage and build up the people around us, but can generally only do so effectively if we're friends with them
- Sometimes, we try to help a person but fail, possibly because we misunderstood / did not listen to what they really needed
- This can negatively affect a relationship, and can be draining for both parties
- Successfully edifying a person is a rewarding experience
- A person who has been edified is more likely to pass it on and do the same for the people around them
- While loving and edify others, we must not neglect ourselves, and remember to rest in God lest we burn out
I've an idea for how to turn each of the above points into mechanics, but I shall sleep on it and leave it for tomorrow (: