FINAL DEVLOG + POST JAM THOUGHTS
So the jam finished this morning and I thought today would be the perfect time to give all of you a final update as I didn't post one for the past 2 days since I was busy working on restarting this jam project from zero after losing everything as I said in the previous devlog. For those of you who haven't yet, here's a link to my submitted game's page: https://just-gilloo.itch.io/blobyssey-a-brothers-quest-demo
I recommend checking out the page first (and try out the game for yourselves if you want) before continuing on reading this devlog as I'll be going over my work and thoughts as to give you all a small idea of how I ended up with such a drastically different project than what I ended up making and submitting.
As mentioned in the previous blog, after I lost everything on MusiKitty I went back to the drawing board and suddenly got an idea for an isometric obstacle course kind of game. But again I ran into an obstacle as implementing the tiles and player all went fine but coding the camera just didn't seem to work and I just kept running into gamebreaking bugs when manoeuvring through the virtual space I created. So since it was still pretty early in the day I decided to yet again go back to the drawing board and made the wiser decision to use the fundamental (but limited) knowledge I had gained about coding and designing 2D platformer to make a new project from scratch. I could've used the MusiKitty idea again for this and all the assets I had made but the whole corrupted file accident just put a halt on my motivation and ideas for that game. I started thinking about ideas to make a simple game. And so this idea suddenly took shape in my head in the shape of the lovely little blob I have now. And so it the same spirit I had when making MusiKitty initially (and because of the short time I had left) I kept the idea at it's plain simplest.
A platformer where you move from left to right and can jump and enemies with simple walking behaviour. And so after making a simple tileset I started designing some levels (as coding the player and standard enemies went pretty quickly thanks to the experience gained during this jam) in the spirit of many Mario Brother levels. Introducing a simple mechanic or idea in a safe environment first. In a way the player might even question why a certain enemy was placed the way it was as it does absolutely nothing to the player. But after the initial safe environment in which this is introduced I expanded upon it and tried to make it more interesting and dangerous (as far as the limited resources I could make and the time left would let me). So after simple tutorial levels and a bigger but still introduction level I decided to make on more enemy since I was nicely on schedule. I carried over the turret idea from the initial isometric project I wanted to make and implemented it here instead, using the enemy sprite I already had and tweaking it's design (which already were based on the player themselves due to, again, time constraints). By implementing said turret I also got to work and learn about new nodes in Godot that I wanted to try out while making MusiKitty but it just didn't seem to fit the game I thought at the time. I debated adding an attack for the player but it just didn't seem to fit the theme of the character and vague atmopheric ideas I had so I scrapped the idea. And I can say that even now after the jam I think it still fits the idea I had for this demo. After making all the levels on paper and in the map editor of Godot I went brainstorming on what the end goal (and by extension level transition trigger) should be and the design of a cute even smaller blob just popped up. I shortly debated on making said blob the main character's girlfriend (as I suddenly realized I had the perfect opportunity to fit with the optional theme of love here) but I suddenly loved the idea of a sibling in danger. And since I am all too familiar with doing anything for family or siblings I felt like that was the perfect kind of love for this game. Even if the the theme itself is not as outspoken as in other submissions I have come across (which is totally fine, it's everyone's different spin on making games that makes the variety real and fun). And so I went to work in even more hyper jam mode as I like to put it: I finalized the code to have something playable and fixed as many glitches as I could (as those of you who played or are going to play it, feel free to leave your feedback on glitches and whatnot that you encounter as I'm currently working on checking the code again to fix as many of them as possible). I made some simple sound effects (using this wonderfully handy program: https://www.bfxr.net/) for jumping and dying and finished some simple animations for the little blob as well as changed the player sprite a bit so it mirrors when moving left or right. And after a few test runs of all the levels I went to work on a titlescreen and endscreen for when the demo is finished. This went rather seamlessly as I had done almost the exact same thing for MusiKitty just a day or so earlier. I coded in the last transition from the last level to the end screen and just like that I had playable demo from beginning to end. It's a little glitchy (or really glitchy haha xD), it's short and it's pretty hard but I'm very proud of what I was able to accomplish despite losing all progress so close to the deadline. I think this achievement is a real testament to the true learning experience this has been surrounded by other lovely jammers who were there to help when my motivation was at an all-time low or when I needed help or advice. So thank you to all of you, if you were just a reader, fellow jammer or a random passerby. I appreciate this entire experience very much.
As far as our little blob is concerned I will definitely be expanding upon this concept in full game with more levels, enemies (and variations), collectables,... all of that 2D platformer goodness. I feel reinvigorated to build upon the foundation of this simple demo into a full experience. Updates on this will be posted on a devlog page on the Blobyssey demo page so go follow the link submitted at the beginning of this devlog entry to keep an eye out on future developments. This development and expansion might have to wait a bit though as I am considering joining a new game jam to get more experience (with maybe another engine) so that once I get back to Blobyssey and take it back to the concept table to flesh it out I have more experience and confidence to give it the full game experience I think it deserves and truly do justice to it.
And that's the end of my journey on this particular game jam ! My very first steps into game development and I loved every second of it. It's this and all of you that have truly make me feel this is what I want to pursue into the future, but as they say: one step at a time. Thank you all for sticking with me through to the end of this and I hope you all had as much fun as I had.
Now if you'll excuse me I have a ton of submitted games to go try out. ;)
See you all soon !