itch.io

It's a fun little game. It reminds me a little of Project Boost / RocketShip

I like the art style and the boost pads: nice and simple mechanics and a fun hi-score system to keep you engaged.

Good job!

Hey Puck,

I am working on a mini-project with these assets and just wondered if you were still planning to explore updates:

Revolver, CZ, Shotgun, USP-S etc.

No problem if not I can work on some myself but I wondered if you had them ready to go in an update.

I am looking specifically for Shotgun, USP-S and SMG-style assets and if you have any that would fit this pack they would make a great addition.

Thanks!

Thanks for checking out the project.

I'll be sure to give your game a try soon.

I didn't hit my goals for the core mechanics and loop with this release but I'll be making some significant changes soon to try and get closer to what I had in mind.

Have a nice day!

Hey, when importing to Unreal - the materials are likely creating a standard material with a single image map connected in the shader graph.

For each object/asset - if you double click on the material slots as there are multiple slots per item(this is where it becomes a bit time-consuming):

1. Use the editor button to find the linked material.
2. Double-click that material in the content editor to open the material shader graph.
3. Manually set up each material to use the corresponding texture maps.
4. Connect any relevant texture maps to the required output nodes on the material shader.

I am replying from memory and it has been a while since I used these assets, but if that does not help please post again or contact me on discord and I will see if I can help you further.

Hey, good job finishing your game and submitting an entry!

It's simple but it's fun nonetheless.

I noticed if you hold down the mouse button you can fire mail continuously. This takes away the main threat and challenge. You can just "farm" score in this way.

Maybe you could add a cooldown on firing projectiles when you press the button?

I look forward to seeing your future projects.

Have a nice day!

Greetings,

I hope you are all having fun with the theme so far. One of my goals for this gameJam is to release a minimum of three blogs throughout the ten day period. Covering some of my processes and workflows.

I've been exploring the idea of a dice-based adventure game for this gameJam. I am aware that I will likely have to cut 90% of what I have mapped out in order to have something playable and fun within the time period.

However, I like to start out ambitious and let the ideas flow freely at the start of the jam. I then pick and choose my battles throughout the development process and try to whittle down my grand plans into something enjoyable within the time frame.

This is not the best way to work, but I like to regularly test myself and find new ways to streamline my pipeline and processes so that I can develop more game(s) in less time.

Scope creep and unrealistic expectations are constant threats in any development environment, but this is especially true in the field of game development. Working alone and in isolation on projects can exacerbate this threat.

To that end, I try to be as efficient as possible with planning, preproduction and asset creation.

Across my last two projects, I have developed some reusable proxy meshes and art assets to give me more time in jams to focus on other aspects of development. I have spent a lot of time exploring geometry nodes, procedural generation, shader-based material design and other technical solutions to my most pressing problem.

My ideas and creativity are grand but my time and skills are limited.

Basically, My eyes are bigger than my belly (and I have a pretty big belly, to boot!)

How can I solve this problem?

I believe the answer lies in deliberate, calculated practice and regularly challenging myself to identify weaknesses in my methods. My intent for this jam is to once again push myself outside my comfort zone and try something new.

So, where does that leave me?

DICEVENTURE - A dice-based interactive boardgame made in Unreal Engine 5.

Brief:

10 Day GameJam for GameDev.tv 2024 GameJam. Themed jam.

PrePro Tasks:

Set up Repos & Planning Thread. Set up Projects on StartDate.

Prepare Asset Pipelines [Generators / Procedural Materials] - in Blender / Substance. Consider if I want to start my own team, work alone or join another team for this jam.

Choose between 2d/2.5d/3d for the project. Choose between Retro, Anime, and PBR art style.

Pick one or two visual elements to anchor the project around. Set up a post-process/compositor stack to highlight the chosen style elements.

What are main goals with this jam?

• Create something small in scope, fun to play & highly polished.
• Greater focus on feedbacks and iteration.
• Increase following & refine blogging / post mortem skills
• Increase efficiency and quality of Key Art / Capsule / Reveals and Social Posts.

Project Self-Imposed Restrictions:

Spend 1-3 days max on the core mechanics and set-up. Spend 5 days on polish. Spend 2 full days preparing the capsule and release showcase.

StrecthGoals: Five DevBlogs about this project.

Three mandatory blog posts - [Start of Jam] [Middle of Jam] [End of Jam] Two optional blog posts [PreProduction] [Post Mortem]

Name Ideas:

Tickle My Dice

Mechanical Restraint:

Dice Roller - One Button / Button Masher

Uses RNG Script to determine outcomes.

Storybook [Turn to Page X, based on dice roll outcome]

Short Story, Anime Style, Manga Art, Graphic Novel

The theme is: "Last Stand"

How does this slot into my current leanings?

I am leaning towards a "themed "board game with portals to bite-sized adventures,"

The core mechanic is to roll the dice, "draw a scenario" and "resolve a scenario" using dice to roll outcomes.

To work in the Last Stand theme,

1. The "players board piece/token" is the last available on the stand, and as it's picked up, snaps to the board and the game begins
2. "The "mystery board game" is the last available at a market stand/car boot sale/etc - and is taken home, unboxed and the game begins.

For a simple MVP:

"Roll a Dice, Play Animations, Text Widgets / Choose Your Own Adventure"

If time allows, integrate 3D Graphics / Level Switching and "Mini Cutscenes"

Days 1-3:

Mechanics, UI, Scenes Storyboard, Scriptwriting, Blender Cutscene Blockouts

Days 4-6:

Art, Audio, Polish

Days 7-10:

Capsule, Polish, Cutscenes / Graphic Novel Frames

Daily Snapshot:

Introductory Blog shared - project mapped out, restrains and mechanics outlined.
Basic Top Down Layout & Landmarks Mapped Out.
Basic Blueprints in Unreal set up for dice rolling and character controllers.







I look forward to cutting 99% of what I have planned and sharing the end result in ten days time.

Good luck with your jam entries and have fun!

Thank you both for taking the time to reply!

I think I'll be taking a step away from horror for this project - but we will see where things end up in ten days. I like the theme for this jam. It's pretty open-ended and suits various game types and mechanics. I have a strong idea of what I want to explore in the time allotted and luckily this theme doesn't derail those plans. I've decided to record as much of my process and progress as possible with the intent of sharing a condensed version of the whole thing at the end of the jam.

I'll be sure to follow both of your projects. If you need playtesters and I'm not too busy bug hunting I'd be more than happy to have a little play at whatever you put together.

Good luck with your games!

I'll be using Unreal 5.4 for this Jam.

Depending on the theme I may stick to Blueprints and make something super basic in terms of mechanics, with an eye on polishing and iterating feedbacks, UI and other elements as the core priority.

If time allows I'll share snapshots and commentary as I go.

Best of luck to all participants and I look forward to seeing what you guys produce!

Some great links here!

Here's a slightly older site, that features some nice photos to use as a basis for material design.

https://texture.ninja/

Assets are under Public Domain CC0.

Howdy Folks!

I will be entering this jam with a small and focused project. I've released two small prototype games this year and gained valuable feedback and experience from engaging with other indies.

Having spent a long time working on prototypes in the dark and finding out far too late that they are not fun or engaging I've decided to change how I work on my projects. One of my main goals for 2024 is to enter as many game jams as my calendar allows.

Initially, I was aiming to release one project a month for a total of 12 gamejam entries in 2024.

I have decided to employ a more methodical approach to entering jams so that I am better able to manage my workload.

I tend to cycle through personal projects, work for others and skill development courses with a pretty regular rhythm. I have found that keeping a pulse on game jams and carving out small portions of my larger projects as jam entries helps me maximize my productivity and keep my motivation high.

My goal with my first project was to create a presence on Itch.Io and release something.
My goal with my second project was to address some of the failings of my first stab at horror and make something scarier!

I had mixed results with my first two projects. I enjoyed the process and always enjoy working with like-minded and passionate artists.

Setting realistic goals and scoping my entries correctly is a skill I am actively developing.

I look forward to sharing my third attempt at making something fun for you to play.

Wish me luck!

Hi Charley,

Thanks for taking the time to play the game and leave some solid feedback.

I agree there is much to improve with regard to UI & readability. There seem to have been quite a few issues with people feeling a little lost or unsure of what to do. In some ways that was intended but not to the point of being detrimental to the overall experience! I think I will revisit this project at a later date but I have shifted gears to a more medium-sized project for the time being.

In an ideal world, I would mix some of the learnings from my first project SMILE with some of the aspects I got right in this one and make something a bit more rounded and complete. With both projects, I struggled with scoping and implementing core functions in good time which left me scrambling for time to actually build and polish levels.

For my next release, I want to be a bit more "ready" going in and am taking the time to polish up some core code libraries, python scripts, and Unreal 5 modules to ensure the next horror jam I take a crack at I can focus solely on the scary bits and the fun bits instead of some of the technical back end.

Thanks for your detailed feedback I will keep it in mind for my next release!

Have a nice day

Updated to 0.0.0.6

Based on playtesting feedback and highlighted bugs:

- Adjusted eventTimers for quests.
- Changes to QuestConditions/Triggers.
- Changes to levelBlueprint to address quest issue.
- Adjusted timers for certain UI Updates.

Not a content update but should resolve issues with the instructions and quest triggers not updating correctly.

I may revisit this project to polish and add features but it is a low priority currently.

Hopefully, this patch makes the short experience more satisfying in the meantime!

If there are any more bugs, feel free to leave a comment and I will investigate further!

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to check out Operator.

I enjoyed your video and hope you had a fun birthday!

It seems there are some persistent issues with the quest triggers and events firing at the correct times.

I wasn't sure if they were isolated but it seems most players are experiencing the same problems!

Hopefully, they are easy to fix and I can release an updated build.

Thanks again for sharing the video I enjoyed watching you play and it is valuable feedback.

There was a deliberate attempt to make the player a little unsure and unsettled but not in a way that makes the game less engaging.

In future projects, I know that I must be a bit clearer about setting, displaying, and leading the player down a path with clearly communicated goals.

Some of these issues are down to the quest text and events not updating at the right time but I think a slow-burn intro and a gradual build-up of tension only works well if the player understands the basic elements of play.

I have not quite managed that with this one!

EDIT:

Deployed a hotfix to address issues with timers/triggers.

Hi, thanks for checking out the game!

I'm sure @PeteHawkey will be happy to hear you enjoyed his music :)

I have been meaning to retest the compiled build and check if I can reproduce and fix some of the bugs.

Thank you for the reminder!

EDIT:

Deployed a hotfix to alleviate issues with triggers/timers.

Hey, looking forward to the stream.

Just to let you know, the check out the games link on your YouTube description returns an error!

Hi Saquon26,

Thanks for taking the time to test out the game and leave feedback. I appreciate it!

I spoke to CharleyThePostman about whether I am allowed to make updates during the rating period and I believe I am allowed to do so. I mentioned in my mini Post Mortem that I had some grander plans for this project originally.

I am undecided if I will spend more time polishing this one up or apply what I've learned and reuse some of the core code and assets to work on something a bit meatier.

Trying to wrap up a short 1-2 week 2d project at the moment but when I get that done I'll revisit this and make a decision!

I am happy to hear you enjoyed the art style and that it did a good job of creating that scary atmosphere. I struggled to get that tension right in my first attempt at a horror game!

Thank you again for taking the time to write a comment it helps me stay motivated and filter out areas I need to improve upon.

I look forward to testing out other entires to this jam and giving feedback when time permits!

Hey Charley thanks for checking in. I look forward to your livestream.

One of my aims for these small jams is to gain some subs on YouTube and Itch.

Feel free to follow me on Itch or at Secresteyn - YouTube

I need to update my YouTube capsule and work on better video content but for now I am focusing on Itch and my upcoming RetroGaming website Retroflavour.com!

Thanks for checking out the game and sharing a video. I hope you enjoyed it!

It looks like some of the objectives didn't fire as they should have.

I'll see if I am allowed to fix it in an update while the judging window is open!

Edit:

Hotfix deployed.

No pressure,

It's still a solid deal as it is!

I can tweak the materials and stuff as I go.

Good luck with your thesis and don't work yourself too hard.

Have a nice day!

Hey, just a mini post-mortem to share.

https://secresteyn.itch.io/operator

I found this submission trickier than expected.

It took me much longer than anticipated to get my horror controller up and running. At the start of the project, I envisioned using a lot of code from my previous project SMILE.

I decided to pivot towards a different "Survival Horror" controller as the project unfolded and this came back to bite me a little.

I was unable to get the full controller and features working in time for the JAM entry deadline and spent a great deal of time working on an inventory system that doesn't see very much use at all!

For the visuals and audio design I spoke with my audio lead Peter Hawkey and we aimed to style the sound and visuals around some of the early Alfred Hitchcock films.

I think Peter did a fantastic job with the sounds and music in the little time he had to work on the project.

Unfortunately, I feel that I underperformed in developing the play aspect of this project.

It's a pretty short experience and I have tried to create a sense of "False Safety" in line with the theme by placing the player in a relatively safe apartment-style environment at the onset and gradually increasing tension and spooking the player by the end of the experience.

I spent a great deal of time developing a fully modular city, street, building, and road kit with the intent of allowing the player to explore a small city block.

My original aim was to arm the player with a small camera and film and have them perform surveillance from their window and explore the surrounding scene(s) for clues.

I do quite like the original concept and I have plenty of writing and research so I may have another crack at it in the future.

Truthfully though I am glad to have this entry submitted as I was finding it challenging to stay motivated at the end of the jam knowing I was unlikely to deliver on my original goals.

I felt it was important to submit an entry and see what I achieved despite the changing scope.

I find that I learn a lot more from my failures than my successes and I think overall this project sits firmly in the middle of the two extremes.

I learned some new skills, gained some more confidence with my development tools, and have a greater understanding of some of the peculiarities of scripting in Unreal versus Unity, Python, or Godot.

I have also continued to expand some of my "core reusable code" that helps me get prototypes up and running much faster.

I have an expanding personal asset library of PSX Retro Style assets including floors, walls, pillars, doorways, windows, building facades, 75+ materials, and some procedural shaders / material stacks set up for use in future projects.

Worst part of this project?

The packaged build failed as I was due to submit and a process that normally takes about 15 minutes took over four hours and led to lots of frustration! Unreal had an issue with a "Struct" reference and I couldn't work out how to fix it. The game was working fine when playtesting in the editor. Initially, I was having issues with cooking/packaging but I solved them.

Great I thought. Except no. Not really. Not at all. Just... NO.

I tried to launch the game and was greeted with a "FATAL ERROR" on launch and had to go back into the project and rebuild a lot of my classes/blueprints and delete the entire saved/intermediate folders to get a launchable build!

The best part of this project?

Watching lots of old movies from the early 50's cinema and working with Peter Hawkey on the title track. He makes great music and it's always a pleasure to see how he takes an idea and turns it into something with oomph!

What's next?

I will spend some time improving capsule, cover art, branding, and motion graphics for YouTube videos & Itch.Io / other storefronts.
I will continue working on launching a small RetroGaming website where I share and highlight asset packs, indie creators, and forgotten classics.
I will continue to develop my internal "Retro PSX" Library and Level Design kits with the intent of releasing some free model and material packs when I launch RetroFlavour.com

Any other game projects?

For now, I am taking a short break between jams to work on a 2.5D Project that's been bugging me for a little while and I want to give a fair shake. 

I will work on some prototypes in Unity,  Unreal & Godot and see which engine suits that project the best.

I am still working on some updates for SMILE in the background but they are quite broad in scope and will take some time so I will drop the details on those at a later date.

I look forward to sharing it in the future.

Thanks for the jam and best of luck!

- Secresteyn

Hey,

I picked up the PSX mega pack before this jam but didn't use it for this project.

I like your assets and I wonder if you updated the materials/texture maps in the latest release.

That was my main gripe when using the PSX Mega Pack in Unreal 5.

There were a lot of slots for each mesh, some had mismatched names and it made them a bit tedious to set up.

Keep up the good work I enjoy following your development on these packs!

Hey, thanks for taking the time to check out the game. I hope you enjoyed it.

Welcome to the Jam!

I wish you luck with your entry. If you get stuck and need help with Blender I may be able to help out. Keep us informed of your project as it unfolds!

Restarting and encountering challenges is a frequent occurrence when working on game projects and I revel in these moments as it's often at times of confusion that I learn the most.

Try not to get discouraged and don't be afraid to take breaks if you find your motivation waning.

I find lots of people (myself included) - find pacing themselves when learning new skills is the most challenging aspect of it.

Sometimes taking a little break and seeking help is the best thing you can do as a beginner.

If you need help with Blender or to bounce some ideas back and forth feel free to hit me up.

Happy Gaming!

Thanks, I'll check out the new version soon!

Hey,

Thanks for checking out the thread.

@W1ll1amAft0n 

I'll share a little more about the setting and story in a short teaser when things are a little further along :)

@Charley the Postman

Thanks for the encouragement, I am hopeful I can deliver something worth a look with the time left.

I've been making steady progress & have spent time building out Modular Building Kits and exploring Modular Dungeon Kits. I've allocated some time to writing up a brief play-by-play of my intro and a condensed story treatment.

It has been fun jotting down desired plot points, and character motivations, and building out the narrative skeleton.

I struggled with elements of horror and narrative in my last jam - so I am trying to frontload those aspects a bit more for this project.

I've also been heavily influenced by some earlier Alfred Hitchcock movies for my visual and cinematic styling for this project.

Stay tuned for more WIP stuff as I go!

I started pretty damn late and have only had a little bit of time working on the environment but here's one of the key shots I have planned. I will share more WIP screens as I start adding detail!

So far I've been setting up some modular kits, post-processing & procedural material stacks to allow me to rapidly build out a medium-sized scene.

Looking forward to seeing how it will come together over time!

Thanks, I look forward to any additions you make!

Just so you are aware - some of the files are not named correctly.

For example:

Some weapons (blend files) are simply named "Untitled. blend"
"Glock" has a small typo you may wish to fix ;)

When working with assets in blender the objects and data are also unnamed.

This makes it a bit tricky for exporting cleanly to use in other applications (Like Unreal Engine)

It's a personal thing but I would consider adding clear names to the objects and the data in the object hierarchy - this prevents naming conflicts with other assets.

Some users may also prefer if you had the objects exported to .FBX or .OBJ formats as this makes it easier to add to Unity/Unreal or Godot.

These are all minor issues but something you may wish to consider for future updates.

I've been testing the weapons in a FPS view, here's an example for other users:



Thanks again!

Hey, this is a cool pack for prototyping purposes.

I will let you know how I get on with it.

Any plans to add any more weapons in future?

I'd love to see a USP-S or Silenced Pistol.

Other cool additions would include:

A LMG / Shotgun
A Launcher (Rocket/Grendae)

Thanks for sharing your work.

Hey, this is great!

Enjoyed the vibes and it was a great demo.

I look forward to following your progress.

Greetings,

My name is Secresteyn and I recently worked on my first microgame for another horror jam.

I am happy I was able to make and publish a project within 30 days.

My goals for my last project were to network a bit and go through the process of releasing to itch.Io.
Whilst working against a set deadline.

I was able to achieve these aims and have started to build up a small portfolio of projects on itch.Io.

My last project suffered from overscoping and as a result, I didn't deliver on my horror goals. I hope to change that with this project.

For this upcoming release, I aim to strip things back to a "core" of horror elements. Streamline my design process and focus specifically on those horror aspects I neglected in my last attempt.

I am really curious to see if I can do a better job of scaring people this time around.

I look forward to sharing my project with you all at the end of the jam.

Best of luck to all entrants

Happy Gaming

P.S

My goal for the last project was to reach 10 followers on Itch and across social platforms and I didn't quite hit that target.

If you want to check out my page(s) please visit:

https://secresteyn.itch.io/

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

License terms sound good!

Today I started working on some soldiers, scientists, swat guys, spies & agents for a project I am developing!



When I finish up my texture packs for the default base meshes I'll share the results in case any other users find them helpful.

For any heavily modified meshes/characters, I may share the updated mesh, props, & rig if it's impractical to use your baseMesh as is.

I will be sure to get clearance & provide credit with any derived assets related to this pack.

PsychoDive looks fascinating and I will be sure to follow its progress here and on your YouTube.

Best of luck & Happy Gaming!

Hey,

Great pack!

Has been fun to experiment with paintovers and stamping on some new faces. Exactly what I needed to help accelerate prototyping on my project.

I have some questions:

1. Are you still planning on updating/adding new variations to this at all?

2. What are the license terms with regard to sharing paint overs or characters I create from this base mesh?

I would be happy to share texture maps/assets for other users of the pack for free. Is this allowed?

If I modify, resculpt, retopo, rerig and repaint using this mesh as a starting point - am I allowed to share the final characters on itch.Io?

Thanks for creating a cool pack!

Hey, nice asset pack.

I noticed on import to Unreal that you are using multiple material slots for items.

Is there a reason you use this method instead of baking textures onto a single map?

Given the low poly nature of the assets I imagine for a lot of use cases the extra draw calls won't be a major issue.

However, it would help to reduce overhead in game-engines if there were fewer material slots being used.

I will test out a few scenes using your default texture set up and try to determine how big the performance hit is due to extra draw calls.

Just food for thought!

Overall I like the content and style of the pack and it should prove helpful when blocking out and performing first passes on levels!

Thanks for sharing a cool asset pack!

Hey, good job!

This was fun and enjoyable.

Others have suggested you take out the jump scares - and that may be good advice. It depends on what you are trying to achieve.

However, this is one of the few games from the jam that made me recoil a bit because I wasn't expecting the loud noise and sudden activity.

I think overusing jump scares may pose a problem but I wouldn't say taking them out entirely is your only option.

Balancing jump scares and "creeper" / "stalker" mechanics as others have suggested is also a viable route for you to pursue.

I enjoyed the overall setting and it was a fun experience.

Good luck with your projects!

Hey,  nice game!

I like the art style and the writing was engaging if a bit rough at times. The interesting direction you chose and the overall mood and setting is pretty unique. The premise and setup are promising. I enjoyed playing.

I think the horror elements could be exaggerated a bit more as I didn't feel particularly frightened or uneasy. More curious and intrigued than anything else.

Good job and I look forward to any additions you make.

This was fun!

I enjoyed the atmosphere and art style, the environmental storytelling and the books all helped to create a really strong ambience and give the world a unique feel.

The music also helped add to the tension and mysterious nature of the environment.

I found it a bit confusing when "using the ladder" and initially couldn't work out how to get aboard.

This is a great first release and I will be interested to see what you put out next.

Thanks for sharing!

Tried to get this working but no luck.

If you release a new build that load I'd be happy to offer some feedback.

Hey,

I thought this was pretty neat.

Simple but fun and had some nice ideas.

I like the "cheekiness" of some of the commentary and the general "loop" idea is quite cool. When you reset the levels it might be fun to add some more surprises and twists instead of running through from top to bottom without changes.

Maybe when you move through the maze(s) on the second iteration you can change the paths when the player gets to a certain point in the level. Alternatively, you might change up the colours of the backdrop and speed up the player's movement. Increasing the difficulty and visual setting would combat some of the fatigue from "repeating levels".

If you can add some collision/events maybe trigger a "shift" in the layout or add some more elements of danger?

I agree with ChritBoy's comments about music and the absence of music helping to build tension. The music is also pretty catchy and upbeat but could be inverted to make something very eerie and creepy if you slowed it down / sped it up and added some tape distortion/voices and stuff like that.

Overall I had fun and the basic gameplay is simple but satisfying.

Good job!

This was interesting.

The art style is interesting for sure. Must have been hard working with such a loSpec colour palette.

I found it a little tricky to navigate because the screen size is so small.

My eyes are pretty bad on a good day but squinting at the small screen strained them. It was a bit difficult for me to work out where to go or what I was looking at because of how small the display is on my monitor.

I think it would be much more enjoyable on the platform it was designed for.

Maybe it'll be a bit easier for me on SteamDeck so I'll try it again on there!

Hi,

Nice looking font. I've purchased this and some other fonts as part of your launch bundle.

Looking forward to using this in my projects.

Thanks for the good work