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Ah jeesh, so uh... crap

Day 4(5???): Unexpected Final Day??

So uh bad news to the negative two people actually interested in this, but due to a mixture of unexpected real life garbage, I'm not going to have time to finish this within the constraints of the jam? I'll not have access to my computer for like the next two weeks... It sucks to have to call it quits so early, but if anything this makes me motivated to lock in my schedule and hardcore dedicate myself to the Summer 2018 Jam! Who knows, maybe I'll revisit this concept? 

When I get the chance, I'll post all the concept art I've done plus a lot of the code, so at least the work I've done goes to some use. I'll also still be looking at everyone else's entries, I can't wait to see what everyone else does! Good luck to everyone else, and thank you to the Jam hosts for making such a good Jam, I hope I actually get to participate fully in the next Jam ;-;

Day 1! Day 2...

Hi everyone, I'm Nicole, this is my second Game Jam! Admittedly, I would've liked to have started earlier, but due to the wonders of Australian weather, it was 45C (113F...) yesterday, and my laptop would probably have overheated and exploded in the heat. But with cooler weather, I'm super excited to actually get started on work. I'm not able to work on this as much as I'd like due to schooling and work, but I'm hoping to have something playable by the end of the jam!

Concept

SO, while it doesn't fully relate to the optional theme of memories, I've got really fond memories of watching one of my close friends playing the Metal Slug games. Because of those memories, I wanna make something that she'd enjoy playing, while still making something that isn't just a Metal Slug ripoff. Actual plot or design wise, I've a vague idea of dumb futuristic garbage for the story and art design, but gameplay-wise, I really wanna make a super fast paced arcade style shooter. Considering time restraints, I'll probably only be able to knock out one level, but I hope that one level is really fun to play. I also want to heavily rely on a dashing mechanic (hence the dash in the title) and do some over the top dumb stuff with the design (hence the super in the title).

Gameplay

I want the gameplay to basically be a weird melding of bullet hell style gameplay, Metal Slug's autoscrolling and general feel, and MegaMan style platforming around stages. It's... A kinda weird combination, but on top of being interestingish, it shouldn't be too hard to make (outside of coding bullet patterns). The real challenge will come from creating the art, which I wanna challenge myself with.

Here's a picture of the most barebones gameplay test ever (excuse the framerate of my gif recording and the cursor...), with a walljump, dash and while not pictured, 8 directional shooting all implemented. I whipped it together using all the knowledge I've gotten from tonnes of abandoned prototypes while I learned to make GameMaker; it's basically the dish you make when you're out of good food so you throw whatever random garbage is in the fridge into a blender and hope it turns out OK.

I wanted to put together a small gameplay prototype before doing any concept art, so concept art will be next on the agenda. Thank you for reading!

This is looking fantastic so far, that Aeiran design is AWESOME, all the other concepts you've all got are really interesting too. I'm super excited to play this, and the way you write devlogs is genuinely really interesting to read. Can't wait for the next devlog!

Ohh wow, the concept art and whole idea is so good, I'm really REALLY excited to see how this turns out!

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hiya, I'm Nicole. I live in Australia and I'm terrible at introductions. I change username more frequently than I should so I have no idea what I consistently go by online...

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

Nope, I was literally just scrolling through the list of jams, and this one seemed really nice. I wanna get into Gamedev more, and this feels like a really good reason to get into it, as well as a chance to see a bunch of developer diary's develop in real time.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

Oh man I could go on forever about games I like, I'll basically play anything regardless of genre, but some of my favourites are the Persona games, Jet Set Radio, Splatoon, Pyre, Nier, Bloodborne, Yakuza, Street Fighter, Monster Hunter, and Animal Crossing to name a few. I've got a big soft spot for platformers, fighters and RPG's, if I were to actually talk about all the games I love I'd be typing for hours... When I was younger, I got a copy of Little Big Planet for my birthday, and the creation tools in that kinda snowballed into me getting interested in Gamedev. Nowadays, seeing indie game development is what mostly inspires me to make stuff; seeing all the cool stuff artists make and games people develop online inspires me to want to make other people feel inspired with what I create too. 

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

Other than some messing around with various engines and one game jam before, I've got fairly limited experience with Gamedev. I've mostly worked with GameMaker 8 mostly, I've got some experience with Unity3D and Unreal 4 too, but not too much...

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

Uhh other than video games, art in general and cooking I guess. ...Why are these sorta questions always so hard to answer?

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I really wanna just make a basic prototype I can be sorta proud of.  If I can at least post it and not HATE it, I'll consider the jam a success. Also wanna make sure to play every single other entry,and stay posted on Dev Diarys. Seeing what everyone else creates is gonna be super exciting

Wow, just finished the whole thing in one sitting. Maybe the most I've ever gotten invested in the characters of a Visual Novel, and some really gorgeous artwork. Also probably the most I've related to a game in a while, which is a rare thing. Thank you for making this, it's really amazing.