I've had some experience working on other projects before, but it's my first time actually gathering courage to join a game jam. Thought I wanna share some of our team's experience and read how it went for you guys too.
First of all, we've underestimated a bit how little time one week is and I guess I'm still very emotional about our team being able to actually finish the project on time. XD
The decision to join Brackeys was super sudden for both of us, literally one day before the jam began and the theme was announced, but in the end both of us are super happy we did. Everyone here seems so sweet and I've already played so many really creative projects. ♡
Brainstorming the ideas together for the theme was really enjoyable. Even though the theme seemed difficult at first. Deroko came up with a hamster sim idea as a joke, but it suddenly clicked with both of us and it was super fun throwing gameplay and events ideas at each other to further develop the vision. They've sketched the character running and shivering and I've immediately fell in love with it. And so the development process started.
Learning to make music this summer as a new hobby, I've decided once more to be courageous and try my hands at actually making something for our game. It's good getting feedback from your friends only, but I guess there comes a time when you also wanna hear how others would react to your creations, even if it's scary. x) Had to scrap the first few attempts though, they just didn't give me the cautious hamster vibe and it was getting super late. Thankfully, Der was there with me on a voice call and convinced me to go get some rest. Who would have known sleep actually does miracles! XD
And I'm super grateful to have actually received some positive feedback on that part from you guys, thank you! It means a lot!
Seeing how your build goes from plain squares and circles to having graphics has always been my favorite part. But then come the bugs. I've decided to focus on fixing those as a priority, as many as I can before the submission deadline. Which left me with no time to optimise for the planned web build, and I'm super thankful the jam allows us 2 more days for patches and adding other platforms. Web builds I think are super convenient for the jam format. Our game being tiny still lagged a lot in browser without the optimisation as more content was being added. Again, glad I tested that prior.
On the last day I stayed finishing the project all night, which was a bad choice in retrospective, lol, but eventually we've uploaded on time, Deroko left on vacation and I went to finally sleep for probably an entire day. My body really didn't thank me for that night of the crunch. XD
Still, despite the chaos, we both think it was an overall nice experience.
What we've learned in the process - I know these are probably super obvious, but sometimes you just have to step on that rake yourself to engrave it into your brain:
- If you think you have just enough ideas for a tiny game, still bravely cut like half of it all. If you end up havign some spare time on your hands by the time you finish your project, you can then add those, but chances are probably really low, lol.
- Playtest a lot! Weirdest bugs might happen out of seemingly nowhere. And I mean, weirdest. Especially in the places that worked perfectly fine before. XD Besides, it might help you feel if something is missing from the gameplay loop or other aspects, so you can make adjustments on the fly.
- If you're working as a team, make sure to start with organisation. Make a clear to-do list for every member and occasionally remind each other to check it. It's super easy to forget things when you're in a rush.
- If you finish your current to-dos earlier than expected, help each other if you can.
- MAKE SURE YOU GET SOME SLEEP, DON'T BE LIKE ME!
I would love to read your first-timer stories as well, how did you decide to join, what were the hardships you've encountered, what did you learn in the process and how's your overall impression so far?
(Veterans are also welcome to join, I LOVE listening to the jam participation stories! x))
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Our game: /jam/brackeys-16/rate/4953044
As a bonus, I've found this very early concept sketch in our chat, lol.
