Pre-Jam Thoughts

I’ve actually done these devlogs for other games and projects I’ve worked on. But I didn’t publish any of them in a way that others can find them, or even stumble upon them. I’ve come to realize that I’m effectively shooting myself in the foot by keeping them to myself. So, the plan here is to write a post a day during this game jam. Hopefully doing this won’t be asking for too much, but I think it’d be best to share my thoughts through the process.

Type of Game

First thing’s first, I think I want to try and make a turn-based game this time. The other night, I was poking around in that Deus Ex GO game that got shut down (😭). I found the gameplay pretty accessible. It’s a mobile game, so it boils down to the player tapping on an adjacent node, and the player character (Adam Jensen, in this case) moves to it. The character will take action depending on a few factors. A basic example is if the character moves into an enemy-occupied node, the game would check for things like, “Is the enemy facing the character or not?” If the answer is yes, then the enemy defeats the player and the level restarts. If no, then the character defeats the enemy and the player is free to take their next step.

It’s not a complicated game in that AI behaviour is pretty limited and reactive. Enemies don’t do anything unless the player steps on a node that triggers them in some way. Never having made a game like this before, I know I’m probably overlooking something.

Of course, this all depends on whether or not the theme (and wildcards, maybe) can fit the gameplay itself.

The Art

This one is simple enough. It will be 2D. I don’t want to worry about animation blending and whatnot when I only have about nine days to work on this. Especially for a game type that I’ve never built before and only experienced as a player. I’m likely to use something from Kenney for the Game Jam version. It’s literally just me working on this and I want to pour as much time as I can on the code. If I really enjoy working on this, I’ll go through the process of coming up with the art.

Audio

The last game jam I participated, I didn’t have enough time in the end to even put in audio. It was a silent game and I’m pretty sure that hurt the “prototype’s” ranking a lot. I strive not to make that same mistake! It helps that I do have more practical experience with Godot this time. I have a clearer idea of how to approach putting a game together in Godot. So I won’t be negotiating with myself and trying to find an easier game to build, ultimately leaving myself four to five days to get it all done.

Accessibility

I looked at the list linked in the jam page and there is a lot. Some aren’t relevant, but the ones that I can see applying to my game feel a tad overwhelming. As someone who’s definitely made use of accessibility options in various games, I do appreciate the importance being placed on this. As someone who’s still trying to get their feet wet again in gamedev, it feels like a lot. I’ll do my best to implement the ones that do apply. One way I plan on doing this is by setting up a kanban board. Separate them into their category lists, then prioritize them via labelling and positioning in each list.

I look forward to having another game under my belt. If I don’t sprout any new greys after, I’ll join future ones if I have an idea of the type of game I want to make!