So this was an interesting dare.
The theme made for a very difficult start to the weekend and I was simply not ready.
I’m usually really good with coming up with an idea at the very least, but this time was different. I kept thinking of totally new things, none of which were amazing.
I spent the first two hours drafting my first idea, and the next six working on it before hitting a snag and deciding that no, this idea will not do. Panicking I began a new project based on a backup idea I had from a while back. But that turned out just as bad with me abandoning it just after the 24 hour mark.
Just when I was ready to give up a new idea hit me, not bad I thought, and got to work. If this was a Hollywood film, there’d be a montage scene for my next six hours, where I powered through and coded like a madman. With under 12 hours to go I had the basis for my game and just needed some graphics, sounds, and UI.
This was my first major attempt at making a game without a large engine (such as Unity), using Processing for graphics (Java) all I had to do was…everything else. And it was a blast.
Things that went right:
- The theme allowed me to not worry too much about graphics and sound, I could make some small stuff and call it a day.
- Developing without an engine allowed me to have much greater control over development, it’s a lot of work but quite rewarding.
- I like Java programming.
Things that went wrong:
- It took less than 12 hours to make this game, but I really wish I came up with this idea at the start.
- Even thought I made what I wanted, it was originally a slightly different idea and had to be adapted when certain things just didn’t work (and when I didn’t have the time to fix said bugs)
My game, Don’t Get Wet, is available here, and I hope to soon have an Android port up and running.