Hi guys,
This is our first LD entry ever, and boy are we happy about the reception we’ve gotten. We are a two man team: a programmer and an artist. We specialize in fancy graphics 3D games so this was something new and interesting to try.

The Idea
Our first reaction was “oh man, they chose the worst possible theme from the list!”, but we grudgingly went along with it anyway. The idea for Shape Escape was just the first one that popped into our heads. “A physics based shapeshifting platformer”. I played around trying random stuff, settling on sphere rotation for locomotion and rectangle shapeshifting for jumping. By a happy accident, it provided the game with unexpected depth, despite the simplicity of the controls.

Day one
The good
As it turns out, the artist had a hidden knack for cutesy 2D art. Despite not having touched his tablet for months, and having very little experience with any sort of traditional art, he managed to come up with a consistent style which we think worked really well for the game.
Similarly, I (the programmer) seem to have done an alright job designing the levels for a first try, though I made the mistake of not having beginners test them before submission, resulting in the difficulty being a little higher than we were aiming for.

They see you
The bad
We weren’t all that serious about LD before we started. We decided at first to make something small and crappy, keeping the workload at a minimum. However, on the third day, after spending around 10 hours total on the game, we saw some potential in it. We crunched from 8 am to 3 am nonstop, barely managing to submit the last bugfix at 3:59 am, just before submission hour ended. There is still a gamebreaking bug which happens occasionally on level entry which we did not have time to fix. We definitely should have gone in at full power right from the start.
Because of the lack of time, the square shape didn’t get the attention it deserved. We needed to put more work into it to make it more useful. As it stands, it is only beneficial for shaving a few seconds off of your time, and requires considerable practice to use properly.
Lastly, we failed to get a third level in as we intended on doing. We felt that fixing the last few bugs and adding the last little tidbits, such as the black transitions and a nice menu, was more important than more content. We already had two full levels, and leaving the game unpolished for the sake of a little more content wasn’t worth it.

Day two
Our workflow
We have always had a good system going between us when working on games. We have a quick meeting, decide what needs doing, then split up and only rarely disturb the other person’s work to ask for input. When one of us finishes the work they were allocated, we have another short meeting to figure out what to do next. When working in a team, it is very inefficient to be looking over your partner’s shoulder and be tempted to change the design as they work. It is better to finish what you decided to do, and only then consider changes, evaluating the extra time it would take to get it done.
While it is true that jam games definitely need a lot of flexibility when it comes to overall design, you should consider setting the design and implementation details in stone before the first day’s over. This will let you focus on the smaller things that make the game what it is, such as adding a little extra flare to menus, or polishing controls to a mirror finish.

Day three
In the end, we were very happy with how it turned out, and we hope we can do as well next time.
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