Hey all, hope you’re enjoying the compo/jam.
After reaching the wee hours of day 2, I’m 100% convinced that I’ve (once again) bit off way more than I can chew… As of now, I still don’t have actual gameplay, and I have almost no time tomorrow to do anything. *sigh*
Takeaways:
1. Start small start small start small start small….
This always gets me. I somehow manage to come up with these grandiose ideas of what would be the perfect game for the theme, and then I convince myself I can do it, when I usually can’t.
2. New framework/OS/programs work great for jams!
One goal for me this time around was to use new… well… everything… I have been a long time user of GameMaker, and I was looking to make a switch for a while now (since most of my dev life is on Linux nowadays). Therefore, I looked into Haxeflixel combined with Aseprite (for animations), Gimp (for other art), TexturePacker (for.. texture… packing…) and vim as my editor (I would also have used either PixiTracker or Caustic for music and SFXR or something else for SFX but I didn’t get that far). Needless to say, this setup worked really well for me. I felt like I learned tons of new things to use in Haxeflixel that I might not have known about otherwise (Tweens are amazing). I actually took the time to learn the steeper learning curve of Gimp, and it felt really natural this time around. I *really* love vim as an editor, so I was pleased to know that this setup is practical for future jams.
3. I dunno it’s late I’m going to bed.
Here are some GIFs of the would-be game:
The premise was going to be that you were stranded in your cargo ship after being torn through a wormhole to the edge of the universe. Here there is an abundance of an unknown substance that can be reformed into various forms of energy (fuel, electricity, etc.). However, there is a lurking creature that feeds off of the substance, and doesn’t like you being there. Your ship is not equipped with weapons, and you must use any “unconventional” tactics to fend off the terror so you can survive while your hyper drive charges. Game would have featured Lovecraftian style terror with 5 nights at Freddy’s style resource management, with a “20000 Leagues Under the Sea” feel with plenty of screen shake.
Would it have been cool? Probably. I might pick it up some other time and finish it the way I want it. For now, sleep seems more valuable to me.
Until next time!
– jahndis