01:brainstorm. my first game jam letsgooo

Full devlog with pictures and links on my tumblr.

2024.05.25, 3:27am

My 1st game jam ever that I am content to commit to (I just want the freebie course for participation lol).

https://itch.io/jam/gamedevtv-jam-2024

Theme: Last Stand

So, it's roughly 10 days for a game on a quite broad theme, but I am very good with brainstorming part & I already know what I'm doing.

this is sparta + zombies + escape room

my process goes like this:

1.  research the definitions of themes. Basic google search, Wikipedia, tvtropes and urbandictionary are the main places to look for.

TvTropes is very good for brainstorming, it leads to multiple related definitions and common tropes you can research ad use for inspiration.

2. what associations i personally have? For me, "this is sparta" fmaous scene came to mind. The "special sauce" game mechanics aspect come from there

3. What I already know how to do?

Barebones Unreal Engine game with: menu, mission message, winning condition/event, next level progression, enemy ai.

Overall information gave me very specific mental visuals, which can be made in 3 different levels with unifying conditions & mechanics. Some of them could be made into endless runner or a different genre, or with emphasis on something like beat-them-up. The levels can also be potentially 3 quite different games.

4. define known limits

Time, my lack of knowledge (i cannot properly quantify yet how long something can take me to implement), working with new version of engine. I tend to get too deep into developing a lore or detailed mechanics, so:

5. limit yourself.

My goal is to make a small game, not to make a good game or visually nice game. I will do the bare minimum first (see 3.), and then add basic assets or change things like dummy colors. I am not going to dive into polishing anything. I may end up add sounds etc, but main objective is to just pack the thing up and get something playable.

So, I'm not gonna sit further on the brainstorming part and dive into the engine. 

I think the biggest help for me why i could do it so quick is because i watched game challenges like this one & it helped me to understand how to visualize final products that do not look like AAA games I dream of making. Just do something simple, playable and move on. You cna always try to iterate on your older ideas in new games. For my current level, the crucial part is to learn and constantly produce small visible results, aka "speed sketch session" like in arts (my main medium).