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[risumisugamedev]

An Update

So I am sure the game jam has come to an end, and I have learned a lot while taking part. It was a nice little reality check for me that I struggle with math, but math is really important for making games, so I need to get better. Also, I have a real problem with control over my attention, and I need to improve this two. I definitely have the ideas, I could make some fun little games but I just don't have the fundamentals I need, and I can brute force past them, but that means I don't learn anything, I just use that information to produce half cut mechanics that I have pulled out of tutorials.

So what do I do now?

I have planned already the next project I will take on, and that is making a pong clone in GMS2. A simple project, but a building block for fundamentals I can learn. As for the approach? NO TUTORIALS. Tutorials are useful, but I don't get the math knowledge I need from them or the results of experimentation.

So, while its not the post I wanted to make, a reality check is always good and I look forward to increasing my capabilities. While I am doing this, I will continue to plan my dream projects. But hey, without the work, I won't be able to make them the way I want to.

[risumisugamedev]

More Progress

After having got movement working, I started adding more functionality to it. Image angles, I added a sprint and stamina system (seen below) and then it dawned on me that if I carry on with this, then I will have, by the end of the jam, a movement system.

So, now I have movement, I started looking at different systems that I need to add, then realised, I have planned what I want in the project, but I have not planned how to put it there or how it should work. This is pretty important as a step and I had tried to blaze past it.

Something cool though, I learned about using sine waves. The weird voodoo things you can do with it, and found a reason to use it. PICK UPS! I added a poorly drawn pickup Item to the game with a poorly executed sine wave for the image scale, and a rotation to it. Leading to the following result:

It appears I also left some debugging information up. Oops. But still, this small addition to the game is a step forward to me as I am now no longer focused on just movement.

The video below is the one I used to understand what a sine wave is by the way:

Now, I will go back, and really flesh out how I am going to build the mechanics I need for the game with some planning. Its a shame I have a 45 hour work week this week, I am really not going to have much time to work on the project, and I was hoping to get more time to build it up. It appears time management is also a skill I am going to develop while I am doing this.

[risumisugamedev]

Building Movement

By combining the video from the previous post with another one I saw a while back, I was able to create the code above. This came together to create, a poorly optimised, poorly executed mishmash of tutorials, that did, in fact, work.

Fortunately, the videos have shared enough information that its not just magic to me. I understand how and why it works, I should state though, it still blew me away it didn't die on first execution.

Now I have this core to build from (That I will refactor 900 times in two weeks), I will start to look at collision, as well as animating the player. The player is currently a circle by the way, just to stress how new(ish) I am to this.

I am finding it hard to break through my problem of just making some movement and then never picking the project up again, however tomorrow will be the decider as to how far I get with this jam. I was told to mention by a certain individual, that I have the attention span of a dead fish [I hope that gives me bonus points]!

That being said, I am making progress, learning, and feeling confident. So I hope that at least stays.

[risumisugamedev]

Progress So Far

Progress is slow, I wanted to see how much information I have retained from all those beginner videos I've watched. The short answer is none. Well, very little.

I have decided that I will follow tutorials to a certain level. Starting with movement. Game Maker has a great built in movement system, but I never really liked that I can't see how it works most of the time, so I have looked and found what I believe to be a really solid explanation of the concepts and a fantastic example of how it works:

This video gives enough information that it tells you how things work, so you can figure out how to put them together for yourself. So now, using what I have learned, I will build a movement system for the player to start with. This will be the first code I apply to the game.

Also, having considered different art styles, I remembered that my drawing is not so good, so I will make a list of the art I need to tackle that later.

[risumisugamedev]

The Game Jam Begins

So, the jam has started and the theme has been revealed. "Only One Inventory Slot!" This is definitely an interesting theme to work with.

Many ideas passed me but there was one that I just couldn't let go of. It feels in a similar vein to the popular horror comedy game "Lethal Company". The idea is a game where you break into a building, and you have to leave with the most expensive item you can find. The catch? In order to take better items, you will have to drop your weapons and pick up key cards to get deeper into the building. You will have to drop your weapons in order to pick up a big payday prize and run for hills.

Initially I considered a puzzle game, but I wasn't really "feeling it". I also considered the idea of having to juggle items, but I couldn't find a context where I could get a fun mechanic going. This idea I am going with definitely had the most legs and my mind started running with it immediately.

But, the idea is there, now for the planning. If there is anything I've learned is true; you create so much more work for yourself when you don't plan. For this, I will create a design document, and some progress trackers, along with a notepad to keep track. Again, I am mainly using Google Drive for all of my documentation, as its free and intuitive.

If you're new to game development or are interested in what a Design Document is, there is a helpful link below. Now, to the planning stage.

[risumisugamedev]

TheCaptainCoder Game Jam

To start this development blog I will be entering into a game jam hosted by TheCaptainCoder (Twitch Name). Link to the jam below:

This game jam in particular caught my interest because it is geared towards learning over creating the strongest game. So in line with the competition I will be uploading here every day for two weeks, documenting my progress and sharing what I have learned.

This will be my first time entering a jam, and also my first time sharing my work in public of any kind. My goal is to learn the process of making a game, to fully go through planning, development, and releasing a small project and all of the details in between.

For this game jam here are the tools I will be using:

Game Maker Studio 2 -- I have some experience of working with game maker, however I have never got further than a few days into a project, before losing interest, forgetting about it or feeling so stuck and annoyed I didn't want to continue. As I have the most familiarity with this engine, it makes sense to carry on learning how to use it. Also, I have the license for it, which I highly recommend as its one flat payment of around 100.00 GBP

Aseprite -- Aseprite is a fantastic and cheap tool for pixel art. It has everything I need to create simple artwork for a game including animation tools. I love the simplicity of it so that is why I will be using it.

FamiStudio -- I do not know much about this software apart form its good for 8 bit audio, so I will be learning this software as I go through this game jam.

I will also be using google drive to store all the documents I create while working on this project.

I have tried many times in the past to make a game, and I struggle with seeing things through to the end, so I am hoping this really helps me to learn to see my projects through, as well as gaining new skills, and a better understanding of game design and development.

Good luck to everyone taking part and thank you to TheCaptainCoder for hosting the jam.