Game Jam development

7DRL is a game jam which challenges you to create a rougelike within seven days. I had asked Alex if we should work together and he thought it would be a good idea since we share similar disciplines and interests. I am personally interested in indie game development so a game jam is a great place to get some experience.

Alex had found a programmer, Andy, and we started  Facebook group to keep track of our ideas. I had brought up the idea of making a game based on creating potions and exploration. the player couldn't attack anything and there would be no enemies. Instead the player would traverse dangerous terrain in search for fauna which would be used to create potions. Potions could also be used to move around the world, e.g. a potion that would grow vines so the player can reach higher places.

The idea began to develop to include a narrative and other game mechanics. The main character is a wandering doctor who find a village in need of help so he explores to find a cure. The player would be an a time limit, the patients health, and would have to work within that time to save them. The player would also have to diagnose the patient based on his appearance, temperature, and would have to create a cure based on there symptoms. If the player got the cure wrong, something would happen to the patient based on what the player gave the patient.  Since its a roguelike and roguelikes and known for being challenging, the challenge would result from the player having to work out everything within the time limit.

We began to develop some concept art, trying to find a suitable and interesting aesthetic. However during the week of the game jam, the programmer had got the date wrong so we couldn't participate. Instead we decided to do the Unity game jam instead. The theme for Unity was 'Do No Harm' and our idea fit the brief so we decided to carry on developing it. The Unity game jam also had more development time so we could improve what we had. I enjoyed creating the environments so I began to make more concept art while Alex designed the character. I also designed some levels while Andy was preparing the engine. However due to time constraints we couldn't continue the project. I was slightly disappointed that we couldn't finish what we had started, but I found that the development and just the sharing of ideas to be more important than the finished product. I think we worked well together which made the process even more enjoyable.

I definitely want to try out more game jams in the future and keep on learning about game development.