Posted August 20, 2024 by vanivanelson
This was my fourth game jam, and third time on GMTK's. Funnily enough, there were a lot of other things i had to do this weekend, plus me having school exams in August, meaning I had LESS time to work on the game than in previous years! Very fun!
Friday
2 PM, the theme was announced, but i got distracted and managed to miss the premiere. I also realized that i hadn't installed Construct on my computer for whatever reason, so the first hour was spent pir-i mean legally obtaining it. Along this hour i also managed to come up with no ideas, so i chose the very original option of "platformer where you change size". A few hours in, i had another idea, of a multiplayer-like (or vs computer) building game set on weighing scales. I tried a while to make it work, but thought i wouldn't be able to make it in time, so i kept going with my initial idea. I also talked to a friend on Discord about the jam, and they suggested the shrinking checkpoints, which made it in.
Saturday
I had already had the idea to make a singular huge stage instead of level-based, but i decided to make it four times larger than it was previously (resulting in the current level size). Near the end of level designing, even that felt a little small!
Another thing i did at that point was plan the sections and the mechanics they'd introduce, being at this point that moving spikes and water were introduced. At first it was going to be 1 checkpoint per section, but the latter half gets a bit hectic with the shrinking checkpoints, so i roughly divided the game in 10 sections, which vary wildly in size and structure, and don't all have something new. Sketching for the path where you stay at size 1 also started around here.
Sunday
Pretty sure i just did some level design, like the sections that introduce water and the shrinkpoint. I also made the code (but not the design) for the Elevator section, as well as created the tileset that's seen in the finished game.
Monday
I had quite a lot to do. Sections from the Elevator to the end, plus the mini path, weren't complete; and i also had to make the endscreen, place the tiles i made the previous day, remove all the playtesting cheats and export and upload the game. If you noticed the end of the game/mini path feel rushed, that's why. Either way, i finished it and published the game 16 hours before the deadline, for the sole reason that i wouldn't be home when it ended the next day at 2PM.
And that's that. Certainly not my best jamming experience, and i still but it was worth a shot nonetheless. Thank you for reading, and see you next time at the GMTK Jam 2025!