Greetings,
I hope you are all having fun with the theme so far. One of my goals for this gameJam is to release a minimum of three blogs throughout the ten day period. Covering some of my processes and workflows.
I've been exploring the idea of a dice-based adventure game for this gameJam. I am aware that I will likely have to cut 90% of what I have mapped out in order to have something playable and fun within the time period.
However, I like to start out ambitious and let the ideas flow freely at the start of the jam. I then pick and choose my battles throughout the development process and try to whittle down my grand plans into something enjoyable within the time frame.
This is not the best way to work, but I like to regularly test myself and find new ways to streamline my pipeline and processes so that I can develop more game(s) in less time.
Scope creep and unrealistic expectations are constant threats in any development environment, but this is especially true in the field of game development. Working alone and in isolation on projects can exacerbate this threat.
To that end, I try to be as efficient as possible with planning, preproduction and asset creation.
Across my last two projects, I have developed some reusable proxy meshes and art assets to give me more time in jams to focus on other aspects of development. I have spent a lot of time exploring geometry nodes, procedural generation, shader-based material design and other technical solutions to my most pressing problem.
My ideas and creativity are grand but my time and skills are limited.
Basically, My eyes are bigger than my belly (and I have a pretty big belly, to boot!)
How can I solve this problem?
I believe the answer lies in deliberate, calculated practice and regularly challenging myself to identify weaknesses in my methods. My intent for this jam is to once again push myself outside my comfort zone and try something new.
So, where does that leave me?
DICEVENTURE - A dice-based interactive boardgame made in Unreal Engine 5.
Brief:
10 Day GameJam for GameDev.tv 2024 GameJam.
Themed jam.
PrePro Tasks:
Set up Repos & Planning Thread. Set up Projects on StartDate.
Prepare Asset Pipelines [Generators / Procedural Materials] - in Blender / Substance. Consider if I want to start my own team, work alone or join another team for this jam.
Choose between 2d/2.5d/3d for the project. Choose between Retro, Anime, and PBR art style.
Pick one or two visual elements to anchor the project around. Set up a post-process/compositor stack to highlight the chosen style elements.
What are main goals with this jam?
- Create something small in scope, fun to play & highly polished.
- Greater focus on feedbacks and iteration.
- Increase following & refine blogging / post mortem skills
- Increase efficiency and quality of Key Art / Capsule / Reveals and Social Posts.
Project Self-Imposed Restrictions:
Spend 1-3 days max on the core mechanics and set-up. Spend 5 days on polish. Spend 2 full days preparing the capsule and release showcase.
StrecthGoals: Five DevBlogs about this project.
Three mandatory blog posts - [Start of Jam] [Middle of Jam] [End of Jam]
Two optional blog posts [PreProduction] [Post Mortem]
Name Ideas:
Tickle My Dice
Mechanical Restraint:
Dice Roller - One Button / Button Masher
Uses RNG Script to determine outcomes.
Storybook [Turn to Page X, based on dice roll outcome]
Short Story,
Anime Style,
Manga Art,
Graphic Novel
The theme is: "Last Stand"
How does this slot into my current leanings?
I am leaning towards a "themed "board game with portals to bite-sized adventures,"
The core mechanic is to roll the dice, "draw a scenario" and "resolve a scenario" using dice to roll outcomes.
To work in the Last Stand theme,
- The "players board piece/token" is the last available on the stand, and as it's picked up, snaps to the board and the game begins
- "The "mystery board game" is the last available at a market stand/car boot sale/etc - and is taken home, unboxed and the game begins.
For a simple MVP:
"Roll a Dice, Play Animations, Text Widgets / Choose Your Own Adventure"
If time allows, integrate 3D Graphics / Level Switching and "Mini Cutscenes"
Days 1-3:
Mechanics, UI, Scenes Storyboard, Scriptwriting, Blender Cutscene Blockouts
Days 4-6:
Art, Audio, Polish
Days 7-10:
Capsule, Polish, Cutscenes / Graphic Novel Frames
Daily Snapshot:
Introductory Blog shared - project mapped out, restrains and mechanics outlined.
Basic Top Down Layout & Landmarks Mapped Out.
Basic Blueprints in Unreal set up for dice rolling and character controllers.
I look forward to cutting 99% of what I have planned and sharing the end result in ten days time.
Good luck with your jam entries and have fun!