You know the drill. What went well? What didn't? What did you learn? What have you seen on other entries that you've liked so far? Any and all thoughts welcome.
HELLO EVERYONE SORRY THAT I DIDN'T COME TO VELOX TURBO 2 I'M BACK NOW THOUGH! DID YOU MISS ME? YAPPING ALERT AHEAD
I'll be honest, I didn't know if I was going to participate because VN making is really tiring to me lately and opening up Ren'py deals psychic damage to me. Fortunately, Ren'py isn't the only software that there is! Decker is now my best friend. If I don't want to, I literally don't have to type a single line of code. I have a touchscreen laptop. Decker has a dedicated touchscreen mode, which means that I can just... draw things in Decker with my finger directly on the screen. Sure, Decker's not really an art program and it comes with its limitations, but this is the fun thing! Working within those limitations (color palette, specific brushes) really gets my brain going. I stuck with monochromatic vibes (outside of one scene) just to keep everything as simple as possible. To spice things up, I did what I've never done with Decker before: used transitions and sound effects. The photo tearing scene (those who played know) is probably one of my favorite things I've ever done. From non-technical standpoint, I had this storyline prepared (at least partially) after seeing the themes from the last voting batch. It could fit several of the themes depending on where I'd steer the story and that's really nice. Without yapping much more, I had fun. I had a lot of fun. I think this is what matters the most.
I can't deny, this was the chillest Velox I've ever had. I slept well, I ate well, I didn't push myself too hard. Maybe this is why I had fun. I'm no longer at that stage in my life where I want to wreck myself for my art and I think that when I feel better, I just do better. Bye bye sleep deprivation and caffeine overdose. Y'all get yourself some water and some good sleep, trust me, it'll change you.
And it's so nice to see so many familiar faces again! Can't wait to play all of your games! I already played one. I'll get to the rest of you in a bit. This is a threat.
Well, anyway! Happy to be here again, I hope I'll see you all soon on one Velox or another. We'll see how I vibe with it.
I'm about halfway through playing/rating/commenting on all of the entries right now (I'm hoping to get through all of them in the next day or two, you can't escape me this time!), so I think now is a good enough time as any to post some early thoughts.
Starting with everyone else's submissions: I shouldn't be surprised by this but I really am blown away by how creative and different all of the games have looked/felt. Where on earth do you people find the time to do all of this in 36 hours (this especially goes out to the submissions who make use of animations and custom GUIs!!) This isn't just a visual or a narrative thing either, to me at least, each game I've played so far really feels like its own thing, which I really appreciate. I think the delayed theme reveal may have provided everyone a little boost with this as well.
Speaking of the delayed theme reveal, I know for me, finding out about the theme after drafting the script for my VN gave me a chance to let my ideas get weird without honing in on what it should be to reflect the theme. I say this every time because I think it's true every time, so forgive me if I feel like a broken record, but I think this is probably one of the most out-there things I've written. I'm so excited to see people reading and reacting to it!
I moved off of my hobbled together Ren'Py framework this jam to use Narrat, which has been exciting. I try to leave a note on Ren'Py projects that the downloadable version is the best experience, but the majority of plays on my VNs still come from the browser. I'm hoping a Web-native engine makes the experience nicer for the majority of people who read my stuff. There were some stumbles, including a CSS issue I had to clean up at 1am, but the process was pretty smooth. Sooner or later I'll remember how Electron apps work again and make a downloadable version for anyone who wants that.
Had a lot of fun with audio/visuals this time. I hope everyone likes them as much I do. This is my first time doing character sprites for one of these things under a tight timeline, which was interesting! I'm happy with how they came out.
Congrats to everyone who submitted! Excited to see everyone else's thoughts on the games soon. Hoping to start a more serious postmortem once I get through all of the games.
I'm glad you felt the late theme allowed you more space to get weird with your game! I love what you did with the narrative, and the unconventionality of it all stands out as a strength.
I'm also in awe of how everyone had such unique ideas. Really each game felt like they could have only been made by the dev(s) who made them which is such a fun experience
Firstly congrats to all of us for completing another Velox Jam!!! We somehow did it again guys!!
Secondly, to get it out the way, yes, I was sick for like the 4th Velox jam in a row LMAO I think I can officially say I've been cursed now. At the very least, I was on the mend by the time Friday hit, so I didn't feel bad going into the jam! I'm going to be honest, the minute I heard the challenge this time was a late theme reveal, I knew exactly how I was going to cheese it; making a fictional competition centered around the theme. That way I could start writing the script, and go back in post theme reveal and edit the sections talking about it. Even outside of that aspect though, the theme ended up informing more of the game then I was expecting.
I also think this was the first Velox script I wrote and felt emotions during the process? I think I accidentally related a bit too hard with the characters and their struggles with creativity and relationship to art, aha. I think this is actually the first time since last August I managed to dive into a project completely, too. I technically joined Velox Turbo 2, but that was just as an artist and programmer, which was a much different experience than making something on your own. It felt nice to be like 'Wow, we're so back.'
But yeah, I think my game is just a modern day "Flash Dating Sim on Deviantart in 2005", but that's also what I was going for. I also kept the tradition of breaking the GUI lmaO but that's because I keep trying to do new things and except that to go well within the span of 36 hours. I also couldn't get the clothing pieces for the dress up mini game to appear in the browser version, which made me super sad actually?? It feels illegal to not have a browser version of my games at this point. That'll just be in the post jam update.
Anyway, not to keep yapping (I'll save it for the post mortem), but I'm honestly surprised with how much I liked the story of this game? I'm also surprised at how long the script was. 6.3k for a 36 hour jam is wild, and I think I easily could expand the story of this at some point to like, a full fledged game.
Moving on to everyone else, I've only played a handful of everyone else's entries so far but like, the thing that's stood out to me the most about the entries this time around is how absolutely cracked everyone's visual's are?? I feel like every comment I leave is just going to be like "Wow, this was visually stunning I'm in Love." I also feel like the type of engine used this round felt a little more varied? People still used Ren'py obviously, but seeing other engines like Decker, Narrat, and Videotome was fun to see! It also reminded me I want to check out those engines at some point, especially seeing how other people have been using them.
I'll end it there, but I can't wait to play through all the entries and annoy y'all with my comments again :>
If you ever make an extended version of Aliferous, I will be running so fast to play it. Your game is so charming, and I think you captured the 2005 flash dating sim vibes perfectly. You're actually the reason I learned about the Velox jams from Pretty Boy Inc is Hiring, so I'm so glad I was finally able to join one where you made your own game! It's like meeting a celebrity, haha. I'll look forward to seeing you in the future, and hopefully the sick curse will be broken by then
Your postmortems are everything to me <3 they're such an insightful look into the creative process and also into working on a team. I am forever in awe at how your teams are able to work so well together, how supportive you all are of each other, and how insightful you are when it comes to game dev as a process.
yet another spread thin post-mortem uwu
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sMNqgJx9142AAkJdMogcLoZKYbJU_n2W_20sYMidfU0/...
...THE LAKES... SWEEP (YOU INTO THEIR DEPTHS)
Honestly, this was simply the best Velox I've ever had - both results-wise and when talking about my mental state. I expected, of course, awards for Narrative and Theme Incorporation (as those are my specialty at this point and I've never left a Velox jam without at least Theme Incorporation award), but... VISUALS??? AFTER I EXPLICITLY SAID "IDC ABOUT VISUALS"??? GOOD FUCKING GODS, CHAT, IS THIS REAL.
I'd like to congratulate everyone who got first places (or got the first place with me, Dreamty I love you <3), each and every one of you absolutely deserved it. As did everyone on places 2-5, but y'know, first place is special. To everyone who didn't see such success, I hope I can see you on another jam where you can do better <3
I will be uploading an unlocked deck version of ...the lakes... so everyone can poke around and see how things were made so that some of you who are more of a "I need to take it apart and experiment with it" type can see if Decker is for you. It won't be now, though. I need to celebrate and be happy for all of my friends who did amazing jobs as always <3
Thank you for voting for my stuff. I'll see you... well, whenever I feel like coming back for Velox stuff.
The first time I heard about Velox Formido, I genuinely thought it was impossible. I could not believe people could make a full entire game in thirty six hours. Let me tell you I was surprised to find out that not only is it possible, but it's also way easier than I expected? If somehow someone who hasn't joined the jam is reading this, do it next year. It's so much fun, I promise.
I had so much fun!! I love getting to play everyone's games, seeing devs I know, and meeting ones I don't. I absolutely love the community around the Velox jams, and it's so inspiring to see so many creatives cheering for each other. Honestly, truly, forever my favorite part of these jams.
This year, I kept notes while playing everyone's games. I wanted to be able to say "I love abc because of xyz" and leave comments that are more in depth than my usual "wow great game." I was embarrassed as hell to leave my comments with their Lit Major Pretentiousness, but people seemed to enjoy them so I guess I'll be carrying that practice with me to future jams.
Okay, real talk: I HATED the late theme announcement. I was traveling for the first twelve hours of the jam, so it didn't affect me too badly, but I still hate it. I think writing is the most important part of a visual novel (it has novel in the name, duh), and I think to integrate a theme well, it has to be present at every stage of the writing process. It has to have time to soak into the roots of a project and influence the decisions that are made. By announcing the theme late, it felt like saying "Oh yeah, btw you can't work on ANY writing until nine hours in." Like okay let me go cry in a corner, the sad little writer I am. Everyone handled the late drop SUPER well and for many of the projects it's almost impossible to believe they didn't have the theme to begin with. Like okay, I KNOW there's other things that can be worked on besides writing. There's visuals and ui and music, but! but! but the writing!! I know I am biased, but damn the late theme felt like a personal attack. Robobarbie, AllieVera, please never again ;v;
The amount of ties in the final results is so fucking funny. Five games placed #2 overall. FIVE GAMES. I love it. I think it reflects how truly difficult it is to rate these. Everyone (and I truly mean everyone) shines in these specific ways, and when two people shine in the same area, it's impossible to rank one over the other. I know throughout the entire rating period, I kept going back and changing things to best reflect how everything ranked when compared to each other. I'd give everyone five stars if I could (and i did on the itch ratings, hehe), so it becomes necessary to compare games to each other. A one star in this jam is like four stars in real life, we're just grading on a curve. I know ranked jams can be scary, so I hope no one's disheartened by the results and instead sees the ranking system as a way to force us to play games more critically and attentively.
Ah, with that said, thank you so much for placing me #1 for narrative! I try to go into these jams with no expectations, but I genuinely thought people would hate my game or they wouldn't understand it, or, worst of all, they'd understand it and they'd still hate it. It's not a happy game, and it gets a little abstract with its theming and heavy-handed with its metaphors. Every comment telling me the narrative touched them will live in my heart forever. Thank you <3
I've said this in my postmortem, but so many things inspired my game, and it makes me eager to consume even more media. If a good writer reads, then a good game dev games, right? I've been (slowly) working my way through every game submitted to every velox jam ever. The creativity from everyone is astounding. I am absorbing everything, devouring postmortems, and burying my arms in the guts of the code. Thank you everyone for feeding me such delicious meals ^-^
Final thoughts! I had fun, of course. I love this community, and definitely plan to join future jams. I'm terrified at the thought of joining a team (Spread Thin: We're Toast did not help with that fear....), but I think it would be the next big step in my dev journey! We'll see if I can muster up the courage for the next one, haha
gg everyone <3 my dm's are always open if anyone has questions or wants to talk or whatever. let's all keep making killer games~
Editing to add: velox formido might be one of my favorite jam formats because the quick turn around time forces everyone to be vulnerable in such spectacular ways. The more time you have with a game, the more time you have to edit it and polish it. The more time you can bury your initial instincts behind rules about story telling and game dev (or music or art, etc etc). I know editing and rewriting are vital to the creative process, but I think there's a specific charm that comes with a rough draft or something closely resembling one. When we only have time to take one of our first ideas and run with it, we're reduced to using our base instincts. You're forced to tell the story in the way you initially want to tell it. And that's scary. You're handing someone something you didn't have time to make pretty and perfect, and you're asking them to sit with it, to look at it, to converse with it. You're creating a conversation maybe you weren't ready to have. Please trust me when I say I am so proud of EVERYONE in this jam. I loved all the different conversations that were made, and I take great pleasure in getting to sit with your art and finding ways to appreciate it, flaws and all. You all shared something so special with me, and I will never take that for granted.
first: thank you all so much for being such lovely jammates, and trust that lemonink and i are more than honored to be taking home first place. yayyy!! it鈥檚 also been a long time coming but lemonink and i did a collaborative postmortem in the style of a convo (which we were having as we wrote this) so please do check it out if you鈥檙e curious about our thoughts!
as an incentive, we also left brief comments on every single game at the end so click to hear more about your game!!!