Thanks for sharing! I was aware from past experience and seeing similar picks about the need to allot time to such things but I think having set times is good since I tend to underestimate the time those steps will take.
As for me I felt behind since I started an idea and then trashed it, started a prototype, and only got working on the actual idea yesterday. Now that I write it out, it seems pretty reasonable and not much of a delay at all. Anyway, I made good progress today. It would be cool to get playtesters a day or two before submitting, although I imagine people are going to be pretty busy with their own games.
Viewing post in Mid-Jam Check-in: How’s the crunch going, everyone?
Dropping the first idea and restarting is a classic jam experience, glad you realized you're not actually falling behind! Making good progress is what matters. Also, don't worry about playtesters-once you have a build ready, hit me up! I'd love to test it (and I really hope you'll check out my game too).
I actually started with an idea I was afraid I wouldn't finish even in a month, but now I’m somehow on track. The hardest part for me is the art, because it requires a VERY SERIOUS amount of sprites and animations. But I managed to pull it off with some tricks-like copying objects and just changing colors or slightly redrawing them (honestly, that's meta, even the great Toby Fox did that). So good luck and have fun, buddy!