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Jabronibologna14 days ago(+1)

I know you didn't ask me, but it's a good question. I obviously don't know you at all, but since you're "typically not getting the things that make a game, a game within the time limit," you may be having issues with:

  • time management - yes, life happens, but go into a jam understanding what sort of time you can commit to it. Be realistic, and try to stick to that commitment as best you can.
  • scope of the project - you do want to push yourself in a game jam, but not ridiculously so. This should align with the amount of time you've decided to commit to the jam.
  • prioritizing the critical content - sounds like you're typically the programmer (amongst other things), so you must understand the core game loop and be able to identify the systems required to make that happen. Prioritize those first. We can't give you ratings or meaningful feedback if there's nothing for us to play

And remember, the only actual success criteria for a game jam is to do the game jam! Reflect on it afterwards, and focus on the stuff you had control of. If a teammate dropped out in the middle of the jam, and you didn't have time to pivot, it is what is. Not much you can do about that.

Keep at it, and good luck!

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Bigfootmech13 days ago

I think part of it is not meshing with teammates that’s been pretty consistent.

But it’s gonna be more difficult for people from outside to figure out how/why that happens.

prioritizing the critical content

How do you identify what’s the critical content?

Eg: in this one, I abandoned an almost-complete rhythm mechanic, that could have been the main gameplay loop… or just extra frills.

scope

I scoped it to “the menus + SOMETHING in game” .. because every time I released without having a menu, or options, or an end-game message, that’s been the comments.

After that, it was the “battle” screen. Which I completed a basic prototype.

After that, I made a basic overworld, and imported a character and tileset…

aaaand at that point, I ran out of time.

time management

think I’m still trying to figure this one out too.

I’m getting stuff done.

But haven’t been able to start quantifying “how much”.

And during the jam, it almost feels like trying to estimate how long something will take

  • takes time away from actually doing stuff
  • is never all that accurate

Do I just start doing that anyway, until I get better at figuring out how long things will actually take?

I guess that’s the only way. Because until I can benchmark it, I can’t see where the time is going :S

Maybe estimate, and record while in-jam, and then do review in post?

Thank you for the feedback by the way, it helps :)

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Jabronibologna13 days ago

For sure, being team dynamics is a huge part of it. Sucks you've had consistent issues there, only thing you can do is keep trying with different ppl until it clicks (I think going solo sometimes is fun as well).

Yeah, all these things are skills that you get better at with more experience, so they will develop naturally but I think it helps to be conscious/intentional with them!

I should also clarify that this not something you completely plan up front and implement exactly to spec. You want to try to plan stuff in a way that gives you direction and remains flexible. Again, a skill that develops over time.

In my typical workflow, it's a mashup of all this stuff kinda simultaneously. It's like a nested loop (because why not use a nerdy metaphor). Outer loop is project management sort of stuff: broad strokes planning and vision. Inner loop is a development stuff:  finishing tasks, playtesting, and noting ideas for future tasks.

I do the dev stuff for a while, and then it's back to the outer loop to refine the vision with the new tasks/ideas and reflect a bit. Think about stuff like:

  • Did the task I just finished/system I just implemented take longer or shorter than expected?
  • How am I feeling time-wise (and mentally)? How many hours have I been averaging in the last few days, and do I think I can keep that pace, or even do more? (can tell you roughly how many work hours you have left)
  • What should the next steps be? (based on current project state and estimated work hours left). What feels super important to accomplish in the time I have, and what feels more like a nice-to-have?
  • Ok, I should probably work on task x, y, or z next. How long do I think each one would take? Do I want a quick win or should I take on a bigger system?

I feel like I've gotten faster and more accurate at going through that type of flow.  Helps me keep a pulse on the project's overall state and trajectory.

If you're struggling to identify the critical content, you likely don't have a clear vision of what the project is going to be (design issue), or you might be struggling to understand how you'll implement it (development issue), or both. And that's totally fine! Sometimes you'll read the jam theme and a crystal clear vision of your game pops into your head immediately. Other times you have no idea where to start. Ideally you'd be able to prototype mechanics fairly quickly, so you can decide if you think they're fun or not.

Comments like saying the rhythm mechanic "could have been the main gameplay loop... OR just extra frills" and 'I scoped it to “the menus + SOMETHING in game”' points to a lack of vision on this one, and it sounds like prototyping the rhythm mechanic took too much time. Sucks but it happens sometimes.

And yes, if you wanna set time estimates, record in-jam, and review in post, that sounds great. That's more discipline than I'll likely ever have, but again, everyone is different!

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