1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?
Hello! I'm Alex! I just finished a PhD and now I'm unemployed!
2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?
I did the jam before last (Winter 2018), but I got stopped in my tracks when my computer broke. That shouldn't be a problem this time?
3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?
I like puzzly games like Deadly Rooms of Death, which I'm planning to take inspiration from (rip off) for my game jam entry. Undertale and Night in the Woods are other big favourites - I love the personality that comes through in their writing.
4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?
I've poked around a few different engines, but GameMaker Studio 1.4 is the one I'm most confident with currently. I used it for my last game jam, and I'll most likely use it for this one too.
5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!
Right now, I'm getting back into books! I don't read as much as I feel like I should, so I've started reading some old classics. Just finished Les Miserables, which is a brilliant story and a fascination exploration of just about every facet of French culture and history in the 19th century, but also really damn long.
6. What are your goals for this game jam?
Get something working! I'm aiming to create a game engine which I can build on easily, even if I don't end up with a complete game, and I'd also like to learn how to work with save data in case I want to expand my project into something long-form.
7. Any advice to new participants?
I'm not a very organised person, but I found that keeping to a schedule helped enormously - setting aside a couple of hours a day to implement something helps you feel like you're making progress. Also, even if you're really shy like I am, making a devlog is a good idea. The community was really kind to me during my last jam!
8. What can the admins do to improve your jam experience?
Nothing I can think of!
9. What are some of the past works you've made for the jam? Show off your favorites!
For My First Game Jam Winter 2018, I started making a puzzle RPG prototype. I never made much more progress than this, because I ended up having kind of a stressful 2018, and now I want to start from scratch because the code is difficult to extend and leaves a lot to be desired! Hopefully what I learn from this game will feed into my second attempt at this.