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I'm sure it was absolutely just a skill issue on my part. This was literally my first time trying to use that workflow (all of my other personal projects are still in the greybox phase) so I underestimated everything about it haha. I knew that working that way is fairly "industry standard" so I think I just assumed it would be as simple as just dropping the new asset in. The problem in Godot (at least as I was running into it) was that it was importing the object as an inherited scene. So it wasn't a simple process of editing the pieces of the model or its children pieces because I was innately locked out. And I couldn't figure out how to have this not happen on import nor could I find a simple way to just batch "clear inheritance" on the entire model. So that meant I couldn't create custom animations (at least not reasonably) because that would require manually going through the entire tree and finding the special place to "Make Unique" on every bone and limb that I'd want to manipulate. This just didn't feel worth it in the context of a jam (and luckily the model already had animations built in).

This was a bigger problem when replacing my placeholders for effects and in world UIs. Like using a cylinder as a placeholder for a laser is simple. But then when swapping that I had to completely change up my code to work in a different way. With a cylinder I could just stretch it simply along an axis to give it a "shooting" effect. I think the object I tried to swap it with was like a mushroom? And just stretching it along an axis wasn't working the same way for me. 

All in all I'm sure there's a better and more correct way to do it. The real issue was that I left this for last when I only had like 6 or 7 hours until deadline. Once I started hitting issues I was torn between just trying to bruteforce things or taking the time to slowly learn an entirely new process. And doing anything slow at that point felt like the wrong choice. Especially when, at that point, I still had the starry eyed hope that I'd have time to add voice lines in!

Oh I can see them now! I don't know why I thought they didn't...maybe once I realized the batteries had an immediate effect on the train when they were dropped in I may have assumed that was all that mattered? Sounds like a bit of a difficult engineering problem to handle that launch outward. Does that mean their positioning that you drop things into the train would have an effect on how they're launched?

I thought about click and hold mechanics at first but I really wanted the different ways you interact with the mech to have a different action associated with them! Like if everything was essentially just a "button" with a different coat of paint then that felt fairly uninteresting to me. I think if the game tutorialized itself better (at all!) then it wouldn't feel so hard. I definitely fell into the classic trap of "Well, I can beat it so it must be fine!" haha

Coop! Fun! How early in the process did you decide to go for coop? Was it the plan from the beginning or did you finish your vertical slice really early and just have time to add it?

Brutal! I figured it out though. If you click just barely in front or behind you'll very nearly jump in place. Once you got that down it's just a matter of edging into the correct location to line up your jump properly. A bit of a learning curve but fun once you crack you. Usually not a huge fan of those "rage" games though, usually about climbing or jumping ha.

So how much of this was intentional from the outset? Did you truly intend to make it this difficult from beginning or did you just get to that point and then figured it was better to fully finish it than spend a lot of time tuning the jumping. How early in the process did you decide on two jumps?

Very enjoyable vibe. Takes me back to the overworld of old school jrpgs. How did you decide your mechanics? Like how many resources are available to you versus the spread of what the villages ask for. Did you decide that pretty early and then focus a lot on looks and music? What got left on the cutting room floor?

I like the concept and it's pretty funny but I do wish it was easier to aim when dropping things. Something like a shadow directly below the ufo would've been killer. Also I wish cows counted! I had like 8 cows in my train on the first crash and really wanted to see those boys get shotgunned out there! 

I admire the chain of events though of the train going in the station, then the explosion, then the batteries launching out. Did you like take how many batteries were in the train and just launch an equal amount out of the back of the depot? Are their spread and angle completely randomized or are they filling up specific "spaces" you've decided?

FIRST LESSON
I learned a few really important things. One of which I just learned TODAY the hard way. Apparently an entire function I built into the game doesn't work correctly in web browsers because of a security concern. Fun!

So the issue is caused by me trying to lock the players view in place in a certain way whenever they interact with this wheel. Sadly this is not supported by browsers. Big sad. I DID find a workaround though it's janky af.

When you click and hold on the wheel, if you hit the escape key also (still holding left click) your mouse will become visible and you'll be able to crank the wheel! Yay! This does definitely mess up the flow big time  and kind've makes it impossible to play full screen BUT it is at least playable.

SECOND LESSON
Working with placeholder 3D models and then later replacing them  is a lot harder than you might expect. Especially if it's your first time trying that sort of swap. I'm not sure how much is a limitation/issue with the engine I was using and how much was an issue with me being unfamiliar with importing premade 3D assets but it was rough. And I spent way longer reworking animations and scripts to transition from MeshInstance3Ds to Kay models than I ever expected it would take. If it weren't for this issue I would've been able to add voice lines into my game like I wanted--it seriously took me like 5 hours to sort out the models

THIRD LESSON
PIVOT SOONER. I had maybe 4 other issues that I sunk multiple hours into. All 4 of them felt like I was so close to figuring out the solution. When I finally did pivot to doing something else, most of the time I was able to create a new solution in under an hour. My instincts for how close I was to successfully debugging an issue are apparently terrible. But at least now I know! Lol.

All in all I learned a ton finally taking a project from beginning to end. Even though a lot got left on the cutting room floor, I'm most proud that I was able to craft a complete game loop with a beginning and an end.

Day late but I've come to the sad sad discovery that there was actually a limitation of my web build that I was completely unaware of!! Figured I'd share the knowledge since it was a teachable moment for me so it might be for others too lol

So the issue is caused by me trying to lock the players view in place in a certain way whenever they interact with the wheel. Sadly this is not supported by browsers. Big sad. I DID find a workaround though it's janky af.

When you click and hold on the wheel, if you hit the escape key also (still holding left click) your mouse will become visible and you'll be able to crank the wheel! Yay! This does definitely mess up the flow big time  and kind've makes it impossible to play full screen BUT it is at least playable.

Ayy sorry to spam your comment but I actually found the error and a fix! Unfortunately I learned a real lesson today hahaha

So the issue is caused by me trying to lock the players view in place in a certain way whenever they interact with the wheel. Sadly this is not supported by browsers. Big sad. I DID find a workaround though it's janky af.

When you click and hold on the wheel, if you hit the escape key also (still holding left click) your mouse will become visible and you'll be able to crank the wheel! Yay! This does definitely mess up the flow big time  and kind've makes it impossible to play full screen BUT it is at least playable.

Did you put a power cell in the panel? I see this is a reoccurring comment so sadly I didn't do a good enough job D: 

Oh my gosh so heartbreaking but yea the mechanic is definitely not working! And it works in my editor too. Daaang. I can see the handle highlights properly when you're hovering it but sure enough it won't spin for the life. Ffffffff

Glad you enjoyed the game otherwise though! So much left on the cutting room floor but I'm glad I was able to at least make a complete game loop.

Literally under a minute of time left  D:

Oh that's interesting. Felt a little finnicky at first as I had trouble selecting the right planet when I wanted to. It might've felt better if after making a "connection" you would have to reselect your "first" planet a gain. Made a lot of accidental chains from night right clicking and left clicking in the correct sequence. Once I got it sorted out though I could really see the fun.

In my mind I almost wonder if this framing would actually suit like a trade-route/money making sort of game. Like trying to balance different resources like money and stuff. Galaxy wide economy simulator sounds fun haha. I'd be curious to see what a more flesh out version of this concept looks like!

Seems interesting but I wasn't able to figure out where to actually deliver the pizza to! I got zero stars lol.  Also my guy kept randomly like...falling over? He'd look up at the sky I guess I assume that's what was happening. 

Very cute. Cohesive art style that's really fun to look at. I don't know if I played the game really as intended though. I was just kind've clicking on things a bunch and I guess I managed to beat it? At least I think I did? On the easier side for sure! 

I made it into the void! This robot is free from factory work! Haha. Cute idea but started to feel a little bleak the longer I played it. These poor robos just stuck in a room, endlessly repeating the same tasks. This is the future I guess ha

Fuuuun! Very jealous that you made time to create a fun ending animation. This feels like a very comfortable scope and execution. Do you feel like you struggled at all with the creation of it? Or was the execution simple and then you were able to spend a lot of time on looks/animation

Surprisingly brutal haha. The uncertainty of the charge stations forces a bit of a grind in the beginning. I felt like I couldn't get comfortable progressing past the first or second room until I invested over 1200 dust in battery upgrades. And even then I died trying to explore a comically large bedroom haha. Definitely fun but I would've enjoyed more freedom to SUCK worry free ha.

I'll toss mine in, why not!

All Systems GOGOGO!! by CuffButton

This is my first jam ever so I was definitely over-ambitious with what I thought I could do. Even being a little afraid to try a jam I just really respect Kenney and Kay and their assets have been an awesome boon to me during the learning experience. This just felt like an extension of that so I guess it felt like a safe place to try for the first time!

At first I was a little disappointed by the theme. Isn't power a core idea in almost every single video game? I didn't get an inspiration from it but then, after taking a bit of a walk and letting the concept marinate, the idea of being in charge of the power distribution in some sort of spaceship or robot really started to coalesce in my mind. While thinking, my mind went back to what was probably my first experience with piloting a giant mech in a video game; Mystical Ninja Geomon for the N64. I can remember thinking the robot fights in that were so silly and fun at the time...I think I even had a save on a memory card that was right before the first mech fight and I would go back and play it just for funsies.

So that's basically what I did. Majorly "borrowed" some core concepts for that and made it so you didn't control actions directly but instead provided them power. Like you're just the engineer and someone else is the pilot. 

I had two big setbacks during this but I think my biggest missed opportunity is game clarity of what the enemy mech is doing and the status of your own mech. I had a friend record some voice line callouts that were supposed to tutorialize and help with clarity when like, the enemy is charging an attack, or when you're near overheating, or explaining the "curse" mechanic I built in. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to implement them BUT during development I did have a running log of print statements that were intended to mimic the timing of these callouts so I could tweak them during play. When I knew for a fact I wouldn't have time to implement the voices I feel like I should've exposed those print statements to the player. Ultimately that's what I did with some hud elements like player health. It would've fit in the aesthetic too to just expose like, a log to the player to give them more context. Huge lesson to learn on scope haha.

Thank you so much for your kindess! I'm sad by the bits I had to leave behind to get the game submitted in time. There was literally less than a minute left in the jam when I got it in! But I'm super satisfied that game actually has a complete loop and the vision itself is still there.

Thanks for giving it a try! I appreciate your kind words. I had a pretty clear image in my head and I'm glad I was able to translate at least a tiny portion of that vision to the game! 

This is a fun idea. I like the concept a lot. Unfortunately, and maybe it's just me, but discarding weapons doesn't actually lower my power! First time I played I didn't quite grasp what was going on and was pretty confused why all my inputs were random haha. That's why it helps to read the description I guess! It's a little frustrating mechanically...it'd be cool if there was some tradeoff for having high power. Or a way to manipulate your inputs or something. But that's just asking for scope creep in a jam game isn't it?

Great job! This was a lot of fun and the general vibe/aesthetics were executed really well. I'm sad that I felt like the biggest challenge wasn't the actual puzzles but kind've fighting the view/positioning of the camera. Basically every puzzle I knew what I had to do roughly but spent more time rubbing my face against the wall and adjusting my distance than actually trying to solve it. More than once I resorted to just strafing side to side while slowly moving back and flipping my camera around like a crazy person until I saw a hint of the button prompt.

Overall though a pretty fantastic play.

This is great! Nice and simple loop and the music is fun. I feel like the theming is a bit of a stretch haha but really who cares! This could be fun with more of a timing element. Maybe even just the game keeping track of your personal best. Speed point bonuses for time between first ingredient and final ingredient. For some reason this has the vibe to me of like a little arcade game your character in a much larger game could stop and play haha. The art direction is really solid and I'm a little jealous how cohesive this feels. Are these all straight kenney assets?

Thank you! I tried lol

Unfortunately I don't think so. I'd love if I could sneak another day's worth of polish in there too! 

Thanks a ton for giving it a try! My girlfriend made the music, she'll be happy to hear someone else thought it was bumping too haha.

Haha see I said I had problems with difficulty! Yea the heat crank definitely could use an indicator or something. I had a friend record some voice lines that I had planned to pop in to explain things more clearly AND to help give you a heads up on what the enemy was doing but time got the better of me there sadly.

For the heat crank, after you plug a cell in you have to click and hold to grab the "top" of the stock. Then rotate your mouse in a circle around the middle pivot point.

Thanks for giving my game a try!

Nice! We took very similar approaches to this theme actually. I like your implementation a lot.
Actually howd you settle on the difficulty curve for your game? That's something I struggle with a lot...the balance is hard

Oh this was neat. I'm a fan of 2048 games and AutoBattlers and this had tastes of both of that. Felt a bit easy honestly but the game itself was cool.

I'm jealous of how much fun you wrung out of a lot of simplicity. My only complaint is that you basically made a carpal tunnel simulator though :(

I'm pretty new and, I know it sounds like I'm making excuses, but I did use some AI just to make the code bend to my will a bit easier. pls no bully

When I was a kid we had a giant tank with 3 beta fish in it. My parents would buy smaller fish to feed them. We had one guppy that survived his entire natural lifespan by diving in and out of the rocks at the bottom where they couldn't fit. This game reminds me of him.

I came in confident I'd only need one. I ended up using like 4

Brutal! I very nearly had this happen to myself and got it in at the very last moment. I gave myself nearly a full hour to start to process! Sorry it happened to you.

Woof! Got it in literally at the last minute. Scary stuff.

Sounds like you can't add details directly, but can crop and combine. From the FAQ

• You can recolor, crop, rotate, flip and scale and combine assets

Are you asking just in general if it's possible or in relation to any of the specific challenges?