53 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
53 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
# Doodle Game Concept
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A game about using your finger/mouse to draw circles around moving game objects.
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It works by instantiating an `Area2D` node with a polygon collision shape, and can probably
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also be mildly modified to draw level geometry dynamically.
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In either case, the challenge is taming an otherwise automatic system.
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Objects move on their own. You only control the ~~pencil~~ pen.
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# CANCELED
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A brief post-mortem.
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## What Went Wrong
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It's had been a minute since I attempted a proper game jam, and while I could tell I was much more
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*skilled* this time around, my *execution* was what caused this fumble. I've been programming mostly
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websites (server-side and client-side), applications, and tooling. *Games are a different,
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cross-disciplinary beast.*
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* Stick to the plan. The plan was visual metaphor to game ideas to game. I discarded all metaphor planning
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in favor of a novel UI, which has worked in the past but this time set me back.
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* Too much emphasis on doing something differently, rather than well. Yes, most of my initial ideas
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were also built around by other developers and teams. No, that doesn't mean we'd be making the same
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game. Build games that interest you, that you want to play, and fit your scope. Doesn't matter if
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it's *unique.* This game isn't being presented to a general audience (yet)
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* Core gameplay of mechanic was not considered enough before starting. Should have
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[paper-prototyped](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_prototyping) it,
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would have likely found it more akin to Fruit Ninja than a Wario Ware game. It even had potential as
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a more narrative-focused word-finding game. The idea is not *bad* but it was not properly *considered*.
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* Too much aesthetic, too soon. Focusing on the smaller details (theming, sprites, UI) before ironing
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out the large ones. This is a great little morale boost, but it is too much commitment too early on.
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* Do some research, but try to isolate yourself from games. In my case, I could have benefited from
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researching gesture recognition ahead of time.
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## What Went Right
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I don't think the initial approach was wrong, however I think I rushed into starting too soon. I initially
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just wrote down a bunch of visual metaphors for loops on paper and thought about each one in the context
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of a game. I had 8, with a nebulous mound of ideas using them. I went on to observe many other teams make
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games using some permutation of those same 8 metaphors.
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* Spend time really considering the theme. As much as you can.
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* Come up with many metaphors, not just one. It doesn't start with a game idea, necessarily, it starts with
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an analogy.
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* Come up with *game concepts* for each before proceeding, and *write them down somewhere*. As many as you can,
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but don't spend too much time on dead ends. I did this, but I didn't write them down.
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* I did pick the most **inspiring mechanic,** simply drawing a *loop.* It cut to the core in all the right ways
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and posited some interesting-for-me problems (gestural recognition)
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# Summary
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Failure is part of the process. Be wrong, but learn in the wake of mistakes. I'd be happy with
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churning out just this summary over the span of the 3 days I spent working on this - but I also have
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a prototype to experience the reminder first-hand.
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It was never about winning, really. It was about the experience.
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