My Beta Jam 2 Thoughts

So, the Beta Jam finished, and both Edude and I were really excited to launch the Keeper Team's first game (even though the whole team didn't participate on the project). We were close to not being able to upload the game because of the time limit, but in the end, we did it. However, after days of taking a break of this, I've thought about everything that happened during this time, and I'd like to write my thoughts here.

Simple... but incomplete

Our game was simple enough: it's a stealth-like puzzle game where you control a magician throughout a museum, and try to steal treasure without being noticed. But there's a lot of details to consider when making that game, and we couldn't all of our available time to program all those details. One of my concerns was how I ended "programming" the path to choose. First of all, we didn't represent well enough the path when there was a crossroad. Maybe it could be deduced, but it wasn't illustrated well.

Another problem was the use of items and it's display on the map. Our plan was to show the items the player chose on every tile. Sadly, due to time constraints, we cut that part. Even though it wasn't "important" in terms of gameplay, it helps the player a lot, especially when the path is really long. But my biggest concern was the gameplay. I mean, we only placed a level on the game, when we were considering using at least 2 levels. But programming the gameplay took a lot more time than expected, and the other level was cut. But there's something that couldn't be added that was vital to the gameplay: after retrieving the treasure, there was going to be an escape sequence, where you had to, again, build a path, but this time, it was to escape from the museum. However, we couldn't implement it in the game before the game jam ended.

So... why I wanted to upload it?

My main reason was because I wanted to show myself the progress I made in two weeks (even though I only worked on it for like 4-6 hours each day). I wanted to upload a playable version of the game on itch no matter what. I mean, my experience with GameMaker was pretty basic, so using a great variety of functions has helped me learn more about the engine. It also helped that Shaun from YoYoGames commented about the game, which was kinda cool.

However, after some time, I felt something I didn't expect to feel after uploading the game: disappointment. I saw the game, but I also saw some of the mechanics not implemented on the game. It was like when a game had to be released on a specific date, even though not everything was well implemented, and when it's released, the players can see the issues with the game. This experience has showed me to never release a game when it's not ready (I already had this in mind, but this will help me drive myself to finish the game). I also remember seeing a GDC video, where a guy mentioned the famous Miyamoto quote: "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad". I'll never regret making this game, because it was interesting and a bit fun (except for some moments), and seeing the game on itch feels like I've accomplished something, but at the same time I think "This could be done better".

So, for every game we make, we'll try our hardest on finishing it, but we're not going to rush anything. If we delay our games, we're sorry, but I rather make sure that everything works correctly and take more time, than to release when scheduled without the proper playtesting, or cutting planned mechanics completely. If we take out some content of our games, the last reason will be because of time constraints.

Whew... had to take that out of my chest.

And what about game jams?

I'd like to participate on other game jams, but I don't think it'll happen this year. I think I'll experiment a bit more with various engines, and then I can think of game jams.

And what about Leave a Tip?

Like I said before, we'll be taking a break from Leave a Tip, and try to focus more on school and learning about Unreal Engine 4. After June, we'll see what happens next, but our initial plan is continue development on that game.

And this blog?

I'll be honest... I'm not sure if we're going to use the blog until after June. I'd like to say "Of course! We'll keep posting things here!", but I have to think about it. The only thing I can think of is maybe posting about our progress with UE4, and even then I have doubts about putting this. If anything happens here, I'll post something on Twitter and let you guys know.

Until next time...

-Goombazo

Finished Beta Jam 2!

So after 2 weeks of hard work, the Keeper Team has finally finished it's first Game Jam!
This is how our "finished product" looks like right now, but we might plan to continue it, who knows, Clymene might do an amazing trick that will amaze you!

https://keeper-team.itch.io/mischievous-magician

And don't think I forgot about a screenshot, how can we announce something without giving you a glimpse of the game?

About time I introduced myself

Hello everyone, the name's Edude! (Well... more like a nickname). I'm a guy who likes videogames a lot, especially the ones that focus on action and adventure (which is why Zelda is my favorite series).
Right now I'm focusing on finishing the second Beta Jam from Yoyo-Games, and man, for our first Game Jam, it was a real pain!

But anyways, less me, more updates, the role that I chose this time, instead of the usual lead programmer, was the lead artist, which was a real challenge because I didn't really focused before on doing any kind of art, and so I bring you some of my work.

Hope you test our game soon enough... if we are able to finish it on time!

Project Clymene - Dev Blog #3

So, yesterday was an interesting day. I began trying to figure out a melody for the main theme, and I thought of something. However, when I finished that idea, I realized that it didn't actually fit well as a main theme, but it sounded really good. So I decided to use that track at the escape phase. It was intense and fast-paced, and I didn't have that in mind for the main theme, so it fits way better this way. I'll be uploading the tracks on Soundcloud when the Beta Jam, so you can also hear them. But first, let's finish this game.

And that's it for now... I was only focused on this track all day, so there's nothing much to talk about. Hopefully I can finish the tracks today, so that I can help Edude with the programming.

-Goombazo

Project Clymene - Dev Blog #2

Sorry for not updating yesterday, but we were dedicating so many hours working on the game that I completely forgot to update this blog (and I nearly forgot to update today as well).

So, basically, on Saturday I dedicated some time to the path creation for the character, so that the user can move the character using an assigned path, as well as starting the creation of the game's interface. But the most interesting part of the day was programming the game's camera. One of the methods I tried using was camera_set_view_speed, where you could specify the camera's speed on both directions, instead of specifying it to move each step. Since I worked with hspeed and vspeed for the objects, I thought they would work the same way. But after approximately an hour of trying to make it work, I realized that this specific method only worked when the camera was focused on an object. There's nothing wrong with that (It's a really cool feature), but I think the method's name should change to something more appropriate. Maybe I'm nitpicking, but that's just how I felt. In the end, I had to move the camera step by step, but that method gave me an idea of something I could apply on the game.

Today, I decided to begin work on the songs for the game (I am the team's composer, after all). I'm beginning with the main theme, but after some time trying to figure out a melody, I haven't progressed that much. The most difficult part for me when making songs is the very beginning, because I have to choose the right feel for the song, and set everything else on that. When that's out of the way, I really enjoy choosing the notes for the song, because the idea is there and hearing how the instruments go well with that idea feels good. It's like making a sculpture: the figure is there, you just need to carve on the right places.

No image in this update, but maybe next time I'll let Edude post something here. He's been working with sprites and a bit of the game's mechanics, so I figure he can show you a lot of images.

-Goombazo

Project Clymene - Dev Blog #1

A week has passed already, and we have made quite some progress, considering the time we've dedicated to this project. The name we chose to use for this project is Project Clymene. This name is based on our main character's first name, who is a magician with quite a hobby: stealing treasures.

We've programmed some of the player's functions in the game, and have already planned and designed all the other functions. My main focus was programming all of this, while Edude created the game's sprites, although he's also programming functions from other parts of the game.

Our goal is to finish most of the programming first, and then add the sprites later. That's the reason why it looks like this at the moment. But don't worry, our game will look really different from what you see right here.

Note: Maybe uploading this late may not be a good idea, but I didn't want to skip this day. I'll try to upload these posts much sooner.

-Goombazo

Welcome to our new blog!

This is the new Keeper Team blog. Updates will now be published on this site, and not on Project BT.

For those of you who don't know who we are, we are an indie game studio in Baja California, Mexico. Back when we created the first blog, we were developing a game called Leave a Tip. However, we've decided to pause this project for now, because some of our members have chosen to work momentarily with other people and obtain new experiences, thanks to a school project.

But never fear! Edude and I will be participating on the Beta Jam 2 made by YoYo Games. We've already started working on the project since Friday, and we've made some progress. Our plan is to update this blog every day until we finish the game. After this, we'll let you know what's next.

-Goombazo