And thus ends our adventure for LD 48! Being our second LD jam that we’ve worked on together, Isaac and I knew what we were getting into. The only difference this time was distance. This is the first time we’ve worked on a project that we weren’t in the same room/province, so it was a good experience in communication and and time zone management. Over all, things went incredibly smooth, all things considered, and now its time to break it all down!

What went well!:

• Ground planning: Right out of the gates, we had a pretty solid idea of what exactly our game was going to be, and most importantly, what it WASN’T going to be. It gave us a great platform to dive head first off of. Although it seemed like taking the hour and a half to purely just talk the idea out and write down everything was too long (when we could have gotten right down to working), it benefited us in the long run. Initially, we only wanted to spend about 45 minutes to brainstorm and get the idea in place, but the extra half hour let us really solidify the idea.
• Constant communication: As previously mentioned, this is the first project we’ve undergone being in completely different time zones, so right off the bat, the most important thing was staying in contact. We did this by always being on skype, and calling each other when we were unsure of something, or needed clarification, or what ever. The wonders of the modern age!
• Complimentary styles: This one isn’t something everyone will get 100% of the time, but Isaac and I think basically the same when it comes to game development. It made the process much easier, since whatever I was thinking/planning, chances are he was thinking the same thing, and in most cases, as already doing it anyway. Picking to do a jam or any collaborative effort really goes much easier when you’re paired with like minded people.
• Scope: I went into the project with the sole goal of making something that had an absolutely realistic and attainable scope. Even initial planning phases for us went to the chopping block, and as a result, we had a much more streamlined and stress free jam. This came down to condensing things like gameplay features, art assets, and so forth.

When went horribly, disaster-ably wrong!:

You know….nothing really ACTUALLY went that wrong, if I’m going to be completely honest. I can’t think of one major “OH GOD OH NO ITS ON FIRE WHAT DO WE DO?!” moment. We had a few minor hiccups, such as:

• Oversleeping: This was mostly on me. Too many late nights in a row resulted in a few over slept alarms, and in one case, I wasn’t feeling all that well. Something rather minor, but a problem none the less.
• Distance: For the most part, this wasn’t a huge issue for us, but it did slow things down for us in comparison to our last LD where we were one room apart. Not being able to walk over and check on how things are going on the other end kinda suck, but thats why Skype has screen share!

In the end….
It all went pretty well! I have no complaints about this jam, and we both produced a game that we’re both very excited, happy, and proud to have made! I don’t think this is the end of this project either, as we’re currently making plans to expand the idea a bit more and continue to work on. Thanks all for reading, and have an awesome day! 😀

♥ Noah

PS: Check out the game here!