So after receiving some feedback about my game and reflecting on the jam, I think I have a few takeaways to state for myself.
What went right
- Unlike to my first game jam ever (LD40 I was doing as a compo), I had a plan. I knew it was very important to lay down all the major gameplay mechanics and theorycraft whether they would even work, at least on paper. Having some sketches and pseudo paper prototypes is very important to visualize things. Last jam I didn't pay attention to that, I had a basic idea and I hopped right in to implement basic movement which led me to have my gameplay be boring as hell. I am very happy it is not like that this time! So although game jams are restricted in time, careful planning and understanding what you're doing is NOT a waste of time, it will actually save you a lot of time and will make your game so much better!
- Far less time wasted on things I'm clearly bad at saved myself a ton of nerves and frustration. Yes, I didn't participate in a Compo this time, I didn't bother writing my own music (which I somehow got 92nd place last jam for..?), but on the other hand, I had that time to work on things I like, like more time for programming and I had more time in general too (72h jam vs 48h compo). Yes, it may not be as challenging or "prestigious", to do a jam instead of a compo, but hey, it's all about fun, so personally, I'll choose to do jams from now on to be able to focus on things I like and avoid frustration of having to create music myself from scratch just for the sake of it!
What went wrong
- First of all, playtesting and iterating the level design. It is a difficult task, especially when working on the game all by yourself, but I have definitely overlooked a few issues with my level design, i.e many players had frustrating experiences with Level 2 where the second launchpad would only punch you towards the platform correctly if you would stand somewhat far from the launchpad, otherwise you'd hit the wall. A very simple thing I had overlooked.. well, simply because me as a player was gravitating towards standing as far from the launchpad as possible, for no particular reason. So yeah, try to have someone to play the game for you or at least be as creative with your QA as possible. Those little things are not gamebreaking and players seem to figure those out on their own eventually, but they are definitely super frustrating and can turn them away from your game!
- Secondly, tutorials, explicit or not. You have to have them. You can try to explain all the game mechanics through a smart level design and progression.. but you may not be able to do that perfectly in such a short period of time. Have some hints somewhere. I feel like a very good approach to that issue is to have optional hints, like "Human Fall Flat" does. You know where they are, you can look at them if you "hit the wall", but if you want to figure things out organically, you have that option too. Would be very useful for my game that is puzzle based and fully relies on the player to understand the basic mechanic very well!
Summary
Well, either way, it was amazing experience to take a part in this jam, will be back for LD42 for sure!
I've seen so many great submissions here, so much inspiration to get better and keep on hacking.
Shameless plug: feel free to check out my co-op for one player game here and rate your experience!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/can-i-fg-die
