Ultimate Game Jam - Round 1 ( Game Jam Devlog )
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- Published on Mar 25, 2020
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Thanks for watching! Please check out the other contestants and host. This has been a fun experience so far and I look forward to more.
The Ultimate Game Jam is a 3 round game development competition. In addition to making a game, each contestant creates a devlog to show their process.
Hosts:
Mattabulous: thexvid.com/channel/UC1CF...
Zyger: thexvid.com/user/zygergfx
Contestants:
DualWielded: thexvid.com/channel/UCZ-K...
Artindi: thexvid.com/channel/UC-X3...
GamesBySaul: thexvid.com/channel/UCnOc...
Outer Studios: thexvid.com/channel/UCFd4...
Ysopprod: thexvid.com/channel/UCKsO...
Tons of Hun Studios: thexvid.com/channel/UCC9j... 
Gaming
I personally find it ok to have a black screen as a game ending. Some games even have just a "You win" text as endings and are considered great games. I think it's more of a build-up to the end that overestimates a satisfactory game over.
@Vimlark you look like Jonah from David Dobrik
Fading to black is ambiguous to the user though.
Is something loading? Did something crash? What's going on?
As a practice, you should at least let the user know what's going on, even if you just say "game over".
It's more that it wasn't supposed to. Plus it soft locks you on the black screen. If there was a way to get out of it that would be one thing but I'll fix it in the future and it should be good.
Tip for your artwork: You were drawing in a size that allowed you to mix pixel sizes and move in increments smaller than a pixel. Keep brush size consistent, movement of pixels locked to a grid, and dont draw assets in one "pixel resolution" but say UI in another.
@Vimlark oh if its intentional and you like it go for for it lol
I'm doing it intentionally. It lets me get some fine detail while keeping the aesthetic I want. It also makes animating easier. I know there are people that hate it but I'm having fun with it. Thank you for looking out though!
You made a lot for such a small time period! Nice job!
The special character in the file NAME that makes things not work is what nightmares are made of
Create variations of floor tiles - one that does actually disappear if you stand on it too long, one that deals damage to you the longer you stand on it(or one that gives you health). I feel like variations in floor types could really help you setup interesting levels and particularly make the boss battles more interesting and difficult which would increase the sense of accomplishment after beating it. Good luck with the rest of the jam!
I like the idea. Not sure what I will need to do as part of the rules for the next round but I will keep different floor tiles in mind. Thanks!
Thank you :D
I really enjoyed your game.I must admit, that it was a little bit to tough for me. So I never reached the boss but now I think that was by design haha 😄
LOL. I really liked your game as well. It got super tricky at parts but was a lot of fun. Can't wait to see what happens next.
2:15 wait you made this game? i played it a while ago and it's dope!
I think I remember seeing that game on CoolMathGames, and it was very cool.
Yep, that's awesome that you have played it!
When I player your game it felt like I was playing an actually finished game! The feel, the visuals, the great feedback, the audio. It all felt super polisched! Very well made and you definitely deserved to proceed to round 2 :)
Thank you so much! I enjoyed yours as well. I was jealous the way your projectiles looked and the character was super cute!
Been waiting for new devlog. Your videos always inspiring to create my own devlogs.
Thanks! My normal devlog day is Monday. This is a bit of an odd one so I just tried to space it out. Not sure if I can actually make 2 videos every week yet.
9:37 LOL, that made me laugh a lot. Good video anyways, hope to see some more in Monkeys with Guns!
Lol ikr
@Vimlark Yeah I know they are but I'm just expecting them to be quality
Yeah, I could see myself losing hope with everything I listed. But I got most of it in so I'll count it as a win. MWG devlogs are Mondays. Can't do more than one of those a week.
This was such a fun journey, thank you buddy!
Thanks so much for participating: glad you're in the next round!
I'm sure it's only gonna get more tense from here!
Hopefully my hosting skills were... good enough? (i hope lol)
Thanks for putting it on, it was a lot of fun. Host was all good!
Oh man, I've been struggling using Trello too!
I would set it up, then always do something completely different! I guess I'm more of a paper guy
Yeah, I try but to no avail.
Good video! I’m a new video game developer and I was curious how were you able to get the wand to rotate with the mouse and stay attached to the player character?
Vimlark awesome thank you so much I’ll try that!!!
Thank you. With construct you can ad a behavior called Pin which just locks one object to another. So I pin the wand's position to the player and then every tick set it's angle toward the mouse. That let's it move with the player but still rotate.
Me: I want to watch some Devlogs today
Vinlark: I gotchu fam
I just finished my first game Jam and hoo boy I now know how you felt, on the last day I had so much to do but so little time, and everything kept breaking and I couldn’t figure out why. By 4:30 (the deadline was 7:00) I was just so tired, so I did a few bug fixes and sent it in at 4:50, it was super stressful. 😔
Your game looks great. I can't wait to see part two.
Awesome video, and awesome game !!!!
Thank you so much!
Nick, You're super inspiring. Thank you for sharing your dev experiences. As a young father myself, i've been slowley teaching myself how to make games in my spare time, but most days I'm finding that I can only devote 1 hour or so to anything. Was this a problem for you when your daughter was younger ?
@Vimlark I've taken your advice and going to work as much time aroun dfamily life as i can. I was a little more fortunate than you and your wife in that the UK gov have offered to pay 80% of my wage but i dont im not permitted to work through this pandemic. I will be taking part in as many game jams as im able to. I hope you and yours are doing well and youre able to find some stability soon.
Thank you so much for the kind words. When I got into game design my daughter was already 10 so I had more time to spend. But when she was young and I was becoming a photographer/retoucher, yes it was very limited time for anything else. I just did what I could and probably sacrificed more sleep than I should have. If you can find ways to keep learning while being a good parent that's the goal. I used to watch/read tutorials while I rocked her to sleep or while she had play time, then try to utilize what I learned when I got the chance later. Best of luck in your journey and enjoy your time with your child, they go by fast.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts I feel like there is so many deep things to learn from your process. I hope that we can keep seeing you grow. Keep us posted and kudos.
Nice video man! Keep up the work 😉 Love working on smaller projects as well. Keeps things fresh and interesting instead of working for months or years on one project only. ❤️
So true.
You basically went through every state I experience every jam I participated in. Except that I usually just give up and call myself a failure since it's easier.
Props to you for committing till the end, the struggle is real!
I think you should list common errors that you encounter, and how to fix them. It has saved me lots of precious time, specially after a long break from which you are likely to forget precisely the 'small', 'silly' things. Also, it motivates me seeing how many issues I solved: it's also a trophy room, some took quite a lot of effort to figure out.
That's a great idea. Thanks!
Nice game, even though it didn't turn out as well as you hoped I think it's still impressive that you were able to make that large of a game in a jam.
Btw is there like a main discord channel or something that all the game Devlog channels are on, because id love to participate in something like this if it happens in the future!
Thank you so much. This one was an invite only thing so there isn't a discord I can give out for this one. But if you are looking for game jam communities I am part of one called 8 Bits to Infinity that does a jam every month.
Awesome work!
Love these devlogs c:
Thank you so much!
Same :)
Congrats on 2nd place and good luck on your next one!
For me it helps a lot to just write organization things in a big text file. The usual tools are too inflexible for my taste.
I like how you made one of the non used player sprite as a enemy!
i just started a year ago in this area and am a Pro athlete. you sir have a great mind set and work ethic !!
I know you don't want software suggestions, but have you considered using a physical kanban board? Like you just need a white board and some sticky notes that you move between the three sections. The reason it's effective and works is because you don't have to open software to use it. It's right in front of you like a physical reminder.
For me, on smaller projects, I go one step easier and just make a paper based checklist that I keep on my desk right in front of me.
I like the idea. I got a white board a while ago and still need to hang it up. That's some incentive. Thanks!
Great video! I loved how different your game is! As like you said most of us...did health (myself included)
@Vimlark Oh yeah! There is no originality left in this world xD
Thanks, the funny think is I thought the floor falling would be unique and Tons of Hun did it as well lol. No idea is really original.
Nice video!
I have never heard of that game engine. Really funny to see people using different stuff than just Unity and Unreal on TheXvid.
@Vimlark So true! I started like 10 years ago with Game Maker 7! Those good old time...
Since I have to create games with no game engine in C++ on my school... Well... Coding games hasn't been soooo dramatic! 🤣🤣🤣
But visual coding is a very nice way to start. After that I really recommand Unity with the C# language as the next big step. Unity has a very good documentation and community support!
But you don't have to switch, if this is fun enough, keep it like this. ;)
But once you make the switch... Believe me... You can't go back when it clicks! 🤣
Thank you. There are a lot of small engines out there that can do great stuff. They let people like me with no coding background get into this great hobby.
this is really inspiring - how do you find the energy?
I love the vids and hope mwg is getting together well.
Btw remember me when you get big
Thanks for sharing this. That hash in the filename issue is so relatable. lol
Woah... The likes on this video, for such a small channel, is pretty big in one month! Anyway, I find this very entertaining to watch. Keep up the good work, you've earned a like
Looks cool, what programs are used for the game making?
to clarify, will the mechanic that you have to add in round 2 and 3 be random like the theme?
No clue yet honestly. I should probably start figuring that out lol.
I just completed the game it was real fun but it was quite hard good job
Thank you for playing. It's definitely not balanced lol.
Continue working on the game it’s really really good game
Cool game, mixels really bother me though after spriting for some time lol
Tried out many planning tools too but the only one that works for me is a whiteboard and markers ;)
I need to try that. I have a white board but I need to set it up near my computer.
mate you inspired me to not procrastinate with making my game with my fear of it not being good.
Looks like the Demonaire project remade like mine. Awsome!
Considering how fast you work I find it very strange how long you stared at that thesaurus page for. Your true kryptonite?
I like the way you went about drawing the sprites, they all are in a similar style and fit the game very well!
Thank you very much!
Vimlark, you’re the best.
Excellent work
Amazing video, I can see myself so much in the "lack of planning" part or wanting to do everything instead of narrowing down on a few :') Thank you and I think it turned out really awesome :D
Great video!
hey Vimlark, i didn't know where to put this, but there is a bug where the menu buttons still make noise when you hover over them, even when not visible...
Great game tho, just now finally beat the boss
@Vimlark no problem, I'm happy to help!
Made a note. I will hopefully be able to fix some of the issues in the next round. Thanks
Well if the next mechanic is blackout at the game end, then you got it ;)
Fingers crossed.
Does anyone know what website he's using? it seems really cool and id love to be able to make games with it.
I do not like seeing this channel having 9k this deserves more
"Decay" I think 1st of a field that wears down as you play and 2nd zombies... with his wanting to make a top-down shooter that would be great. Maybe I should do that. Zombie battle royal as you try to climb back up to the surface instead of falling down into the pit... yeah, that would be great.
Oh, he thought of the floor too. Makes sense. My thought was that the floor decay was automatic though so I still have a project idea.
My friend Todd Weiss was also part of the jam and I knew some people who join but I didn't realize bigger youtubers join which I thought was cool cause the host is a pretty small channel.
I'm spreading word on my game jam
The name is infinity jam.
Is anyone else excited for him to quit his job and do this full time
That big ghost looks scary :D GJ !
A fellow construct dev!
Looks fun
Why do you use Construct as opposed to Unity or Unreal? You are the only person I have seen on TheXvid that uses construct and it actually looks super simple, I might check it out tomorrow.
@Vimlark ohh okay. That makes sense then. Thanks for the reply!
I'm a graphic designer and had no experience with coding before I started using Construct. I've tried Unity and I don't really like the coding aspect of it. I just want to make games not be a programmer so it works for me. There are a few others on TheXvid that use Construct but it is definitely a smaller engine. Tim Ruswick from Game Dev Underground also uses it.
DUDE. Should have made a ladder down, beneath a certain tile. :)
@Vimlark Yeah, but a ladder instead of falling to your death, makes sense right? Anywayz, nice going and I love to see people making progress. They stimulate me to keep creating.
I thought about that but kept getting stuck on the fact that falling down is what you are trying not to do so going down to progress felt wrong. I think I had been playing too much Stardew Valley and really just wanted to make the mines lol.
What program are you using to create this game?
What are you using to develop the games? That doesn't look like unity or regular game engines
What platform are you using to make your games??
Do they scale down as they fall ?
like your edit i will keep watching you ;)
I haven't seen someone use Construct in a long time
I think the main issue here is the difference between movement that are limited by the platforms but the goal doesn't ask you to move back to places you made holes in it.
One idea: point A give something you have to move to point B. If B lack the "thing" from A, tiles fall even more. And maybe putting the "things" in B put some tiles back. The difficulty get higher and higher not with ennemies and shoting but with traps that add up each time you make one travel.
That way movement is your main mechanic and keeping tiles is important, as much as navigating between the holes.
If you want a theme for this idea : point B is the dungeon monster, point A is the brick factory. Your little mage can take the bricks in A and give them to B to restore the dungeon. If B is hungry, he destroy tiles to eat the bricks and calm down until the next time he is hungry.
If you want to keep the shooting maybe use the bricks. On the way back you can stunt traps or ennemies by shooting some of your bricks.
Well, I hope you like the concept, I don't think anyone would ever make it but it was fun
This video consists of
It took longer than I thought
Or
I took way to long doing blank
What software do you use because I’ve been watching lots of different videos of people making really cool games and now I wanna try being a game dev so if you could give a me a couple tips, I would really appreciate it thx!!!
you should have called it crumbling cantrips
Which game engine does Vimlark use??
I use Construct 3.
Interesting video buddy
How long have you been using construct ?
What program did you use this on? And is it free?
Its is gdevelop, a free game engine. No coding experience needed.
What game engine is this made on
Whats the songs used in this videos, they are amazing!
with eyes:cute
no eyes:badass
I don't think I could participate in game jams. I can do the coding, I'm just too methodical (slow) with my coding to complete in 7 days. Also, I don't have a library of code, yet, to make use of.
Gotta say the boss not lookin good :/
What do you use to make games (I want to try using it)
Title: It's Dangerous To Go At All
What game engine did you use? 😜
Gdevelop
What game engine did you use?
Construct 3
I dont even know how to code but one of my dream's is to make a game and learn how to code! :/
The word real is his slept in the final game
what did you use to make the game
What IDE is he using?
you should consider there would be people with photosensitive epilepsy watching this video
Which game engine did ya use?
What game engine do you use sir?
are you using block programing?
Look guys! He called me awesome :D
You are awesome!
What game engine is that?
What game engine do you use?
Construct 3
Why did you put the Link in the Description when the password is still required?
It should've said something like ,,GAME UNAVAILABLE - I made it private" at the Top of the description.
EDIT: I went to your vimlark.itch.io page, and there's the game again,
but this time it's Featured and WITHOUT the password requirement.
How does Uploading the game Twice even work?!
The title could of been tread lightly