First game jam

So I have a confession to make. I didn't know the GMTK jam would be the weekend it was until a couple of days before and I was already a little busy that weekend. Nether the less part of me decided I wanted to participate. I've always wanted to do a jam and thought this would be a good way to get my metaphorical feet wet. I went into this with only one goal: create a complete experience that complies with the jam theme. In the end I feel like I accomplished that, Brian ended up being a complete multi-level game with functioning UI, core mechanics and a clear end state. Although I didn't take this project too seriously I'm very glad I did it for the learning experience. 

The first major thing I learnt is the gaps on what I actually know. This isn't my first complete game but it is the first one I've published and allowed other people to play. Honestly I wasn't expecting many people to even give Brian a passing glance so I'm actually really happy people left feedback for my little game 😄 I am a programmer. That is my craft, and without sounding conceited I honestly think im pretty good at it. My biggest weakness when it comes to game development is definitely game design. I can come up with good high level concepts for mechanics, but I struggle with the finer details of implementing them in a way that feels nice to play as well as creating good level design. Honestly I'm not content with that. It's impossible for someone to be am expert at everything but I feel like if I'm to call myself a game developer I should learn at least at a basic level more about game design. Oh sure, I've binged gmtk and extra credits but theres only so much watching YouTube can teach you haha. I think developing brian and especially reading the comments people gave opened my eyes to the extent of my gap in knowledge, and the best way to fill that is through practice.

The second major thing I got more experience in is actually creating a finished product. Proof of concepts, programming practices and other test projects are all well and good but developing even a short and sweet end to end product is so different. From good UI to scene navigation, all the bits of polish a game needs and the genral style of the game theres a lot of things you don't need to consider when creating a quick demo that won't be played for anyone but the camera. The jam was a really good way to test my abilities in this area, especially with the time pressure.

Overall I really enjoyed the jam. I am definitely going to do one again when I have more time and can dedicate a full weekend to it (or hey I could do a longer one and see how it goes) Maybe someday I'll create a Brian 2.0 that incorporates the feedback I got, but then again that all depends if my own brian gets distracted with shiny things!