Day 1

I decided I want to work on my godot knowledge starting with this game jam. In a previous jam made a simple 3d platformer/collect-a-thon with a friend, with me doing all the godot bits and they made the graphics. It... wasn't that fun but I was proud of it.

This time I'll be solo and I wanted to do some prep work before the jam started. I got familiar with some plugins and learned how to make a 2d character controller ahead of time. Basically remembered the work flow again and focused on some new aspects of the engine. In particular this time I wanted to spend less time getting the basics working and make sure I have more time for a real level design and make something FUN. With that in mind I'll be focusing on a game play loop and mechanics for the first 3-4 days, pick out the art and assets I'll be using for 1 day, and focus level design and narrative for 3 days. And then the last 2 days on polish and play testing. I am still working so this will be my evening project. I have no idea how accurate that time estimation will be!

The rough idea based on the theme of isolation:

I plan to make a game about a little boy or girl who is growing up in a remote homestead and their parents and older brother is generally not home. One day the player see's something odd, a wiggling bottle. Ever since the forest in the back yard has had strange goings on and the player decides to prove something is happening. You must find and catch as many forest spirits and prove to the adults whimsical forest spirits are keeping you company.

Today's active dev time was briefly spent looking at free assets for a vibe and then I dove into project setup using my prep as a reference. Installed what I intend to use and set up a 8 directional player using a state chart, setup the tracking camera and I took my first shot at creating an AI. I made a critter who will run when the player gets too close and it will leave the map if you bother it too much.

Time spent: 5 hours