Post-Jam Postmortem

With the conclusion of the Jam this game was made for, I feel now is a good time to reflect.

Overall, I feel the game was received how I thought it would be for a first published work, though that does not mean it is without flaw. There have been a few pointed out by friends and other developers during said judgement period. I intend to release an updated version in the future, as I wanted the jam to base its results on a consistent file, the one I turned in. This post, however, is supposed to be about what I feel went right and wrong with development.

WHAT WENT RIGHT:

-  I coded in each upgrade ahead of actually designing the levels. This gave the ability to test everything out ahead of time.

- The idea was that upgrades would require backtracking so as to reward exploration. I feel the first half of the game exemplified that.

- While I am more of a coder than an artist, I like the detail I put into the collectables, the nuts especially.

- The pause menu also had a description for each upgrade, the first time I have coded a pause with functionality.

WHAT WENT WRONG:

- To save time, I used Gamemaker Studio 2's legacy save for state and a separate file for player status. This means the save is volatile to changes within the project.

- While I am proud for coding a smooth ramp, it was only designed for upward movement. When I decided to use ramps for ceiling decoration as well, this led to some unintentional results.

- The level design lost the backtracking element in the later half. Specific mention includes level 3, which was a headache in itself to design and was winding, but not branching.

- If I am more a coder than an artist, I am least of all a musician. Having played drums in the past, The soundtrack was mostly drum arrangements. While I felt it fit the mechanical theme, It can get grating over time.

- I should have made it so that after a certain point your energy is refilled to a predetermined level if you are below it so even if you finish at 1% the other levels are possible.

- The boss' heath bar does not go down initially due to how it was coded.

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE:

Now that the jam is done, I intend to release at least one update to address the largest complaints and my biggest grievances. I hope to have it out before the end of the month. After that, I go back to coding. Hopefully in another jam, and the lessons I've learned will result in a better game.

-Mask