Post-Mortem

The game I created, Dig Diggity, is a puzzle platformer (maybe also strategy?) game where your main objective is to dig vertically down each level. But it is not a straight shot down; you need to dodge obstacles (some which can kill), moving enemies, and consider what the next long drop may do to you. Each move is calculated in much the same way the original LoZ controls were - each move is a discrete step, which triggers the movement of enemies. Fans of roguelikes can understand what this would look like immediately. 

To be honest, I found a similar game on the app store about digging that did not have that level of strategy behind it. I found myself crafting a story around why the protagonist digs (easy since the theme is Friends) and built on my ideas of what makes a game "good" - shallow learning curve, slowly ramping difficulty, and requires some thought. Hopefully the Feb submission will be more of a realtime gameplay experience similar to Saison 

In short, it was incredibly easy to take into account Mcfunkypants' mantras, and I highly recommend them!

With the additional time I had (core gameplay was completed halfway through Jan) I decided to take the game to android as the primary platform. On my side this was a trivial task - having moved from Java/Libgdx to Unity, I had the ability to port to many devices almost immediately. The difficulty, it seems, is marketing!!

Ugh. I did not go to school for Marketing... But it seems almost inevitable. After all, no one person is creatively creating things to share with no one.  I want people to experience my games. What do I do?

Reading through the following article on marketing indie games, I see many things I naturally started doing already, albeit not optimally. The main points made in this article are...

• Gain traction through publicizing your personal website
• Take part in the (hateful) social media foray and post game update status often
• Reach out to random strangers with connections to promote your game
• Try to have your game added to gaming markets e.g. Steam, itch.io

Now that I have the essentials of #1GAM down, my next goal is to make strides marketing my work. Wish me luck!

If you feel so inclined, please check out my Jan submission Dig Diggity. It's available to play online here and also available for free on android here!

-stencil chris

Now wait a second... this does not sound like the right resolutions at all! What can someone manage to do with such a defeatist attitude? Well these are the formulaic principles of deploying indie games especially during a game jam. My resolution, of course, is to complete one game a month for the #1GAM challenge hosted by McFunkypants

Now, cast in a better light, those resolutions certainly apply. 

Settle for Imperfection - you will never created a finished game in one month; some argue there is no such thing as a finished game or work! There needs to be acceptance of quality fall off in various areas to release a playable, enjoyable product in 30 days (with life and the like banging on your door). 

Release Early and Often - this is key for most projects managed in an agile development setting. The "despite better judgment" is really my own negative spin on it. You wont be able to add in your 50 mini-boss rush any time soon, so don't relay release or give up because of it.

Accept my Limitations - now this is key and is at the heart of why so many games are left unreleased. There are few if any renaissance game developers with the breadth of knowledge and skill to churn out quality art, sound, story and mechanics without any trouble in a crunch time situation. So, what do when you need a sprite or a riveting track? Make use of friends, family, your surroundings, and of course the public domain. Don't turn away simply because you cannot craft every asset on your own!! (Partially speaking to myself here)

This is what makes #1GAM so challenging - you are given a time frame in the game dev cycle  no-mans-land, where games go to die due to the lack of the above mantras. Some time you need to simply "C'est la vie"

I implore you to read through McFunkypant's post on tutsplus (linked at the start) as it provides even greater depth of detail on creating one game a month. Will I be able to keep with the resolutions this year? In due time, we will see! I've submitted a game for Dec 2016's #1GAM to test the waters and all I can say is that I need to speed up my work, and stick to the resolutions!

If you feel so inclined, try out Saison as hosted on itch.io:

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