Hi!
Back in September, one of my colleagues asked me if I wanted to take part in the Brackeys Game Jam - an event where participants create video games in one week. After submission, the games are reviewed by participants and the winner is chosen.
In most cases, submissions must follow the Game Jam’s theme, this time the theme was picked by a vote from a list of six options. In order to be as prepared as possible, our team of four met on our Discord server and discussed ideas for every theme. Finally, the theme was announced: ”Calm before the storm”. Thankfully we had a game idea for each option, right? Yes, but we ended up scrapping our first idea - a game where you would have to stay calm and not give way to your negative emotions - and started the brainstorming once again. Instead, we settled on something different - a silly game about the post pigeon trying to retrieve letters it lost when the storm began.
On day one, we split up the work. My part was to code character movement and obstacle management, as well as to create a repository to store our code. Day two, we get to work. I implemented a sketch of the movement system. Later that day, the first problem became clear; each person on the team had a different idea of how our project’s code should be organized. We had file names in both Polish (that’s not me!) and English, some folders contained items that should be separated, and others that were unnecessary. Here, I could have written that the conflict was resolved, but that’s a lie. We were trying to create a game in less than a week during a school year, we weren’t exactly concerned with code aesthetics. It showed me that we could have been better prepared, we could have agreed to one naming convention to make collaboration as effective as possible. At least it was working as we all intended - that’s not exactly true either, I’m not talking about bugs, but something more serious - each one of us had a slightly different idea of what our game was supposed to look like. We disagreed on a way to implement objects’ paths (polar curves vs. random movement), graphics (silly paint-like graphics vs. something more serious), and so on. After a week we were tired, but ultimately happy because we had a game, our game. It was far from great, but every time I turn on “Windy out ‘ere!” I find myself smiling. Its silliness brings joy, and that’s all that matters.
Despite setbacks, we managed to finish the game in time. We didn’t win or get any significant place, but it was a good learning experience. None of us had significant background in game dev or projects with rapid deadlines, it was a new experience for all of us. The Game Jam taught me how crucial good preparation and cooperation are. Even though a Game Jam lasts a week, you need to start extensive preparations way earlier.
Want to try our game out? Here is the link to the submission page