1st Iteration Post-mortem

Though it was only a small local jam with participant less than a dozen, this was the second time I joined a game jam. The jam was actually more free form. You could submit anything from simple game made with Twine or even a module for TTRPG. Sneak peak of the jam were given 1 week before the theme was released and another 1 month to the deadline. So I thought "Should I make something simpler or do it again like the last time?"

The last time I joined a jam, 6 other people and I joined together to make a game in Godot. 3 People did the assets, 3 people did the programming and 1 did the project management. I spent around 24 hours during 3 days as the game designer and also programmer since I had the most experience in software engineering. It was a tough but comfortable enough to make a complete small game. We limit the scope and the project ran smoothly for a 3 days jam (barring the expected blockers and bugs of course).

This time, I decided to go solo, since my previous group was busy. And in foresight, I was busy too with year end stuff that can't be carried over to next year. But I do want to challenge myself and while I can make simple game using Twine or Inky, I'd rather practice my rusty programming skills. Then the game jam theme came, and it was Forgotten/Forgiven. A rather heavy theme at a glance. And people would attest that I'm not good with heavy or sappy theme. For a few days, I thought hard about the conflicts I had in life.  I found it funny that most of conflicts came from the simplest thing, especially in personal relationship. You may have a fight with your brother, just because he eats your ice cream or you have a fight with your mother because you forget to take out the trash. I immediately thought to myself, that kind of conflict is very on brand with me. It can be considered funny when properly told and it can perfectly fits the theme of forgiveness/forgotten.

As an Asian, I am pretty close with my mother. I love her but for heaven sake, if you had a "Karen" for a mother, you would dread the time you have to travel with her. We had TONS of (non-malicious) conflict every time we had a family vacation. And I immediately thought, why not tell the story of our fights in this game. And the concept was immediately born! What if you need to fulfill something unreasonable, because it is easier than having to fight? While unreasonable mother might not be relatable to anyone, I wholeheartedly believe everyone has at least one experience of it. Maybe with a romantic partner, or a friend, or your boss or even customers! And everyone has a travel horror story!

I thought to myself, what kind of experience I had? Once, I forgot to bring a travel adapter making me and my travel companions unable to charge my phone in a foreign country which caused a very unpleasant experience (travel adapter was not easy to find). Then on another occasion, during the whole week of vacation, it was raining cats and dogs and we don't have any umbrella. On another another occasion, my mother forgot her make-up kits and become sour the whole vacation. Those were all small things, but with the "right" people, the resentment could linger ruining the whole holiday experience. And what's more! Every single one of them stemmed from packing travel needs! So why not make a game out of that!?

The first iteration came to mind. A fast paced point and click game, where you have limited time to collect stuffs from all around your home to pack for travel. Why? Your mother bought you a travel ticket without asking your permission and gave you unreasonably limited time to pack. The stuff was already all over the house and you need to go back and forth to your suitcase with your items. Then there would be complications, such as your mother suddenly stop you to talk about something or maybe you leaves the sunscreen lotion at the bathroom and your father is using the bathroom for eternity. Things that would make the game frustrating but in a relatable way. The item needed would be randomized based on travel location (winter clothing for winter vacation, swimwear for beach vacation, etc) to make the game repeatable and unpredictable.

Alas, came the foresight! That sounds fun, but I'm doing this alone with a limited time and a busy real life schedule! I decided to cut the scope. No obstacles, no randomness, and limit to 1 room of the house (your own). Reasonable enough, right? Unfortunately, even with the foresight, I overestimated myself.

I barely knew Godot and I was trying something hard. Tutorial was plenty but none of them gave the full story. I actually needed more experience, or read the documentation in full to make something that worked as I want. Of course, real life hit harder at the same time. Then I also needed to make the asset myself (with my bad art skills since all the resource I found online were  not uniform, and personally it's better to have a bad asset than 10 different style of assets in 1 game.) Even with a technical 1 month of deadline, I can't fulfill the scope. I can't even make a drag and drop works after 7 different tutorials. Like any other good corporate worker, I knew it was time to pivot. I pondered hard and recalled my experienced in traveling. My travel companion was summoned to storage area of an airport because he put a power bank in check-in baggage which was against rule. A 1 hour of relaxing in the airport drinking coffee became a rushing to open the already checked-in luggage, removing the power bank, and running to the boarding gate. Combined with the previous travel adapter issue, I came to a realization. A lot of modern travel problem can arise from a single backup battery/power bank!

From there, I cut a lot of gameplay mechanic, and it boiled down to 1 simple item, the power bank. And the game became more narrative than having an actual gameplay. You could get 4 different ending, based on the power bank alone (also based on real life personal experience). I was satisfied with the pivot and continue to finish the game in Godot. Why not just make something like this in Twine or Renpy? The main reason is I actually already made the game framework in Godot!

After the major Pivot, the game was done. It was tiring and I probably haven't done my best. All in all, I was satisfied with the result though I had a lingering resentment (in a good way) to finish my first vision. Hopefully I have the chance to make my first vision come true and hopefully you guys can enjoy it one day.

Finally, I hope you also enjoy this "iteration" of the game or at least got a good chuckle out of it.

Till later,
kisui


Looks of assets made for the actual first design of the game. Most of it didn't make the cut.
Made with Microsoft Paint and A cabled mouse.