IGI 1 Postmortem
I want to focus on finishing all postmortems to things that I have done GameDev related, so the next couple of posts I share are going to be. Well. postmortems.
This postmortem is going to be about one of my favorite game development experiences.
The IGI-1 GameJam, the first on location game jam I participated in.
This was a pretty cool GameJam. It was very casual. The only rule was to follow the theme chosen by organizers.
The theme was Polar Opposites.
I didn’t have that many good ideas for this one, so I ended up making a game where you control two magnets, and you have to guide a ball floating in space to some diamonds.
The Process
The only decision I had made before I showed up for the game jam, was that I was going to use the Unreal Engine. I thought I was super prepared, but I wasn’t. Not that I did bad, It’s just that I would have liked to do better. Since then, I have spent A LOT of time with UE4, and I’m getting very confident with it.
The process of the game was very smooth. As I mentioned a few words back, I used UE4. I used some C++, but mostly Blueprints.
The programmer-graphics were made with blender, and I used LMMS for the music. Like Always, I neglected the music a bit, and I’m pretty sure people noticed.
I finished the game in about 20hours of work, and I’m happy with the outcome, and I will try and participate in more on-location game jams.
What Went Right
I’m not sure if I can place many things that went “Right” I didn’t have anything planned that could have gone right or wrong really. But the thing that I’m the happiest with is meeting all the other participants. I met some cool people there, and I had a great time. So even if I had shown up and not finished a game, I would have just been happy with that.
What Went Wrong
Nothing really went wrong, as I said, but I would have liked to be more prepared for the game jam, with UE4. But I guess that’s just something that comes with practice. I have done this once, and now I know what to expect.
Lessons Learned
Because this was all on site, I was very nervous about looking like an idiot. But now looking back, I was an idiot for thinking like that. No one has the time to be watching you. Everyone is just in their little zone. Doing their thing. So I will definitely be less hesitant about joining another Game Jam like this.
Some Cool Things
Watch a video of the gameplay.
Originally published at www.goose.ninja on June 14, 2017.
