Gametober (31 very tiny games in October)

[droqen]

Frick, this stealth game is so fun. Droqtober Game 8 tweet (video)

I basically saw shelliest's day 8 inktober submission (before it was tweeted - I did NOT make Game 8 in one hour lol; it was more like 3-4 hrs) and the whole idea flowed from there.

USING PAST KNOWLEDGE:
- Familiarity with Entities Pathfinding on a grid (I have a little wrapper for it but mostly directly using Godot's AStar2D).
- I've implemented a VERY similar platformering/climbing control scheme a few times in the past, but never made anything out of them. (fun fact: the first time was for a game that i was trying to make for SHARECART1000! (fun fact: i have never successfully made a sharecart game))

[droqen]

DAY 9. PERSPECTIVE ( & PRESSURE )

[droqen]

Okay, I made a game in the genre I will call "very arcane ruleset games." It's weird, making games like this, because the joy comes from studying something that makes no sense. I think the best ones of these come together to create a sort of whole where once you've finished comprehending the ruleset you go somewhere higher-up with it. But... these types of games are for a very niche audience.

Ninth Alchemist (tweet)

[droqen]

Also, wow, I'm TIRED. Making a game every day is no small task. I wonder when the skies will clear and I'll see the light on the other side!

[droqen]

I'm not tired of making games- that part is still quite great. I am, however, tired of tweeting.

[droqen]

Maybe tired of documenting in this de log too :) need to go back and reread to see if any of this is useful!

[droqen]

Ninth Alchemist (game#9) postmortem

There was a moment near the end where I felt a bit defeated. I thought to myself, this level is a complex little knot. It's awful, and not good. I need to design a new level with simpler mechanics.

But... I tried, and took an hour or so trying to design a "good" level, and it ended up feeling like a... a very very linear puzzle. I was extremely not into it. In retrospect I had erroneously ascribed my bad feelings to the complexity of the game - there were doubts, but the bad feelings came from that attempted second version. That, more than anything else, had felt like a creative failure.

Anyway, I'm really happy with where the game is at now. It's tidied up a bit, but it's still the same complicated little knot of spell ingredients, the same little problem-solving maze, that it was always meant to be.

[droqen]

game#10 - Getting Over It with Clumsy Bird Person

edit:: oh, right! The theme was EMOTION. When I figured out the emotion I wanted the rest of the game fell together effortlessly. I can't really put it into words, but sort of like, trepidation/uncertainty/fear? "I don't want to jump" + "I have to jump" + Whatever feelings you get after jumping.

[droqen]

I'm on game#11 now, theme APPENDAGE.
Appendages falling off?

[droqen]

game #11 had ghosts with their tongues getting chopped off

game #12 was CASSETTE PLAYER, STUCK - honestly like, an amazing pair.
i made a feel-y game selection screen!

game #13 was GRAFFITI, ROOF - i didn't use roof at all... here are my notes:

GRAFFITI, ROOF
roof. roof... roof.....
idk what to do with graffiti. it's art, i guess? graffiti is art?

googled graffiti: both singular and plural; the singular graffito is rarely used except in archeology
googled graffito: A graffito (plural "graffiti"), in an archaeological context, is a deliberate mark made by scratching or engraving on a large surface such as a wall.
oh hell yeah. here we go: a game about leaving marks on walls in identical rooms in order to help you navigate them.

[droqen]

I've been finding myself thinking about this interview with Agnes Martin, just her attitude is really relaxed and comfortable. (thanks phil from paradise for linking this to me)

I'm not sure posting on Twitter every day is my favourite, because it takes me out of the mindset of just making the thing, of being alone. But I guess the desire for aloneness comes and goes.

The only thing you can think about painting is that you want the painting. And see, we get everything we want, so you have to keep in mind. And, you want it to appeal to other people.

[droqen]

I do want it to appeal to other people. At first, though, I just have to follow the work. Take no credit: just make the right decisions.

[droqen]

day 14

POISONOUS, TICK

Bright green is poison. Just an environmental mockup. A lot of this is just set dressing. What's the interactive part? I want to strip it down and keep it simple, add only interactive elements, but maybe I need to learn to use both.

Interactive layer on top of a pretty, environmental layer.

[droqen]

20. Impressionist Art

-visible brush strokes
-unusual compositions
-emphasis on light and color
-subject matter and their movements
-strange visual angles

I don't really know what I'm doing with this one but I know that 'impressionist art' is more form than content; so I need to determine what the content is, or rather, I need to decide.

Allergy Souls and 'Dying on a nice walk[..]' both have a relatable sort of gamefeel; the content is meaningful. Compare to the previous forum-post, POISONOUS, TICK, whose content is abstract game-content. "A poisonous planet." The idea of being poisoned-in-games, not the direct visceral experience of... hmm... being poisoned.

[droqen]

I suppose if I have a goal it is to create something strange and abstract but not drawing heavily from existing games. Present my own abstract videogamey impression of a real thing, not an impression of someone else's impression.