Game Jam Post-Mortem

TL;DR : You can make anything you set your mind to and please, for all that is holy, don't be me. MAKE. A. GAME. DESIGN. DOCUMENT.

All in all, this game jam was one that I didn't expect to finish. I've been having some struggles with ideas and bringing them to completion. I spent my firs 7 days just trying to think of an idea. I spent 2 more doubting that I'd be able to finish in time. I really wanted to take a look at AI for once since I have such an aversion to it at times and it always seems daunting to make "smart" AI. So, I chose to make decent AI. (emphasis on the "decent" -.-'') 

I thought about a sort of top down shooter where you're a refurbish bot (the reasoning behind R3-FURB1SH as the player name) destroying rogue bots that took over a factory. Something easy: Identify player -> Walk at player -> Do Damage -> Profit. Compliment that with a player that can shoot and avoid them and, BOOM, game play. I originally wanted to add other features:

- Enemies drop other weapons to shoot (Snipers, Shotguns, SMGs, etc.)

- Enemy Scaling over time (something similar to Risk of Rain 2 which, at a point, I had and it worked but the player had no scaling)

- The player has abilities (A heal and a dash)

- Multiple Stages/ Levels to complete

- A currency system (Enemies drop bolts and you can use them outside of the level to buy other levels and experience other enemies/pick ups)

All wonderful ideas, especially since I should have gotten the core loop done in a week or so. But, that is the keyword: should... I didn't create a game design document for this project. I never make GDDs. I find planning to be one of my biggest hurdles and it hurt me a lot here since I didn't have a plan. I kinda just sat down and worked with no particular aim most days and, as a result, the game is fun, I believe, and fast paced but I feel like there could have been more. I think my next game jam, I'll look to try and create a GDD so I can properly see my progression and have an idea of what my scope is beforehand. But, overall, if you look at my previous projects, its been a while.

Glad to be back in the saddle.