Game Jam 1 - Elixir Escape

 Game Jam 1 – Post-Mortem Report – Blog Post

MAKAR POPOV - ELIXIR ESCAPE ("Strange Powerups")

How much did the Idea change from your initial game design form during the development of your game jam in Gamemaker Studio? 

During the planning stage of the game, my idea for the strange powerups constantly evolved and changed. At first, I was focused on creating powerups that were simply odd and quirky, but as I continued to brainstorm, I realized that I can make them even more unique and interesting. I began to experiment with different combinations of abilities and effects, constantly refining and tweaking the designs until I had a collection of 3 truly unique and strange powerups. These powerups added an extra layer of excitement and unpredictability to the game, and helped to make it stand out from other similar titles. Overall, the planning stage was a time of creativity and experimentation, as I worked to bring my vision for the strange powerups to life.

During the development of the game, I had originally planned to include a distorting potion as one of the strange powerups. However, as I began to implement this powerup, I encountered a number of errors and issues that made it difficult to use in the game. Despite my best efforts, I was unable to resolve these problems, and ultimately decided to drop the distorting potion from the game. This was a difficult decision, but ultimately it was the best choice for the overall quality and stability of the game.

What resources did you use in the development of your game and how useful did you find them? 

Rotate screen/camera like a boss - [Game Maker Studio 2 | Basics] - YouTube

I used this one for a potion so it can rotate the screen when it is touched.

GameMaker Manual (yoyogames.com)

I used the Gamemaker manual so i know what each part of the code does what.

2D Pixel Dungeon Asset Pack by Pixel_Poem (itch.io)

This was used for my tileset within the game.

Which areas of your game's development did you find the most challenging during the development of this game? 

1. Event handling: Where I needed to use code to handle events such as when a player picks up a potion, or when a player uses a potion. This involved checking for conditions and triggering the appropriate actions.

2. Inventory management: We needed to use code to manage a player's inventory and add or remove items, such as potions, as necessary.

3. Game mechanics: I needed to use code to implement the mechanics of a potion, such as giving the player a temporary buff or healing them which I was unable to add.

4. User interface: I needed to use code to update the user interface to display information about a player's inventory and the effects of using a potion.

5. Overall, using code to make a potion work in Game Maker involved working with a variety of different areas of game development. It required you to have a good understanding of the game mechanics and how to implement them using code.

There are several areas of game development within Game Maker where I needed to use more code to make a potion work. These can include event handling, inventory management, game mechanics, and user interface. Using code to make a potion work in Game Maker required a good understanding of the game mechanics and how to implement them using code. Some of the commands I was unfamiliar with and I looked through the Gamemaker manual to help me.

Flipping the screen can be a fun and visually interesting effect in a game, but it can also be disorienting for players and potentially cause confusion or frustration. This made it more unique within the game and a better user experience. Flipping the screen will affect all objects in the game, so I needed to use additional code to handle potential issues with other game mechanics. Overall, flipping the screen was a fun effect.

In your own assessment how well did you incorporate the theme into the final game that you have created?