Squirrelatouille
A fun and simple 2D platformer, where a squirrel wakes up from hibernation and sets off on an adventure to make a big breakfast.
My role:
For this 2 week game jam, I was in charge of Game Design, Programming, Production, and Narrative. I worked with one other teammate who primarily focused on the pixel artwork.
What I Learned:
Production – I kept the production simple for this project, but in future jams I will spend a tad less time in the brainstorming phase. This was effective in creating a fun environment, theme and narrative but in the nature of game jams, there is usually some scaling back that occurs in order to meet the deadline, and this time could be better used in polishing at the end.
Programming – I expanded my knowledge of Unity and C# vastly. I had a very basic understanding of the program and language at the start, and one of my main goals of this project was to get a better understanding of what goes into the coding process of game development. I knew this would limit the complexity and time I could allot to other important focuses, but this would be key to getting a better understanding on how to approach ideas, resolve bugs, and how to approach future productions.
Narrative & Game Design – This part of the jam was mostly for fun and used as a creative outlet. With the main focuses of this project being the production and programming, most of the learnings involved with the narrative and design overlapped with the programming challenges.
Production Schedule:
Full Time Available: June 3 – June 17
June 3: Brainstorm with my teammate in charge of artwork on what our overall game would consist of. We knew the basis of the game would be a 2D platformer, and the parameters of the jam were going to be that we needed to have an adventure of some sort. By the end of the brainstorm we knew we were going to have a main character squirrel, and he was going to be a chef attempting to make an omelette. Since most of the ingredients in an omelette can be picked up on a farm, we would make the additional sprites along that theme.
June 4-5: We would spend the majority of the opening weekend ensuring we got the major sprites completed that we wanted, and began putting some initial levels together. It was at this time that we made the decision to create the teleporting puzzle mechanic, and start with a barebones character who would evolve the skin throughout the levels.
June 6-10: Completing this game jam on time while working full time required this full week to be dedicated towards programming. I spent most of the time getting the character mechanics, respawns and checkpoints built, teleporters scripted to allow for multiple uses throughout a level, and moving from scene to scene.
June 11-12: During this weekend my teammate and I would hold another call to ensure we had a full list of all remaining items on the to-do list, we allotted enough time for game testing at the end, and we wouldn’t require creating any additional sprites in the final week.
After we had the final project plan in place, I primarily focused on getting the levels designed to 95% completion, and begun to program the dialogue boxes to incorporate our storyline outlining the adventure to the player and how to control the game.
June 13-16: Throughout the week we were testing for game breaking bugs, ensuring there weren’t any spots in the levels that were deemed too difficult, and that the story flowed appropriately. All final touchups were put into place.
June 17: One last final run through, loaded the game onto itch.io!