I just recently started playing around with some game development. I kept telling myself that I wasn't proficient enough to be able to make something over a weekend. But then I thought, if not now, then when? 50 is a nice anniversary to start my journey. I don't have any expectations except to have some fun!
Edit: anyone that knows where to find a link to the discord?
This was my first ever game jam. After some sleep recovery, I have had some time to reflect on the weekend. Probably no one will really read all of this and I am probably stating the obvious, but since this is still a bit new to me and I am just so excited about how it was I just wanted to write out my mind somewhere :sweat_smile:.
It was absolutely amazing! I had loads of fun and learned a lot. I also got very impressed by the quality of all submissions!
I started my game dev journey early March. Like most people (I guess), I quickly got a bit overwhelmed with what all went into it, and I got stuck on trying to make the tiniest things work perfect, always have room for scalability, think about optimization, even planning for remapping keys and different languages... Needless to say I didn't get that much done.
Then I got recommended to participate in game jams by a video from GMTK or Brackeys (not sure anymore), explaining how you will put down a very small prototype, from which it will be way easier to see what to focus on and how to start making an actual game. Furthermore I thought it would be a good way to get acquainted with some features I hadn't played around with yet, that I inevitably would have to learn (e.g. UI or scene management). So I googled for the nearest game jam; LD50 in 1 week.
I didn't have any expectations, after all, I had barely any experience making games. But I was determined to at least make a complete game that could be a prototype, no matter if it looked horrible or played horrible. And I got impressed with how much I was able to create and moreover, the amount of stuff I learned within just 2 days. I guess not putting on the perfectionist pressure, as well as having the determination, really unleashed some power and I am actually a little bit proud of myself :blush:, for indeed finishing a prototype, even though it has some major flaws.
Then I went and played some games of you guys. I have just played some handful so far, but I have to say that I am really, really impressed with the quality of a lot of games out there. They are actually fun to play, look great, and some even seem as polished as a proper release! (albeit with somewhat limited content, but what do you expect for 48 hours!) Everyone that managed to complete something should feel proud of themselves. Seeing the average quality of all the submission really amazed me, inspired me, and quite frankly slightly scared me for if I ever wanted to seriously get into game design haha, the competition is there! So to everyone that participated, increadible job! :v:
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Anyways, I am looking forward to playing some more of your entries this week(end), so don't hesitate to share your link in a comment!
Also, even though my entry has some big flaws, I personally really liked the concept so I will probably work on a better version of it. So if you would like to check out my entry, any feedback is really appreciated! Here is the link: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/mages-and-essay-pages
I will definitely be joining in next time as well!