Previously:

https://romance.newgrounds.com/news/post/1462907

NOW:

So, a team of four gathered over the last two weeks and created SUPER FREAKING WEIRD FREAKING BOWLING!

A game has been made... and it begs some reflection, so that's what i shall do.

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When I joined Low Rez Jam, I had a couple of goals:

1. Create a game

2. Network

3. Manage a team.

These all happened, but none of them happened perfectly. Each aspect of the game's creation had things that went right, and there are also things that will be improved on for future projects.

From a game design standpoint, Super Freaking Weird Freaking Bowling (henceforth referred to as SFWFB) was super fun to design. I've never made a "full" game before, so I couldn't create a game that required lots of experience (or time. the jam was 2 weeks long). The idea was to plan a game that could be simple to script. This worked 💥.

As for improvements...... the game is NOT perfect. It's missing a whole pillar: it doesn't have any content after the last upgrade, so there's no ending and no other goals to work towards. Strike streaks are still fun to get in the game, but after you get all three upgrades, that's it.

In terms of scripting, things went excellent. The game was made in Godot, and things felt intuitive and easy to work with all the way through. There are many opportunities for code optimizations I have written down, most of them to do with adding some global scripts, a global sound effect handler, and a global animation handler.

How "un-optimized" is the game? Let's just say 75% of the game is run in a single giant main game script. Not terrible, but could be better.....

In terms of leading a team, things were FABULOUS. We were a group of four, and we were a fabulous group of four. If we were the MarvelVengers, @pollyanoid would be Super Jill, @gooberthed would be Galaxy Person, @just-a-ng-dummy would be John Narrator, and I would be Robert Doy Jr. wearing the Space Mask. All the assets that everyone made were so good, and I'm so glad everyone was able to really get into creating the game.

I had a couple missteps when I was heading the project. My goals with the collaboration part of things was to 1) do networking/collaboration with new creators, 2) be a kind person, and 3) tell people what they had to do and when things were due without setting evil deadlines. I think I succeeded; you'll have to ask the artists. The missteps had to do with time management (see below). Next time, I'll have to assign work a little earlier and assign it in bulk. I went a little too slow and too quiet when I didn't have to: there were a couple assets I didn't assign so as not to overwhelm the team, but my habit was to ASK first, then assign. So I may have been too slow; next game, I will assign LOTS AND LOTS of work mercilessly.

All parts of the project considered, the part I did THE WORST in was TIME MANAGEMENT. The cost of my poor time management was not very obvious to anyone on the team (i don't think?), but I believe the game could have had more content if I hadn't been lazy for no good reason on certain days.

The game was supposed to have an ending. I considered the ending a "could" feature; it'd be made if time allowed. Well, time DID allow, but after the main game loop, upgrades, and hazards were programmed, i slowed development down, not really acknowledging that I actually did have time to add more content. This slowdown wasn't a very deliberate slowdown; it was a "this game is satisfying to playtest now, so i'll just ride out a couple days of the deadline" slowdown.

Then again, my goal wasn't to make a perfect game. My goals were to get experience finishing a game and being the leader of a group, and those experiences have happened.

THEN AGAIN (x2), it's not very good to bring up these other goals to act as the scapegoats for the game's lackluster parts. My workflow was supposed to be better.

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WHAT NOW? IDK

SFWFB isn't an ongoing project, so I believe it's all done and won't be getting any updates.

OKAY WAIT UPDATE It will get one update that includes the thing that couldn't be made in time for Low Rez Jam and some bug fixes. The game deserves a little more care.

(that update is out now.)

What will the next game be? I don't freaking know ("freaking" not a tease; the word is just part of my everyday vocabulary now).

I believe there are three options:

another game jam

make another small game not part of a game jam just for fun

go right for the dream game

I must think about this.

If you're reading this and you've played SFWFB, you deserve a Super Freaking Thank Freaking You.

What do you like or dislike about the game? What was your highest strike streak? MINE'S 20.