#001: daydreaming
In the aftermath of the Daydream Calgary game jam—the first game jam I’ve ever done—I have a lot of mixed feelings. It was definitely one of the coolest things I’ve done this year, and yet it also left a lot to be desired.
Our game, Meticulously Malpracticed, is a point-and-click game where you play as an unpaid intern working to identify those infected with a virus. Clicking on the computer opens a terminal and a handbook. Blood samples can be analyzed to output different values; comparing those to the accepted values in the handbook allows you to identify whether the patient is heatlhy. After identifying ten patients, the game is won or lost based on the percentage of patients marked correct.
Also, the fridge opens. Don’t worry about it.
Firstly, I found quickly that my thought process needed a lot of organizing. I would work for long periods of time on certain features that later proved nonessential to the central game mechanics—which at some point started losing clarity. This confusion, combined with ADHD, was definitely not helpful in spending my time developing what would really prove important. The result is a game that doesn’t really meet my standards on features and length.
Secondly, our team (Annie, Matt, and I) overscoped a lot. This was probably to be expected—we wanted to make a whole drag-and-drop system with different sprite interactions, but I only realized halfway through the second day that I had never made anything like that before, and that it would prove quite difficult. All of these interactions were scrapped in the end, but there’s still see some residual code to be found that I didn’t have time to remove.
Thirdly, I expected a lot more time to play everyone else’s games and vote. (Sorry orgs!) By the end of the event, we were given less than half an hour to experience everyone’s games. I wasn’t aware when voting started. When awards were given, I was very confused because I hadn’t voted at all. In the end, as far as I’m aware, less than a third of the participants actually casted their votes. This was highly frustrating to me, although perhaps my emotions are unjustified. I had expected to rank higher in the final standings, and this sentiment was echoed by some others at the event.
Despite all of this, I really did have a lot of fun, and awaken a horrible dormant craving for sugar. I think this was a great learning experience, and hopefully paves the path for further game jams to come.
I don’t think I will be continuing to develop this game, but you can download and play Meticulously Malpracticed here. Have fun :)