Final Form - GWJ77 #9
The GWJ is over, and it was very exciting!
I guess my game ended up being too long and too ugly, so it got the least reviews compared to the previous two Jam Games (Space Tag and Frozen Bells), but it ended up with the highest score of all my games :)
I'm definitely planning to turn it into a full-fledged game in the next 2-3-5 months, making it a rogue-like. I already have quite some ideas on how to add replayability and make the loop shorter and smoother.
So what obviously went wrong is - my pixel-art. It was my first attempt to do visual art for the game myself, but clearly, it didn't go well enough. But I really wonder - was it ugly as in "unpolished" or ugly as in "don't drow anymore"? It's clearly unpolished - I had only 2 days to draw ~60 different tiles and ~30 different units. And I clearly didn't have enough time to do the interfaces. If I'd spent 5 times more - would it be good enough? Or not really? After all - I'm not an artist, and I pretty much never tried drawing until a few months back.
So I'm wondering whether I should keep the approach but draw better, or maybe switch to a less-demanding approach (like iconography, board-game like), or I look for a real artist? I guess I'll start with the second approach and see where it goes.
Another question is about Kafka content - I've added an audiobook... Was it worth it? And making a story that loops back to Kafka's Metamorphosis? It was the fancy part, but since pretty much no one mentioned it in the comments - was it too weird? I wonder whether I should keep it for the full-fledged version, or forfeit it? What happens in a jam stays in a jam? :)
Any comments are super welcome!
Final Form
Tile-coloring TBS with some kafkaesque story
| Status | Prototype |
| Authors | Rakudajin, not_carlos |
| Genre | Strategy |
| Tags | 2D, Abstract, Board Game, Colorful, Narrative, Pixel Art, Singleplayer, Turn-based, Turn-Based Combat, Turn-based Strategy |
Comments
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Hi Rakudajin,
I didn't participate in this jam, but I played some games that appeared on my timeline, including yours.
I don't think your graphics are bad, they are within what I expect for pixel art made during a jam, except for parts of the menu that are inconsistent with the rest of the interface (solid color, larger border than other elements).
If I had to guess a reason why you didn't get a better score for graphics in the jam, I would say that your game doesn't have many charismatic elements that draw attention. For example, a character that interacts with the player, an animated villain, etc. This is not necessary at all, but sometimes it can affect the perception that others have of how much "charisma" your game has, and I believe this can be confused with the artistic aspect.
But as you already mentioned, it's a matter of time to implement. We all know that when we do a jam, some things get left out. It's part of the fun 😅
Regarding the gameplay, I found it a bit slow, in the sense that it takes a while for the player to go through a complete loop. I only understood the logic of everything that was happening after about 5-10 minutes of playing. If you could make the first turns faster/shorter, I believe that would make it easier for new users. (Just an idea in case you want to continue developing the project).
Regarding the connection with Kafka's work, at first I just found it strange, and the reference went unnoticed.
Anyway, congratulations on the work, I hope to see more of your work in the future 👋
Hi CCadori!
Well, that's quite flattering to hear from a great visual artist! :) Thank you!
Yep, the menus, etc., were done at the very last moment, and they are awful... But I'm glad my pixel art is not that bad :) I'm currently thinking between keeping or going to a more schematic one, slightly inclining to a more minimalistic one.
I definitely plan to continue with this game, and yep, make it have smoother and lighter onboarding and shorter loop :)
Thanks for the encouragement and I'm looking forward to your new games too! :)