Stay Away

Tools used:

2D Sprites: Aseprite

Scripting: Visual Studio

Game Engine: Unity

 

Game Concept:

     Considering this was my first Game Jam experience I wanted to focus on building a small but cohesive game with a clear objective and (hopefully) a unique take on the theme.

     For the first day of the Jam we focused on coming up with a core mechanic, figuring out the overall mood of the game and trying to keep the scope reasonable and achievable.

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      After some brainstorming, we decided that viewing the not being alone aspect could be something actually negative to the character. Loneliness could be something to look forward to, instead of dreading it.

      So we got set on the idea that maybe the player's character could have social anxiety, or overall hate crowded environments, and while they need to progress through the world in order to gather a few things they "need", they would also need to physically avoid loud gatherings of people in order to not lose.

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      For this, we implemented a "social" bubble around the player, that turns orange or red if the player remains too close too people for a longer period of time.

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Level Design:

      For the level design, we settled on a initial Metro

station (as an introductory hallway so the player gets to

learn about movement and interaction with crowds on

a smaller scale). 

      This Station would then lead to the main City Map,

where the player can walk between Levels while

interacting with some more diverse crowd behaviors.

       From here, the order in which the player completes

the individual levels is irrelevant, but we decided on:

A Coffee Shop (for coffee), a Grocery Store (for noodles)

and finally an Anime Convention (for the much needed

body pillow!).

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      When it comes to crowd behaviors we implemented

two different types:

      One would be people waiting in line, so the player

would have to wait for them to move somewhere else

before they could approach the item;

      And the second one would be crowds moving in a 

pre-determined route, making the player avoid them 

by either finding a quiet corner, or timing their walking.

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Learning Experience:

      Obviously with any Game Jam, organization and Time management are key, especially when different tasks require different components from different people.

      Overall, I'd say we did pretty well in terms of communication and project management.

      In terms of Art, which I was exclusively responsible for, I exceeded my expectations about myself. I was able to do a lot more levels, that looked overall cohesive and the color palette seems to have helped to bring everything together.

      I think our main fault was not dedicating as much time as we probably should on audio design. It is a key aspect on setting a mood and is greatly connected to Player feedback.

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