TIGSource Forums

As many of my fellow indie developers know, between every larger project, and oftentimes even during, many of us start up little micro-projects to either blow off some creative steam, to take a small break from the bigger projects, or to keep the game development juices flowing during slow periods.

 I for one, have started many of these, and although they are rewarding to make in and of themselves, I find it sort of a shame that there isn't really a good place to share them aside from simply sharing gifs or images on Twitter and whatnot. But those outlets don't really allow us to talk about the process of creating these micro-projects. And since these are after all, MICRO-side projects, starting up an entire dedicated Devlog here for one of them would seem a bit silly, since the majority of these projects get dropped later anyway to continue work on the larger projects.

So instead, I introduce to you:

The Micro/Side Projects Devlog Megathread!

Come one, come all, with your side projects, your mini-jam games, and your micro-experiments! Here will be the official haven for all game development posts, small, smaller, and smallest. Got a weekend jam game you felt like making? Post development about it here! Working on an experimental game concept between large-project development? We wanna hear about it! Come fellow Tig-Sourcers and share your micro-projects here!

But just to be completely clear, here are a few ground rules for this thread:

1. Micro-projects and side projects only. Main projects probably deserve their own thread anyway, so just go ahead and do that. If, however, you don't have a "main project" so to speak and want to test the waters, feel free to post your updates here until one of your ideas starts to bloom into something more full and fleshed out. At that point you really ought to make a dedicated devlog for it! The point of this thread is to have one place where we can all see each other's micro-side-projects and potentially discuss the benefits these side projects provide us as game developers, but also to not flood up the forums with dedicated devlogs on projects that we probably plan on dropping dead in the water shortly afterwards anyway. Experiments, jam games, and side projects are the main subject matter here.

2. Put a decent amount of effort into your devlog post. Explain the process, the inspiration, etc behind your micro-projects. Otherwise, this might as well be a Twitter feed.

That's all I can think of as far as strict rules go, but overall, I hope this can be a good environment for devs to share their fun-size creations. With that said, let me get the ball rolling here by sharing progress on a little disposable project I made over the weekend:

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"A Wonderful Day for Fishing"

(http://i.imgur.com/qf6E4KUl.jpg)

Having seen a lot of experimental horror games coming out these past few years, I got the sudden urge to try my hand at an experimental concept revolving around a type of horror I feel is a bit underrepresented in games: Existential Horror.

So I approached this idea by trying to make it revolve around a monotonous task, such as working an assembly line or in this case, fishing. The game works simply, by the player waiting until something catches onto the line, and then clicking to reveal the catch they got. They are then shown a random fish along with a short description, along with two options to either eat the catch or release it back into the water.

(http://i.imgur.com/sq9cNn8l.jpg)

The player continues to do this, catching various kinds of fish, choosing between seemingly meaningless options as to what to do with them, and then waiting for random amounts of time to do it all again. Over time, however, things start to become stranger. Fish begin to appear more hideous and often injured, without the player character ever acknowledging that there's something wrong. The longer you fish, the more hideous and strange the world around you becomes.

(http://i.imgur.com/gXSzRCNl.jpg)

Right now there aren't too many ways for the game to end, and I haven't even had anyone else play it yet, so the actual effectiveness of the game's scares and atmosphere is beyond me. I may see if I can't get it to a "good-enough" state by next weekend so I can perhaps post it online as freeware.