next »

[stuffedwombat]

EDIT: the game is released! Yay!
scroll to the bottom of this page to read the mini-postmortem


Heyo!

I have taken a week off from my big project because I was feeling burnt out.
So I decided to make a tiny commercial game to prove to myself that i can finish something that is worth a few bucks.

I am currently on day 4 of that project and things are looking good.

shit 3
is a minimalistic platformer played with only 2 keys, meaning that you can only walljump!

here is a gif of the core gameplay


The game will have 10 worlds (each with their own song & color palette), 100 levels and 3 gamemodes!

Currently there are 80 levels, the foundations for the gamemodes and a friend has already made 4 of the songs!
I am always looking for feedback, so if you want to test the game, shoot me a private message or hit me up on twitter: https://twitter.com/wombatstuff

also the game will have an EXTREME FEEDBACK MODE, which looks like this:

[stuffedwombat]

Making progress!

100 levels are done!



a friend made me some palettes and now everything looks nicer, also added some details!


The fun parts of game dev are almost over, now come menus and stuff like that :/

[johnfn]

I have to say, EXTREME FEEDBACK MODE is one of the funniest things I've seen.

7 days is short, good luck!!!

[ManuGunstar]

Seems the kind of game that I'll enjoy playing! I guess that you will launch it on PC, but have you think about port it to Android/iOS?

[Sedart]

Looks really fun to play, looking forward for the final day! Hope it helps solving the burnt out ^^

[stuffedwombat]

but have you think about port it to Android/iOS?

Yeah, I want to!
But later, as first I will launch on Itch.io, then steam & smartphones!
But I have never released anything on an appstore, so it might take some time for that to happen :/

Hope it helps solving the burnt out ^^

Thanks!
Well, it certainly gives me what I needed!
I was feeling like I made no progress on the big project, and here progress happens all the time!
But I also realise that it is important to actually stick through with the big project after working on this

Today is mostly boring work, so there is no cool gif to show :/

[Sedart]

Hope it helps solving the burnt out ^^

Thanks!
Well, it certainly gives me what I needed!
I was feeling like I made no progress on the big project, and here progress happens all the time!
But I also realise that it is important to actually stick through with the big project after working on this

Today is mostly boring work, so there is no cool gif to show :/

Glad to hear that! It is important to stick and finish bigger projects!
Also working in smaller projects helps by learning about perspective for the bigger ones (realizing in what point of development you are, not frustrating with how much work is left to do, etc).

[stuffedwombat]

Just a quick update:

IT IS ALL DONE!


well, not "all" all...
but after making only a few soundeffects the game will be DONE, only slightly behind the intended date

[stuffedwombat]

only the credits are missing!

The game will be released tomorrow on itch.io!
what a crazy, exhausting and satisfyinf week!

here is an old version of the menu:



I will do a full write up of this project tomorrow as well

see you then!

[stuffedwombat]

Shit 3 is released!



Shit 3 - Post mini-Mortem

Shit 3 is a platformer where you can only walljump.
It was made in 7 days!

Why?
I have been working on a big project for a long time now, felt burned out and wanted to make something small and complete and sell it, to go through all the stages of game developement, and remind myself, that games do get finished from time to time.
I took seven days vacation and started working.

How
The game is a sequel to shit 2!
I knew how to make the core mechanic and I knew what I could do with it, so I felt confident that I could finish the game in 7 days.
construct 2 is pretty great for fast developement as well.


what went wrong
I wasted 1-2 days, working on mechanics that I ended up cutting.
instead of quickly implementing them, testing them and then deciding wether or not they deserve a level, I made them all one after the other and only then tested them.
Then, when I got around to making the levels, I realised that 40% of the code I wrote was not necessary for the game.

Through that I did not have enough time to make really great soundeffects, even though I am still happy with the ones that are in the game right now, they could have been much better!


What went right
A lot of things, actually

The music and the palettes were made by friends. They both, independetly, did a great job and through sheer luck the palettes and songs fit together very well (imo at least ^^)!

The first ten levels of the game are my favourite levels I designed, ever.
There is simply nothing to remove and they teach players almost everything they need to know to beat the game!

The game as a whole offers a lot of content for a very short developement time, has a colorblind friendly option and is, in general, just a complete game!


Release
I did almost no marketing for the game, but it did pretty well anyways
It is only available on itch for now, but I am planning to support it for quite some time and port it to other platforms soon.


The future
As soon as the game makes 100 dollars, I will put it on steam.
During that time, I will use the feedback from itch.io to get most of the bugs out and make the game better.
When it launches in Steam, I will finally write a press release and send out keys to youtubers.
Basically, I am planning a second launch of the game in a month or so
Since it controls with only 2 keys, there is also the possibility of an android/ios launch, but I have no expirience with those devices, and that may take longer.


Conclusion
making Shit 3 in a week was a great expirience!
I learned a lot, not only about making games, but also about work/life balance and self imposed crunch.
It feels amazing to have a game actually for sale as well, so this week long project was a full success in my opinion and I am looking forward to doing something similar again, after the big project is released

Thanks for reading!


If you want to check out the game, you do that here:
https://stuffedwombat.itch.io/shit-3

here is the release gif: