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[EchoP]

Good evening

So I was bored, and needed a break from another project, so I decided to make a game under a time limit. 5 hours, keeping time fairly strictly. I have a horrible habit of feature sprawl, so hopefully I will be able to finish this game under time for once. I plan on finishing it within 5 hours, releasing, and then if I feel it is a good enough idea, continuing to work on it.

So, here goes:
Tools:

• Graphics: Paint.net
• Language: XNA/C#
• Time Frame: 5 hours
• Very general idea: Zombies!

So yeah, I have no idea if anyone is interested in something like this, either listening to me ramble or doing their own, but I think people creating lots of small prototypes can lead to some great ideas.

And so it begins:
Hour 1: Writing everything from scratch, nothing reused, so the first is just putting in all the basics as fast as possible. Empty classes and structure are in.
Game State: Nothing. All behind the scenes.



Hour 2: Started work on the game itself. Added all the basic functionality to the classes and started work on the game itself. You can control the player, shooting and basic movement for the zombies is in.
Game State: Playable... Started adding in little things like hp, ammo and color tinting based on health.

[nihilocrat]

So how did it turn out?

It's pretty amazing to start from nothing and code a game in just 5 hours, even if it's that simple. Maybe my frameworks / ideas are just too complicated and take too long to write.

[EchoP]

So how did it turn out?

I havn't had time to finish it yet . I have been insanely busy, but I should have more time to make stuff now.

It's pretty amazing to start from nothing and code a game in just 5 hours, even if it's that simple. Maybe my frameworks / ideas are just too complicated and take too long to write.

In reality, I spent around 1 hour on the framework, and the rest has been dev time. I always spend far too much time on unnecessary ideas, so this has been a real challenge to keep it simple.

Hour 3: Finished off coloring based on health (added in health for the player and the Zombies), made Zombies spawn properly and put in a fixed firing rate.
Game State: Playable. The Zombies spawn on the right side of the map, and the spawn rate increases over time, so the challenge keeps going up.

[agamerguy]

I love this idea, reminds me of a Game Jam session. Would anybody be interested in doing something like this over the span of a weekend and comparing results?

[EchoP]

Well I am done with this game. The hardest part of making a game in such a short time frame is the initial idea. I used around 3 hours to get to where the game was, but I don't really have anywhere to take it from here that will not take far too long (Also, quite pathetically, I don't have enough motivation to finish this off).

I love this idea, reminds me of a Game Jam session. Would anybody be interested in doing something like this over the span of a weekend and comparing results?

Very much so. Maybe an ideas thread, where people put in ideas that can realistically be completed under the set amount of time, and then a weekend for everyone to work on it? I really don't know how many people would be interested, but worth a shot.