Game Jam V1 Release/Postmortem

Depths by the numbers:

21 days

• 71 scripts
• 8 patches
• 27 crafted items
• 28 resources

what started as a game about collecting weird resources turned into a game where, well, I mean yeah that's what you do but I think it's become a lot more about the exploration aspect than I intended during ideation.

Lessons learned

• level design is really hard!
• need to do a better job of guiding towards the fun
• baseline juice to make something fun (sfx, feedback) is not polish, it's mandatory
• if something should be looked at, make it light up (or glow rainbow)

cut features/content include (either due to scope creep, or balancing a certification course and a full-time job - see if you can guess which is which!):

• partner that you can find that follows you around, has a quest of their own you can help with, and has upgrades to help you find resources
• action-roguelite upgrades that stack and last for the run
• resource mimics that damage your lantern, reducing your time in the depths if you hit them
• random resource spawns per area
• 2 maps, randomly selected on load
• 2 floors, with 2 maps on the second floor
• home area is walkable, ui pops up as you approach various objects
• cosmetic rewards for power gained
• an hostile creature that gathers nodes near you and runs away when hit - if you defeat it, drops all your resources + bonuses
• treasure chests
• random loot bags
• automaton partner you can craft
• hazards like arrow traps, floor traps
• each boot-blocker has unique effects, allowing you to navigate through some of them at a cost
• home area song
• final area song

if any of these sound fun to you, I'll work on them when I get a chance; Just let us know on our Discord! https://discord.gg/8FSADcAyTQ 

gonna be a few months before I can really dig into it again because another Summer Slow Jam is right around the corner!

next up: Random Generation!