I don't know that I stayed especially strong on the theme for this jam, but I had even more fun making this game than my last jam game, Out of Clay. I think part of that was keeping the scope limited, as advised in the pre-jam stream the Extra Credits folks put on. I decided to run with an idea I could definitely get working in two days, so that I'd have the rest of the time to work on making the game look, sound, and play more fun! After the overscoping (and other factors) that led to a relatively quiet February for me output-wise, I was happy to have restrained myself in this way.

But that's not to say that this was some vanilla, just-make-a-game kind of thing. I had never used either of GameMaker's physics or particle systems before, so I kind of filled in the scope time with some learning time. Thankfully, neither implementation is especially complex; I was able to pick them both up quickly. I was definitely surprised at the tedium associated with particle systems--at least where moving emitters are involved. Maybe my use cases weren't super well fit? I just didn't want the water trails and splashes to look samey, and had this idea that doing full-on soft-body water was going to be too complex to get done on time (and possibly incorrect altogether).

Level Design

I knew I didn't want to make more than one level for this game, in part because I didn't think I had enough different elements to build from in order to properly distinguish two levels to a fitting degree. Something about the transition from one level to the next begs for a bigger iteration than what might take place between sections that flow together more smoothly. In retrospect, I probably could have just had a level 1 map that only incorporated sandbars, then level 2 with whirlpools, then introduce the tentacles in level three. Maybe the tentacles are those of a final boss! Who knows? Perhaps I'll tackle row boat boss fights in an update or a separate game. I'm happy with how the level came together in the end.

One of the stumbling blocks in designing a fun level to row through--and thanks to my friends who playtested this--was that it is pretty easy to get thrown backwards by a whirlpool if you aren't super sure of where you should row to stay in or get out. Ideally, I would have liked to structure the map so that this wasn't an issue, but for the sake of time, I placed in some gates that spawn when you pass their locations by a certain amount. There's just a few of them, and only in places where recovery is especially tedious or the potential loss is quite high. It seems like a good enough way to handle this sort of thing in a hurry, especially since the game doesn't involve exploration elements.

(Several distracted weeks later...)

Unfortunately, it's too far after the jam for me to properly reflect upon it as I meant to here. I figured to share what I did write up anyway; maybe you found it interesting or helpful somehow. I know I feel better, at least, share some of my thoughts than none at all. Cheers!