Entry 1 - Day 1 Complete

Game Design is about thinking.

The game format that my team and I ended up with is "Metroidvania." Now, I've never made a Metroidvania before. In fact, I'm not sure if I've ever even played one.

Nevertheless, at least I knew how to start. The first thing I'd have to do was come up with unique mechanics that addressed the game jam's theme of "Strange Powerups." I did that. In fact, I may have gone a little overboard. I wrote about 2 pages' worth of mechanics and powerups. At this point, my teammates were understandably nervous we'd be biting off more than we could chew. I'll go into my Game Jam Design philosophy later, but for now, suffice it to say: Everything was going according to plan.

The next step was narrowing things down. Which I did, gleefully, with a machete. Metaphorically. I elected to implement about 15-25% of what I'd come up with. This was looking like a manageable list of features, but I was still feeling a little lost. Again, I've never made or played a Metroidvania. 

That's when I found an excellent Video Essay on the topic, by Goodgis. Someone had done the thinking for me and posted the answers to the

Here's the gist:

1. Sketch out your map. That way, each region has a place and a purpose, complete with a relationship to other regions.
2. Fill in regions' rooms
3. Draw a line through your whole, filled-in map to show the general path the player will take.
4. Make it interesting by adding obstacles and unlocks and such.

Here's the video I watched:

YouTube is a treacherous mistress to a game developer. You can find the solution to many of the problems you encounter, but you'll also find hundreds -- thousands, even -- of hours of distraction. Sometimes you'll find videos that seem like the answer to all your problems. Then you spend 10, 20, even 45 minutes watching it and realize you're no closer to solving your problem than when you started. This problem gets worse as the questions you're trying to answer get more creative & complex in nature, and you feel trapped in a "tutorial hell."

Well, I think the key to not getting lost on YouTube and drowning in a sea of "Edutainment" is to know exactly what question you're trying to ask, and find a specific answer. For me, that question was "How do people design Metroidvanias?" The video I found was even more specific - "How can you design the world and the levels for a Metroidvania?"

In short: Don't watch vague videos. Watch videos that answer a specific question, and only keep watching if it seems to be answering the question well.

Bonus Tip: If a video says something like "STOP developing until you've watched THIS!!!!" It's actually ok if you keep developing and don't watch that.