#gdtvjam

[vitaliadev]

gd.tv 2025 postmortem

https://itch.io/jam/gamedevtv-jam-2025

So, I already participated in this jam last year. In both times, it was because I wanted a course, tohugh today I see it probably won't be my goal next year because I have enough courses that cover every other course I do not have. It is likely I won't participate in next jam, or at least not for the course (but for flex....lol)

My game:

https://vitaliadev.itch.io/so-about-chrystal

The bad:

Due to perfectly foreseen circumstances, I messed up my project I of course broke my project and didn't have the recent working copy because I wanted to play around with plugins I didn't play before.

I have been in quite bad health recently, so I spent 2 days sleeping and resting, after what I half-forgot what I was doing, so I lost my concentration and didn't follow the plan (which led to issue above ^)

Because I had a broken file, I ended up doing a text version of my game in last 2 days, but I forgot music (in 3d project i had it hanks to using template that allowed me to quickly replace stuff).

I may have wasted a lot of time interacting with the jam community, as well as other jams I planned to be a part of later. It can be fun and all, but it also got an anon hater & wasted time by random chit-chat as a procrastination form voting on games and dealing with my personal stuff irl. So, this point is kinda about me procrastinating in general and using seemingly productive means for it like chatting with the community.

The good:

had HTML5 version compared to last year (if i had a truly good game it would be irrelevant tho)

kinda unrelated, but this game helped me to understand what i want on my itch.io and why i need custom css that now i got granted

Used my original project, so I didn't make a fully new idea that would grow like new type of mold as it always happens

I wrote a good script very quickly because I planned well, and i got massive update on my main idea for the project's universe.

The game is relatively simple by design, so I can actually finish it right now, If i commit to this project.

Doing a jam again made me spend recent few weeks very productively and I helped me to get back into creative flow, and gamedev in general.

I got a course as a prize that fits to my cat game idea.

revamped my youtube and added some videos on the game

got my game advertisement tagline (God, I'm funny):

Results of the jam :

page 23/52; place 457/1023

versus old entry 51/54; 1030/1082 This jam was a year apart, 573places & 2scores up.

Comparison to the previous year:

And for further progress analysis, here's results form another jam i did twice (48hours, not 10 days):

There the time was roughly half a year in between, raised myself 1 point and 4 places position 49/53 in 2024, 45/55 in 2025.

To sum up: half a year I upgrade my rating in 1 point and climb up the ladder. Though, i recalled it wrong, i only participated irl in 1 jam, first one with Out of Control game. So perhaps I could finish because I wasn't on location and had more smooth process this way (again, time was wasted on chit chat irl).

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Things to do in jams:

Always check if I have music and sounds

consider how to deal with HTML5 (either i don't work in UE5 at all or I work in UE4.23, which needs new templates and learning)

prep meals etc beforehand

Things to do in general:

do postmortem for year of jams (8 total) + video

play some jam games i had no time for

test UE 5.6

clean up the file mess after broken projects

organize my desktop, i have a lot of jams' related stuff dumped all over folders

update all my Twine games with pics and music

check out UE templates

UE new course - for cat game

get screen etc for home

ue template - combat for Jack's game likely

sort my tag system tumlbr posts

Some other thing to do in general:

deal asap with my docs

figure out wth is my health situation now because it hasn't been normal

There were many things more in my head but whatevers

[vitaliadev]

day 3 of gamedev.tv jam 2025

So, ^this is the result of 2nd day's rough blockout.

I won't have much time for the jam as I hoped for, because I have 2 ongoing personal thing that will eat up a lot of free time I have :\ Partially due to my poor planning & getting sick all the time recently, but that's no me.

17.05/1 day.

due to time difference & my work schedule, I didn't do much, except brainstorming once the theme was announced. There were many ideas, but I decided to go with a project from my drafts. The project itself is just notes on a story between different characters, and the character in the game is basically the intro to the whole story. It is a very short mental visual, fits for a quick game for the jam and presents some unique challenges.

18.05/2 day.

I used a template I recently made for Unreal that has some basic things I've done for my other games. It has a placeholder menu, sounds, enemy interaction and level progression. Basically, it's nothing and at the same time everything I've figured out how to do so fur in Unreal.

A very rough map of the events was done, and I tried multiple things (crouch animation to add, camera switch for the story). Also added mirror to the game from other project. Somehow all my ideas operate on similar themes, so character meeting a mirror self is sorta common and useful for the story-telling.

19.05/3 day, ongoing notes:

Crouch animation is implemented in UE's recent animation sample, but only in 5.5. version. So Perhaps i will jsut merge it with my current blueprint for the character, and it will be neough. It isn't absolutely necessary for the game jam level, but it can be very useful, if I have time to figure out camera/cutscenes.

recorded a rough scene (using Metahuman sample) that is crucial to storytelling and will compensate for my inability to show it in-game for now. So now I have to edit the video and figure out how to put it into the level (there's only one, no need for more).

Currently, the main issue is collission. In other games it wasn't important because character doesn't interact with space as closely. Here the character crawls through the tunnel, and it is crucial to fix it.

Probably i will need to make sublevels, or figureo ut how to "perma-close door" in the environment to cut off way back after a certain plot point of the character.

Likely need a cutscene or a lot of world building at first location, to set the story properly.

Voice over owuld be also useful, but at least addign osme spooky sounds is enoguh for the jam.

Script needs more time, right now it super rough because when i made it up i was trying to sleep and i didn't get up to write it down (big mistake ugh)

I really don't have much time.

Overall, I think this idea is a good start(i told it before with other projects i know) for my steam store. In the perfect version of the game, it is a very short cinematic experience, that by itself is very strong plot-wise (same as my Twine game Carry On, which is as well a premise to a bigger game idea).

Surprisingly this project has A LOT to work on, compared to Control game that can handle a lot of cut corners. It is also not unique enoguh to be a full paid experience on steam in the current form, compared to this jam project. It can be basically 5 minutes walking sim game and it can be enough to sell it, because the whole package is just "enough". yea. So perhaps I'm sticking with this game for upcoming "sometime".

Game jam wise, would be cool to get another free tutorial, but it is also okay if I don't there are couple tutorials I'm interested in, but I have still a lot tutorials I didn't use form the platform. The courses I'd go with is survival or 2d games. Survival is last blueprints course I don't have, and 2D is something that lacks info on Unreal but I didn't wanna to dive deep into C++ just yet (but already soon, I'm thinking about it). There are few more courses, but they are all C++ and I don't feel a crucial need to do everything in there, just wanted to try bits here and there. So I'll probably go with survival, because it fits at least half of my game ideas. There's always next year and salary