I wanted the systems within the game to all have positive feedback, opting to get rid of all negative feedback. One example of this is removing the death state, instead opting to have it be "durability". At 0, instead of losing, the player only gets less XP from zombie kills, keeping a positive system for the player.
With the amount of systems within the game, I did extra work on UI elements. This included animations, such as making the speedometer shake when at high speed, and a break effect when taking damage on the durability UI. On top of this, I wanted to only show UI when needed, having elements smoothly move into screen as needed, not overwhelming the player.
CREDITS
art
programming
audio
All programming was done by me within the game engine Construct 3.
All art was done by me within Adobe Illustrator, going for a cartoon look with thick outlines.
All audio was created by me within FL Studio.
I based the music on the Mad Max OST, opting for a distorted guitar to keep an aggressive feel, fitting the wasteland aesthetic. On top of this, I added synths to help convey the flash game feel I wanted for the game. The SFX were then created with random objects along with my voice, adding effects to achieve what sounds I was aiming for.
In-Game Music Track
Engine SFX
XP Collect SFX
To market the game, I sent it out to many small streamers, getting it played on various twitch.tv streams, as well as some YouTube channels. This also allowed me to gain some feedback, seeing where the pain points were within the game.
After the Jam was over, I posted a development video to YouTube, helping to expand my core audience. I explained the design decisions within the game, while keeping the video entertaining.
EXTRA INSIGHT
The baseline idea for the game was the core loop of upgrading between a short arcade style run. This was based on flash games such as johnny upgrade, flight, learn to fly, and many others.
I had other members doing the game jam test my game over discord, letting me find bugs early on. This resulted in no major bugs appearing in the final submission.