fttm - postmortem

Honestly, of all the games I made this semester, I probably enjoyed this one the most. For all my other games (save the narrative game, but that was more of a warmup), I tried to do something technical and a little complicated, so going back to doing simple games was honestly refreshing.

Something I struggle with is scope, since I feel like it's more impressive to create something complicated. Doing this project helped me to remember that sometimes simple is better. In this case, having a simple game allowed me to really take my time with it and make sure it was something I was proud of and happy with.

Additionally, I tend to try to use as much original stuff as I can. Original art and music and sound effects, made specifically for the game (minus the rhythm game, considering that was themed around an existing song). For this game, I tried to let loose a little, and use music and sounds I hadn't created (but were free assets), and honestly, I think it worked in my favor. My skills are limited in sound and music, and while practice is good, using assets really helped get across what I wanted with a quality that I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to achieve.

I was also reintroduced to the joy of creating my own assets at the same time. I haven't made my own art for a game since the beginning of the semester. I had forgotten how fun it was to make silly art for fun and lighthearted games, and honestly, it made the process more enjoyable.

A proper struggle I had was some issues with code. Things like getting the frog to jump in the correct direction, and getting the camera to follow the frog. I have an issue where I'm stubborn about solving problems, and will keep trying even if I'm getting nowhere. And the longer I try, the more frustrated I get. For this project, solving those issues involved taking a step back and taking a break. I was able to solve those issues with a clear mind, whereas before, I was working off of frustration.

Lastly, I also had an experience with iteration. Originally, my art had pretty thin lines, but when Misha had given me the art she had made, I realized thick lines looked better, since she used thick lines. I wasn't planning on changing my frog model to match since I was super happy with how it turned out, but after awhile of looking at it, I decided to change it. And honestly, I liked it better. It taught me that I shouldn't hold on too tightly to my ideas and that changing things was okay.