PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:
Hi, I'm "jakeonaut". I've been making games on and off since I was in middle school. My first ever game I remember making was a platformer on GameMaker 7, where you jumped around an empty room as Link while "Hey Ya!" by Outkast played.
TELL US ABOUT GLITCH DUNGEON CRYSTAL.
"Glitch Dungeon Crystal: Babushka Quest" (sorry for the long name) is a full version of the game "Glitch Dungeon" that I originally made in HTML5/JavaScript for Game Jolt's glitch-themed game jam. The core mechanics of that game (switching between colours to switch between different physics rules) is the same. A lot of the different mechanics came about because I was rewriting a simple platformer physics script and kept messing up variables. "It's not a bug, it's a feature"!
But even before that, my friend and I from high school had worked on an incomplete game idea where you swapped between fire/grass/ice powers with similar palette swapping.
HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN
It's been a really long journey.. Glitch Dungeon 1 came out over 10 years ago, and although I've always wanted to make a sequel or full version, it's been through a lot of changes. Over the years I've had:
- two HTML5/JavaScript attempts, one using the existing engine and one trying to make an 3d engine with WebGL (big mistake)
- a game maker version where I tried to add a new room/feature every day for a month
- a looong time spent on a full 3D version that I prototyped mostly in Godot (but a little in Unity).
WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
finally the most recent version, which I settled on using Godot 3.6 (most recent at the time of me starting).
WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?
I'm a software engineer in my day job, so honestly the biggest hurdle for me has been consistency and project management. I get so excited and have so many ideas for what I want to add, but it can often feel impossible to keep track of all of them and give the proper attention and focus on the things that actually need to get done. Additionally, since working with computers is my day job, I often really hate continuing to stare at a screen in a hunched over position into the evening or weekend..
ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?
Make cute characters! Take lots of breaks! Don't be afraid to try out weird ideas, but make sure that you actually like playing it. Find out what your strengths are and find ways to "cheat" around the other areas! Seriously, take lots of breaks. Challenge the status quo!! And then remember that sometimes game conventions can be helpful to use even if you're afraid of being too derivative (this is a lesson I've had to relearn many times)
Also, marketing and social media is really hard, but you do eventually gotta put yourself out there
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
Put more weird games into the world!
-"jakeonaut
❤️
Glitch Dungeon Crystal: Babushka Quest on Steam (steampowered.com)
