Hello World!

I picked up Game Maker Studio 2 while on sale and figured, since I had some free time, that I should participate in Game Maker’s most recent Game Jam. I’ve toyed around with Game Maker for years, mostly making simple, short games or modifying existing ones, but I’ve never actually produced and published anything for the world to see.

Upon the suggestion of my older brother, I’ve decided to use this blog as a devlog for the Game Jam, where I’ll be discussing my daily trails and tribulations with the project. After that? Who can say where this will go? I’ll probably talk about ideas I have for board games or something like that.

But that doesn’t matter right now! Right now we’re talking about the Game Jam! And the theme for Game Jam 33 is…

“Turn It Off And On Again”

Huh.

Leaves a lot of options open to us, as long as the game involves turning something on and off as a mechanic. Allow me to walk you through some possible games I had considered along the way, bonus mock-up screenshots included!

VR Adventure… Thing!

In this game, you play as a little guy with a VR headset he can don and doff as he sees fit. Without the headset on, you’re in a plain, modern-esque world, but turn it on and suddenly you’re dropped into a colorful, more dangerous version of the world. The game would feature you jumping back and forth in order to solve puzzles and progress.

Hue, But Not As Good!

Another platformer where certain parts of the stage exist depending on the color of the level background. Turn the lights on and off with the flip of a switch in order to get through the stage.

Time Stop!

In this top-down puzzle,your character is attempting to get through the stage unscathed. Turn time itself on and off to manipulate moving platforms, obstacles, and enemies in order to reach the goal.

Traffic Manager?

Direct constantly building traffic across a simple road system by changing individual traffic lights! the cars are color-coded to show where they’re headed. Play for a high score by preventing collisions, and be careful not to let any of the streets overflow!

Creepypasta Waiting Game!

You heard about some spooky ritual that summons a light-hating demon to hunt you down. Sit in a dark room and blow out your candle to let the hunt begin. Test your bravery and ability to guess enemy pathfinding by lighting the candle just before it reaches you!

And here we are with my official entry for Game Jam 33, a game which I will be thanking my older brother for the inspiration:

Red Light Green Light Chase! (Title Pending)

In this game, you run along a track of procedurally generated platforms with another racer eternally chasing you along this infinite runner. Now what’s the catch? All the lights are off, so you can’t see anything but your character as you attempt to get away from your assailant. You could always turn the lights on, revealing the stage ahead of you, but this freezes both you and the enemy in place until the lights are off again.

I’ve been wanting to make an infinite platformer based quite heavily off of the (Mega/Rock)man X series for quite awhile now, but never got past the pen-and-paper stage, so I really look forward to getting to put something like that together finally.

Until tomorrow, dear readers!