Development Process

Hello there.

I would like to use this space to share the development of this game. I thought that it would be interesting to share the process of how a game is made for a game jam. Originally, I wanted to do it during the development of it, but I got very busy to do it so I decided to leave it for later. 

Some brief info of the jam before I start: the jam lasted for 7 days and the theme was chosen via a poll before it started. The winning theme was "It is not real"

Day 1

Day 1 was basically brainstorming and coming up with ideas and the concept of the game. The idea came from a discussion I read that morning about cryptocurrency in a Discord server I'm in. After that, I started making the a game document with all the ideas I had in mind with some drafts. There were a handful of features planned that I had to remove or didn't feature in: like a Yolkoin to Monie converter (that actually didn't work on purpose) or a dedicated shop for purchasing Chickens and robo-chickens.

Day 2

On Day 2, I started working on the prototype of the game. I focused on developing the basic gameplay of the game, which is moving around and collect eggs or place the chickens. I also implemented the stock market system early on to see how it would work, with a really wide range of value change.

Day 3

For the 3rd day, I implemented the Yolkoin, which is the main feature of the game, and it's stock market value. I also implemented the phone feature, where the value of the egg and the Yolkoin are displayed. Additionally, I chose to display the store when you approach to an empty nest to save time; also assigned the purchase of a Robo-Chicken to a button press for the same reason.

Day 4

Day 4 was the last day where I could focus on gameplay aspects before going through the artwork and presentation. This time I gave a time limit of 12 minutes and a goal of 3000 Monie in order to win the game (alongside a result screen). Also, the stock market value was adjusted to be more streamlined on its changes. Additionally, I added proper functionality to the phone plus the notes app

Day 5

Day 5 was mostly about the artwork. I worked on the sprites for the player, the chickens, the UI and all the other stuff that is seen on the video. Additionally, I added a wall so the player can't go off-limits. Originally, I was going to display a graph for the stock market app in order to display the value changes, but opted to use arrows to display an increase (or decrease) of value of the products shown, in order to save time.

Day 6

In the 6th day I added some extra icons for the UI as well as the news app on the phone (with a text different from the one shown in the video). I also implemented a feature where you can buy Robo-Chickens with an amount of Yolkoins equivalent to its value in Monie; however this feature was removed from the final version in order to make more emphasis on the jam's theme

Final Day

The final day was about polishing the game and make it more presentable. After getting feedback from some friends, I cut the time limit by 5 minutes and the goal by half to make the game easier and shorter. I also changed the display of the currency on the top left in order to make less obvious that the Yolkoins were a ruse. Finally, I added a brief title screen to the game.

Where's the sound and music?

Unfortunately, I didn't have the proper equipment to record sounds nor do I have the software to edit sounds or make music. Also, I didn't bother to look for royalty free music or sounds because I wanted to make as much by myself as I could.

Final thoughts and comments

Well, so the thing that struck me the most was the amount of content you have to cut in order to complete the game before the deadline. Makes you think about the amount of content that gets lost in production for actual games on the market.

Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read this. Hope you liked this little showcase and have a nice day.