1-bit Jam #3 devlog 2024-04-05

It's nice to do game jams, right? It is. It is nice.

On that note there's one that just started that looks interesting. 1-bit jam. Use only two colours.

Transparency is allowed but only at the engine level, not in artwork. Oddly specific. I suppose they have a reason.

Anyway...

The theme is transformation

So. That's frustratingly vague and could mean just about anything you wanted.

This makes two restrictions. Two colours (black and white, or, another pair) and the theme "transformation". I think I'll immediately add another one, to have a small static window resolution, something like 256x128. I like making pixel art for small resolutions. My next impulse is to make it touch-screen compatible. But idk. We'll see what sort of game I end up making.

So yeah what sort of game am I making??

It's gonna be 2D, because I don't want to mess about with 3D in another project right now. And it's gonna be a small resolution, and it's gonna have a 1-bit art style, and it's gonna be about ~transformation~.

Let's make a little brainstorm list.

Sliding block puzzle game (combination-focused - Threes / 2048)
doodle god clone
2D platformer is a classic but what would make it about transformation?

Mario transforms when he consumes pickups
Hollow Knight is very much about transformation. In a way.

Timberborn has themes of transformation - climate change, shaping the landscape,
death and the afterlife, or lack thereof
the way, like, when you start a project you just have a blank canvas, some empty bits, and you fill in the colours in GIMP and write some code and BAM video game, isn't that a kind of transformation man, *hits blunt*
and like how, a couple years ago you started seriously looking at game dev, and now look at you, you've made a bunch of stuff, you are making a bunch of stuff, and you just feel like a totally different person, you know? isn't that wild
a game where you're driving a bus, picking up passengers, and you're all going to see some apocalypse happen like a comet or something, and you meet and talk to all these different people as they get on and some of them talk to each other in the back while you're driving (this feels like visual novel territory)
bus-driving game could have some silly unrelated gameplay like driving around the streets collecting coins or something
and then how many coins you collected matters for something
like it's your fee to get into heaven or the bus breaks down and there's a branching path if you don't have the money to get it fixed
maybe it's aliens. it should feel like it's aliens regardless
transformation. a new era. apprehension and anticipation. excitement and dismay. anger and confusion.
instead of driving the bus, it would be more interesting if you were one of the passengers. if you spent your time not staring out the windscreen, but talking to the others. maybe. maybe that's too much talking. if you can't get away from them.
a bus would have at least around 20 people on it. that's a lot of characters. but heck, why not

let's start making some of these characters then!

a single mother and her baby/toddler. she spent the last of her money on her ticket. she's a little scared for her kid, but mostly excited to be able to talk about it when they're older
a scruffy guy in an unironed shirt and tie who's in debt to a loan shark and looking forward to it not mattering anymore
an old couple who don't care what's going to happen to them, they just want to see the show
a homeless man who was sleeping under one of the bus seats and wasn't noticed/was allowed to stay
a young couple who just got engaged, they're giggly and clinging to each other and aren't thinking too hard about what it could mean because they have each other, they're unstoppable
an old guy who's sitting in the back and keeping to himself. he's grumpy and doesn't want to talk to anyone. he says "leave me alone, i'm busy".
a gang of punks! they're all feeling lots of stuff about what's happening. there are at least five of them.

one boy who's ostensibly the leader and is kinda falling apart and trying to hide it and they can all see it and they're not talking about it
his current girlfriend, hasn't been a part of the gang for long, and his ex girlfriend, who is the de facto leader (they are great friends)
himbo sidekick, one or two of him
the younger newest addition to the gang, uwu smol bean
possibly others idk what do we think

maybe like a hen's party or stag party group idk
what kind of person is the bus driver?

the destination

it feels like. a crater. with a bunch of tourist shop stalls set up around it. there are cops but they're slacking off. hundreds of people are gathered. thousands have come, but most of them milled around for a bit and then cleared off.
maybe it is aliens, maybe there's a glowing green saucer crash-landed in the crater.
it's dusk or nighttime by the time we get there. the stars are out in force
some of the people here probably get angry and violent, and some of them probably have guns

*Trinity holding her pistol to the agent's head* State monopoly on violence this

how about a fuckin. ending. how do you end a story like this. ????