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So, I want to make a game for Ruin Jam. This will be my brainstorming and eventual progress thread. ^_^

I'm thinking a 'walking simulator.' In text form, of course. Lots of description, with the ability to look at various things more closely. Going with Twine, since mid-text links will be great for that. 

I'm thinking a garden, specifically. Beautiful and peaceful. Maybe you're picking flowers for a bouquet for someone, communicating how you feel in some Victorianesque language of flowers.

What I don't have is a twist, and I think it could use one. Playing on the concept of 'leading someone down the garden path,' I'd like there to be something going on that the player doesn't initially realize... I just need to figure out what.

Edit to add: While I expect this will mostly be me thinking out loud, suggestions are entirely welcome. ^_^

What springs to my mind is maybe that a runaway, disheveled yet heart-rending, is hiding within. Whether a modern frightened child or a slave depending on what era you're more comfortable with.

Interesting! Certainly the idea of having a large and well-maintained garden implies a degree of wealth, so being confronted with someone who's less fortunate could certainly be interesting.

On the other hand, it doesn't quite seem to fit the 'garden path' metaphor, which would seem to imply a deception on the part of a character or perhaps the author... nor does it relate to the message encoded in flowers. But I don't necessarily have to use either of those.

I thought you could use it as a twist, something that would parallel the actual storyline, or perhaps even change the course of the action.

I'll try to come up with something even better...

Aw, thanks... but even if you don't, thank you for the suggestion. ^_^

Probably worth mentioning that I have three days to get this thing done, so, yeah. I'll probably start writing in an hour or so, whether I've worked out where I'm going with it or not. XD

Random thoughts... what if the message you're picking flowers for isn't some variation of 'I love you'? Who are you sending it to, and what do you want to tell them?

'Woman in need of rescue' is such a videogame trope, I'd love to subvert that. Not sure if this is the game for it, but... maybe? Maybe you're the gardener for some seemingly monstrous being... 

Ooh. I have an idea.... Hm. Well. It'll do well enough for the backup plan if I don't come up with anything better in the next 52 minutes, anyway!

Twine? Bah humbug. 

Got a better suggestion? 

Hell naw. Twine is great! I just can't admit that... ever. 

XD

I did briefly consider doing a parser game... might be fun to experiment... hmmm.

How about using the Advanced Editor? 
 

Sounds fun. 
 

And exporting to the other site?

Hmm...Sounds tricky...

Couldn't even if I wanted to. The jam requires that you upload your game. :P

Good luck!

Thanks. Unfortunately I fell asleep instead of getting anything done tonight. >_<

Time to deadline: 3 days, 3 hours, 31 minutes.

Percentage complete: 0%

>_<

Just do what you did for the 90 Minute Challenge?

Although... that would mean you would have to make a copy of a game you had already made... so that would be boring to remake.

Thanks for the thought... but that was a terrible game. And I think expanding on it would only make it longer, multiplying the terribleness. XD

Oh yeah, I forgot you wrote that game!  That was a fun game though actually!  Oops... yeah, I don't  think you can expand that one.

Sorry about that.

Heh, no worries. And yeah, my 24 hour thing isn't really worth revisiting either.

Working on something. Not really a game, but something. ^_^

?Something like this?   pOnd
 

...beautiful. Just beautiful. XD

Time to deadline: 3 days, 0 hours, 49 minutes.

Percentage complete: ???

Well, I scrapped the garden idea. Not even sure why, just... not quite enthusiastic enough about it.

I'm making a not-game about games. Because that's what happened when I started writing.

I might be mostly done, in which case... well, it's very short.

Or I might just be mostly done with the beginning.

We'll see! ^_^

Time to deadline: 2 days, 4 hours, 21 minutes

Percentage complete: ???

Energy level: 10%

>_<

|_P

The coffee is invisible. . .

Aw, thanks. ^_^

Time to deadline: 1 day, 12 hours, 51 minutes.

Percentage complete: ???

Energy level: 100%!

Things I need to do before I can start working:

• Do dishes
• Scrub shower
• Pick up farm share
• Put away groceries
• Make potato salad

...>_<

Put away groceries should be like, a 5 minute task haha. Hardly list worthy.

Week's worth of groceries for a family of four? At least ten minutes. XD

Potato salad got a Kickstarter.  You could make it a Ruin Jam game, too. . .

....wtf?

Man, the internet is such a weird place sometimes. XD

lawl Now I want to go start a kickstarter about me making cookies just to get the money. xD

Time to deadline: 1 day, 9 hours, 7 minutes

Percentage complete: 100%

Desire to actually publish this thing: 0

>_<

Desire not to be mob-rushed by everybody on CYS because you didn't publish this thing: 100.01

...it's really not very good. >_<

You didn't link to it. . . 

True! ;P

Maybe I should make something else. I still have more than 24 hours! XD

Time to deadline: 1 day, 3 hours, 0 minutes

Percentage complete: 5%

Energy level: 100%

^_^

Time to deadline: 1 day, 3 hours. 0 minutes.

Sick curiosity: 100%

Getting pissed because Morgan_R won't link: 100%

The numbers speak for themselves. 

XD

I'm not linking to the crappy not-game I made.

I'll definitely link to the thing I'm working on now, when it's done. ^_^

Time to deadline: 13 hours, 23 minutes.

Percentage complete: 10%

Energy level: 100%

Screenshot:

^_^

How's it going?

love/modern: 100%

love/fantasy: 100%

love/future: 100%

everything else: 0%

>_<

Done! Or, as done as it's probably going to get. I'd love some playtesting. ^_^

It's fun. Not amaizing, tbh, but fun. :)

It is decidedly not amazing... which is to say, the premise is kind of awesome and the implementation is kind of crap, IMHO. But I've seen things I was less impressed by in the Ruin Jam lineup, so I'm willing to post it. XD

Thanks for the feedback! ^_^

I liked it. It was cute. I wish at the end it would let you see your story.

Ooh, that would be really cool

Oh, and you seriously need to put in the everything else. XD Or remove that option. XD

Hmmm... I'll consider it. Maybe I could do something super short for the other six branches...

Where did you get the art?

123rf.com

They have the best prices I've found for stock. This image only cost $1 for the (admittedly low) resolution I needed. ^_^

Adventure paths are complete! I decided to cut survival and just upload it to the jam.

Thanks for the support, folks! ^_^

Edit: Okay, I replayed it this morning and decided I kind of hate it. Took it down. I'll work on it some more and see if I can improve it. >_<