It's been a week since we submitted our project for the game jam. Now, I think it’s a good time to share the journey of our development process and the future plans for Grab The Weed!

Game Overview: Grab The Weed! is a quirky game where you race to collect as much weed as possible before time runs out, all while avoiding patrolling guards. It’s a mix of stealth, strategy, and a bit of chaos. Perfect for a fast-paced, fun experience.

Day 1: The Beginning

When we first started brainstorming, the team was split between two ideas: a weird, wacky game or a physics-based game. After a long discussion, we decided to go with the "weird" route. The game designer got to work sketching out core gameplay concepts. We settled on a pothead character sneaking around to steal weed from a cartel, while avoiding the guards.

As the programmer, I focused on one of the most challenging features for me: the enemy patrol. I spent time experimenting to get the patrol system working, starting with basic left-right movement. However, the game designer wanted a more complex system where enemies could move in any direction and also "see" the player. This required more experimentation.

At the same time, I started coordinating with the artist. I compiled a list of needed assets—floors, walls, characters, etc.—and we discussed styles, colors, and patterns. After some back and forth, we were able to agree on the direction, and the artist got to work on the visuals.

Day 2: Progress and New Ideas

We had a team meeting that night to discuss progress. The game designer had already begun work on the first map, and the artist was still refining the visual assets. I had successfully implemented the patrol system and a basic "vision" mechanic for enemy detection. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough for our pitch. The team liked it!

After showing the patrol mechanics, the game designer came up with the idea of using a distraction mechanic. Initially, I suggested throwing a stone, but the game designer proposed using meth as the throwable object. It was unconventional, but it fit with the story. We discussed the potential of this feature, but we knew it would take time. We decided to focus on the distraction feature first, with the stun mechanic as a backup if we had extra time.

Day 3: Throwing Meth and Bugs

I started working on the throwing mechanism, something I had never done before. It was a fun challenge, adjusting the physics for speed and mass. The excitement of learning something new made this day one of my favorites.

However, I ran into a big issue with the distraction mechanic. After a few hours of trying to make it work, I discovered that the patrol system and distraction mechanic collided, causing bugs. Eventually, I got it working to some degree—the guards would slow down and stay near the meth, giving the player a chance to sneak by. Unfortunately, it wasn’t reliable, as the throw could end up outside the guard's vision range due to how 2D physics worked. This created an impractical mechanic, but instead of scrapping it, I decided to focus more on the stun feature to overshadow the distraction mechanic.

Day 4: Art Revisions and New Features

The artist finished designing the walls and floors, but they felt too abstract. We decided to revise the visuals to make them clearer. The game designer also completed the first map. We agreed on the placement of weeds, walls, and the patrol paths, and I started implementing it with placeholder art.

Next, I tackled the stun mechanic. It was much easier to implement than the distraction feature, but I wanted it to feel smooth. The stun stops the enemy for 5 seconds, and after some discussion with the team where they believed 10 seconds is better, we agreed that 5 seconds was the right amount of time after i show them the difference of 10 seconds and 5 seconds implemented in game. The artist also revised the visuals, particularly the floor and walls. Around this time, I also talked to the artist about adding logos for the weed and meth.

Day 5: Theme and Sound

By this point, I realized that the game didn’t quite fit the theme of the jam as we had originally planned. While we intended to add a timer to the UI, it didn’t align well with the "time keeps going!" theme. The game designer was feeling stressed, so I took over the task of implementing the theme through sound effects.

Inspired by Kahoot's ticking clock/tense music, I found a couple of sound effects that worked well—the player footsteps and a ticking sound. I added these to the game, creating the pressure we needed to reflect the theme. It wasn’t much, but I believed it was enough to convey the tension of racing against time through noise. The Artist finally delivers the logo of the weed and the meth.

Day 6: UI and Final Touches

I spent this day adding the UI, including the weed and meth logos, their counts, and the countdown timer. I also set up the main menu and victory/defeat screens. The victory screen was a simple white screen, explaining the score system and back to Main Menu button, while the defeat screen is pretty much same but added a penalty, back to Main Menu button, and a Restart button. Additionally, I added a white canvas transition when the player gets caught to smooth in between caught and the white ca background of the defeat screen.

Day 7: Tutorial and Refinement

We finalized the "How to Play" tutorial with the game designer. We decided to put a layer on top of the main menu. We condensed the text and added images to make it clear and straightforward. At this point, the artist finished the player asset (both art and animation), and I worked on making the animations runs as it's intended. 

Day 8: Playtesting and Feedback

I sent the game to my friends for feedback, and after playing, they provided some great suggestions. The floor was too bright, and the weed should look more like a leaf. The Artist also finished with the enemy asset, hence I'm implementing it quickly as soon as it dropped. We also added a final main menu screen just before the jam ended. This is also the time I realized on the enemy upside down bug.

Day 9: Final Touches

On the last day, we implemented the necessary revisions based on feedback. The floor color was adjusted, the weed asset was fixed, and we polished up the final details. We made sure the game was fun, functional, and ready to present as much as possible with the time we had. It’s not flawless, but it came together better than we expected, and we're proud to have it in the jam.

What’s Next?

While the game is complete for now because the core mechanics delivered, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. We plan to refine the patrol system by fixing the upside down guard, polish the art by adding more details to the map, and potentially add more levels. We’re also considering expanding the gameplay mechanics, like adding different types of guards or more throwable or pickup objects.

We’ve learned a lot during this jam, and it’s been an awesome experience. Thanks for following along, and we’re excited to see where this project goes next!