Development Hell

Concept

Being a game dev can be hell, a messy blend of stress and passion, as you fight through a never ending list of ideas, challenges, and expectations. Will your project make it to release, or will it remain forever in Development Hell.

Created for 'MINIGAME A MONTH - February 2024', Development Hell is a top-down shooter where players fight an endless number of enemies until they succumb to their stress. The first solo project I've uploaded despite doing game development for years, this game reflects the mindset that myself, and many others, get othen get trapped in.

Background

This year i've been focusing on smaller projects, hoping to broaden my skills instead of getting bogged down with big dream concepts. This month I had a huge drive to create a top-down shooter, but when it came to a theme i was quickly overwhelmed with possibilities. I entered my typical spiral of 'idea -> overthink -> crash', having being burned by my own overambitious passion in the past. I realised that my solo dev experience is no different than what I wanted to make, holding off a tidal wave of problems but knowing inevitably i'd be overwhelmed, so why not make that my theme!

When the theme is 'game development' then every flaw is a feature, not a bug. That greyboxed level is actually an incredibly accurate prototype themed level, or those missing animations are a representation of in-progress art. Naturally the ideas came rushing, but this time I used a basic tutorial as a starting point, and every change was an improvement, not a tiny step towards an impossible end product. I created a strict set of goals, because a mini-game must be mini afterall, sticking to one enemy and one basic weapon, and anything else was a future problem that wasn't important to achieving today's goals.

Ultimately this project is far from perfect, but thats not only okay, it's impressive that i'm happy to share it despite that. This month has been more than just a simple game jam for me, it's been working though many deeply ingrained anxieties both relating to game development and life in general. As someone who cannot socialise with strangers without going into a full panic, it's a big step to share what i've made online.