Did I make the same game three times in a row? Maybe, I mean, it's not that hard to notice anyway, all three were also made for a bitsy jam. Will I ever make a different game? I hope to do so soon! (I don't know when). To excuse myself from doing the same thing thrice I'll call this a trilogy, totally planned since the beginning (wasn't planned and I'll make the same game another time if I want to I guess). It's a shame that I didn't went that hard against player agency in keep the flame alive. Well enough of that, let's talk about my newest game, The Encounter.
I think I didn't really achieve it, but I was inspired by npckc's a letter for challenge. I wanted to do this set up for a duel with a nice twist at the end. I don't think I could really set up "the duel", I wanted to play with that on the screens where the characters are separated, but didn't want to straight up lie either.
While talking about inspirations, the ending is inspired by lotus' dandelions. Besides me liking that ending (and the whole game) a lot, I think it fits very well in here. Not only the "climax" of the encounter is carried on offscreen, but the awaited contact between the two characters is never explicitly shown yet hardly better represented than this.
I took again some of the stuff from lonely cloud (the restricted movement and the non-distinguished dialogue between the characters). Formally, the new thing that I tried was the zoom near the end. Not that much busywork remaking the scene and the sprites but bigger. I thought I could make a less pixeled sun or more detailed characters for that moment, but there is some crudeness in that zoom showing all those big pixels that I like.
Now that I talk about the sun, I was unsure of the visual setting. I like the picture of the black silhouettes in front of a sun setting down, and even making a dark floor too that hides the text box. I wasn't sure if that was too cliche and, worst of all, it reminded me of Red Dead Redemption 2 promotional images, so yeah, it was hard sticking to this. I think it was worth, though, with the half (of the half) of the sun shown when the characters are separated, only seeing both sides when both meet. Or even better, the game ending with both characters contained inside that sun (talking about it, on a more technical level, I had to do some tricks with the background to insert the characters inside the sun with the proper colors, if you check the bitsy file you'll see how the palette of colors has some funny changes in that scene). Also, the twilight is quite fitting as an end to the chapter of these two characters wanting to see each other.
Recommended games from the jam!
Be sure to check other games of the jam for yourself in here!
RAINBOW HEART FAREWELL
A lament for the past, but a present that will keep going forward anyway.
moving on
Acknowledging that moving forward is not an easy process or even something that has an end. But there is nothing wrong with not having an end. We are always changing, just as we should.
the dream where even though you've been done with school for years you go back to school because of a class you forgot
That weird feeling of dreaming of school days several years after going to those classes. Being anxious over things that don't exist, even when noticing the dream itself. Inexplicable sense in the details contained in the senseless logic of dreams.