#pixelhorrorjam

Hello Anon!I do happen to have a few tips for you! Here they are as follows:

Since this is a jam (and iirc this year’s PHJ is going to be shorter), you would want to keep your game scope simple and small. You don’t have to make a full game either! A demo can work just fine and is widely accepted. Don’t be afraid to drop out either! It’s meant to be a learning experience, not a marathon!

Because of time constraints like in point 1, having a general outline of your game is crucial! You don’t want to jump into game making right away, or you’ll have more difficulties in managing your time and make the game feel more cohesive.Since pre-planning is allowed, I’d suggest you start brainstorming general ideas and mechanics from now!

If you get stuck on something, just work on something else, even if you happen to be stuck creative-wise: new ideas always come naturally and forcing yourself to think of one can be harmful (or time-consuming).

You may want to have a general To-Do list so you can keep yourself motivated and see the progress you’re making!

If you plan of recruiting people, be prepared to work alone or do a bit of everything by yourself; while there will be people who may be looking for team members themselves, they may either drop out because of real life issues or any other reason. Don’t be afraid of using free resources! You may also want to show what you can do since people don’t like to be ordered around and do all the work.

Be prepared for a burn-out for working too much!I experienced this myself while working on my demo (although… I did set a deadline for myself one month before the actual end of the jam). I still don’t feel motivated or strong enough to open my project again and for the time being, I’m focusing on other games and general personal work. If you ever feel like you need a break, it’s totally fine to take one! Be nice to yourself.

Don’t be afraid of speaking to other devs and participants! A very important lesson I’ve learned in 2017 was that sharing what you do with others and check on their works to be inspirational to you can help you grow a lot as a dev and as a person, too! I feel I have improved so much and met many wonderful people after forcing myself to interact more. Since the PHJ will probably have a discord server this year too, you may want to try and join it! Even if you feel uncomfortable at first, just ease yourself slowly and maybe… you can try sharing your projects and ideas bit by bit?

This is all I have to say for now! If any of my fellow friends and devs have more tips for the PHJ or jams in general, you can reply to this post as well so the anon will get more answers from different perspectives!

Beware the witch with the eyes like a crocodile.

and now for another game announcement!

file:blue* is going to be my entry for the pixel horror jam 2017, and is planned to be an exploration/horror game. 

In the fictional town of Lat Cor, resident magical girl Blue is returning home from a library visit when the fellow residents go into a panic and begin evacuating the town. With the town’s protection being her job, Blue goes to work and soon finds herself trapped in an enclosed space that is slowly draining her magic. Who put the space up, why did they do it, and why does Blue seem to be the only one trapped inside it? She needs to find out, and she needs to do it fast.

what i have planned:

environmental hazards that will affect Blue; be careful where you walk.

(hopefully) video cutscenes

focus is more on the world’s lore; you’ll be able to uncover the history of magical girls, how they operate, records of notable magical girls… and records of a single threat that has endangered magical girls since the beginning of time.

i’m going to do my best with this project, and i hope to finish the whole thing (or at least a demo and 80% of the whole thing) by the deadline

i’ll be posting some concept art a little bit later! i hope you’ll enjoy it when it’s finished!

DOWNLOAD THE GAME:

itch.io | Dropbox (mirror)

Finally the time has come! The demo for my Pixel Horror Jam entry is here!

INTRODUCTION

Mr. Kohei's Horror Show is a psychological horror adventure developed in RPG Maker MV for the Pixel Horror Jam 2017.

The game features Kohei, a man who finds himself in a place "specifically made for him". Despite being in a completely different realm from reality, he seems to know what is going on and what is his objective. Along the way, he will be guided by two headless spouses called Groom and Grump. He also seems to talk to himself, sometimes...

The demo is 30-45 minutes long, but it can take you up to 1 hour to finish it.

GAMEPLAY

The game focuses on exploration and dialogues. Along the way you can interact with objects to know more about the main character and the surroundings, as well as find items for "survival".

The main characteristics of the game is the "Stress System": as Kohei goes further in, there are certain events that will make him raise his "Stress Level". When reaching a certain pit, he will collapse and will be taken back to the Main Hub or the last "Safe Place". "Safe Places" are maps in which the player can let Kohei rest in bed or interact with additional objects. One can check Kohei's status through the menu.

Different items can calm Kohei down at a certain point. Saving, instead is done through consumable items found throughout the maps or by resting in a Safe Place. However, the game also provides an autosave feature whenever the player gets teleported in a new map.

There are no fights, but Kohei will have to solve puzzles in order to proceed; they're all tied to the main picture of the game.

SENSIBLE CONTENT

The game contains sensible contents that may not be suited to all ages. They include:

• Foul language; • Self-hate; • Use of slurs; • Mentions of suicide/instigation/manipulation to the act; • Child abuse; • Body Horror (in forms of black shapes and/or wounds); • Claustrophobic areas;

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a nice and safe Halloween!

As the Pixel Horror Jam has ended, you can now vote on the entries that were submitted, and Mr. Kohei’s Horror Show is one of them! It would be really nice to know if you could vote and let me know your opinion! You can do so here (click on the game you’re interested in and you can vote on the right for different categories)

There are many other entries as well and I suggest to play them if you have time! Everyone did their best in submitting their games and this is one way to support them all!

The game has entered the betatesting phase!! I’m so happy I finally managed to finish it within my own deadline!

To celebrate, here’s some art of the main character with... someone.