Time Temple, ver_1.0

When I started creating this game, I had planned that I would enroll in a GameJam ("Gamedev.js Jam 2023"). Having said that, I had 2 requirements to complete in order for my game to fit into this area:

1. To be able to run in the browser.

2. It should be a game related to time.

    Now, I'm not a very skilled game developer so I used the game engine I know best (Unity).

    The good thing about Unity is that it can create a wide range of games compatible with several platforms, including WebGL games, that's why I chose to use Unity.

    After that, the more complicated part began, namely the conception of the game idea. In general, I wanted this one to be made as much as possible by me (less the audio part, which is difficult for me to cover). Since I have created a puzzle/labyrinth type game before, I decided to go with the same idea, with the only difference that I will most likely add a timer when something happens (that something being obtaining an object that represents the goal of the game).

    So the first step was to design the level. Fortunately, I kept a simple design for my level, so it wasn't very difficult for me to create a maze in Blender. Unfortunately, I could not reach a level of quality that would surprise me, but when you have 7 days left until the respective GameJam ends, you have to make sacrifices.

    Now, because I "sacrificed" the quality of the game, I tried to improve the game by adding a tutorial, by adding a small introduction to understand what your goal is there, by adding more sound effects, etc.

    In the end, I finished both the tutorial and the level itself, using simple codes and trying to keep an organization as clear as possible for understanding the project in case I wanted to modify it (either to add or to fix something) .

    The "MainMenu" part was quite simple, however, I tried to create a beautiful atmosphere by adding a 3D model with an entrance, torches and an artifact (to better connect with the story that relates the fact that you entered -a temple to get an artifact called "clock of time").I also added a slider that adjusts the mouse sensitivity, because some players may be bothered by it (also the sensitivity when you open the game in Unity with mouse sensitivity when you build the game is different, the sensitivity being greater when you create the game, I still don't know why).

    After creating the Main Menu, I moved on to creating the "Credits" window. This was not difficult to achieve, it consists of a black panel and some text. However, I didn't want it to be too "boring", so I made part of the text gradually change colors and added a relaxing background sound/music  to solve this.

Maybe now you will ask me:

1. Why did you choose a black panel and not another color?

Answer: First of all, because unfortunately I don't know how to make UI elements that give the game a better look, and the fact that I have them black is because I understood that the players would not want to wake up with a strong light in their eyes when the game ends (this is because my game is quite dark in certain areas and players would be scared by this sudden transition from dark to light).

2.Why did you choose to import the music and not do it yourself?

Answer: Creating songs/sound effects is quite complicated for me, especially since I don't even know how to use Unity and Blender at full capacity, and learning a music creation software would take some time (including the time to understand Unity and Blender). However, I followed a suggestion from a great Unity tutorial creator ("Brackeys"), who suggested Bosca Ceoil, but unfortunately this was not compatible with what I wanted to do.

    In conclusion, whenever I create a video game I try to propose a target by enrolling in a GameJam. Regarding the techniques I apply, in general they are simple and I discover many of them along the way, I find some by chance on YouTube and try to implement them in Unity. The secret is to make as many video games as possible, even more complicated ones (adding new ideas that involve applying and learning new methods). Otherwise, it all depends on how much time you want to allocate and how much you want to learn to make video games (it takes quite a long time).

For all those who are just on their way to becoming game developers, good luck!