EleClicker

EleClicker

Dear Mom,

                         Hi Mom! How ya doin? I was having trouble thinking of a gift idea, as I had several ideas in mind but they were all things I could buy for you. Then a different idea hit me. I'm having trouble keeping with a game project as nothing is challenging me. Why not make you a game and set the goal to be done by Mother's Day!

I was... not... done by Mother's day.

In fact I think I doomed the timeliness of the project because I chose to do it so close to the date and it was kind of last minute, but yeah. Throughout the week though I worked on different artwork, seeing what worked and what didn't, but I didn't actually start coding the script for the game or even working on the layout of the screen... until May 11th... The day BEFORE Mother's Day. I spent the entire day finishing the art, creating sprites(images) for the buttons and what they look like when clicked, what the different buildings look like, and the background/border. Then I got to work on the actual game part. It took me a bit to figure out the logic of "if this button is pressed, money is added and the screen tells you money is added. As soon as I got that down, it was smooth sailing from there.

Until... it got to the offices portion.

I probably spent two and a half hours on trying to figure out why the third office wasn't showing up. Turns out I had the variable called  "outreach_office_3" but it was still connected to  "outreach_office_2" so every time I used the variable, it was still showing the second office and just that. To put it in non-programmer terms, it's like if I created a variable called x which represented two, but every time I used x in an equation like say x + 1,  I was confused when I got three instead of two. That's of course because I'm writing 2 + 1 instead of what I meant to write, which was 1 + 1.

After that hurdle, I pretty much was set the entire way after. Got the game "done"(more on that in a bit) around seven in the morning... it was an interesting night to say the least, but a night well spent because I made a gift and I hope you enjoy it, even if you do find some bugs which you probably will, as is the joy of being in uni for game development till I come back hope to see you and the rest of the family again as well as THE JOY OF GAME DEVELOPMENT!

Happy Mother's Day Mom. 

                                        Love,

                                                    Amata.

For everyone who ISN'T my mother, happy NOT MOTHERS DAY! HA PRANKED YA EPIC I... idk man. I'm tired lmao. Anyways, the game is a basic clicker game where you start out selling elephant plushies. As you sell more, you can then buy stores which represent those plushies being sold at a larger audience. Once you get four stores, you gain twenty-five dollars per click and can buy outreach offices, which represent gaining more followers to the cause of saving elephants. Once you buy five outreach offices, you get 50 dollars per click and unlock the ability to buy sanctuaries. These represent the main goal of the game. Once you buy three you essentially finish the game. 

I realize the balancing is a bit... off, but for a basic clicker I don't think it's terrible. The art style is also a bit strange, but I attribute that to me using pixel art which I probably should've used more cartoonish sprites. I've been experimenting with art recently as I've only just wrapped my head around the concept of how animation works and how to make my own, so I'll get there eventually with the art. My main regret is not getting the automated systems working right. I'd prefer it if every single building you got increased your overall earnings as opposed to once you got the set of buildings, as well as every single building you got automated the process, but for that just thinking about it I would need way more buttons and way more upgrades which I would've done, if I had more time. Again, I should've been working on this way earlier than I did. I also wanted that same system to work with showing supporters, as I wanted a system where every outreach office you got, you'd be able to gain a set amount of supporters to you cause and they'd be updated every 5 seconds. Sadly this didn't work out either

Do I consider this a game jam in a way? Kinda. Game jams don't necessarily need to be big and organized ones like Pirate Software, they can be just little challenges set for myself.

Will I update this game with the changes I wish I made as discussed earlier? Maybe. I think what I'll do is I'll let it sit, take what I've learned, and then come back to it after I've made a few more games and update or remake it with the polishing I'll hopefully build up, the more games I made.

If you played, thanks for playing! Means a lot to me and if you liked what I made, hopefully you stick around to see what other stuff I make! You can also keep up to date with me on my Youtube and Twitter as well as keep in touch, as I'm still small enough that I can respond to comments... even the bots which... delete immediately lmao.