"Cursed Book" Bitsy Jam.

This is funny, because I  was trying to  find a "Tool" to prepare the script and branching paths for another game project for another game jam (Smile Game Builder Summer Game Jam 2020). I while I was surfing the web I already    found what I was looking for (ChatMapper and Inkle) -but thankfuly   I discovered about Bitsy too.   

And that's how I discovered Bitsy!  And the "Cursed Book" Bitsy Jam!

So here I have lying before me   a new game engine tool to learn and discover and have fun with it.  And not just that but a sweet and super cool Game Jam too! So that was a no-brainer for me and I just insta-signed into the "Cursed Book" Bitsy Jam. What a better (or worse) way to learn under pressure, right? LOL!

Long story, short. I prepared my schedule, and dedicated 1-2 hours everyday, for a week, to read guides, check Bitsy wiki, watch youtube videos,  learn the UI of Bitsy, review other Bitsy Jam editions, check games made by the Bitsy community, and    learn and understand    the functions of every tool and their flow.

Once that was done, the next path was to  start to flesh the story of the game, to achieve that I based the core of the narrative using references like "Warrior" (2011), "The Wrestler" (2008),  Poems of Charles Bukowski,  slice of life anecdotes and personal thoughts, and diverse conjunct of sources, either songs,  tv-series, books,  comics, etc. 

The premise was really simple: 

1. The main reason why I'm restrained to only 2-3 scenarios in-game is because is a tight-packed narrative adventure.
2. There are heavily psychological aspects intertwined into the narrative.
3. The game is about failure in life, depression, negativity, painful memories, destructive behaviors and REDEMPTION.
4. There is a DEATH character, a DEVIL character and a "GODLY" character.
5. The story unveils thanks to pages of a personal journal (Cursed Book!)  - and every page found  shakes the psyche of the   main character to help him to reflex about his way of life.

NOTE: The game is supposed to have 3 endings. And it's not a story with a happy ending. It's a tale about redemption and the price paid to fix all the wrongs in life. Actually, I'm having troubles with the dense nature of it - and If it will be at all a "nice game".  The final goal for the  Game Jam project It's brutal, it's not good, it's not fair, it's crude and blunt as hell. It's like "This War of Mine" meets "Dark Souls".

However,  the uploaded concept game just tackled some of the minimal points listed above. I'm planning to flesh out the game later, improving, polishing and adding more features in  the following    updates.

THINGS THAT WENT OK:

1.   I learned the basics of Bitsy.
2.   I  had a lot of fun writing the story and making the tiles, sprites, items and main character  -the limited size restriction helps a lot to focus in abstract forms!
3.   I learned what to do and what not while participating into a Bitsy Jam. I took my own notes to improve myself in the next chapter of the Bitsy Jam!

THINGS THAT DIDN'T WENT OK (but are areas of opportunity!):

1.   It took me a while to get the grasp of some tools.
2.   I lost so much time researching and learning the basics.
3.   I lost track of my own schedule and wasted time in things that didn't added anything to actually finishing my Bitsy Jam project.