And with the last of the clean up on the text dialog and retaking the promotion pictures.... We're done!

Shut the book. We finished. Completed.  

This was my first ever game, not to mention my first ever game jam. I am in awe. If you only knew how many times in the past I have wanted to program/design a game and didn't because I was inexperienced or lacked confidence for one reason or another. I am so proud of where this game got to in such a small amount of time and I have learned so much.

I had no training, no experience with GML. Anything that I learned came from Tyler asking what I wanted to do and then advising me where to find my resources. Intimidating was no understatement here, but I ended up finding building the game mechanics therapeutic. 

Hey! You Pikachu was always a favorite N64 game for me (even without the mic)... That is where the inspiration for finding ingredients came from, Pikachu went into the forest and foraged for soup ingredients and at the end of the day when you got done, you and several other recognizable Pokemon gathered around the pot and tried it out. Pokemon would either cheer with happiness at what you had collected to cook, or, they would cough and make gagging motions because you had not gathered enough and it was horrible. 

Of course this game was not as detailed as to show results at the end like Hey! You Pikachu, but I really enjoyed the idea for being simple and effective for a beginner like myself. While working on this game I became comfortable with several actions including how to make a grid for enemies to follow, animating tiles, and how to pick up items. 

There were a few things that we did not get to do due to time constraints, however I believe the confidence that I have gained here is prize enough. I plan to use the momentum/experience that I gained here in this game jam to spur on even bigger and more complicated projects without wavering. I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to download our Embla's Trek and give feedback. And also thank you to the hosts of this My First Game Jam: Winter 2022, J, Lysander and Adrienne Lombardo.

This has been a blast and I can't wait to use what I have learned here to make great things!

Keep going. 

xXsamageXx