So last time I participated in Stencyl Jam, I believe it was for a major version release.  I want to say 3.0...?  During that time, I discovered for myself just how unoptimized it was, and at the same time, someone released the flash version of the original inspiration for my game.  Comparing my in-development Stencyl build, and the native Flash build just led me to give up on the Stencyl Jam.

This time, it is a Stencyl Jam for the 3.3 release version, as far as I know.  Or it could just be a promotion, I don't know.  I intend on completing a game this time, and I have some peers that I'm trying to pressure into helping me :D

The goal for this project: a metroidvania type of game, with lots of puzzles and lots of elements.  All my ideas in the past have been too ambitious for the platform I was trying to make it on, so this time I'm going with a tried and true formula, no bullshyting with prototypes.

And here's the schedule I expect:

• 3 days: Learn Stencyl basics (again), discover just how bad it is again.  DONE.  Gotta admit, they got their act together when giving people options that are much less loaded, computationally speaking.  It's far from bug-free however, and their code API is still consisted of 95% function signatures and 2% actual description.
• 1 week: Get up to speed with what Stencyl's capabilities are, by building rooms that contain the puzzles and mechanics that are intended to go into the game.  Get some sound and art guy on board.
• 6 days: Create a design document, including the expected sequence, and mechanics.
• 2 weeks: Plotting and creating the playable world.  Maybe throw in a story.
• 2 weeks: Playtest and polish the fk out of the game.

That said, here's what the actual schedule is probably going to be like:

• 2 weeks: Get up to speed with what Stencyl's capabilities are, spend 75% of that time trying to figure out why things aren't working.  Hooray software development!
• 4 weeks: Abusing agile design practices while trying to grind out the game.  Get a sound and art guy on board.
• 1 week: Playtest and polish the fk out of the game.  Realize the deadline was passed.

Wish me luck!