In this series, we will share how the first iterations of "Branch Line Adventures" came to be. We would like give a glimpse behind the curtain, share our thoughts, why we implemented things the way we did as well as point out some interesting issues and their solutions we encountered along the way.

This week's post is about under which circumstances and how we came up with the idea in the first place.

How it all started...

For the sixth Honest Jam, which took place December 2nd 2023 to December 11th 2023, I (dsacre) faced the same problem like for the previous two iterations I took part in: What is an interesting topic/novel idea for a game, which fits the pacifist theme of the game jam and can be realized within a weeks time?

In addition, in contrast to my previous participations, this time I would be joined by my good friend and experienced C++ programmer Milatur. On one hand, this would reduce the massive workload/crunch and allow for tackling projects with bigger scope, but on the other hand, it would add the complication of distributing tasks effectively as well as impose a restriction on which tools could be used: With me only having limited game development/engine experience with Godot 3 as well as Milatur only being familiar with game engines we both could not use any longer with good conscience and wanting to work with C++, we decided to attempt something we both wanted to do for a long time: Making a game with the Godot Engine and importing C++ code from a compiled library. Due to our experience levels, we decided to treat what ever project we would end up with as more of a Tech Demo and try to create as much of reusable code as possible, so that, no matter if we would actually finish the project during the game jam, we could reuse a lot of concepts and code for potential future projects. Not only would this give each of us the possibility to grow in our own field of expertise and learn from the other, but also allowed for a clear separation of tasks: I would be responsible for the Godot "Frontend"/GUI as well as art assets and Milatur would be responsible for writing the logic backend in C++, including the compilation and integration of the binaries into the Godot API.

Coming up with an Idea

After having defined our roles and goals, we still needed an idea for a game. A game based around the environment simulation Milatur was trying to implement as a hobby project was tempting, but neither the current status of the project nor the complexity made it feasible to pull something of within a game jam lasting a week. As I like to experiment with crazy or unusual ideas during a game jam, I suggested a "Break Out" game, where the player is trapped in an unfinished technical drawing and must escape it by completing it. With a heavy story driven approach like I did for my Honest Jam 5 Entry "Beyond the Pond", one could potentially draft quite an elaborate gaming experience within a week. However, despite the intended game's simple 2D appearance, an incredible amount of work would have to be done to create all assets from scratch (since almost nothing usable was available) and the very unconventional game play mechanics would have required not only a lot of fine tuning, but also a well designed, elaborate tutorial.

Another idea I pitched was based around the concept of a management simulator for a retirement village, which would be located on a former (vehicle) scrap yard and due to budgetary and time constraints would have to be build from material found on site, giving the word "reTIREment" due to the heavy use of tires in the facilities' Earthship buildings a whole new meaning. Again, this project seemed (way) too ambitious for a one week game jam.

During our early brainstorming sessions, we did not find a suitable idea, but could narrow down what we would want to do: A grid based (simulation) game, to keep it both programmatically simple and also reduce the need for complex, custom assets. At first, we thought about a gardening/farming game. Whilst discussing if we should do 2D or 3D graphics and which art style to chose, Milatur mentioned "Dorfromantik" as a good source for art style inspiration and in-game implementation. After analyzing some game play footage, its art style seemed both feasible (even for artistically less capable individuals like the both of us) and interesting enough for a one week game jam project. Since both Milatur and I are also fans of the "Carcassonne" games, we decided to mix some rules and game play mechanics from "Carcassonne" with some elements of "Dorfromantik", most notably the hexagonal tiles. As we did not want to make a clone, we needed a novel twist, and especially a theme. Due to the railroad elements present in "Dorfromantik", I wanted to do a railroad based game, but what exactly, I had no idea.

Whilst searching for possible prototype settings, I remembered some former french narrow gauge networks in the Cévennes mountains I was fascinated with for ages. It seemed perfect for a cartoony game: Small, unconventional vehicles on winding tracks through forests, fields and canyons, picturesque villages and small cities in a low population density area. During the research, I stumbled across a Wikipedia article outlining the fact that 320000 people over 5529 km² in the Cévennes mountains do not have access to public (regional) passenger rail transport since the closing of the last station in 1973, which gave me ideas for additional, novel game play mechanics we could try to implement. As we settled for this game idea, we still needed a catchy name: These small railways were often referred to as "Tortillards", which is neither catching enough, nor describes what the game is about. And let us not forget about the ease of pronunciation for a non-french speaking, international audience...

For the prototype network I was researching, there existed a train with another nickname: "La Flèche de Cévennes" (translation: "The Arrow of the Cévennes"). This name seemed fitting, as it contained some information (prototype setting) about the game and was also kind of funny, as these trains were not particularly fast... However, this name would also not be easy to pronounce and potentially could be copyrighted or trade marked by the heritage railroad operating today on the remains of the network. But what about using the irony with the speed? Hmm..., fast trains...; fast, EXPRESS trains; how are express trains often times named; what about "The ... Express"? Not bad, contains some railroad reference and therefor would be somewhat representative of the game, but the prototype location is still missing...

So what about "The Cévennes Express" than? It contains the location, information about the game and should be somewhat easy to pronounce. Even though it was originally intended as a working title, it stuck for the game jam version. And with that matter settled, we could finally start work on the game.