DevLog: Week 6 Request Week #1 / Game Jam
In any development cycle, there is a turning point where you move from "feature creep" to "feature complete." Week 6 was exactly that. This was our first Request Week, and I used the opportunity to show off my latest project: Coin Game, which I developed for the Unity 20th Anniversary Game Jam.
Participating in the jam pushed my logic and problem-solving skills to the limit, but Request Week allowed me to take it further. By presenting my work to my tutors and seeking specific feedback, I began the process of developing the game past its "jam version" into a professional-grade prototype.
High-Stakes Logic: The Custom Timer System
The heart of Coin Game is its pressure-filled time limit. I wanted to move beyond a simple countdown and create a system that felt integrated with the gameplay.
Engineering the Timer: I developed a C# timer that tracks
Time.deltaTimeto ensure frame-rate independence.The "Freeze" Mechanic: One of my proudest technical achievements this week was implementing a Timer Freeze feature. I engineered a logic gate where certain power-ups or specific coin collections would pause the countdown coroutine.
The Logic Challenge: Achieving this required a deep understanding of boolean states. I had to ensure that while the timer was "frozen," the rest of the game world (player movement, animations, and physics) remained fully active. Successfully decoupling the timer from the global game state was a major "aha!" moment for me.
Sprint Management & Self-Direction
Participating in the Game Jam mirrored a real-world "Sprint." I had to manage my own time, prioritize the "must-have" timer mechanics over purely cosmetic polish, and document my changes clearly in my version control logs.
Technical Milestone: I successfully developed and implemented a modular "Time Manager" script that handles countdowns, freezes, and time-based events, serving as the backbone for the entire Coin Game experience.
Its live on https://alexander-vining.itch.io/coin-game
