🚀 Mars Revive – Devlog: My Game Jam Journey to the Red Planet 🌕🛸
Hey folks,
Purvesh here! I wanted to take you along on the rollercoaster of building my game Mars Revive for “It’s Based Jam – Spring 2025” where the theme was The Red Planet. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how this whole alien-busting chaos came to life:
🛠️ Day 1: A Green Mars? WHY NOT.
Yeah, I know Mars is supposed to be red... but I gave it green grass. 😂 Why? Because Mars CAN be green if you believe hard enough.
Also, first look drop! Just started working on the vibe, early terrain, player controls, and setup. I was on the lookout for a 3D artist from day one — if you're one, let's collab.
👾 Day 2: ALIEN ALERT
Added aliens that chase and attack the player
Player can now shoot back 🔫
Started keeping track of ideas in a good old physical notebook (because some habits stick)
🎨 Day 3: AI Textures & First Custom Shader
Made some alien models and ship designs — used AI for textures and that really saved a lot of time.
First time making a custom shader! Tried to make a “magic pickup ball” — people said it looked like the moon 🌚. I'll take that.
🌊 Day 4: Waves & Destruction
Implemented a wave system
New objective: Destroy all enemy bases to complete a level.
Also made a mini-map and added:
Game over screen 💀
Level complete screen ✅
Blood-like health UI feedback 🩸
Didn’t get much time, but still pushed through.
👽 Day 5: Alien Hunting & Explosions
Spent most of the day searching for good alien models. After hours of hunting, I gave up and used AI — why didn’t I think of this earlier? 😤
Later, I added:
New alien variants
Explosions
VFX & Particles
🕹️ Day 6: Animation Set Complete
All animations are done and feeling smooth
Level design and polish is what’s left now
🧪 Day 7–8: PROTOTYPE IS OUT!
🎉 Mars Revive is live on itch.io!
Mars Revive - Itch.io Link
https://gamedevpurvesh.itch.io/mars-revive
This is the early playable build — looking for honest feedback!
💬 Feedback Round: Tweaking Controls & Damage
Got some feedback:
Controls felt a bit “unnatural”
Enemies weren’t doing enough damage
I asked for more clarity and realized I might need to make turning feel smoother and increase the alien threat level.
🎯 Day 9: Polishing & Drops
Added proper UI elements
Enemies now drop items
New SFX (that explosion sound? Chef’s kiss 💥)
🧪 Day 10–11: Final Levels, Boss & Secrets
Added multiple levels
Boss battle in the final one 🤫
Polished the main menu
Secret... yeah, there's a secret
🛸 Release Update: April 18
Game's updated and uploaded!
https://gamedevpurvesh.itch.io/mars-revive
🔫 Play. Fight aliens. Save Earth’s future.
Mars Revive - Final Build
🐞 Post-Release Bug: Alien Hide & Seek
Someone reported they couldn’t find the last alien
My response? “Maybe he got scared and hid behind rocks” 😂
Planning to add a pointer for remaining enemies in the next update
🪲 Extra Fix: Respawn Bug
Discovered a bug when the player dies
Temporary fix: Press P to restart the game — added this info on the itch page
🔍 Looking for Collaborators
I’m still looking for a 3D artist to help polish and expand Mars Revive further — if you’re into stylized sci-fi alien stuff, hit me up!
Thanks for following the journey,
– Purvesh Choudhary (GameDevPurvesh)
Twitter/X: @GameDevPurvesh
itch.io: gamedevpurvesh.itch.io
