GGJ13
Organiser: Andrew Bolster
General Info: Global Game Jam
Alternative Event in Coleraine - Students only
Jan 25-27 2013:Eventbrite (Registration is required for attendance)
Contents |
Theme
The Theme is To Be Announced but we've been told it'll be general enough for noone to be excluded. WHEN THE THEME IS ANNOUNCED, DO NOT ANNOUNCE IT TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD, we have to wait until 0300 on Saturday morning for Hawaii to be told at their 1700. Super secret agent times indeed...
Diversifiers
The GGJ Diversifier system is a system aimed at diversifying the games as well as providing motivation for experienced game jammers. In a sense, the diversifiers are a free-for-all voluntary list of secondary constraints, that the individual teams can choose to go for, or not, as they please. If they do go for one or more diversifiers, they get to tick off those diversifiers as fulfilled when uploading their game. As stated above, the diversifiers are absolutely voluntary, and no points are given for taking them. If you are a first time team of students, we recommend that you focus primarily on the overall constraint, and only add in extra diversifiers if you feel sure you will have something to hand in on Sunday.
- Stay Inside The Box
- The whole game takes place in just one screen, no scrolling or changing screens in any way is allowed.
- True Colors
- The game uses only the basic 16 colors: black, gray, silver, white, maroon, red, olive, yellow, green, lime, teal, aqua, navy, blue, purple and fuchsia. http://www.december.com/html/spec/color16codes.html
- Atari Age
- The game must be, at a maximum, 4Kb in size.
- I Know What You Did Last Summer
- Game world is persistent between sessions and changes from one session affect game play on the following ones.
- Backwards
- One or more aspects of the game works the opposite as would normally be expected: maybe the controller is reversed (left is right, right is left), maybe you win lives every time you die, maybe it scrolls to the left and your character moonwalks.
- I’m Board
- Make a game that is inspired by, but not a simulation of, a popular board game.
- The Truth is Out There
- Some external real world element, such as weather, time of the day, etc, affects gameplay. It MUST affect gameplay and can’t be only a scenario element.
- No cheating (please)
- The game system relies on willing player participation to enforce the rules of the game world (e.g., hold your breath, close your eyes, etc.).
- More the Merrier
- The game is a competitive or cooperative multiplayer "party game" (i.e., based on minigames, humor, 4+ players, audience engagement, etc.), meant for one screen or more.
- 10 little pigs
- The game uses 10 or more buttons or keys for gameplay-related actions (no pause or anything else).
- Two Are Better Than One
- The game requires two or more different mobile devices to play.
- Approved for All Audiences
- The game must not show any violence, not even cartoonish. Stepping on living mushrooms is off the list, as is killing any type of enemies, not even undead, though we know they’re already dead…
- Inclusive
- The game is specifically designed to include people with a given disability.
- X Marks the Spot
- The game involves something location-based, such as a geocache, or requires the player to go to one or more specific geographic locations.
Sponsored Diversifiers
- Bigger Picture
- The game touches on a political, environmental or social issue.
- May the (Web) Force Be with You
- The game runs in a browser with no plugin.
Keynote
The Keynotes this year are Erin Robinson, award winning indie game designer and Bret Victor, inventor & designer of experimental UI concepts at Apple.
They'll be live-streamed to the space and the lounge.
Prizes
GitHub are giving $70 of GH Credit to every location across the world as a prize to be given at the organizers disgression. We'll be doing it as fairly as we know how; Tallymarks on the Blackboard at the end of the final presentations.
What Should I Bring
- EVENTBRITE REGISTRATION (Either Digital or Paper) - Registration will close at 9am Friday Morning to give us time to sort out catering.
- Make sure you are registered as a Jammer on the site-page
- Computer
- Headphones
- Cushion (You'd be surprised how you might need it; we can't afford 40 of these yet...)
- Power Strip
- Notepads (We'll have some scribble boards but bring some just to be sure)
- Money! The event isn't *fully* catered so we'll be supplying as much food as we can afford and some drinks, and as always, we love a wee donation!
- BYO Drinks, unless you're happy with 1 beer for the full weekend!
- (if you plan on staying overnight) Deoderant / Washbag / Change of Clothes / Sleeping bag
- Also, while there ARE shower facilities in the business park, I wouldn't recommend them; just go home and shower.
- A Sense of Humour and a Generosity of Spirit
On the subject of food
Many thanks to the University of Ulster's Office of Innovation for sponsoring this event; they're providing:
- Dinner Friday
- Lunch Saturday
- Breakfast Sunday
- Lunch Sunday
There will be other snacks and drinks around the space, but attendees are still encouraged to bring enough cash to feed themselves just in case; we have no idea how many people are going to show up and only a limited budget!
Promotions
Suggested Reading
- How to get the most out of a Game Jam
- Convict Interactive's Three Part Series: Tips for the Jam
- Mixamo Character Design Tech-Talk
- Chris Taylor game design template
- Gamasutra «Opinion: Indie Game Design Do-s and Don't-s: A Manifesto»
- The Guardian «Five key lessons for every young game developer»
Assets and Resources
Please add to this
Music/Sound effects
Pixelart/Sprites
Logistics
Communications
Local
- Facebook Event
- G+ Event
- Digital Circle Event
- Eventbrite Event
- Site IRC
- This Wiki...
Global
Media
Schedule
- Provisional!
| Day | Time | Activity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri | 1600 | Space Opens to Attendees with Tickets | |
| Fri | 1700 | Intro, Keynote, Theme Announcement | Since the theme is a secret, we'll be turning off the UStream mic during this section |
| Fri | 1800 | Brainstorming/Team-forming + Munchies | Team-forming with our tried and true 'blackboard' method... it'll make sense later... |
| Fri | 2200 | 'First-hours' discussion | Teams will be expected to be formed and working on one or who main ideas, with a plan of work |
| Sat | 0100 | 'Official' Close of day | Attendees are welcome (but advised against) to stay through the night. |
| Sat | 1600 | 'Day One' Seminar | Each team will present a short update of their progress and any trouble they've had (Mistakes are fine! Giving up is the only failure) |
| Sat | 1800 | Movie Time: A Screening of 'Indie Game: The Movie' | An opportunity to chill out, get your head out of your code for a bit, and maybe bet some inspiration! |
| Sat | 2100 | Open Help Desk | We'll try to round up a few 'experts' to answer as many questions as possible about any problems people are having (if you want to volunteer, let Bolster know!) |
| Sun | 1600 | Time's Up! | Time to start uploading! |
| Sun | 1700 | Closing Ceremony | One last presentation round to show off your successes and let everyone playtest, announcing the winner of the GitHub prize |
| Sun | 1800 | Clean up and Sleep! |
