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IGDA NEWFOUNDLAND SCI-FI ON THE ROCK Game Developer’s Jam 2013 5:00 pm Friday, April 26th – 5:00 pm Sunday, April 28th, 2013
At Sci-fi on the Rock 7 Trinity Board Room Holiday Inn St. John’s, NL
SPONSORED BY:
Video Game Design Program
What Is A Game Jam?
A game jam is an organized 48 hour event for rapidly prototyping game designs
What Is A Game Jam?
For this Game Jam, an overall game theme is announced a fortnight prior to the event
Games are designed by small teams around each team’s interpretation of the given theme
Playable prototypes are rapidly designed, developed, tested, and iterated
The theme for this event is
Original Content
Upon popular request, this game jam will focus on creating original assets such as art and audio
Benefits Of Game Jams
Inspires individuals to innovate
Indie game developers can develop and present ideas without publisher restrictions
Exposes game developer hobbyists to an opportunity for collaboration
How Do I Participate?
Join the IGDA Newfoundland Facebook group for details and updates on the event
Register for the event by attending the event in the Facebook group
How Do I Participate?
As an individual You are welcome to show up and team up with other
people at the start of the event. You may be a “floater” , see who wants your help during the jam.
However, you are encouraged to network on the IGDA
Newfoundland Facebook group page beforehand to meet other participants who are also looking for team mates.
Describe your skill set and what you have to offer to a game development team such as art, design, testing, programming, scripting, or audio.
How Do I Participate?
Teams
It is suggested to form
teams beforehand but not necessary
Small teams of 3 – 5 people tend to work better and be more organized than larger teams because communications are more efficient
What Should I Bring
A laptop (or desktop computer and display) with game development software
Headphones
Graph paper, index cards
Pencils, markers, ruler
Small white board with dry erase markers
Outside snacks and beverages are usually not allowed in the Trinity board room due to hotel restrictions, you may want to bring snacks for breaks taken outside of the board room
Development Tools Use whatever development tools you feel comfortable with Links to games engines and development tools that have free versions:
Game Engines
Game Maker: http://yoyogames.com/
Game Salad: http://gamesalad.com/creator
Unity: http://unity3d.com/unity/
Unreal: http://www.udk.com/
Development Tools Use whatever development tools you feel comfortable with Links to games engines and development tools that have free versions:
Art
Gimp: http://www.gimp.org/downloads/
Blender: http://www.blender.org/
Audio
Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
*You are responsible for using software licenses legally and appropriately for development
The Game Preproduction Process
Preproduction can start as soon as the game jam theme is announced on April 12 at 5:00 pm on the Facebook group
Suggested Steps for the Preproduction Process
1. Brainstorming
Collaborate with your team
Make a list of possible ideas
Consider scrapping the first 3 ideas and the obvious ideas
2. Research
Search the internet for similar games to avoid repetition
Search for game play and art references
Suggested Steps for the Preproduction Process
Suggested Steps for the Preproduction Process
3. Consider scope
Plan for a smaller scope than you think you will have the time for
Consider the skills and limitations of your team and the development tools
Cut non essential features
Suggested Steps for the Preproduction Process
4. Sketches
Concept art
Flowcharts
Level designs
Suggested Steps for the Preproduction Process
5. Write a Game Design Document to describe and organize ideas and game mechanics
Suggested Steps For The Preproduction Process
6. Early prototypes
Use placeholder graphics
Don’t fall in love with any idea or feature
Be prepared to kill the whole idea or beloved features
Have a back up version of your idea in case another team has the same game idea
Consider starting over if it’s not working out
The Game Production Process
Production of the game starts at the event on Friday April 26th at 5:00 pm in the Trinity Board Room at Sci-Fi on the Rock
You are expected to wait until this time to start actual production
Suggested Steps For The Production Process
1. Emphasize meaningful game play (or fun) over polish Focus on one new concept
Make game play fun in the first 15 seconds
Consider including simple instructions in the title screen then move quickly into game play, or integrate a quick in-game tutorial rather than starting out with a long back story
Use audio to create mood and for efficient and effective in-game feed back
The team can always decide to turn the game into an ongoing project and continue to develop the game beyond the jam
Suggested Steps For The Production Process
2. Play test early and often
Play test often for usability, functionality, and balance
Expect many rounds of feedback and iteration
Suggested Steps For The Production Process
3. Keep the player in mind
Games are made to be played
Observe play tester reactions
Do they understand what to do?
Make note of facial expressions and when they happen:
Joy
Frustration
Suggested Steps For The Production Process
4. Plan on taking breaks to eat, sleep, and shower
The Game Jam will be closed from approximately 1:30am – 7:00 am
No one is allowed to stay overnight in the game jam room
Tiredness often causes diminishing returns and bugs
When working in close quarters with a small, tight knit team, good personal hygiene is appreciated
Presentation
Games will be presented to the Sci-Fi on the Rock conference attendees on Sunday April 28th from 5:00pm – 6:00 pm in the Larson Room
Invite your friends and family to the presentation
Janice Hertel and Keith Makse will introduce the game jam, show some images from the event, and briefly explain the process to the audience
Teams will then have a chance to present a brief live demo of their game
Who Owns The Work?
You and your team mates retain rights and ownership of your own work
You are responsible for:
Using software licenses legally and appropriately for development
Creating original assets for your game or using assets according to their legal use agreements
Documenting and including all team mates in the credits
Who Owns The Work?
Basically, your team is responsible for working out the details amongst yourselves
Intellectual property link for reference:
http://archives.igda.org/ipr/IGDA_IPRights_WhitePaper.pdf
If you have trouble with this link by
clicking on it, please type it in to
your browser.
http://www.scifiontherock.com/
Each game jammer will need to purchase a weekend conference pass for $40.00
Enjoy the conference too! It starts at 2:00pm on Friday April 26th
Please check on the Sci-Fi on the Rock 7 website for info
Thanks!
We look forward to an awesome event!
Contact: Join the Facebook group
IGDA Newfoundland