SA GAME JAM 2016. 8th-10th July (R20,500 Prize Pool)

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  • @bevis:

    The theme will be announced, and jamming commences, at 5pm on Friday the 8th of July.
    Thanked by 1bevis
  • @bevis, the theme will be announced around 5pm on Friday.
    Thanked by 1bevis
  • Will the theme be announced here, on the facebook page, or both?

    I ask because I don't actually have facebook :P
  • It'll definitely be announced in both places, though maybe 30 seconds faster here. :P
  • Awesome! I am in the right place then :P

    Also, where do people recommend uploading the game files to? This is my first game jam, so I am a little hazy on the basics :/
  • @Feretto: http://itch.io is pretty swell for uploading games :)
    Thanked by 1Fengol
  • Awesome! Thanks :)
    Thanked by 1EvanGreenwood
  • Excitement has officially commenced :p
    Thanked by 1EvanGreenwood
  • What's the twitter hashtag?

    May I suggest

    #SAGameJam (has 2 tweets for San Antonio jam, but we could take it over)
    or
    #GameJamZA


    Thanked by 1EvanGreenwood
  • Awesome news! I'm bundling the family off to Harties for a sleepover so I can come The DIZ on Saturday afternoon and stay as late as I like!
    Thanked by 2EvanGreenwood Tuism
  • edited
    @SUGBOERIE Let's do #SAGameJam ! (If we end up with a sibling relationship with San Antonio game jammers that'd be rad).

    @Feretto http://itch.io is perfect for uploading games (like @francoisvn mentioned). Other free services like Google Drive and Dropbox are also pretty convenient to share files from.
    Thanked by 1ZEFcookie
  • Exciting stuff! Is there any problem with working from a remote location?
  • No! Work wherever suits you best. Just post your entry on these forums! (like the description says)
    Thanked by 1Enthused_Dragon
  • I need to install Unity on my laptop still.
    What line speed do you guys have at your office?
    I just want to know if it'll be quick to install there, or if I must take a risk and download it at work. :P
  • The time is nigh...
  • We have Unity installs here.
  • @Elyaradine Awesome thanks!
    Can't wait! :D
  • edited
    Woo! 12 minutes ಠ⌣ಠ
  • Where's the live feed?
  • Hows that live feed coming along?
  • edited
    https://www.facebook.com/events/1735665483379312/permalink/1744463855832808/
    The theme for SA Game Jam 2016 is:
    EXPRESSION!

    A jam about giving the player tools to express themselves. Building things the way one wants, solving puzzles in imaginative ways, choosing who to talk to, who to befriend, who to betray, customizing your avatar or your environment, the freedom to explore and to find unique experiences. So long as the player has the ability to express themselves in the game, it's good for this jam. The more interesting the avenues for expression the better.

    A quick way to know if your game is fitting the theme: The more divergent each player’s experience is from another the better. And the more that player choose the way that their experience diverged the better.

    Optional Extra Challenge:
    Self-Expression!
    A game where the player is able to make the game about themselves and their life. Giving the player tools to be able to incorporate personal information or preferences somehow into the game.

    JUDGES!
    The judges for the jam are:
    Evan Greenwood
    Rodain Joubert
    Jonathan Hau-Yoon
    Francois Van Niekerk

    The judges are also going to be looking at the community response to inform their decisions, particularly the interaction the participants have with the community, in championing their own game and in helping other creators.
  • Self-Expression!
    A nice challenge for my twine project portfolio (that I seem to accidentally be growing). :D

    Sadly, because health, life etc, I'll probably only participate on Sunday.
    Thanked by 1EvanGreenwood
  • Fantastic theme! So many ideas buzzing around.
    Thanked by 1Kobusvdwalt9
  • I like to design strategy games. I hope employing strategies could be regarded as expression.
    Thanked by 1EvanGreenwood
  • Cool theme.

    I will probably suck at this, but excited none-the-less, even if just to be jamming with local students, hobbyists and gamedev superstars :)

    Have fun all
    Thanked by 1EvanGreenwood
  • Quick question. Is there a limitation/preference on control scheme?

    ie. if I make it only controller-based, would that be too limiting?
  • edited
    Assuming it's something common like 360 or ps4 controllers it's not a problem. (If it's something super niche like a dance mat, then we may struggle unless you supply us with one... It also makes it more complicated if you win and we need to ship it to EGE and A MAZE.)

    And yeah, assuming the strategy game has diverse enough choices that different players are likely (or even encouraged) to play the same game in different ways, I think it fits. (I feel like it could be argued one can tell the difference between players playing because of base layout, unit composition, etc., but it'd be nice to see more focus on these rather than their being incidental.)
  • Thanks.
    Yeah, not worried about winning :p (I use a PS3 controller connected to usb so I reckon that would be fine since it simulates xbox360 :)
  • Official discord server link!
    Join us in spirit if your not at the venues:

    https://discord.gg/ZC9TS53
    Thanked by 1Boysano
  • edited
    @Tightrope Yeah! Strategy games can fit brilliantly! Obviously there's loads of types of strategy game but, for example, in Starcraft-likes, choosing what to build and where to build it are the parts where the player gets to express themselves (because commanding units tends to have a "best answer" and the players' choice is often forced by necessity, whereas base construction can be a matter of what the player prefers).

    I mean to say, employing strategies isn't a matter of expression if most of the strategies are wrong and there is a single best strategies (or just a few best strategies) (or at least, choosing a sub-optimal strategy can be a matter of expression, but if the game heavily punishes the player for choosing that strategy then that isn't in the spirit of this jam).

    The more room for experimenting and deviating the more expression generally, and the more your game rewards this the better!
  • edited
    How will the judging work between the 48hr entries and 72hr entries? Because obviously the 72hr entries will have an advantage
  • edited
    @KleinM It's going to be tricky obviously. What we'll probably do is try imagine the 48 hour entries with one day's worth of extra polish and refinement and content. (We'll be much more forgiving about the rough edges basically)

    So if you're entering into the 48 hour category I'd suggest focussing on the core game logic/art/sound etc so that you've got a working game, but a rough one. If you have a polished piece of a game, but is missing some vital parts, it'll be much harder to try extrapolate that and figure out what you might have achieved in 72 hours.

    Does this sound reasonable?
    Thanked by 1KleinM
  • @EvanGreenwood Good to know there's room for expression in strategy games. It is obviously difficult to deliver a very deep strategy game in a matter of 48 hours so I've got my work cut out for me. I do understand what you mean in terms of not expressing yourself if there's one obvious route/choice/strategy. I'm working with a concept at the moment that has more to do with moving units strategically than building a base so I might be in danger here. You will however have a measure of freedom in how those units are upgraded to suit a specific play style. It will contain some random elements so I fear that it will be more a case of reaction that creative expression. I will try to come up with a mechanic so that players has more room to come up with a overarching and coherent strategy that is not imposed on them but is born from creative decisions.
  • edited
    @Tightrope That sounds like an interesting challenge you've set yourself! I hope the expression constraint results in you inventing a clever innovation! Good luck!

    Maybe one thing to think about is giving players the option of lots of different goals... like less a case of "defeat all the badies" and maybe more a case of "explore the world and defeat the badies that you choose to defeat, and maybe even team up with some of them"... or something like that? If the player gets to choose their own goals it can be a kind of expression (as in two players might achieve different things or achieve things in different orders). I don't know if that is the kind of thing you're interested in?
  • Does this mean the judges aren't entering the jam themselves?
  • edited
    We can make stuff to participate, but we're not eligible to win anything. (And, I believe, neither is anyone who works at Free Lives.)

    Which is not really a problem I think, because we make stuff more for the learning and IP anyway. :)
    Thanked by 1dammit
  • @EvanGreenwood, Might be a stupid question but, we use unity on a daily basis to make simulations, not really game games. Are we then considered professionals or hobbyist?
  • aarrg too many entries I can't keep up, and I'm still mulling over ideas, I had better start coding
  • Hi my name is Huzaifa Valli and I am a grade 10 student at Islamia College (Cape Town), I have been
    given a task by my school to "job shadow" someone who works in the field that I am interested in, in this case game development, I contacted Lars Espeter, who is the head of the game course at friends of design based in Cape Town and he referred me to this forum. As part of of my task I need to interview a Game developer. I am very interested in this field or line of work, please contact me at huzaifavalli@gmail.com, I would really appreciate the opportunity.

    Also I know a lot of you are busy with the current game jam, so you can contact me after the event. Please help me out out, it would mean the world to me <3
    Thanked by 1Kree8
  • edited
    @KleinM I think you can submit as a hobbyist if you think that's fair. The "Hobbyist" category is there for people who don't make games for a living, and there's lots of other jobs that have skills overlap with games (though if you are making games occasionally as part of your job then you're entering into professional territory).
  • Holy shit at record number of participants. O.O not intimidating at all... :P
    Thanked by 2Stray_Train FanieG
  • That was so much fun! And so many entries! Woo jammers! :D

    Congrats to everyone who made a thing and is making a thing, I learned tons and I see so many people also having learned so much, and that's so awesome :D

    Time to go flaeuring through some entries :)
  • OMG running late, just need to fix some things nnngh >_<
  • Is posting a download link to my submission thread enough?
    Is there anything else I need to do? Forms? Paperwork? Official submission announcement? Interpretive dance?

    Going to bed now so if any of that was the case...I guess I won't >_>
    Thanked by 2dammit Kree8
  • I think as long as there's a download link and it's clear what category (categories) you're entering it's fine. :)
  • Quick one: the deadline for submission is tonight at midnight. Does that mean you have to stop working at five, yeah? We have a couple of small things to iron out and it would help!
  • The 72 hour jam ends at 5pm this afternoon. The judged game for the competition will be based on whatever's up by then. (As far as I know we download whatever build is in the thread at that time.)

    Of course, if it's a game with potential, you should probably continue working on it regardless of whether it wins one of the category prizes regardless! :D
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