GMC Jam Discussion GMC Jam 31 / XXXI / Discussion

Status
Not open for further replies.

NAL

ʕ ᓀ ᴥ ᓂ ʔ
GMC Elder
Ten days of fun with 31!



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THEMES:
OVERCOME ALL ODDS
ADAPTATION
CHEMICAL REACTIONS


Puzzle 1: Word Lengths
Puzzle 2: Theme Lengths
Puzzle 3: Moo Moo
Puzzle 4: None Anywhere
Puzzle 5: Or Change One


Welcome to the 31st GMC Jam! GMC Jam is a quarterly event held on the GameMaker Community that we organize to encourage people to experiment with GameMaker and make a game that will be interesting or entertaining within a limited timescale. It is entirely a community event - neither YoYo Games nor Playtech are officially involved in this competition, aside from providing forum space to carry it out.

The Jam has three phases:
  • discussion, held in the discussion topic; started a few weeks before the Jam (the discussion remains open during and for some time after the Jam, too)
  • development, the core of the Jam, the timespan when entries are made and posted in games topic
  • decision, when community members vote for their favorite games and provide feedback to specific entries; it lasts roughly 2 weeks after the Jam, before the results are announced
You're also cordially invited to join your fellow GMC Jam enthusiasts and regular participants on the GMC Jam Discord server.

The GMC Jam will run for 10 days in the following timeframe:
November 16, 12:00 PM UTC - November 26, 12:00 PM UTC
Friday Noon - Monday Noon

COUNTDOWN CLOCK

The following rules will be used during this GMC Jam. The general Community Guidelines of behavior and conduct always apply. There have been no major changes since the GMC Jam #5, so you're free to skip over if you've participated in that Jam, but you're still advised to read it again for your own safety.

  • any GMC member is welcome to participate in GMC Jam and submit their entry
  • you may use any version of GameMaker to create an entry for the GMC Jam
  • each entry must be made by a single GMC member or a team of up to 3 people; people outside GMC can be in the team, as long as at least one GMC member is in that team
  • each participant can make or contribute to as many entries as they want, but they can only claim rewards for one of them (unless the reward is given specifically for the entry)
  • each entry must have a single post in this Jam's games topic (opened once the Jam officially starts), and no two entries can share the same post
  • the Games topic post can be used to present the entry progress; it can also contain a devlog
  • by the time the Jam ends, each Games topic post must contain a valid link to the entry's downloadable file
  • the entry must be an original creation made in GameMaker specifically for the Jam, within the Jam timeframe
  • this goes without saying, but no game engines besides GameMaker can be used for creating an entry for this Jam
  • the entry might use assets (graphics, audio, scripts, extensions, Marketplace resources etc.) created before the Jam, whether by team members or someone else; however, the credits should make clear where the assets come from and which were made before the Jam
  • the creators of the entry must have rights to all of the assets; unlicensed use of resources is not allowed
  • the entry must be available as a Windows executable file, exported as a stand-alone file or as a ZIP; installers are not allowed
  • the entry might be exported to other platforms as well (such as HTML5 or Android), but the Windows executable must be available
  • the Jam will have three themes picked by the previous first, second and third place winners - general ideas around which your entry can be built
  • the themes are announced when the Jam officially starts, but letters of them are gradually revealed over the course of this discussion - members are allowed to guess what the themes might be
  • while incorporating at least one of the themes in the entry is not mandatory, participants are strongly encouraged to do so
  • use of all three themes is not necessary - pick the one that inspires you the most
  • the entry that uses at least one of the themes in the most interesting way can win best use of theme award
  • aside from the Jam-specific themes, the games can be rated on the concept, the presentation and the story
  • the concept is related to the core gameplay mechanics idea - whether the game rules themselves are creative and entertaining or not
  • the presentation is related to the overall polish - whether the entry provides the right experience through audiovisuals, and whether it's not disrupted by bugs and errors
  • the story is related to the events or motivation present throughout the entry; it can be told through dialogue and narrative, as well as implied through game design
  • the entries excelling at these categories can win best concept, best presentation and best story awards
  • furthermore, aside from entries themselves, their devlogs can be rated; the entry with the most interesting devlog can win the best devlog award
  • after the Jam ends, all entries are gathered in a single ZIP with all entries for everyone to download
  • once the ZIP is available, the voting begins, and it lasts approximately 2 weeks; a longer voting period may be chosen when more than 70-80 entries are submitted
  • the voting period may be extended upon request by at most one additional week; however, not every such request must be granted, and one should show a reasonable progress with reviewing/playing the Jam entries
  • the voting is carried out in the Jam's voting topic, where each voter makes a single post for their scores and reviews
  • any GMC member may vote, whether they participated or not, but participants cannot rank or award their own entries
  • each voter must rank and post a brief comment on at least top 3 games; also, they are free to and can rank more games, in fact, as many as they want or even all
  • each voter can vote for best use of one of the themes, concept, presentation, story and devlog
  • each voter can vote for best reviewer, but in this case their opinion is entirely non-binding - the best reviewer is eventually chosen by the Jam host after the voting ends
  • if some voters or participants are found to be cheating, their entries may be disqualified and they might be excluded from future community events
  • shortly after the voting period closes (preferably within 24 hours), the votes are summed up, and the final results announced; after that, all prizes should be distributed where applicable
  • top 3 entries, as well as best-of award winners, get special banners and are featured in the Hall of Fame
  • creators of the three highest ranking themed entries get the right to choose the next Jam's themes
  • aside from regular GMC Jam prizes, other GMC members can contribute the community prizes by messaging the Jam host
  • do not post community prize offers in this topic as we might miss them amidst the discussion; you're free to do so, but also send a message to the Jam host so that the prizes can be added to the pool listing below
  • the community prizes can be given to any range of places, best-of winners, reviewers, personal favourites etc.
  • the community prizes can be nearly anything - custom graphics, soundtracks, gameplay videos, software keys etc.; as long as they are not monetary prizes and they don't break community rules
  • it is community prize contributor's responsibility to give the prize; they should make sure they can deliver their promise
If you have any suggestions or comments to make about the way GMC Jam works, please consider posting them in the GMC Jam Suggestions topic. It is from your feedback that we might make this community event even better and more fun to participate in!


Want to add your community prize? Send a message to the Jam host with the details!
(Note that you will need to handle prize distribution on your own after the Jam, please don't pass anything through us.)​
  • NAL is offering:​
    • Early, immediate-access PC Steam copies of Tick Tick Pass to the top 10 entries as well as to any Best Of winner that does not place in the top 10 with an entry
    • Steam PC copies of Maddening Euphoria to anybody that enters with a game, or posts qualifying reviews - contact me for codes
  • Toque is offering:
    • One custom track/song, 1-2 minutes long, provided 2 weeks post announcement, by Daniel Docherty, paid for by Toque, to the overall winner. Contact either person if you are the winner
  • JacobV is offering:
    • For first place, a piece of pixel art of their choice. Contact JacobV for details if you win
  • HayManMarc is offering:
    • A poem for the first-place winning entry
  • Matharoo is offering:
  • Ruhar is offering:
    • I'll code a website for 1st place. If they don't want one, they can pass it down to 2nd place and so on. The request has to be within reason though; I'm not making Facebook or anything. I'm also not going to buy the domain or host, though I can help the winner set all that up if they need help.
  • Acr515 is offering:
    • To the entrant who places in 7th: I shall give to them my last pixel of red. It's an heirloom passed down to me from my forefathers, and I treasure it greatly. I want it to find a new home, perhaps somebody who has never had red before. This will be my reward.

If you would like to promote the Jam, please paste the following code in your signature. Also, please remember that your signature is effective only when you are posting around forums. You might want to go ahead and give feedback in Made with GameMaker and Work in Progress forums, or maybe participate in Programming and Community Tech Support discussions.

Code:
[center][url="https://forum.yoyogames.com/index.php?threads/gmc-jam-31-xxxi-discussion.53491/"][img]https://i.imgur.com/T86CoFT.png[/img][/url][/center]
@Alice for the topic format and content
@Shadow Link for the countdown clock

Let the discussion begin!
 
Last edited:

dadio

Potato Overlord
GMC Elder
Just popping in to vote for the "full month of NOV" one. Really like the idea of breaking away from the 72 hour shtick and trying something new. Also reckon we'll see far more people taking part if they have a full month to work in.
 

Toque

Member
Just popping in to vote for the "full month of NOV" one. Really like the idea of breaking away from the 72 hour shtick and trying something new. Also reckon we'll see far more people taking part if they have a full month to work in.
Maybe different lengths for different jams? Some only a weekend. Some a week........
Whatever works best for people.
 
Last edited:
M

Misu

Guest
Gmc jam already?! Let me get my hype on... By next month.

Anyway Im putting my cent on 10 days instead. I mean ive done 2 week jam once and it was not a good thing for me (too much pressure and too much conflicts with my irl activities). 10 days least is something I can do even though I highly prefer 72 hours.
 

TehPilot

Member
I am in support of the longer form game jam.

During my university years, the game development club I was a member (and later an officer) of alternated between short form (48 hour) and long form (7-10 days). While I felt that the shorter ones really pushed the super technically proficient developers to their best, the longer events let everyone put in comparatively more polished entries. Even had ones that have lasted the entirety of winter and summer break with interesting results as well.

The other advantage to the longer game jam is the flexibility of time. I know for my top ranking entries I usually put anywhere from 25 to 40 hours into them; that is a considerable amount of time when it's in a 72 hour window and especially when I factor in work (or school depending on the year). If it takes up to 40 hours of effort on my part to plan, implement, and polish something on the level of my best game jam work, it would be nice to split those hours up to reduce some stress and leverage any extra time to make it even better.

I feel like a month is maybe too long (the three-month collegiate summer game jams definitely were in my opinion!), but it is workable. If you look at the itch.io game jam calendar, there are plenty of events that run on a timescale measurable in months. So I put my votes in for all three long options.
 

Yal

🐧 *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
I agree 100% with the "make the jam longer" idea... the reason I've not participated in like a year is because working full-time, I'd more or less die if I had to crunch something out on a weekend, not to mention I have to allot a lot of time for the mundanities of life like laundry... last time I tried to participate the stress just made me collapse after an hour and I had to pull out.

So having more time sounds like a good plan, it probably improves the average quality of entries as well (because haphazardly slapping something together without thinking about polish is the only way to get an actual game out in 72 hours)... and historically very few jam winners have gone on to do great things afterwards.

Obviously, being the sadistic little she-dog that I am, I'd like to have the looser time limit coupled with a higher emphasis on making something original and theme-incorporating (because you have much less of an excuse to do the same boring platformers when you have days to plan ideas out). Probably not something mechanically enforced (e.g. getting DQ'd if you don't put windows in your Facade game), but adding some emphasis of the theme to the templates / randomizer could steer people into taking it info consideration more, and in turn making creators try to create something creative.
 

Coded Games

Member
Personally I'm a bigger fan of the short jams since I like the aspect of investing a small amount of time into a unique idea and then if things don't work out it really doesn't matter. But you know, allowing for more time will probably get more people to join and will obviously result in more polished/fleshed out games.
 

Mercerenies

Member
Regardless of the length, I'd rather have it earlier in the month than later, so as to have less conflict with studying for finals. In terms of length, I'm up for more of the same or for longer, but I am interested in trying the longer one to see how that goes.
 
I can't remember where it was, but I recall seeing jams where the time allowed would be only 72 hours (or 48, or more/less) but it was done during a 7 day period. I think they had a way of logging time (or were actually reliant upon people being honest), but it allowed people to work the 72 hours across however many days they wanted within that week - providing they did not exceed the 72 hours.

I suspect that it would take a lot of extra effort to coordinate something like this, and not sure how anyone would be able to track the actual hours being worked, but I thought it was an interesting take on a normal jam.

Other than this, I think a longer jam might be better to perhaps try once and then see how it compared to the shorter jams. If the number of entries is less, and the quality is lower, then it may be an indicator that the shorter jams are better.
 

Micah_DS

Member
I can't remember where it was, but I recall seeing jams where the time allowed would be only 72 hours (or 48, or more/less) but it was done during a 7 day period. I think they had a way of logging time (or were actually reliant upon people being honest), but it allowed people to work the 72 hours across however many days they wanted within that week - providing they did not exceed the 72 hours.
I was just thinking it would be cool if we could do something this, because I do like the idea of only having a few days, but I also like the flexibility to help allow for everyone to have the same amount of time put in by choosing the days within a week or so of time.

If we did go this route, it'd be a good idea to have a simple time logging program for everyone to use, or perhaps some other solution for tracking everyone's time, since it'd be easy to forget to start/stop the timer at times. Whatever the case, I'd really love this option of choosing where your 72 hours are within the jam time, because I do like the challenge of a shorter time-scale, and on the flip side, longer jams can be stressful, so I like it shorter.
 

Dr. Wolf

Member
I'm not installing spyware on my PC for the sake of a game jam, sorry.

Anyway, a longer time period might be worth a shot. If it works well, we can stick with it, and if not, we can revert to the old 72 hour format for Round 32.
 

Coded Games

Member
Ya I agree with Wolf. For a Jam this small there really isn’t any real reason to moderate things that hard. Everyone here just follow the rules.
 

Gravedust

Member
Well dang.

I honestly really like the 72-hour format because of it's intensity; part of the fun for me is planning how I can go as hard as I can in the time allotted, (I think I clocked ~55 hours of dev time last Jam, sleeping ~4 hours a night and taking ~2 hours off per day for food and focus resets.) and despite how much I complain at the end, I like being brain-fogged and wobbly when I finish, it feels like I've gotten close to my limits and makes the Jam feel like more of an 'event' as a result.

On the flip side, the 10-day seems like it might make it easier for more people to participate, which is of course a huge positive. It might be an interesting change of pace, though I can see myself going crazy with frustration trying to sneak in as much dev in as I can at work. ;)

My own situation is that it's basically a crapshoot if I can participate in a Jam regardless of duration; If my kids (7 & 2.5 y.o.) are home I have to be a dad, and in this case the 72-hr format is slightly preferable since it is more doable to clear a 3-day than a 10-day. (Though both of the last jams I was just really lucky that they were abroad, I'm not about to send the young'uns away so I can Jam. :p)

But given the holiday timing, chances are real good that I won't be able to take part in the next one no matter what. :( So I won't vote, but I guess my $0.02 is I'd be open to trying something new.
 

BretHudson

Member
You know, having a 10-day jam wouldn't be too bad. It starts and ends on a weekend, allowing those who work during the week to have time at the beginning and end to join. The extra time would certainly make it more relaxed, so I'd say let's go for it!

The thing to remember is that just because it's 10 days doesn't mean one needs to be working the full time. :)
 

Micah_DS

Member
I'm not installing spyware on my PC for the sake of a game jam, sorry.
... uh, I wasn't meaning anything of the sort. I was merely suggesting a program for the user to control, nothing that would send information online, access any programs, etc. Whatever though. It was just a thought.
Without any way of timing oneself easily, I just know people are going to totally lose track of how much time they spent - some people probably won't be organized in that way. That's why I suggested a simple timer if we went that route.
 
A

afilionComposer

Guest
Shorter jams force you to get organized quickly and can really bring a team together because it forces good communication between members. Although imo it's quite difficult to make a comprehensive game in less than 72, it's still possible! :)
Is there a discord server for people who need teammates?
 

Micah_DS

Member
If we do end up with a month long jam, would I catch flak for restricting myself to 72 hours, or should I just sit it out?
 

Alice

Darts addict
Forum Staff
Moderator
Dunno how about others, I totally wouldn't mind anyone restricting themself to 72 hours. I probably might be worth mentioning in README or something, so that people keep that in mind when reviewing your game. Personally, I'd *rank* such a game as if it has been made in the full Jam timeframe, but I'd *review* it with the shorter time in mind.
Example from the last Jam - "Swing me" by Relic. I didn't give it any extra ranks for it being made in only 4 hours, but I took it into account in my review.
(speaking of reviews, I should probably finish mine...)

On a side note, when you speak about 72 hours, do you mean 72 spread hours of development time or 72 continuous hours of everything (like it is with the Jam)? I'd imagine the former is probably already more than many participants would manage in a 10 days Jam (with all various commitments and jobs and whatnot). When it comes to the month-long Jam - from my experience few people, if anyone, would use the month fully. Very often that psychological factor comes into play, when someone sees the deadline as so distant they don't prioritise the Jam immediately, and only start serious development around the last week or so. Perhaps it could be a chance for people who have little time to begin with; they might be more likely to use the time from the start, knowing they won't have much of it later...?

(then again, I still prefer 2 weekends Jam compared to the whole month; especially since going from 3 days to 10 is not as great a leap as going from 3 to 30)
 

Relic

Member
My current life situation doesn’t allow for 20 hours over a weekend. I can consistently get 3 hours each night. A jam lasting 10 days would allow me to work 20-30 hours on a jam. Some people wpuld commit a similar time to just the weekends, some people may be able to double their commitments but all the more power to them- I enjoyed what time I had to put in to the last jam but would prefer the flexibility of a 10 day event to have a chance to even come close to the amazing entries I’ve seen.
 

Micah_DS

Member
... when you speak about 72 hours, do you mean 72 spread hours of development time or 72 continuous hours of everything (like it is with the Jam)? ...
Due to work, I'd have to split it between four days, with a work day in between my jamming hours, so it'd pretty much be continuous. I plan to do this mainly because I want to have that feeling which causes me to stretch and push myself, but it's also due to a decision with prioritizing things in my free time.

Thank you for the thoughtful reply.
 

NAL

ʕ ᓀ ᴥ ᓂ ʔ
GMC Elder
I will likely close the votes for timing about this time tomorrow. Unless there is a significant swing in votes, it will be 16th-26th November that takes it (which also works nicely as there is another GameMaker-based jam that ends on the 14th or so).

I'm not intending on adding any extra/complicated restrictions, such as limiting dev time or anything, but I will also make it clear that it is not mandatory to use all 10 days - if you only have weekends or even just a day or two, then you'll still be encouraged to submit and join in the fun!

I'll also send out requests for theme picks from the three GMC Jam 30 highest placers - if you are one of those people, please feel free to send your theme over to me beforehand if you have it ready.
 

Smiechu

Member
Longer time makes more sense, as it allows people with "normal" life (or any life) to take part in the jam!
On the other hand, it's interesting to see what peaople are capable to achive in just 3 days...
The long and short jams should be interleaved, so that everybody could find what fits him the best.
 

Nocturne

Friendly Tyrant
Forum Staff
Admin
I am dead set against having the Jam for any longer than three days. The idea of the jam is to be original and prototype stuff, and three days is more than enough. Just look at the quality of some of the games we get every jam! I think any more is just too much, and unnecessary, especially given that many people have to work, so 10 days effectively turns into 2-3 days anyway for them. At least with a weekend, you can pretty much guarantee that everyone will have at least 1-2 days to work on it so it's a pretty level playing field. More time will just accentuate the differences between those that have time and those that don't as well as those that are beginning and those that are long term users.

I would also say, that the jam over three days is great for focusing attention, and any longer means that more projects may be dropped as people get bored, lose interest, or even start to see what other people are doing and get disheartened (this happens with just three days, but think how much worse it will be with 10 days!). With three days that's a lot less likely to happen. Oh, and 10 days is a competition 3 days is a jam, imho...

So, KEEP THE JAM AT 3 DAYS. I can't think of any decent reason to make it any longer.
 

Smiechu

Member
So, KEEP THE JAM AT 3 DAYS. I can't think of any decent reason to make it any longer.
Decent reason - give peaple which have "a life" a possibility to participate in the jam! Just read opinions in this topic and look at the pool results. People have families, work, commercial projects, and even when your a student there could be an important exam the next week afer the jam. Also older (40+) peaple mostly don't find it "funny" to drop 3 nights consequently in a raw just make something decent for a game jam. Restricting jams to only 3-days is simply a discrimination to a majority of users willing to participate in a jam...

Regarding your opinion:
- as already stated - not every jam has to have the same format, but at least one longer 10-day jam in a year would be a nice thing to have...
- the jam entries should be a secret till end of the jam, this would diminish the effect of loosing interest or motivation.
- some peaople pushing them self to finish something in 3-days are getting frustrated very easily and start to pour this frustration on the forum, they don't see the jam as "fun" but as a life to dead composition - it kills the spirit of the jam very quickly...
 

dadio

Potato Overlord
GMC Elder
"So, KEEP THE JAM AT 3 DAYS. I can't think of any decent reason to make it any longer."
Silence wretch.
*trips Mark up and pushes him offstage*
10 days gives people who work weekends or want to keep weekends free for family a chance to enter.
And it gives those who don't like working an intensive block of hours a chance to enter.
*SOLD!*
 

Toque

Member
You could always try a longer one. But there is something exciting about the shorter ones. Intensity.

Some long. Some short.
 

NAL

ʕ ᓀ ᴥ ᓂ ʔ
GMC Elder
I definitely agree with people suggesting that some should be longer and some shorter - unless 10 days made a significant difference to the entry count/quality either way, I would probably make GMC Jam 32 a 72 hour jam again and then have them alternate between shorter and longer. There isn't really a solution that satisfies everyone for every Jam as everyone has different circumstances, but I believe that would at least mean everyone gets at least a couple of Jams a year that work for them!
 

Zodaris

Member
Just to remind everyone, Jam is made by crushing berries. Which means to apply pressure. The word also is used for when 2 things are smashed together, like when you jam your finger on the door frame, or when something is stuck really tight. That's why game jams are called that, it's a period of intense pressure to make a game. When you start extending the amount of time in a jam it starts to be less about how you fair under pressure, and more of "Hey lets just make games! And here's a due date so we don't go on working on it for ages like what often happens to pet projects." Which there's nothing wrong about that type of get-together/event, but it isn't a "JAM".

That said, 10 days can still provide pressure for larger scope games (though personally I think 6 or 7 would be better in that regard) so we just gotta make sure the themes are good enough that we can actually make a decent amount of content on it. So I voted for one of the 10 day options and 2 of the 3 day ones. The other reason I voted for the 10 option is because it was tied with the 30 day option and there ain't no way I'm doing THAT for a jam. There's a reason there's already a One Game a Month Challenge out there. If you want a 30 day event, I'd suggest we do a community wide effort to join in on that for a month every once in awhile. Leave the Jam as a Jam.

(Sorry if this reads with a hostile tone, I'm just tired atm and I really don't want the 30 option to win.)
 

NAL

ʕ ᓀ ᴥ ᓂ ʔ
GMC Elder
It's been settled - by a fairly decent margin, most people would like a longer Jam this time around, and of the three choices, the 10-day period between the 16th and 26th of November won out, so that will be the GMC Jam 31 start and finish.

I'll leave the discussion topic open and keep an eye on it incase anybody else has anything they'd like to suggest - full details will be added in about two weeks' time, around a month before the Jam is set to start.
 

ghandpivot

Member
I love the short jams, it's so much fun to optimize your efforts, estimating a reasonable scope and brute forcing problems to save time.
Putting 10 days into a jam wouldn't be possible for me, it's simply too much. In a 3-day-jam, I can compete with a team of 3 because I can plan my work better and produce something quirky and fun. Compare my 3 days to what a team of 3 can produce in 10 days and suddenly it's not even a competition any more.

Do feel free to try out the concept of longer jams, but I'd hate to see the 72-hour ones being gone forever.
 

lolslayer

Member
Personally I would like to see the jams get longer, but that's just because of the fact that I'm Always too busy to reserve any significant amount of time for the jam within a timeframe of 3 days
 
T

TinyGamesLab

Guest
Unfortunately I can only squeeze about 1-2 hours a day for development (with a full time job and a house/Preg. wife).
I've joined a 30d jam before and it worked great for me! (At the end I had developed for about 40-50 hours, so it looked like a 72hr jam game).
I'm down for the 10 day jam and since I usually create my game mechanics tutorials within this time frame (drawing, coding, recording and editing) so it seems to be a plausible timeframes to get something cool done.
A 72hr jam would be a sit-out for me....
 

Coded Games

Member
I'm really unsure if I'll join this one. I'd probably only participate over a weekend like usual depending if I like the themes. Investing 10 days into a Jam I don't think is possible for me right now. I don't have a lot of free time right now between school and my current game.
 

HayManMarc

Member
The way I see it, you'll have 10 days to fit in jam time instead of three. In heart of what @Zodaris said above, it turns the "jam" into more of a "squish". I prefer the hectic 3 days, but I'll be able to fit 3 days in a 10 day window much easier.

If anything, it should be interesting.
 

Micah_DS

Member
I like the 10 day window because I can get my 3 days of jam time in without requesting work off again. For the weekend jams, I normally only had one day free, if that.

That said, the GMC Jam means enough to me that I don't mind taking time off to partake, so I'm okay with the usual 72 hour weekends, but I think the 10 day length it's a very worthwhile experiment, and it's nice to save my time off for other things.
 
O

Oyakiiv

Guest
welp, only just now found this....oh well snooze = lose.

I do like the 3 day format but I do tend to just never feel like I have enough time due to work (I have to give at least two weeks notice to request days off, and I usually don't notice a jam is starting till Its too late), so I only really get 1 full day to work on it, plus a few hours on the other days...not that its an excuse for the quality of my games, since I really prioritize the wrong things (I'm taking notes).

anyway I'm willing to give the 10 day a shot and see what I can do with the extra time. especially after I finish studying my past jam entries and get on my training...crap I really only have this month to train now...crap...

*sigh* time to whip myself into shape...
 

Relic

Member
And that’s it- a 10 day jam does not mean 10 days. With work and life it will be more like 3 days but spread out. @Nocturne - you can’t assume everyone can spend 1-2 days across a weekend. My 3 year old takes priority EVERY weekend. When he is in bed though is when I can do my own things. As Nal suggests, I don’t care that every jam is not 10 days- but if jam 31 works well wouldn’t mind at least one opportunity a year.
 
My weekend time is also quite limited. My free time is after the kids are in bed. This 10 day Jam may let me squeeze in a couple of hours a night and a few extra on the weekends, which would be great.

I view this Jam as an experiment, if its successful, then perhaps as others have suggested, allowing a 10 day Jam at least once a year would be cool.

My only small concern would be on how to judge the entries now, as there will possibly be a large difference in the amount of time each entry will have put into it. I don't forsee it being a big problem, but something to be aware of.
 

Smiechu

Member
My only small concern would be on how to judge the entries now, as there will possibly be a large difference in the amount of time each entry will have put into it. I don't forsee it being a big problem, but something to be aware of.
I'm not concerned at all... in the end the concept and idea are most important in order to win, not the amount of content and fireworks.

Thank god I dont have kids
I agree with you...
 

The M

Member
Honestly, I wouldn't even participate if it was a 30 day jam. At that point it's too much of a commitment and I'd rather spend the time on my main project (which will hopefully reach its alpha phase this weekend, woo!). I like the 3 day format because it's short enough that you can burn though it and get something done quickly before the scope grows too large. With 10 days I'd probably still take a weekend and maybe use one more day for polishing/bug testing which I suppose is fine since I'm already among those who dedicate the most time to their jam games. I do understand that some people can't take a weekend off for a jam so I'm perfectly fine with doing some experimenting with this.
 
G

GVmG

Guest
I probably wouldn't join for a 30 day jam either, I can't consistently burst-dev for 30 days on a single project.

But this 10 days one does seem more promising and a tad bit more lenient than the 10 days one. Count me in.
 

Toque

Member
And that’s it- a 10 day jam does not mean 10 days. With work and life it will be more like 3 days but spread out. @Nocturne - you can’t assume everyone can spend 1-2 days across a weekend. My 3 year old takes priority EVERY weekend. When he is in bed though is when I can do my own things. As Nal suggests, I don’t care that every jam is not 10 days- but if jam 31 works well wouldn’t mind at least one opportunity a year.
I find coding with a 3 year old very productive! Like most things they are a great help. Lucky to get a few hours to do anything GM on a weekend with kids.

The odd ten day jam gives me hope of actually entering a jam.
 
T

TinyGamesLab

Guest
All the latest posts it makes me think that most people will be actually trying to use the 10 days to squeeze a "72hr jam" into it (this is what I'll do).
I don't think there will be bigger disparity between games than the one that already exists. Sure one person or group will actually use the 10 full days but like most said, it is too long of a time frame to fully dedicate to coding. At the end, a good concept well executed is worth a lot more than a well polished/good art bad concept.
 
I'm excited by a 10 day jam. I often look at the jams and can't compete as too difficult to crunch a long weekend with life stuff. In 10 days, I can put a few hours in here and there and have a chance at making something. It'll be just as much time as I would have put into a 72 hour jam, just spread out - like a lot of people seem to be saying. Doesn't have to be every jam but nice to see this being tried!
 

Smiechu

Member
All the latest posts it makes me think that most people will be actually trying to use the 10 days to squeeze a "72hr jam" into it (this is what I'll do).
But in the same time some comments here suggest that some people are terrified that they will have to "go for extremes" during full 10 day the same way as the do it during 3 day jams - no sleep, barely eat and drink... :D:eek::confused::) That's totally ridiculous!
That's the whole idea here with 10 day jam, to chill out and take part in a jam without sacrificing your own comfort and private life...
 

Micah_DS

Member
It's nice to see that most everyone appears to be on the same page, viewing the 10 days as a window to fit a few jam days/hours in, as opposed to every day being a jam day. I'm excited to see how it turns out. Hopefully this will give more people a chance to participate. It's way too early, but I've boarded the hype train; looking forward to it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top