829 replies to this topic

[Nocturne]

Okay everybody, I think we can all agree that the first GMC Jam has been a rip-roaring success. Thanks to all who participated with their games, and thanks to all who participated with their support and feedback!!! You have all made the event a worthwhile occaision and as such it should be repeated! But when? In what form? With what rules? That´s what this topic is for...

Now, to try and keep some order in this topic, I think that we should make a list of things that we should discuss and try to deal with each of them one at a time and only move on when the issue has been resolved. A few members have already PM´d me their suggestions and I´ve also seen a few things mentioned in other topics so that´s where we will start. If there is anything that isn´t on the list (below) then please PM me and I will add it in so it can be discussed too. So...


1) Theme
Should we have one? Should it be obligatory? Should the winner decide outright, or pick one from a community made list? Should games that don´t follow the theme be allowed and if so can they win the Jam?

DECIDED:

• Each Jam will have a theme, and participants are encouraged to use it.
• Using the theme is NOT obligatory, but will be valued when voting.
• To encourage use of theme, the highest-voted theme-based game gets to choose the theme for next Jam.

2)Voting
Should we have Polls? Or post in topic? Should we vote for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place or just 1st? Should we have other votes for graphics, sound design etc? Should non-theme games get a vote for an "Honourable Mention" category, or no votes at all?
Addendum: Should people be allowed to vote for themselves?

DECIDED:

• 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will be chosen using the SSE method. Voters may rank the games in order of their preference. Voters may rank as few, or as many, games as they wish.
• All games are eligible (themed and non-themed), but voters should take "use of theme" into account. (Remember: non-theme games can win, but they CANNOT pick the next Jam's theme. see above.)
• Voters may give an "Honourable Mention" vote for a game whose features they liked, but wasn't good enough to win. These can be graphics, sound, gameplay, idea, etc.
• (Optional) When voting, leave feedback about WHY you voted for the game(s) you chose.
• Participants may not vote for their own game.

3) Frequency
How often should we have the Jam? Every 1, 2 or 3 months? Should we have "special" Jams for christmas or other holiday periods?

DECIDED:

• The Jam will be held every 3 months. So the next one will be on the 29th of April (a Friday).
• If the Jam coincides with an official competition it will be postponed.

4) Time
Is 72 hours too much? To little? Should timezones be taken into account?

DECIDED:

• 72 hours long from 12:01 AM GMT Saturday ...to... 11:59 PM GMT Monday

5) Outside Help
The chatroom was a nice touch and good fun, and I think that it worked well... the count-down timer was good too, but those things were OUTSIDE the GMC. So, maybe we should have a site to hold these things (and more) in one place? A chat room with "lounges" for teams, a countdown page, games pages etc... and just have the GMC for the actual main Jam topic? Or does this defeat the purpose of the GMCommunity Jam?

DECIDED:

• Games must be posted in the WIP/Games forums before the finish deadline for the Jam. Hosting is up to the individual user.
• A link to your game and a short description must be posted in the official Jam topic.
• People are welcome to use any outside sites, and are also welcome to promote such sites, but the posting of topics and the voting will be done on the GMC.

6) Follow Up
Should we have a "follow up" section at the beginning of each new Jam where we review the previous games that were made and see if they were ever finished/polished? Or how about a yearly "Best of" competition where the community votes on the best Jam game of the year?

DECIDED:

• A week or two before each Jam a follow up topic will be posted where previous competitors/participants will have the chance to showcase the developement of their Jam game.
• Participation is NOT obligatory and the aim of the topic is to show what became of previous Jam entrants and give a bit of "pre-jam hype" to encourage new members to join in.

7) Prizes
What about prizes? Anyone think of anything else that can be a prize other than bragging rights, choosing the theme and a Dadio banner/cup?

DECIDED:

• Prizes will be as before... A special graphic/banner, bragging rights and (if your game is a themed game) the possibility of choosing the next Jam theme.
• Community prizes will also be offered as members of the community contribute whatever the feel appropriate. EG: Coverage on their web site, custom graphics for the game, a video of the gameplay for YouTube... Whatever
• There will be ABSOLUTELY NO MONETARY PRIZE. This is forbidden by the forum admins.

I think that´s about it for now... I will add more things as they come up! Now, lets get the discussion rolling with SHOULD WE POSTPONE THE NEXT JAM UNTIL AFTER 8.1 COMES OUT?



Mark



PS: Please try to contribute as best you can to this (ie. no trolling!) and help make the GMC Jam a lasting community event that the GMC can be proud of!

Edited by Nocturne, 10 April 2011 - 07:19 PM.

[Nocturne]

Okay, to start the ball rolling, here´s my opinion on themes...

It should be obligatory. If you want to participate in the Jam without the Theme then you can, but your game cannot get votes for 1st (or 2nd or 3rd?) place, but (if we allow it) it can get votes for design, graphic, sound etc... The winner should decide outright the theme for the next Jam as it makes a nicer prize for actually winning I think!

[thatshelby]

Theme.


We definitely should have one, but only as a tool to generate ideas if you have none. That seems pretty straight-forward to me.. The theme should be fairly tight if this is it's intended purpose, but I guess that's in the control of the previous Jam winner.

The Jam winner should choose the theme bluntly, as it is totally up to them.



Perhaps the winner could choose this? As in, if it is a tight theme, it should be optional, but if it is a loose theme (IE: Discovery, Invention, Technology), it should be mandatory. Just another idea, as the prizes are fairly skimp.


A game must follow the theme if it is to be entered to win, granted the theme is loose. If it is tight, all submissions should be accepted for the winner.

Spoiler

Maybe OOOGLABAHBAH would be a good theme, eh, NPT?

Edited by Theophilus, 08 February 2011 - 04:52 PM.

[commander of games]

I think Theo's idea would be best. Personally though, I think a loose theme would be better. The reason my game in Jam#1 didn't fallow the theme was because it was too tight, and I found that making a game out of it might be hard to do. So the looser the theme, the better in my opinion.

[Dark Matter]

1) The theme should not be optional. The winner should choose the next theme.
2) Just have a vote for best game. Polls might be better...
3) 3 months is a good frequency.
4) Time-zones should be taken into account. It should be longer too, maybe a couple of days longer than before.
5) The chat was good fun, I think we should just keep it as it was before...
6) It might be nice to take a look at how jam games have progressed.

[thatshelby]

Dark Matter, thanks for the input, however, we're only discussing Themes, the first point, so as to not get the topic on an unorganized tangent.

COG ~ What do you think about the winner choosing whether the theme should be tight or loose, and to adjust accepted submissions accordingly?

[Dark Matter]

Oh, I thought we were answering each one

[commander of games]

COG ~ What do you think about the winner choosing whether the theme should be tight or loose, and to adjust accepted submissions accordingly?

I think it's a nice idea, but there should be a limit to how tight a theme can be. You shouldn't be able to choose things like "Pickles with Jetpacks"(Though that would be awesome), for example.

[Dark Matter]

Yeah, a loose theme is best. Pancakes was too small a category.

[TerraFriedSheep]

My feelings towards the theme are as simple as:

• The theme should be chosen outright by the winner of the previous jam.
• All entries should follow the theme.

[Uniquebum]

I think having a theme is good but it shouldn't set too strict boundaries. For example "strategy game" theme doesn't set too strict boundaries but "pillow fight strategy game" just narrows too much down the amount people can use their imagination and creativity.

[Dark Matter]

It shouldn't be anything like "Strategy game". That tells you what type of game to make - you should have complete freedom with that.

[makerofthegames]

I was one that PMed Mark a suggestion about the themes, I'll quote that here:

Speaking of Jam Themes, I think we should create that list now, for the creator to choose a theme from if he wants to.

I would assume you just take the previous list, remove pancakes, add another joke theme, then add whatever you can think of.

So basically, it would be a list and he wouldn't have absolute freedom to pick whatever, to avoid controversial themes. That's my suggestion.

EDIT: Ah yes, the previous Jam winner would be picking. I forgot to state that.

Edited by makerofthegames, 08 February 2011 - 05:26 PM.

[Zeddy]

I can only think that the idea behind these jams/competitions with short time limits is for the participants to work under constraints. Having a set theme gives the entrant something to focus on. What does this theme make you think? How would you make this theme an integral element of your game? It's interesting, I find, to see how vastly different the outcomes of this can be.

Even though most of the games I liked best in the previous jam didn't follow the theme, I think it should be mandatory for getting voting points, though there'd be no reason to stop someone from submitting something outside of the theme if they just want in it for the fun. Fun is welcome and encouraged, I'd say.

Now, let me address this bit from the jam-topic:

Caverns - Platformers that take place under ground. Time - Platformers with clocks everywhere. Elements - Platformers where you attack enemies using fire and water. War - Platformers where you shoot at people.

Yes, the particular themes mentioned aren't original, and yes, you can just paint a generic game with it. The difference is that these would allow the creator to do something cool. It would allow a game where you dug through mountains. It would allow a game where you travel through time or operate under a time limit (time limits are underrated). It would allow for a game where you combine chemicals for awesome effects or set stuff on fire. It would allow for a kickass platformer where you shoot at aliens or an atmospheric, subtle strategy game during the cold war.

You could make this with a pancake game, obviously you could, but the theme would encourage and inspire this.

Edit: While "Strategy game" would tell you what kind of genre to make, "Strategy" would make a pretty fine theme.

Edited by zeddidragon, 08 February 2011 - 05:36 PM.

[Dark Matter]

Yeah, I agree. I think those kind of themes that even have a definition could work well, as long as they're not too restricting. It'd make it easier to vote for them too, I think.

[thatshelby]

I think we should allow the winner to choose whether the theme is required. What do you guys think?

[commander of games]

I think we should allow the winner to choose whether the theme is required. What do you guys think?

I don't really see a reason to. The winner picks the theme, and chooses wether it's loose or tight. It could get confusing if the rules varied too much from jam to jam.

[Dark Matter]

I think we should allow the winner to choose whether the theme is required. What do you guys think?

No. That's stupid, there's no point to having the theme that way, and it just gets confusing. The theme should always be obligatory.

[thatshelby]

I think we should allow the winner to choose whether the theme is required. What do you guys think?

I don't really see a reason to. The winner picks the theme, and chooses wether it's loose or tight. It could get confusing if the rules varied too much from jam to jam.

Well, what does the tightness and looseness effect? If we keep that phrase in the rules, it will just be overcomplicating it.

[orange08]

If you're going to make a game for the Jam it should definitely be based around the announced theme :l Games that aren't made based on the theme should be disqualified from winning.

Jam winners should get their reward: a banner from Dadio and bragging rights and some reviews for their game... I don't think they should solely get to pick the next theme though. The theme should be announced as soon as the competition starts to avoid cheating :l
The way the first theme was picked was perfectly fine.

Edited by orange08, 08 February 2011 - 05:59 PM.