dadio

Lookin' for opinions, suggestions etc.
Also, I wanna know about any "syncing" issues (not sure what min requirements are yet...)

*Warning!* this game requires precision timing & b@lls of steel - try not to smash your computer in frustration  

Controls (not listed in game, so take note!)
Arrows keys for movement & "Z" for jump!

Try not to be too alarmed by the *AWE INSPIRING GRAPHICS!*  
Enjoy!
*cackles evily*



PixelGroove-Demo

RULES OF THE JAM

1) Theme is optional, but a good incentive and will be announced at the start of the Jam.

2) There will be a main Jam topic posted for the 48 hours that it lasts where people will post ONCE with a link to their game (either direct or to a WIP topic).

3) When the deadline finishes users will be invited to vote for their favorite game either in the same topic or (and this is what I prefer) in a seperate topic and the game topic will be locked.

4) Five days later (so the whole thing lasts one week) the voting will be closed and the posts tallied up to annouce the "winner".

5) The person voted highest gets a "Best of JAM 1" virtual cup for the signature, bragging rights and is allowed to choose the next Jam theme.

6) Everyone who submits games to the JAM gets a small "JAM star" pic that they can proudly display in the sig like a badge of honor that they were "there".

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

Promo/support sig for those who want it:
http://www.wonthelp.info/superjoebob/GMCGJBanner.png


Optional Splash screen for games entered into the JAM:
http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/5554/gamejam1.png


Original opening post below, feel free to ignore it....

THE GMC IS DYING!...
for a new Comp.

YoYo have been slacking with Comp 07, so it's up to *us* to fill that terrible aching void in our hearts.
I propose that to liven up the Community & get people enthusiastic about game creating, that we start to run our own Comps.
"Official" GMC Comps if you will.

There are traditionally 3 big stumbling blocks to GMC peeps running their own Comps:

1. Awareness of it's existence - could be solved by *not* locking this thread or moving it elsewhere. Making it sticky later on would also help.

2. Recognition - not much point in coming first in "Bob's Comp" if a week later everyone has forgotten about it - could be solved by making this "THE" GMC Comp, & again, simply giving it the attention it needs to work, (& not sweeping it under the carpet)... & making a big fuss when the results are announced, as well as making clear that it is the first in a series of Community Comps.

3. Prize money. The big one.
YoYo's prize money is a huge incentive for some folks (especially those who are still in school or out of work).
YoYo's prize fund of 1000$, 500$ & 250$ is tasty & "works".
Unfortunately, I doubt many of us have many spare 100s burning a hole in our pocket (I know I sure don't!)
but I propose that we attempt to build up a fund from many *small* member contributions.
If peeps could pitch in 5$ each, the prize fund could get pretty big, possibly this could work as an "entrance fee" - this element & specific amount is wide open to discussion.
(I reckon that prizes of 500$, 250$ & 100$ are probably more realistic. (Total target funds = 850$)*

Other thoughts:

YoYo's Comps tend to run for "too long". This is something that's been brought up many times by many people.
3 months+ puts alotta people into "plenty of time, I'll do that tomorrow" mode. And *I think* that what happens is most of the real work gets done in the last few weeks & many people don't manage to finish at all because they've underestimated the work involved.
It's my belief that a *shorter, more focused time frame* for the Comp would work better.
*Possibly* as short as 1 month.
ie: 1 month of contribution/fund build up, followed by 1 month of Comp dev time.
(This shorter Comp run time should also make the (likely) smaller prize amounts more attractive.)

YoYo's Comps have recently been very much "limited/tied to restrictions" (handheld/iPhone), many members don't dig it.
I think the GMC Comp should be wide open instead (as regards to format/device target).

Theme is undecided.
(I think it would be nice if the first theme could reflect/be directly connected to the GMC in some way.)

Why do this at all?
Well, partly because Sandy's dog ate Comp 07 ...
but also because *as much as I love the direction YoYo are going with the ports & publishing opportunities*, I fear for the impact this will (soon) have on the Community. (As people hold games tighter to their chest, obsessing over profit$ & depriving the GMC & InstantPlay of truly "free" games - in favor of work-of-the-devil "lite" versions). What?! you cry. Yes, I say. Hasn't happened yet. But it will. Once the $ starts rolling in.

So, that's it. That's my proposal.
Possibly I'm just a delusional clown.
I hope not.
I'd rather be a ninja.

Opinions, suggestions, feasibility?
All input welcome.

*gives special cookie just to *you* for reading*

PS: What is this post doing here?! It should be in Competitions!!!
Not really. It breaks a ton of the "rules" for posting in "Competitions", & is more like a "Community effort" rather than a typical "Comp" comp. Besides, this thing needs comments & input (afaik, not possible in the Competitions forum).

GMC GAME JAM...
rises from the ashes.
See more recent posts in this topic for details.

Keep all format/rules discussion in this topic!

sooo...
my new project is a game set in Ireland after a deep Recession & economic collapse...
forced to secure funds by any means necessary, the Irish Government agreed to use 1/2 of their land as a large scale dump for other countries radioactive waste.
The people were assured that the dump was perfectly safe.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case...
BO BO BO BOMMM!!!
cue brain eating potatoes entering stage left



It's gonna be a comedy mindless zombie shooter type game...
where your *only* purpose is to shoot/slice/blow-up/burn as many zombie spuds as possible for as long as possible & get the highest score before you too eventually succumb to the terrible zombie spud infection!
Big bonus points for shooting the politicians that got us into this mess too.

I hope to submit this to the YoYoGames store & get it onto iPhone.
It's being devved at 960x640.

So, what do you think?

Please give any ideas/suggestions you think are appropriate!
I'm especially curious to know how the idea of "zombie potatoes" resonates/or not with people from other countries...
(in Ireland, potatoes are a big part of our diet, maybe doesn't work as well for others tho?)

Also, I'm curious to know if people reckon "mindless shooter action + highscore table" is enough to make this game great?
I want people to be in competition with each other (via iPhones online highscore/achievements system thing)... & keep playing again & again to improve their score (& stay alive longer!)
I wanna keep it real simple & basically just have ever increasing amounts of spud zombies on screen to deal with... & every 1000 points or so a "Boss Spud" will appear to deal with as well.
Every so often, innocents will pop on screen as well (these need to be *not shot* - or else you will lose points).
If a politician pops up tho, you can shoot him for huge bonus points.

You'll *always* eventually get eaten, it's just a matter of how long you can survive before you are!

Basically, very old school shooter/higscore action...
I'm hoping unusual art-style, weird setting & humor will grab people's attention...
but I'd love to hear peeps suggestions for weapon upgrades & other score giving things.

EDIT: By "shooter" I mean arcade shooter - like "House Of The Dead" - *not* top down.

this suggestion has been brought up before - but before, there was a lot less chance of typical GMusers making $ from their games.
Now, with the YoYoGames Store, there is bound to be a lot more interest.
This forum would be just those who are keen to get their games up to professional, polished, commercial standard.
It would be moderated to only permit genuine cash job offers ("potential profits % cuts" could be a subforum).

People could use it to ask for help with things like art assets, music assets, sound effect assets, code assets etc.
Posts would have to include:
1. A detailed list of exactly what was required
2. A deadline for the work to be completed
& ideally
3. A ballpark figure amount of payment to be expected (exact amount to be negotiated with the contractee).

Q. Why do we need it now?
A1. Because the YoYoGames Store dramatically increases the likelihood that many will now be aiming for commercial release of their games.
A2. Because if it's not here, people will naturally drift away from the GMC & turn to more commercially minded forums/sites as their ambitions for their commercial games increase - & it would be a lot nicer to keep the GM Community & GM games dev all here in one place.
(It would be sad to see the Community drift apart/seperate & for the GMC to become a place soley for "freeware dev".)

What do you think?

-----

EDIT: One possible scenario for it to work well would be:

Ditch the Team Request Forum.
Replace it with "Help Wanted" Forum (for cash only) - this would be the main area of interest.
Add 2 subforums within "Help Wanted":
"Percentage Cut Team requests" section + "Non-profit Team Requests" section.

*I think* that Team Requests isn't so popular...
changing it to "Help Wanted" as outlined above & prioritising cash & % (profitable) requests over "free work" ones might make it more active.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

from the helpfile:

background_create_gradient(w,h,col1,col2,kind) Creates a gradient filled background of the given size. col1 and col2 indicate the two colors. kind is a number between 0 and 5 indicating the kind of gradient: 0=horizontal 1=vertical, 2= rectangle, 3=ellipse, 4=double horizontal, 5=double vertical. It returns the index of the new background. When an error occurs -1 is returned.

Now, how/where chould this code be used?

And how can *exact* (non standard GM set) colors be specified?

Any help much appreciated!
Bonus points for example code!
Thanks!