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New post opened here. Read that instead!

Over at the GD chat, we've decided it would be a great idea if GD had seasonal GameJams, to challenge game developers and increase their skills. And to bring fun to the table! We decided to hold the first (autumn) GameJam during the first weekend of November, that is, 12:00 PM Friday the 1st of November to 11:59 AM Monday, the 4th of November UTC time.

The main requirement of this particular GameJam will be for each participant to create a game that runs in a browser. The participant also agrees to release the game as open source, and all of the assets used by it should follow the same rules.

The participants are allowed to use assets (sprites, models, sounds, music etc.) that are not created by them as long as they're freely available on the web (e.g. on opengameart.org) and are compatible with the license constraints mentioned above.

Participants are not allowed to team up with others, and all of the work involved in the making of the game must be their own, with the exception of assets, as stated above. Participants are, however, allowed and even recommended to ask questions on the main GD site, as long as everything that's asked is ontopic as per the rules of the board. Interaction between participants on the chatroom is also allowed and recommended.

How we see this gamejam working:

  • Before the jam starts, an announcement (question, or answer to this very question?) is posted on meta.gd with extra instructions;
  • As the jam progresses, participants answer the above mentioned question, by providing a link to their game and sources;
  • After the jam ends, the question gets locked;
  • Participants play others' games and vote on answers (games);
  • The game (answer) with the most votes, wins;
  • After the voting has ended, all of the games are uploaded to a public GitHub repo.

Since the GameJam's goal is to hone one's skills and bring developers together on our community, no actual prizes were thought of. If, however, the SE team decides to award promotional merchandise such as t-shirts or mugs to the winners, we'll gladly be okay with it.

We've not decided what to call this GameJam. So far our options lie within the list: { Seasonal GDSE GameJam, GDSE Challenge, GDGJ (GameDev GameJam) }. Opinions and ideas are welcome, so please share them here.

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    \$\begingroup\$ The logo should be three colored jars of jam, which resemble the GD.SE logo. \$\endgroup\$
    – Shotgun Ninja
    Commented Oct 9, 2013 at 21:03
  • \$\begingroup\$ Halloween theme, please. :D \$\endgroup\$
    – Vaughan Hilts
    Commented Oct 9, 2013 at 21:04
  • \$\begingroup\$ Honestly, i think that this competition should be judged by GD mods and other SE employees/moderators. Unless we can't vote on our own game, i see no other real way to make this fair. \$\endgroup\$
    – Pip
    Commented Oct 9, 2013 at 21:05
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    \$\begingroup\$ Also, there should be cats. Cats are fun. \$\endgroup\$
    – Shotgun Ninja
    Commented Oct 9, 2013 at 21:06
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    \$\begingroup\$ @TheProgramm3r you can't upvote your own answer... how will you vote on your own game? And even if you could it's a level playing field because then everyone just upvotes their own answer to counter balance everyone elses own upvote. This is a non issue. \$\endgroup\$
    – SpartanDonut
    Commented Oct 9, 2013 at 21:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ToddersLegrande ah true, i forgot (already :P) that we were voting as answers on this thread. Sorry! \$\endgroup\$
    – Pip
    Commented Oct 9, 2013 at 21:46
  • \$\begingroup\$ I assume code libraries/engines that are freely available online are free to use as well? \$\endgroup\$
    – House Mod
    Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 5:05
  • \$\begingroup\$ As long as the end result runs in a browser, yes. Unity is a valid choice, for example (it has that webplayer build option). \$\endgroup\$
    – user15805
    Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 5:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ Vote for a theme here: meta.gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/1293/… \$\endgroup\$
    – House Mod
    Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 5:19
  • \$\begingroup\$ I think that having answers sorted by votes would promote bias as people may only view the first few answers and not see the others. Any way around this? \$\endgroup\$
    – Derek
    Commented Oct 20, 2013 at 17:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ Good point. Join our chatroom and let's discuss the issue: chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/10960/gdse-gamejam \$\endgroup\$
    – user15805
    Commented Oct 20, 2013 at 17:10

5 Answers 5

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This is the excellentest idea.

My girlfriend drew us a logo:

GAME JAM

(It's inspired by Shotgun Ninja's comment.)

Edit: Larger; background transparency.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Coolio! Let's see if we can turn this into a vectorial logo. Back in a bit. \$\endgroup\$
    – user15805
    Commented Oct 9, 2013 at 23:15
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Alex Indeed. Feel free to edit the answer. Should this be community wiki? (Does it matter on meta?) \$\endgroup\$
    – Anko
    Commented Oct 9, 2013 at 23:24
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    \$\begingroup\$ On the other hand, a crayon logo looks special and great. Could we get a bigger version? :D \$\endgroup\$
    – user15805
    Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 0:14
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    \$\begingroup\$ I really like this logo. Especially as is. It's got that nice created feel to it. Also, I enjoy the rapidity of its creation, which kinda mirrors the rapidity needed in a game jam to make a solid product. \$\endgroup\$
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 0:18
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    \$\begingroup\$ This is awesome. \$\endgroup\$
    – user1430
    Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 0:38
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    \$\begingroup\$ We're happy you like it! I made a larger version -- largest I could manage from her drawings without quality loss. Also transparencycifisysed the background for great good. \$\endgroup\$
    – Anko
    Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 12:15
  • \$\begingroup\$ Cool! :D Thanks a lot. \$\endgroup\$
    – user15805
    Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 13:32
  • \$\begingroup\$ Awesome! Thanks for the mention! \$\endgroup\$
    – Shotgun Ninja
    Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 15:41
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    \$\begingroup\$ We now have an ad with the logo showing on the main page :D \$\endgroup\$
    – user15805
    Commented Oct 11, 2013 at 12:07
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The Great GameDev.SE Hack-a-thon

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    \$\begingroup\$ This is a terrible answer. We're making games, not hacking. While I'm sure about 60% of the code that will be made for these games shall consist of horrid hacks and kludges, that's beside the point. \$\endgroup\$
    – Shotgun Ninja
    Commented Oct 9, 2013 at 21:17
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    \$\begingroup\$ You've never heard of the term hack-a-thon? :) \$\endgroup\$
    – Vaughan Hilts
    Commented Oct 9, 2013 at 23:09
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    \$\begingroup\$ A Hackathon is a kind of collaborative programming marathon. They're good! This is a compliment of sorts, not an insult. :) \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 10:23
  • \$\begingroup\$ So, to my understanding, a game jam is a very specific type of hackathon, since we want to make games specifically. I think it would be good to have a specific name. \$\endgroup\$
    – Anko
    Commented Oct 10, 2013 at 12:09
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What is the reason for the web-based requirement? Python is the only language I know, so how can I participate?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Fewer dependencies for the user to download and install. Easier to test drive. No need to download or install games. \$\endgroup\$
    – user15805
    Commented Oct 20, 2013 at 17:07
  • \$\begingroup\$ Some links to good resources for learning tech which is suitable for game development but runs in a browser: JavaScript, Unity, ActionScript and Processing (using Processing.js to render on the web). \$\endgroup\$
    – Anko
    Commented Oct 21, 2013 at 22:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ github.com/pyjs/pyjs - Python to Javascript Compiler \$\endgroup\$
    – Jesse Dorsey Mod
    Commented Oct 28, 2013 at 16:35
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Rules clarification: what does "run in a browser" mean? Does this include Flash, Java applets, Silverlight?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes, Flash, Java Applets and Silverlight are permitted. \$\endgroup\$
    – user15805
    Commented Oct 26, 2013 at 19:31
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Could the person posting possible include a bounty for the winner? That seems a fair reward.

As for the name I dislike the idea of an initialisation. Perhaps a play on the words game and jam? Such as jam-stuck perhaps.

Other ideas for names:

  • Fearless Jam
  • Carouse
  • Game Exchange
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    \$\begingroup\$ Do you mean offering a reputation bounty as a prize for the jam itself? I think that's a terrible idea, because it goes against the philosophy of what reputation should represent on a SE site. \$\endgroup\$
    – user1430
    Commented Oct 21, 2013 at 15:50

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