GameJamSurvivalGuide

Prepara&on?WhatPrepara&on?

Chooseyourtools!– Programminglanguage,IDE– Audioeditors&generators– Graphicseditors– Mapeditors

Usewhatyoualreadyknow!

AudioTools&Resources

hDp://www.bfxr.net/

AudioTools&Resources

hDp://www.audiotool.com

AudioTools&Resources

hDp://audacity.sourceforge.net/

AudioTools&Resources

FreeSoundeffects&Music*– hDps://www.freesound.org/– hDps://soundcloud.com/(CCGroup)– hDp://openmusicarchive.org/– hDp://dig.ccmixter.org/– hDp://www.indiegamemusic.com/

*AlwayscheckJamrules

GraphicsTools&Resources

hDp://www.gimp.org/

GraphicsTools&Resources

hDp://www.getpaint.net/index.html

GraphicsTools&Resources

hDp://pinta-project.com/releases

GraphicsTools&Resources

hDp://esotericsoRware.com/

GraphicsTools&Resources

hDp://www.blender3d.org/

GraphicsTools&Resources

FreeGameArt*– hDp://opengameart.org– hDp://kenney.nl– hDp://www.lostgarden.com– hDp://www.gameart2d.com

*AlwayscheckJamrules

MapEditors

hDp://www.mapeditor.org/

MapEditors

hDp://overlap2d.com/

The5PhasesofJamming

1.  TeamBuilding2.  Brainstroming3.  Setup4.  ImplementaZon5.  FinishingTouches

TeamBuilding

Youwillneed– Developers– Audio&graphicsarZsts*– Game/leveldesigners– Coordinator

ThelaDertwocanbedonebyanyone!

*Rareunicorns

TeamBuilding

Developers– Dotheprogrammybits– Needtosplituptasksamongthem•  Graphics,Controls,Physics,UI,...

–  Thelessoverlapcode-wisetheeasier!

– NeedtotellarZstswhatformatstheyneed

– Needtodefinehowgame/leveldesignercreatescontent

TeamBuilding

Graphics&AudioArZsts– Dotheartsybits– Needtosplituptasksamongthem•  UI,background,characters,effects,...

– Needtoagreeonanartstyle

– Mayneedtocreateplaceholderartearlyon

TeamBuilding

Game/LevelDesigner– Doesthecontentbits– Needstodefinethegamemechanics

– Needstodefinethegameprogression

– Needstocreate„levels“– NeedstoplaytestandgivefeedbacktodevsandarZsts

TeamBuilding

Coordinator– Makessureeveryoneknowswhattodo

– Keepstrackofthingstobedone

– Keepstrackofdependenciesbetweenteammembers

– KeepstrackofZme– Keepstrackofhumanneeds(food,sleep)

TeamBuilding

–  Ifyouhavenodevelopers,lookintoConstruct2–  IfyouhavenoarZsts,usepreexisZngartorprogrammerart

–  Ifyouhavenogamedesigner,everybodybecomesagamedesigner

–  Ifyouhavenocoordinator,pickoneperson–  Ifyouarealone,yougettodoallthethings:D

Brainstorming

Goals– Getahigh-levelunderstandingofyourgame

•  Genre•  Gamemechanic•  Secng&Story•  Artstyle

– TakeZmelimitsintoaccount•  FPS,MMORGP,RTSarelikelynotyourbestbets

– Thinkoutsidethebox!(hurrdurr...)

Brainstorming

To-do1.  Gatherideasfromeveryone2.  Pickmostpromisingoneviavote3.  Definegenre&gamemechanics

-Usepen&paper!4.  Definesecng&story5.  Defineartstyle

-LetarZstsdrawquickmockups

Don‘tbeafraidtothrowthingsawayDon‘tbeafraidtoiterate,takeyourZme

Setup

Goals– Getadetailedunderstandingofyourgame

• Whatwillthedevelopershavetodo?• WhatwillthearZstshavetodo?• Whatwillthegamedesignershavetodo?

– Defineinterfacesbetweenallteammembers•  Howdodevelopersworkwitheachother?•  HowdoarZstsgettheirartintothegame?•  Howdogamedesignerscreategamecontent?

– Definetasksandtheirorderforeveryteammember!•  Coordinatorresponsibleforkeepingtrackoftasks

Setup

To-do1.  Developersagreeonplajorm&

toolstouse2.  ArZstsagreeonartstyle3.  DevelopersandarZstsagreeon

howtogetartintothegame4.  Developersandgamedesigner

agreeonhowtocreatecontent5.  EachsubteamdefinestheiriniZal

tasks6.  CoordinatorkeepstrackofthingsAsuperlightweightKanban-likeboardcanhelp

Implementa&on

Goals– Getthedamnedgamedone!– Ensuretohaveaplayableprototypeearly

•  PrioriZzetasksaccordingly•  Gamemechanicsfirsttoseeiftheyarefun!

– Realizeyou‘lllikelynotgeteverythingdone!• WhichiswhyyoushouldhavesomethingplayableatalmostallZmes•  Cutcorners,killfeatures,focusonthecoreofyourgame

Implementa&on

To-do1.  Everysub-teamworksontheir

task2.  Coordinatorkeepstrackof

progress3.  Sub-teamstalkwheneverthey

needto(re-)defineandprioriZze(new)tasks

4.  Goto1Yourhighestpriorityshouldbetohavesomethingplayableearlyon!

Implementa&on

TipsforDevelopers–  Usesourcecontrol(git,SVN),doNOTuseshareddrives,ZIPfiles,e-mail!

–  Don‘tcodeforre-use–  Don‘topZmize–  Trytocreateamodular-designsopeopledon‘tdependoneachothertomuch•  Onepersonresponsibleforgraphics,oneforUI,oneforAI,oneforcontrolls,etc.

– Makesuregamedesignercancreatecontentasearlyaspossible

– MakesurearZstsexporttoeasytouseformats– MakesurearZstsworkforsomestandardresoluZon!– MakesurearZsts&gamedesignerunderstandlimitaZons

Implementa&on

TipsforArZsts– Makeiteasytoexportyourarttotheproperformat– Makesureeveryoneusesthesamecoordinatesystem/resoluZon!

– UsedescripZvenamesforfiles•  Good:badguy-walk-leR.png,Bad:w_1_2.png

– Haveonesharedfolder(Dropbox,GoogleDrive)containingassetsreadyforthegamedesigner/developerstointegrate•  Don‘tputmulZpleversionsofthesamethingthere!•  Havewhateverlocalfolderstructureforworkinprogressassets

Implementa&on

TipsforGameDesigners– Talktothedevelopersaboutwhat‘spossibleandwhat‘snot

– Focusonsimplemechanicsbuttrytoputinatwist

– Favorsimplelevel-designover„brainy“complexlevels–theytaketolongtodesign!

–  Ifyouhavedown-Zmehelp/bethecoordinator!

Implementa&on

TipsforCoordinators– Ensurethateveryonecanstaybusy

•  GathertheteamtodiscussnewtasksorreprioriZzecurrenttasks

– Checkonprogressregularly•  Ifsomethingtakestolong,astheteamtoreprioriZze/killfeatures

– Makesureeverybodyisremindedtheyarehuman•  Makeeveryonetakebreaks•  Makepeoplegotosleep•  Makepeopleeatanddrink

–  Ifyouhavedown-Zme,takeonataskyoucando!

FinishingTouches

Goals– Submitaplayablegamebeforethedeadline:D

Finishingtouches

To-do1.  Featurefreeze2-3hours

beforethedeadline2.  Createabuildfor

submission3.  Getteamtogetherand

decidewhattopolishintheremaininghours

4.  Ifpolishingworksout,createanewbuildforsubmission

FinalThoughts

– Sleep!– Eat&Drink!– Takebreaks!– Makenewfriends!