Games Jam Event Information
What is a Games Jam?
A Games Jam is an event where a bunch of people get together in a common place for a short amount of time in an attempt to make games around a common theme. They come in various guises and forms, from the highly competitive 48hr team based Global Games Jam where entrants make one game to more informal Jams like TigJam where solo games are started and possibly even finished within 3 hours. The focus is largely on collaboration, networking and ideas sharing. The Shindig – Summer Games Jam is closer in ethos to TigJam as the time frame of 7 hours is best suited to solo work that is not judged at the end of the day.
Who is it for?
If you’ve ever said to yourself “I just wish I had more opportunities to be creative in my work” or “I want to figure out who else in Ireland is also into making games”, then this event is for you. We expect an audience of mostly professionals and students from jobs or courses relating to computer programming and games development. Participants should be proficient enough in some programming language or set of tools such that they are capable of creating an interactive experience or a game related piece of art or audio.
What’s the theme?
Oh, I can’t tell you that, the theme will be announced on the day. This combined with the short time frame really gives for a level playing field!
I don’t want to work solo, can I work in a team?
Sure you can, although this only really makes sense if you are teaming up in advance of the event. There will be no formal process for creating teams on the day and we generally think the short time frame of 7 hours suits people working solo but sharing tips and advice. Seats will be grouped together in 6’s or 4’s so there should be plenty of opportunity for interacting.
7 hours?? Are you crazy?
There are several ways to cope with the 7 hour restriction if you are making a game and these are often used at Games Jams.
1) Tool up. Get to know a good prototyping tool like “Flixel” or “Processing” or “Gamemaker” (friendly for non-programmers).
2) Reduce scope radically. Use text instead of art, skip the intro or instructions. 2D is much easier. A one screen game is awesome.
3) Don’t finish, do something else – maybe make a song or do some art. Hey its your day and if you aren’t enjoying how it’s going, change track. You can always finish the game later
Where can I find out more about independent games and developers?
It’s a hard scene to nail down, but right now the Zeitgeist is centred on these websites:
http://www.indiegames.com/blog/
http://experimentalgameplay.com/blog/
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/
and amongst the various blogs and twitter accounts of the prominent developers.
Are we going drinking afterwards?
We sure are 