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Find a team for Alakajam!

Hi, I'm Sniperninja564. And this is basically going to be ludum dare 39 revenge for me as I did not finish last jam!

Some Info:

• I will be participating in Unranked
• I will be using Gamemaker Studio 2
• I will be live streaming this on twitch.tv/sniperninja564

Good luck to everyone \o/

----I'm totally in----

I'll be using GM:S (GameMaker: Studio) and maybe beepbox or FL Studio for music?
I'm super hype for this jam even though my game might not be that good.

---ANYWAYS---

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE

I missed the Feedback Forthnight, but I really hope I can make it this time. It depends on scheduling that's out of my hands though…

Anyway: I've been meaning to learn Godot, and this sounds like a good opportunity. Previous jams (LDs) have taught me the essentials of HaxeFlixel, Phaser and Three.js, with reasonably successful games coming out at the end, so unknown tech does not phase me. Bring it on!

Quick question. Are "pseudo-code" engines such as Construct 2 and Fusion 2.5 allowed? I couldn't find anything specific regarding them in the rules section. Thanks in advance.

I'll be using Unity most likely for the engine.
I'll be doing the textures myself using photoshop/illustrator.
I'll be composing some music myself.
I'm going to try and make something actually fun this time, as opposed to this.

I look forward to seeing what comes of this! Also, I am open to joining a team if the idea seems cool, and can contribute to any of the above mentioned roles.

The 1st Alakajam! is now officially on its way! For the next two weeks, the whole baby-community that is Alakajam! will choose the theme of the first competition. If you don't have an account already, go register to start submitting and rating themes!

Theme voting process

1. Until next Friday, you will be able to submit up to 3 theme ideas, that everyone else will rate positively or negatively.
2. After one week, theme submissions will close, and the 10 highest scoring themes will be made public. You will be able to rate them again, by order of preference.
3. The final winner will be announced at the start of the event.

Useful links

If you have run out of themes to rate, you can:

• Make a blog post for presenting yourself and the techs you plan to use
• Check the detailed rules of the event (*)
• The Help section in general has some useful pages to explore

(*) If you read the rules in the past days, know that we have made a change: it's no longer possible to use 3rd party assets, save a few exceptions, in the Solo & Team divisions. [11/09 update: more rule precisions about 3rd party assets]

****If you're new to game jams, you may be both excited and frightened at the idea of *making a whole game in a week-end*… Here's some tips to keep things under control!

• Managing time and scope
• Skills
  • Being bad at graphics
  • Being bad at sound & music
  • Being bad at code
  • "I'm bad, I'm bad, really really bad"

Managing time and scope

Especially the first time, it's easy to get lost in the enthusiasm of game jams. Here's some general advice to maximize your chances of finishing your game:

• Take breaks, sleep well. The biggest trap you could fall in is to spend as much time as humanly possible on your game. Except that sleep deprived people are just not as productive! Taking breaks regularly also helps keep an eye on the bigger picture.
• Make a small game, and make it playable as fast as possible. If you're aiming for a polished game, it's best to have a playable version fast, ideally leaving the final day to smooth things out, replace placeholders, add contents, and actually test the game.
• Cut scope when needed. Don't be afraid to cut features or even change the goal of your game as you realize things take longer than expected. Maintaining a todo-list is a good way to appreciate how much work you have left.
• Use techs you already know. This is not mandatory, because jams are also an opportunity to discover tech. But don't expect to be as productive if you're using, say, an engine or graphics software you've never tried before.
• Prepare your week-end. It is allowed to set up your project & tools before the jam starts. Making sure you have all your software & files ready can help you gain a few hours. Playing with the engine a little bit before the event can help you warm up as well.
• Have fun! Even if the week-end doesn't go as expected, you will certainly learn a lot during the week-end. And if you manage to finish a game, congratulations you did it! :D

Skills

Not everyone is proficient is all aspects of game making… But if you don't have a team to complement your skills, jams are a chance to try your hand at something new! Let's just figure out some accessible options.

Being bad at graphics

You don't know how to draw? No problem.

One option is to just deal with it, and make a game that doesn't require pretty art. Games like Thomas Was Alone and 140 were successful commercial games built with basic shapes of various colors. This is what we call programmer art, and it's perfectly acceptable! West of Loathing, featuring stickmen and Dwarf Fortress with its ascii art are other examples. Of course it may not get you 10/10 ratings in Graphics, but simple graphics can still be super fun. Even in 3D.

Another popular option is to go for pixel art. It can be super fast to make, and with some effort it's easy enough to make something presentable. Realm of the Mad God is an example of successful game that has pretty simple (one could even say average) pixel art. Look through a couple tutorials to understand the basics, and don't be afraid to borrow the style or choice of colors from references.

Finally, you can just grab third-party art and submit your entry in the Unranked division.

Check the Resources page for a list of graphics software you can use.

Being bad at sound & music

I have good news: there's several, super easy ways to include sounds effects in your games. Making music is more involved, but still doable!

Regarding sounds, the Resources page has multiple tools for you to try. Your first option is to go down the sound generation route, using the super-easy bfxr software and the likes to produce cool, often-arcadey effects. You could also record sounds yourself with Audacity, assuming you have a decent microphone. Finally, you could just grab existing sounds, which is allowed even in rated competitions, as long as the assets you use have a permissive license.

Now for music, if you don't have any experience but still want to start making music, you can look around the Resources page and give a try to software like Bosca Ceoil. If this is new for you, it will definitely take some time to get comfortable with the tool and not cringe at your music too much, but it's not that hard to get something acceptable for a jam game.

Alternately, you can just grab existing music submit your entry in the Unranked division. Or, you now, not have music, maybe even no sound at all, which is also acceptable.

Being bad at code

Without knowledge of code, there's still plenty of options nowadays for making games! An option is to use genre-specific engines (e.g. for text adventures or RPGs) which are just point-and-click interfaces that let you build your game. More recently, great general purpose engines that still don't require code have started appearing, letting you build any type of (usually 2D) game.

Check the Resources page for a wide range of engines to try, and find the one that suits you best. Discovering an engine during a jam can be frustrating, so it is probably best to at least do some tutorials before the event starts.

"I'm bad, I'm bad, really really bad" *

If you're just new to all aspects of game development, you still have no excuses! Engines like Twine (text adventures) and Scratch (2D) are literally accessible for everyone. You can even enter without making the art or sounds yourself, by choosing the Unranked division.

Depending on what you want to learn, the suggestions above are still valid for advice on each aspect of game making.

This page compiles a list of free resources for making games, especially for beginners. If you have suggestions to add please let us know!

Graphics software

Audio software

Game engines/frameworks

Free assets

Miscellaneous

Kajam are month-long competitions in which people make a video game from scratch, focusing each time on a different, specific aspect of game making. They are perfect to learn, experiment and improve your gamedev skills.

Divisions

Anyone can enter in any of the following divisions:

• Solo, in which you make a whole game alone ;
• Team, in which any number of persons can gather to make a game ;
• Unranked, for those not interested in the competitive aspect of the event.

Everyone has around three weeks to submit their games.

Rankings

After the jam, Solo and Team divisions will be ranked separately through community voting: any person who entered the event will be able to play, rate and comment other people's games for one week, until the final results are released. On each game you play, you will get to rate a single aspect of game development, which is different every time!

Unranked games won't get ratings but can expect as much plays & feedback as the others.

What is allowed/not allowed?

Solo/Team divisions

Unless a particular Kajam states otherwise, the following rules apply:

• Tools: All software is allowed without restriction. It is recommended though that your game engine supports targetting either HTML5, Windows or Linux, to make sure most contestants can play it.
• Code reuse: You are allowed to use/reuse any outside library or personal code made prior to the event, or code bits found from sources like StackOverflow or blogs. You can also prepare your project by initializing the sources in advance. However, you cannot work on a game you started before the event.
• Audio/Graphical asset reuse: You are free to reuse any assets as long as you respect their licenses.
• Post-jam changes: During the game rating phase, you are not allowed to add any features, assets or contents to your game. While you're supposed to have properly tested your game, stuff happens, so we do allow to:
  • Package or improve the packaging of your game ;
  • Port your game to other platforms ;
  • Fix bugs ;
  • Fix balance issues or annoyances but only if they're so terrible that people can't properly finish your game.

Unranked division

Since there is no ratings involved, the rules are much more relaxed. The only rules are:

• You cannot work on a game you started before the event.
• Make sure to respect the licenses of the assets you grab.

For best feedback, it is advised to let people know what you did/did not make during the jam.

In case of doubts…

In those cases where you really want to do something, but it's unclear whether you can, or not doing it just seems unfair, do it, and mention what you did in your game description. After all, this is a completely informal competition, there's no prizes involved, we're just here to make games and have fun!