Thinking about taking part in a game jam?
Want to get the most out of the event?
Here’s a game jam tutorial that will make sure that you’re satisfied with the experience.
In this video we are going to show you how to prepare and participate in the game jam
so that you are efficient and productive.
After watching this video you will know how form the right team, create the best plan,
and achieve the ideal outcome given your goals.
These success tips come from years of participating and observation in the Global Game Jam - the
biggest video game jam in the world.
We’ve seen teams use this approach to create impressive games in very short periods of
time and earn the respect of their peers.
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So what is a Game Jam?
Game Jam competitions are similar to Hackathons and focus on creating video games in a very
short period of time - typically 48 hours over a weekend.
Game Jams take place all over the world - with aspiring game developers working in teams
in open spaces like universities, conference halls, or within technology companies.
There are even virtual game Jams - like Ludum Dare - where all participants are remote and
collaborate online.
Game Jams typically involve a team of 3 to 5 members working towards a simple gameplay
prototype around a design concept that is only revealed at the start of the Jam.
This way, the team cannot prepare the game in advance.
Teams are typically allowed to use online tools and scripts off the web to help advance
their development - but the spirit of a Jam is to not develop in earnest before the start
of the event.
Jams are highly collaborative affairs - teams generally help their peers and there is a
definite culture of sharing in a Jam.
Some Jams have awards for winning teams and carry significant prestige - these events
can be more competitive in nature and might hold a different culture that others.
The first step is to form your team for the Jam.
There are two options here - create your team beforehand, or show up at the Jam looking
for partners.
The type of team you create is totally up to you, but the typical objective it to get
a group of individuals that have complementary skillsets that will allow for a broad development
options.
For example, a common team structure might be a designer, an artist, an engineer, and
a sound artist.
Other typical roles might an animator, or a modeler.
Whatever you choose, be aware that your software goals will have to reflect the skillssets
that you have on your team - so pick wisely.
So once you have your team - one of the most important discussions you can have with your
group is to align early on your collective goal for the Jam.
The reality is that people participate in game jams for a variety.
Some want to learn more about the development process, some wants make friends and contacts
in the industry, some want to win, and some just want to enjoy the process and have fun.
The important thing is to understand each others goals before getting started.
This will greatly reduce the chances of friction within the team, as everyone will understand
each others motives.
A worse case scenario is to have one team member who wants to push the team to work
around the clock in hopes of winning, only to discover mid-jam that the teammates have
no interest in pushing hard for the goal.
So be up front with everyone in advance about what you as individuals want to achieve - hopefully
you can agree to a consensus with your team members.
If you can’t, hopefully there is time to change up your team members to get a better
alignment.
Now that you have your team - its important to align on the decision making process for
the group.
Similar to defining your goal, this is a critical step as it will reduce the chance of conflict
during that Jam between team members.
There are typically two schools of thought with decision making - either your team can
make consensus to decide contentious matters, or you can assign decision making to an individual
based on their area of expertise.
In the latter, you may want to allow the team designer to make all decisions based on design,
the team engineer to decide all issues related to code architecture, the team artist to define
the style and art direction, and so on.
Now that you have your team and decision making process, an important step is to put time
limits on the different phases of your development process so that you can be sure you have enough
time to meet your software objectives.
The best way to start this process is to agree with your team on the different phases you
expect to complete during the Jam.
These phases should be specific to your particular project goals - but here is an illustrative
example that you could use as a starting point.
In this example - let's pretend that the team is working under a 48 hour Jam timeline.
The team would want to define when they will achieve the following.
● Planning and Alignment (i.e. what plays what roles, how will they make decisions,
what is the team goal).
Let's say the team should finish that discussion in 30 minutes
● Design Lock.
This would be having the team agree on the high level design - what will the final deliverables
ideally look like.
Let's say the team is working towards a 2D platformer that aligns the the Game Jam theme.
This will inform all of the first game elements that will be needed and allow the different
team members to start working.
Let's say this is locked by the 1 hour mark.
● Next is the full deliverable list.
This design is typically driven by the designer in the team, and would detail all of the specific
mechanics and assets that will be need for the final deliverable.
All team participants will have to buy-in on their part of this plan.
Let's say the team has to lock the full deliverable list at 2 hours in.
● Content Lock.
This is the point where all content is into the build and only tweaks to existing code
and assets remain.
This could be completed at 44 hours in ● Tuning Lock.
This is where all final tuning of the experience is complete - the game is essentially done
except for any last minute bugs.
● And finally, Bug Fixing.
This should be complete at the 47:30 - leaving a half hour to prepare any unforeseen last
items before delivery of your build
Again, this is just illustrative, but you get the idea.
Come up with a timeline that makes sense with your group and make sure you hit your deadline.
If you can’t hit your deadlines during the Jam - take a few minutes to review your scope
of work to make sure it makes sense to continue on your original path - or whether it makes
sense to make some cuts so that you can catch-up to your timeline goals.
Another good practice is to have regular alignment points during the gamejam where everyone on
the team can give updates on their progress and mention if they see any risks to their
part of development.
Again, this should be customized to your specific project and goals, but meeting every few hours
to align on progress reduces the overall risk that one area shows up late and winds up having
a domino effect on other team areas.
So the final piece of your planning is to leave some time near the end of the Jam to
account for tuning of your playable and addressing any bugs.
As with all development projects, nothing ever just work the first time.
As you integrate different assets or elements of code into the build, things will break
and items will not work as planned.
So always leave some time to clean up the bugs and tweak the experience to make sure
its as good as it can be.
How much time should you allocate for this phase of development?
Well that depends on the specific type of development project you are driving towards.
Consider the chances of your mechanics and content elements causing instability in the
build or needing refinement beyond initial Implementation.
Being conservative is never a bad choice with this planning.
So this is a controversial one - but we highly recommend all team members take time to Eat
and Sleep during the Jam.
Not only is this important to your health, but its difficult to do your best work when
you are exhausted and hungry.
We appreciate that Jams can be competitive, and some participants will argue that every
minute counts if you are to deliver something amazing, but we’ve seen many teams burn
out and deliver an unfinished playable because team members crash in the final Jam hours
as a result of lack of sleep or food.
IN our opinion, the optimal output comes from a well rested and nourished team.
Thanks for watching….- and let us know in the comments what additional pieces of research
should your fellow viewers look for when evaluating a design idea?
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