SFML community forums
General => SFML game jam => Topic started by: zsbzsb on April 22, 2015, 02:07:55 pm
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[May 15th] The theme has been chosen - 'From the end to the beginning'
[May 12th] Theme voting is now open!
[May 5th] Theme suggestions are now open.
The 4th Jam (http://sfmlgamejam.com/jams/1) is now scheduled for May 15th, 2015. So everybody write this date on your calenders and buy lots of coffee. As before it will be a 72 hour jam and everybody is invited to participate and make a cool game with SFML. Also, as before the jam will start as 15:00 UTC with the theme announced at 14:00 UTC. Theme suggestions and voting will open in the week previous (there will be another announcement to let you guys know about that).
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Awesome!
I was worried it was going to fall on MCM Comic Con weekend, but it's the weekend before, so all things being well I should be able to participate.
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Looking forward to it!
So will the website be fully working till then? :P
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Carp I wont be there :( But I'm look forward to playing to your games!
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Theme suggestions are now open! Everyone can now submit up to 5 themes (http://sfmlgamejam.com/jams/1/suggestions) for the 4th SFML Jam :D
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Just wanted to remind everyone, there is only 3 days left to suggest themes for the next jam. Also I just wanted to point out in-case nobody noticed it, it is possible to edit your previous suggestions if you thought of a better theme. :D
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I won't be able to make it this time :/ Good luck everyone!
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I'm going to attempt to join in with this jam. I'm too busy on the Sunday but still I want to try to get something done. It would be nice to actually finish a game - rather than just making pieces for fun - and I feel that this should be a good reason and opportunity to do so :)
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I don't like the theme voting system, the fact that you can only say your word about 5 themes in a list of 10...
First round, there are at least 3 theme I want to up vote and 3 others I surely want to downvote. But I can't.
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I'm fine with it as it is, really - I just picked the ones I feel the most strongly about (e.g. downvoted the ones that really don't inspire me and upvoted those that I have some idea of what I could do with them).
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As some of you have noticed, theme voting (http://sfmlgamejam.com/jams/1/voting) is now open. For voting details click here (http://sfmlgamejam.com/news/3).
So far a few people have said they don't like the limited vote count with a +/- system. I will see how it goes but it is possible for me to remove the limit if enough people think that is a good idea. The limit was mainly put into place as the amount of people voting is limited and the idea is to force everyone voting to definitely choose the themes they like to reduce the chance of ties happening.
Of course this is all theory and I can't say for sure what will happen either way, but as I said before - I can increase the limit if people think it is a good idea. Also on a side note: if anyone notices anything quirky about the site or anything that can be improved feel free to mention it to me. :)
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I think so far the limit idea has been great. If people want to down vote someone else's theme they should sacrifice something for that. It adds another layer of depth to the voting that I think everyone can benefit from.
Also really loving the themes :)
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I think so far the limit idea has been great. If people want to down vote someone else's theme they should sacrifice something for that. It adds another layer of depth to the voting that I think everyone can benefit from.
I completely agree, the up/downvoting is nice in my opinion :)
Unfortunately I missed the first round because I wasn't aware of the deadline. There should probably be an information regarding that.
Yes, there are several quite interesting themes, but also some very generic ones. It's a pity that people keep suggesting themes that are rather genres or that allow to do anything :(
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Yes, there are several quite interesting themes, but also some very generic ones. It's a pity that people keep suggesting themes that are rather genres or that allow to do anything :(
It's challenging to come up with a theme that is general enough to have people make games that aren't identical but narrow enough that there are limits.
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I abstained from submitting themes for that reason - I just couldn't think of anything useful. I'm pretty sure we'll end up.with something fun this time :)
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Unfortunately I missed the first round because I wasn't aware of the deadline. There should probably be an information regarding that.
Maybe it wasn't exactly clear?
...There will be multiple rounds and the top themes from each round will advance to the final round. Each round will last approximately 18 hours....
Anyways, for the next jam I will add a countdown for each round. It just ended up being that I was a bit busy and didn't have time to add that. :-\
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It's challenging to come up with a theme that is general enough to have people make games that aren't identical but narrow enough that there are limits.
I think the risk of games being extremely similar is really small. Most themes leave a lot of freedom, and game developers are usually much more creative with game ideas than theme suggestions :P
Anyways, for the next jam I will add a countdown for each round. It just ended up being that I was a bit busy and didn't have time to add that. :-\
Yes, no worries! Thanks for setting up the whole website 8)
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I missed voting for the second round but managed to get in votes for the first and third :)
I, personally, don't understand themes that suggest a specific way of coding rather than just 'an idea'.
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i cant connect to my account , my password is wrong... very strange behavior.
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Have you created a new account since the new site is up?
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yes, i voted for all round, now , i cannot connect with my login / password.
edit: That's re-work now... thx.
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The theme has been chosen!
'From the end to the beginning' is the winning theme! So the jam will now start in 1 hour, this is the time to plan your game.
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Great, good luck to every participant and have fun.
Looking forward to your ideas :)
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i dont understand the votes , Black'n White have the same score and more vote than the choosen theme.
can you explain thats ?
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i dont understand the votes , Black'n White have the same score and more vote than the choosen theme.
can you explain thats ?
If there is a tie then a coin is flipped as a tie breaker.
https://github.com/zsbzsb/sfmlgamejam/blob/master/scripts/jamstates.php#L233
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Although I personally preferred the other winning theme, I think the one that won deserved it more as the proportion of positive to negative votes was greater (even if it was chosen randomly).
Good luck to all participants. Have fun :)
p.s. Looks like there might be a problem with the submit/edit link (http://sfmlgamejam.com/jams/1/games/submit): "Oops, something went wrong [500] :("
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p.s. Looks like there might be a problem with the submit/edit link (http://sfmlgamejam.com/jams/1/games/submit): "Oops, something went wrong [500] :("
Fixed, thanks for the report :D I forgot to check if a variable was set (it is set when editing a submission) in part of the form.
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It seems the website is currently down. I keep on getting timed out errors. :-\
EDIT: It's working again. :)
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The site went down because the data center where it is hosted went down.
https://twitter.com/RAMHOST/status/599862940762710016
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Looks like we have another 4 days (http://sfmlgamejam.com/jams/1/games) to complete this jam!
I'm disappointed in the number of entries :(
With the number of people voting on the themes - the winning one in particular - one would have thought that more people would want to actually use the theme!
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Looks like we have another 4 days (http://sfmlgamejam.com/jams/1/games) to complete this jam!
I'm disappointed in the number of entries :(
With the number of people voting on the themes - the winning one in particular - one would have thought that more people would want to actually use the theme!
Maybe they are still working :o
Good news about the 4 days. I'm going to keep working because what I submitted was utterly broken(incomplete) :(
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I would love to take part in the jam, but as I already told in the past: 4 days are too short for me, and I guess also for a lot of other people who have to study/work/family. :( 2 weeks would be ideal for me.
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I was planning on participating but couldn't figure out anything (voted minus on the winner each round I think). I might give it another shot now.
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Are these 4 days official now? When does the jam end?
I was planning on participating but couldn't figure out anything (voted minus on the winner each round I think).
Same to me. I was quite disappointed that the theme was so generic and vague again. Even though I started working on something (on Sunday afternoon, I didn't have time before), the concept was too broad and ambitious to finish in such a short amount of time. Even though I would not have been able to do something big in one day anyway, I might at least have come up with a nice prototype.
I'd really love if the theme was more concrete and specific, but of course that's democracy. The ironic part is just that people who do vote for a topic don't even participate (3 submitted games out of 13 votes). Seriously guys, if you push a certain theme then please at least try to work on it... Otherwise you're just blocking other themes where truly motivated people would contribute. ::)
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I'd really love if the theme was more concrete and specific, but of course that's democracy. The ironic part is just that people who do vote for a topic don't even participate (3 submitted games out of 13 votes). Seriously guys, if you push a certain theme then please at least try to work on it... Otherwise you're just blocking other themes where truly motivated people would contribute. ::)
Exactly. I think everyone that did submit a game didn't care much for the jams theme. Those that did care for the theme apparently didn't enough to make a game.
Also Nexus if school has taught me anything submitting a broken incomplete project is better than nothing. I'd love to play what anyone has made, even if it's not even playable, just to see the art and stuff. Also for laughs. :)
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I agree. I wasn't too happy with the theme but tried to do at least something. I wouldn't mind so much if the people who wanted the theme actually tried something too. Maybe they push a theme so they get ideas from people's work :o
I'd love to play what anyone has made...just to see the art and stuff. Also for laughs.
Not much 'art' in mine ;D
Just so you know, the jam was 72 hours, which is 3 days. It was over a weekend (mostly) so, for most people, would be free time (from work, not necessarily family etc.). I think the 4 days is a possible website bug with the timer looping back. Just a speculation...
Oh, and I'd love to know what you all thought of my submission (http://sfmlgamejam.com/jams/1/games/3). Be kind; it's my first completed original game! hehe
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(3 submitted games out of 13 votes)
There are "only" 9 upvotes (the 4 other are downvotes)
I agree. I wasn't too happy with the theme
I quote that but I could have quoted the three of you. On the 10 final themes there are only 3 themes I consider very specific. So I think most people wanted generic themes. I do. A specific theme is a strong constraint and I think games that would result will be way more similar than with a theme that stays open. I have a hard time to understand how a generic theme would stuck people more than a specific one. But of course everyone's mind is different and valid about what a good and a bad theme is. That's why there is a vote.
Those that did care for the theme apparently didn't enough to make a game.
I kinda take the bad way your comments about people not partipating but voting... Please mind the tone the three of you use. I feel already bad enough I couldn't be there.
When I sent my theme ideas and when I voted I knew I would not be able to make a game, simply because I was out all weekend. I hesitated to vote but here is what I though. This is a community jam and in the community there are people that can't make a game in such a narrow period of time. Maybe they just wanna play games about a theme they like and see (I should even say admire) what other people can do. Is this wrong? IMO a community jam (or anything else for that matter) means the community has its word to say, that's where all the greatness comes from.
Plus there are maybe people that started their game and couldn't finish it.
In a few words: people didn't voted just for the sake of sabotaging the jam but at the contrary to be involved and to make it live.
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Lo-X is right. The reason I joined the jam was to push myself not to complain. I enjoyed it and I appreciate everyone that organized and voted that made the jam possible. I did things I didn't know I was capapble of doing during this jam :D the good news is that we have two games and one incomplete!
I hope people don't give up if they are working and didn't meet the first deadline. I'm still working too because technically what I submitted wouldn't qualify as a game.
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(3 submitted games out of 13 votes)
There are "only" 9 upvotes (the 4 other are downvotes)
I think the point there is that 13 people were voting and only 3 submissions were made. It's not even perfectly accurate as I didn't vote either way on that theme so it's at least 14 ;D
You quoted me saying that we were all saying the same thing but I actually pretty much agree with what you followed the quote with. I haven't said that a more specific theme would be better; genericism is rather important to allow people to have many different takes of the idea. I was only saying that I didn't really 'feel' for that particular theme.
As Ricky said, the reason to jam in the first place was not to complain so I apologise if my 'tone' was edging towards complaintative (I don't think that's a word but it should be). I think I was more disappointed that I didn't get to see how many others interpreted the theme differently. That said, the jam made me complete something! :)
Plus there are maybe people that started their game and couldn't finish it.
This, though, is not an excuse as it didn't stop one person submitting their entry :P
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You quoted me saying that we were all saying the same thing but I actually pretty much agree with what you followed the quote with.
Yeah, sorry, to be honnest I hit the first quote in the previous messages list and I should have chosen it with more care. My bad.
This, though, is not an excuse as it didn't stop one person submitting their entry :P
I hope people don't give up if they are working and didn't meet the first deadline.
I agree with both these statements as a jam is a good opportunity to do a draft/a proof of concept of a game. No way a real full game can be done in so little time. The whole purpose is to improve the game aftewards. So people should indeed post what they have even if it's not playable/crashes all the time/whatever.
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No way a real full game can be done in so little time.
I feel offended :P
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@Lo-X: I'm not saying they actively sabotaged the jam, sorry if my statement sounded a bit harsh. What I wanted to say is: you can't deny that people who potentially participate are more motivated to do so if they like the theme... which in turn is likelier if their own votes carry more weight. If, among the voters, there are more people not participating than participating, then what effectively happens is that spectators dictate the ideas. This is not bad per se; there are different view on what "game jam" means. I'm just trying to give one explanation for the low participation -- which was already low last time, possibly also because of the broad theme (puzzle).
If I remember correctly, the second jam had the highest participation, and I claim that the inspiring theme (time travel) was a strong reason for it. I can say that it was for our team, and I'm pretty certain that others felt the same way. This is also supported by the great amount of creativity and variety in the submissions. I would say the 2nd game jam was a big success in that regard.
Of course, participation also has to do with users' availability, and there are only limited measures we can take to influence this part. One such measure would be what Tank said: make the jam last longer. Of course it's then not a jam in the classical sense anymore. But it's something to consider.
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I gotta say that I really like this Jams as they push me to actually get a final product, and also force me to be creative with a theme I otherwise wouldn't have considered. I mean, I would have never considered making a reverse Tetris style game, and even if I had, I would have spent weeks working on a complete tile insertion algorithm, rather than a so-so one in one evening. In the end, the code looks like a train wreck (for my coding style, at least), but that doesn't matter because you created a game, or at the very least a game prototype. So I would definitely encourage anyone who can to participate in the Jams as it definitely teaches you a lot.
Also, Hapax and Ricky, do either of you plan on releasing your code? I only have access to a Mac, so I can't run the Windows builds, and so I'd like to try compiling them myself and see if I can get a Mac build going.
Finally, since it seems very difficult for many potential participants to make such a short deadline, maybe we should look into extending the Jam length? Personally I like the idea of having two deadlines, one after 3 days (like now), and then another one a week following that. This way, there's a good reason to make something playable quickly (so you have something to be submitted by the "Initial Release" deadline), but you still have time to add features and polish the game (or just finish it, if you were busy that weekend or otherwise couldn't participate) before the final deadline.
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Also, Hapax and Ricky, do either of you plan on releasing your code? I only have access to a Mac, so I can't run the Windows builds, and so I'd like to try compiling them myself and see if I can get a Mac build going.
yeah I'm going to be releasing the full code soon, still working on it however. It's only dependency is SFML (and openal).
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I gotta say that I really like this Jams as they push me to actually get a final product, and also force me to be creative with a theme I otherwise wouldn't have considered.
This. So much this :)
Also, Hapax and Ricky, do either of you plan on releasing your code? I only have access to a Mac, so I can't run the Windows builds, and so I'd like to try compiling them myself and see if I can get a Mac build going.
Very possibly, yes. I planned to github it but I didn't get around to it and felt a little de-motivated when saw so few entries. Also, it uses some bits of my own library not sure how much use it would be.
Also, I'm not very good with building (and CMake hates me) so I haven't been able to build and try yours, which I was a bit gutted about. Looks like an interesting concept :)
If anyone wants to provide a Windows build of thomas' entry, I'd like that ;)
Finally, since it seems very difficult for many potential participants to make such a short deadline, maybe we should look into extending the Jam length?
I would have no qualms about this. Anything to allow more people an opportunity to be a part of it.
spectators dictate the ideas. This is not bad per se
What's the point of spectators if there is nothing to spectate? ;D
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Looks like we have another 4 days (http://sfmlgamejam.com/jams/1/games) to complete this jam!
Maybe they are still working :o
Are these 4 days official now? When does the jam end?
I think the 4 days is a possible website bug with the timer looping back. Just a speculation...
Guys, what isn't clear? The jam is over, but you have several days to get the game submission together. This works the same as LD, coding is finished but you can still adjust your submission entry by adding more download links, changing description text, more screenshots, ect...
I will have a simple rating and comments system live on the site in a few days so you guys can rate the games. :)
As for the low number of entries and people saying how they thought the theme was too generic / not good I personally thought it was good and had a good idea - I just couldn't complete more than a prototype as I was at a camp volunteering all weekend. Anyways, what can I do to make it different? I can't exactly force people that vote to then make a game :/
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I don't think the number of entries was that bad considering the number of votes given.
Maybe have a brainstorming thread before jam starts and theme is voted where people who did vote but can't participate can share their ideas?
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I fully intended to participate in the jam but then, as per usual it seems, life stuff got in the way and I spend less than two hours on it; not even enough to demonstrate an idea.
I don't think I would have come up with anything meaningful with the theme anyway; there were plenty of other themes that inspired me, and I voted for those, but this one didn't click with me at all unfortunately.
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The problem about the theme you didn't like brings me back to my message before the jam concerning the vote limitation.
Have you guys let "0" (not +1 nor -1) for that specific theme ? Because if just one person had voted -1 another theme would have been out.
I say that without having though much about it. Perhaps I say crap.
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I think the 4 days is a possible website bug with the timer looping back. Just a speculation...
Lol. The thing is zsbzsb this is my first jam... ever. Never done LD or anything so I don't really know the process. :)
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Looks like we have another 4 days (http://sfmlgamejam.com/jams/1/games) to complete this jam!
Guys, what isn't clear? The jam is over, but you have several days to get the game submission together. This works the same as LD, coding is finished but you can still adjust your submission entry by adding more download links, changing description text, more screenshots, ect...
It wasn't clear that you could still submit entries after the jam had ended.
My post was just a response to what it looked like.
I haven't taken part in any game jam before so similarities to Ludum Dare don't help :P
I think the 4 days is a possible website bug with the timer looping back. Just a speculation...
I think this mistake was said be me (http://en.sfml-dev.org/forums/index.php?topic=18004.msg130930#msg130930), not Ricky. ;D
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I just wanted to add that I've uploaded the source of my entry to Github (http://github.com/Hapaxia/BringItBack), in case anyone is interested in having a look at the mess ;D
I was going to update the submission with a link to it, but the state has changed to judging now so it can't be added.
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I was going to update the submission with a link to it, but the state has changed to judging now so it can't be added.
You still should be able to edit (not submit) entries, so I will check this out when I make judging live on the site.
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I am also unable to update my submission (which is a shame, as I just figured out how to make it drag-n-drop installable). I also started working on getting the other projects to compile on a Mac. Would you guys be interested in Mac app bundles for them?
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I also started working on getting the other projects to compile on a Mac. Would you guys be interested in Mac app bundles for them?
This would be awesome! Such appreciation would go for such a gesture. I'd like to be able to return the favour but building is not a strength of mine (I even still don't build SFML for myself).
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So I had some free time today, and so I managed to get a Mac app for both Struct (https://github.com/tomgalvin594/Struct/releases) and Bring It Back (https://github.com/tomgalvin594/BringItBack/releases). I'd really appreciate if someone else could test them on their computer, just to make sure I actually made them fully independent.
I also started working on getting the other projects to compile on a Mac. Would you guys be interested in Mac app bundles for them?
This would be awesome! Such appreciation would go for such a gesture. I'd like to be able to return the favour but building is not a strength of mine (I even still don't build SFML for myself).
Naw, the pleasure is mine! I just figured out how to create application bundles, and so applying to several projects in a row is definitely some good practice. I also really like the SFML Game Jams, and providing easy-to-run binaries rather than just-try-and-build-it-yourself code will hopefully generate more interest, and ultimately, higher participation.
Also, I would highly recommend you get into build systems. Cmake does wonders in terms of ease of building and cross-platform development (I used to use plain Makefiles/shell scripts, and those were a nightmare). You'll also find a lot of freedom in it too, being able to compile SFML directly from source, so you can make your own modifications too. ;)
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So I had some free time today, and so I managed to get a Mac app for...Bring It Back (https://github.com/tomgalvin594/BringItBack/releases).
<3
You have no idea how much I appreciate this :) Did you try the game? What did you think? Any suggestions for on what to do/avoid during future stuff? I'm still noob so appreciate any hints ;D
If someone does build your game for Windows, I'd love to try it so let us know if you hear of someone doing so!
Also, I would highly recommend you get into build systems. Cmake does wonders in terms of ease of building and cross-platform development
It is my stumbling experience with CMake that makes me avoid such building stuff. Maybe one day, I'll get properly into it and it'll just click and I'll understand everything. That's the way it normally happens with me :o
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Did you try the game? What did you think? Any suggestions for on what to do/avoid during future stuff? I'm still noob so appreciate any hints ;D
Of course I played it! I think that it's well done overall, especially considering it's a Game Jam and also your first game. The only thing that really bothered me was that you don't slide on walls, which makes it kinda difficult to get through the doorways. I'm still very noobish too, so I don't know how much advice I'm entitled to give, and I also didn't go through the source code too much (just looked at the few places where I made changes), so a can't really comment on that either. I will say, however, that the best way to learn to make games is by actually make games, especially small, but complete, games like this.
If someone does build your game for Windows, I'd love to try it so let us know if you hear of someone doing so!
I would really appreciate if someone could do this, since I have barely touched a Windows computer, let alone do programming on one. Also, my Cmake files will require a few (hopefully small) changes to get working on other systems. If someone actually does get a good build of it though, they'll probably it here, so keep your eyes out.
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The only thing that really bothered me was that you don't slide on walls, which makes it kinda difficult to get through the doorways.
I noticed this too and considered how to implement it but ended up not doing so for two main reasons:
not enough time, and
I quite like the difficulty that it adds - wouldn't it be too easy if you could slide through doors to find which ones are open rather than actually remembering? Plus, it increases the panic when you're running out of time and you get stuck on a wall! ;D
On an additional note, I - just now - completed the final (fifth) level on hard mode! 8)
I would really appreciate if someone could [build it for Windows]
I was considering attempting to build it manually until I realised that it also requires Thor (and also some implementation of a function) and I don't have Thor (yet) so I'll maybe try at a later time if nobody bothers to do it before me ;)
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Finally got this thing looking nice enough to share. It's still not done, barely consider it a game but it is playable. I fixed the AI and a lot of things but unfortunately not in time to upload for judging. I am very happy with it however. It was really fun to make it from absolute scratch and I found SFML to be much more powerful than before the jam 8).
Source is public domain. Basically do whatever you want with it.
(http://i.imgur.com/SjCtpzm.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/hWD9Xze.png)
Download http://www.mediafire.com/download/dcw32creus95h75/RavenCatch.zip (http://www.mediafire.com/download/dcw32creus95h75/RavenCatch.zip).
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And a Mac build of Raven Catch (https://github.com/tomgalvin594/RavenCatch/releases/). Just like with the others, I made a few changes, namely adding CMake files, an Icon, resourcePath(), and making the window resizable. Also, I think the game is relatively complete for a Jam game, and it's actually kinda fun to play too! I'm not entirely sure how it relates to the theme though...
Also, zsbzsb, wasn't there going to be comments/judging on the website? It still says that it'll be "coming soon".
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And a Mac build of Raven Catch (https://github.com/tomgalvin594/RavenCatch/releases/). Just like with the others, I made a few changes, namely adding CMake files, an Icon, resourcePath(), and making the window resizable. Also, I think the game is relatively complete for a Jam game, and it's actually kinda fun to play too! I'm not entirely sure how it relates to the theme though...
You're too kind! ;D
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@thomas9459
I tried to build your game for Windows but your code is so full of C++14 that I failed. Sorry :(