Jam 2 completed! Now what?

[Jebbs]

Hey everyone!

First off, great job to everyone that participated! I'm going to go through all the games tomorrow/Wednesday and try them out!

Also, a very, VERY big thank you to zsbzsb for not only finishing the site, but for also essentially taking over organizing everything for me during the life craziness that has been plaguing me lately. We couldn't have done it with out him!

Moving forward, I'll see if I can talk him in to continuing to help me out, especially with web development. Getting the website up was huge, and with that in place we should be able to provide more features for everyone within a more manageable time frame.


Thanks again to everyone that participated! The next one(May 30th) will be even better!

[zsbzsb]

You're welcome 

Next time stick around 

[Tank]

Is there any chance that the length of a round might increase? I'd love to participate in the jam, but since it's always running at one single weekend, I can't dedicate enough time into it to complete something which isn't full crap code-wise.

Maybe 2 or even 3 weeks?

[Mercy404]

I like the idea of a 1-3 week jam, maybe we could have it annually in addition to 72 hour jam?

[Tank]

Sounds good!

[piticroissant]

A longer jam would be a great idea. That would be different from Ludum Dare.

[eXpl0it3r]

I wonder though, would "jam" still fit for a 2-3 week session. I've a hard time finding a good definition of "jam" though, so I don't know.
Maybe "contest" would match better and it was used successfully for the German SFML portal (SCC).

My experience from the SCC is, although you get weeks to work on, most of the stuff gets then done in the last few days/hours regardless. But the may have just been me.

I like both ways and since both ways are about creating games, I'm in regardless.

[Tank]

Competition sounds good, yes.

If one starts only 0-3 days prior to the ending of the competition, then that's the individual's problem, not mine. The problem with the 72 hrs jam is that it's family-unfriendly (yes, there are a couple of ol' men who'd like to take part, as well ). I just can't dedicate so much time in a row to something.

The difference is that each participant would have the choice.

[DxE]

I like the idea of a 1-3 week jam, maybe we could have it annually in addition to 72 hour jam?

I like the sound of this too; as it is I wouldn't be able to participate in the 72 hour jam due to real world commitments, but it looks like fun and I'd like to join in too, more time would definitely make that more plausible.

[Lo-X]

For the sake of my social life (and avoiding illness-weekend issues), I like the idea of doing it on a certain number of weeks.

But 3 sounds a lot to me, of course it means you can polish the game more but it's also harder to focus on it. Plus people do have other projects. 1/2 weeks sounds better to me.

[Tank]

I'd be fine with 2 weeks, that should give enough time for making something small at least.

[MorleyDev]

The jam unfortunately came smack-bang in the middle of my final year exams for University. Next time I'd love to take part I'm not so sure about a 2-week "thing" though (2 weeks seems too long to call it a jam), although I do quite like the idea of those "1-month: Get a game released and make at least 1p off of it" things Ludum Dare do.

[Grimshaw]

Making a game in a week or two would be something I'd like to try out! When you guys feel ready, lets do it

[Cadisol87]

I like the Idea of an 1-2 week game-jam too. I just can't manage to create a game in 72 Hours...   

[Jebbs]

Hey everyone!

I've been busy again, so sorry for the delayed response!

Anyways, I think having a secondary event that is longer would be a cool idea!

There are two ways I am thinking about how to make this work:

1. The longer event coincides with the regular jam and has the same theme. It is just a way to give people with busier schedules a chance to participate.

2. It is a completely different event that happens at a different time with a different theme than the 72 hour jam.

I'm on the fence about which one would be better. What are everyone's thoughts?

I think I like the length of 1 week, but maybe it should be longer? 2 weeks? Anything more seems a little long. Also, as eXpl0it3r pointed out, "jam" might not be the right term for such a thing. I had the thought of calling it a "game run", but I think we could come up with something better.

Awesome suggestion, Tank!