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Author Topic: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced  (Read 82080 times)

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Ricky

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #30 on: May 18, 2015, 11:07:39 pm »
Looks like we have another 4 days 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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Tank

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #31 on: May 19, 2015, 10:24:21 am »
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.

Ztormi

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #32 on: May 19, 2015, 01:08:06 pm »
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.

Nexus

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #33 on: May 19, 2015, 01:58:36 pm »
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. ::)
« Last Edit: May 19, 2015, 02:00:47 pm by Nexus »
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Ricky

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #34 on: May 19, 2015, 03:28:04 pm »
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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Hapax

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #35 on: May 19, 2015, 07:33:44 pm »
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. Be kind; it's my first completed original game! hehe
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Lo-X

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #36 on: May 19, 2015, 08:14:11 pm »
(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.

Ricky

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #37 on: May 19, 2015, 08:48:18 pm »
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.
« Last Edit: May 19, 2015, 08:49:53 pm by Ricky »
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Hapax

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #38 on: May 19, 2015, 08:57:53 pm »
(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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Lo-X

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #39 on: May 19, 2015, 09:06:26 pm »
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.

Hapax

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #40 on: May 19, 2015, 09:08:25 pm »
No way a real full game can be done in so little time.
I feel offended  :P
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Nexus

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #41 on: May 19, 2015, 11:55:25 pm »
@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.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2016, 03:29:41 pm by Nexus »
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thomas9459

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #42 on: May 20, 2015, 12:01:09 am »
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.

Ricky

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #43 on: May 20, 2015, 12:38:24 am »
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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Hapax

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Re: 4th SFML Game Jam Announced
« Reply #44 on: May 20, 2015, 07:55:18 pm »
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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