Making a Jam on Itch io with prizes

[GameBear]

So, seeing as my post in the other thread got no response, I decided I wanted to make a dedicated thread for it.

Here is what I'd like to do (And will do if there is support for it)
-Hold a 1-2 week game Jam. SFML will be a requirement
-1 man team development
-Theme, Vote on a list of 10+ themes, top 3 will be open to use, individually or mixed. creators choice.
-Graphics and sound assets: any free/legal will be allowed. (I think, still not 100% on this one)
-Code assets: Basic framework can be done beforehand (window, game loop ect.) but game mechanics must be made after start.
-SFML tribute must be included in game, regardless of theme.
-Prize: the winner will be able to choose one of the following books (print edition):
SFML Game Development
SFML Essentials
SFML Blueprints
SFML Game Development By Example
Mastering SFML Game Development
Any new SFML Books that comes out before i start the contest
The prize can be given away as a donation if the winner already have the books.

How Ill do it:
-I'll use some time from now to hammer out the details.
-Then ill give 1 month for theme suggestions (I will sort trough these so all are pg 15 or some such) (posting on Itch now, and all other places i can think of)
-1 Week for theme voting
-Announcement of theme, 1-2 weeks for development
-Games come in. 1 week for reviews (no voting yet, but commenting welcome
-1-2 weeks for voting
-announcement of winner



How does this sound?

Q/A:
1) Is this prize paid for already?
- Yes'ish. the money are set aside, but not knowing the selected prize, it cannot be paid.

2) Will there be more prizes?
- Only if others decide to tip in

3) Will this be the only time i sponsor such a contest?
- That will depend on the interest, but i hope to make one contest each 3-4th month

4) Can anyone partissipate?
- Yes, but you will have to live a place where PacktPub or Amazon will send stuff to you to receive the prize

5) Will there be beginner/intimate categories?
- Sadly no, not unless more people sponsores prices so we can devide stuff up.

6) Do you need any help holding this Jam?
- I can handle the stuff myself, but anyone involved with Jams, SFML or sponsoring who wish to help are welcome. but if you are part of the Jam setup you will not be allowed into the Jam. I also claim the right to refuse help for whatever reason I fond needed. (This is mainly to avoid cheating or over-staffing)

[eXpl0it3r]

We had discussed prices in the past and most people voted against it from what I remember.

An argument for prices is that it might motivate certain kind of people to work on it.

And then there are many arguments that speak more against it.
It might feel like there is only one winner and the rest are all "losers".
If the winner already has the book (or all the books) then the price is not very "useful".
The price might vary from jam to jam, which some might find unfair, as they wanted exactly the same price as last time.

I have no strong feeling either way, but it's something to keep in mind.

The most important part of running a jam is that the person responsible does stick to it till the end. Which has so far been the biggest issue.

[GameBear]

Thank you for the feedback... That is surely something to consider... My thoughts are;

I see no issue in sticking with it (for me that is) so if this is the main problem, I may just run a Jam without prizes to see if that is correct...

But about prizes;

being useful, that was part of my "bet"
The newer programmers/sfml users has more interest in these books, thus more incentive to participate. That is part of my goal..  To inspire/lure new people in.

Varying prizes; I'll try to avoid that, but to be honest, when it's a free contest, I don't feel people have no right to complain if prizes change from jam to jam. Yes you use time on it, but you know the prizes beforehand and use the time of your own will.

One winner/rest losers.
That is of course a sad feeling to have, but from my knowledge/experience, that feeling is just as likely whenever a winner is announced in any contest, regardless of the amount of prizes.
Best solution I've ever heard is to only announce the winner(s) and not rank the rest (officially at least)

I don't know, my idea behind doing it was to try to give SFML some of its much deserved attention. But if this is not what the SFML community would like, I will of course withdraw.
But I will probably run a jam any ways, just without prizes...

Best regards

[Paul]

The idea is fine, but you're sure, that you want to send printed books over half the world? Maybe some symbolic rewards would be better.

Anyway, I don't need any prices, I want to defeat C/C++ SFML users with my miraculous Pascal code

About rules:
I'm only for own graphics and sound assets directly created for the project

[Elias Daler]

Hmm, seeing such huge desire to make a  cool SFML jam, I kinda want to join, ha-ha. If it happens in July/August/September, I may be able to participate.

Some thoughts:

• How basic should the framework be? Can I reuse some of my code I've written before which is universal? (e.g. math stuff, collision detection, input handling). For some reason it feels like it gives me a huge advantage over those people who don't have this code, but writing it from scratch seems like a nightmare for me.
• Most SFML books are aimed at beginners and it looks like a person who'll be able to code the entire game and win the jam will be a person who knows it quite well. My suggestion for a prize is t-shirt/mug with SFML logo or something like that.
• There should be some kind of bonus for people making their own art and music, imo. Not saying that free assets should be banned, but they make everything a lot easier in comparison of making your own stuff.

[GameBear]

Its great to see some interest

-shipping the book: I'd be using Amazon or PacktHub, limiting the price to no more than 7 dollars for the most expensive location (standard delivery) so that is not a thing i'm concerned about :

-Assets: I'm still most inclined to allow people to use Assets, (Art and code) allowing people to use free art and music, but requiring them to mention it. (Same with code)

-How basic: I'll let that be a personal judging, as long as it is not core game mechanics copied (So if your game is two balls bouncing who's only interaction is colliding with the wall and each other, pre-made collision functions would be a no go)
but basic functions (such as distance calculation, sorting arrays, input handeling ect.) would be fine, as long as the entry contains a disclaimer that states as much)

-books, I Know these would be less worth for more advanced users, my hope was it to lure beginners to give it a try, maybe have a "Beginner" tag and an "Veteran" tag, putting a t-shirt/mug/cap or some such in the price pile fore the veterans would be okay, but i would have to check with the SFML team if that would be okay with them....
I know anyone could say beginner/veteran, Id be hoping for a honor system here, motivated by the fact that the book would be more worth for actual beginners, and the shirt/mug/cap would be funnier/more of a trophy for a veteran.

-A Point multiplayer/bonus or some such for homemade/freshly-made assets may be a good suggestion, allowing all to compete regardless of artistic proves but giving a bonus to those who make their own (again regardless of the artistic proves...)

-About not being interested in prizes, I'd be okay with someone donating their book to a school or friend or such

-About when... not sure yet, but August/September should be doable and give enough time for interested people to sign up


Thanks for the input guys

[Hapax]

How long would the jam last? Don't think I'd be able to do an intense 48-hour one again. hehe

Previous rules for the SFML jam was that others should be able to compile it. That is, you can use any library as long as it's fully public. Seems fair and reduces "huge advantages"

Just also wanted to mention that the English word that I think you are actually looking for is "prize".

[GameBear]

How long would the jam last? Don't think I'd be able to do an intense 48-hour one again. hehe

Not sure about that yet, but I'm leaning towards two models:
A semi long jam (14+ days or more)
A month open for jam, but 7 days to work on it.

To allow for more sign ups, and time for beginners to seek any knowledge they may need....

Previous rules for the SFML jam was that others should be able to compile it. That is, you can use any library as long as it's fully public. Seems fair and reduces "huge advantages"

Not sure about any library, but yes, it must be free libraries, so no paid content.

Just also wanted to mention that the English word that I think you are actually looking for is "prize".

Doh, forgot that... thanks...

[sjaustirni]

Previous rules for the SFML jam was that others should be able to compile it. That is, you can use any library as long as it's fully public. Seems fair and reduces "huge advantages"

Is there any reason why you chose the wording "public" and not "opensource" library?

[Hapax]

Although I think that open source (the entire jam) would be preferable, it may be more freedom to be able to use publicly available closed source libraries; the point being that anyone else can also recompile the jam entry.