So you want to do a game jam? Maybe you have a few questions and doubts. Lucky for you, I've been talking to my cat Pleakley about the game jam for a while now. I've transcribed our conversations, which you may find helpful:
Pleakley: So what's a game jam?
Jace: A game jam is a short event, during which you design and create a complete game. You can do it alone, or with others. This game jam is going to be 48 hours, from Friday, Nov 15 at 3 PM to Sunday, Nov 17 at 3 PM. You can do it 100% remotely, although there will be snacks and support available at different times.
Pleakley: But I've never made a game before! I don't even know how to use a computer!!
Jace: Hah! That's ok, Pleakley. This game jam is for all experience levels. That means even you can participate. I've created a very simple starter game that you can play around with and turn into your own game.
Pleakley: Ok, fine, then what do I do to start?
If you've never heard of git, be not afraid! Many people have figured out how to do this, and you can too. Use a search engine, ask a friend, or come see the Game Jam Support Staff during the jam, in the basement of Briggs of RJ-B. Here are instructions for cloning a repo ("the game") onto your own computer:
https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/creating-and-managing-repositories/cloning-a-repository
Godot is an open-source, community supported game engine. A game engine does all the "hard" work that we don't want to worry about, like collisions, physics, and graphics. You can download it here:
Godot has a high learning curve on its own. You will need to think about functions and data in the context of a node hierarchy, which is very similar to object composition, if you've learned about that. Godot also uses its own language called GDScript which is very similar to Python. If you hit a roadblock, the fastest thing to do is ask for help. Here is the documentation:
https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/index.html
Pleakley: Ok, so I've got the basics down for Godot. I've opened your starter game as a project, and I hit the play button to play the game. But what now? How on earth do you expect me to make a game???
Jace: Pleakley, have more faith in yourself! I've got some hard-earned tips that will make it easier for you to achieve your goal:
- Less is more. If you find yourself bending over backwards to achieve a goal, stop. Reassess your situation. Can you do less, instead?
- Say no fast. In the service of making less do more, say no to your ideas sooner than later.
- Ask for help.
- Work together. Even if you aren't on a team. Use each other to learn faster.
- Set goals. After considering them carefully, pick stuff you think you can do, and do it!
Pleakley: Ok, but I really don't even know where to start! Can you help me brainstorm??
Jace: I thought you might have trouble, so I came up with a theme for the game jam, to get your brainstorm brewing.
MAGIC!!
Play the game as you go. Let a conversation between you and the game begin. What does the game want you to do? Can you figure out how to do it? Think simple at first, and follow my hard-earned tips. Getting anything to work is an accomplishment.
https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/tutorials/export/exporting_projects.html
- Find/make art assets to the game (look for Sprite2D's and replace their Textures)
- Learn about Area2D's and Signals (can you add an Area2D that displays a message when the player enters it?)
- Create your own game mode!
- Friday, 3-6 PM (Jace)
- Saturday, 10-2 PM (Jace)
- Sunday, 12:30-3 PM (Jace)
- Snacks!!
- Drinks!!
- Prizes!!
- Friends!!
- Learning!!
- Extra Credit???