$12256 / $11500
So, last year we ran the 2018 Open Game Art Game Jam #2 (AKA The Summer Game Jam) and it went over so well that someone else decided to run the 2018 Fall-All OGA Game Jam. Thank you everyone for making those happen. It has made OGA a lot more interesting of a place.
Now, I noticed that people are planning to hold another game jam in spring, (Thank you Spring for stepping up.) and there is a conversation going on about getting the art challenges going again that took an effort to plan around the Seasonal OGA Game Jams. So I figured, "It would be nice if we had a plan for the seasonal game jams."
If possible I would like to know:
Now to be clear, I am not in charge of this. I just think if we are doing this as a community we should plan it out. That is why I started this thread.
Before we get going I noticed no one did a winter jam... so assuming no one else wants to do it, I am volunteering to do it next year. I am going to fill in the following sections with the idea that I am doing it in mind, but if somebody else wants it please let me know.
So lets get started...
When are they going to run.
If we do four seasonal game jams that means a new game jam begins every 3 months... sort of. The summer jam 2018 had a one month planning period followed by a one month build period and ended with a few weeks of judging. If all four game jams follow this pattern then you will end up with only a few weeks between game jams, assuming the judging does not run long. Not good or bad, just something to think about.
As a stating point this is what that would look like if each jam fit neatly into its own season. (I know that the seasons do not begin or end on these borders, but I do not think most people would call December fall or March winter either. It is probably better not to follow the seasons too closely.)
Some quick comments:
Who is planning to run them.
chasersgaming and withthelove, you guys ran it last time are you planning on doing it again?
What makes each of them special.
In 2018 the summer game jam was laid back and pretty care free. Meanwhile the 2018 Fall All-OGA Game Jam required people to use only assets found on OGA. This gave both of them a distinct feel and made the Fall All-OGA Game Jam exciting even though the summer one had just ended. So if we are going to do several of these a year what should spring and winters gimics be? Or do we want to rely on people having different schedules drive them?
Personally, I would like to have a batton pass on the winter game jam. You design a game in December and then build someone elses design in January. (A new developer like the new year takes over where the old one left off.) I suspect this would be helpful for "game dev" new year's resolutions too.
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Sorry for the mess. My posts formatting got clobbered and I could not preview or edit it. The lines of "=" were meant to separate out headers. The patern is "=" line, Header, "=" line, section text. Sorry for the inconvenience >.>;Edit: Someone pointed out to me there is an edit button. I am trying to make it more readable now.
Edit 2: I got the original post readable. It appeared to be a bug that converted "p" tags into "div" tags. Here are links to the OGA game jams on itch.io (I do not plan to edit the original post again...)
OpenGameArt Game Jam: https://itch.io/jam/opengame-art-game-jam
OpenGameArt Game Jam #2 (AKA The Summer Game Jam): https://itch.io/jam/opengameart-game-jam-2
The Fall All-OGA Game Jam: https://itch.io/jam/fall-all-oga-game-jam-2018
I have been at this way to long so I am going to wander off for a while now...
Hmm, while your winter jam idea is definitely interesting, I think the main reason why there isn't a winter game jam is simply that some people are too busy in december to devote their month to that?
That's my thought, at least ^^
I shall be running the "summer" jam again this year, and every other year I hope. It will start in June instead of July this year, moved forward so there was time between for @withthelove "Fall" jam. Will still be 6 assets only, 4 weeks development, 2 weeks judging. Ranked for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. I ran the OGA favourite last year, I may do that again, but may change it to something else, still working on that. There's going to be winners for categories this year, best story,best,graphics, best sound, and best gameplay based on the ranking results. I always wanted to do prizes, but haven't done so yet, but I may this year, possible something with humble bundle, but it is not a confirmation , I'm still thinking of stuff. May make some badges/certificates or something. I may add a new voting catagory "OGA Presentation" which I hope will involve the art challenge assets, it this will obvouisly be dependant on what happens there, failing that they will defo be there for inspiration at the very least. Im still tinkering, but you got the gist of it I hope. :)
Chasersgaming | Support | Monstropolis |
@Spring: Yeah, I thought of that too. The winter jam is probably the riskiest one to run. It would be disapointing to get less than three submitions and given the time of year that could easily happen. However, it is also a really cool time of year that could inspire some interesting games. So to help with this I plan on:
Worst case senario we get no participation and the year after we run it in January and February as a new years resolution themed jam. >.>;
@Chasersgaming: I am glad you plan to do it again this year. It was a lot of fun last year. The main points I got are:
My main question is are you still planning on having the one month planning period like last year? It is basicly an honor system and I remember it causing problems last year, but it also set the stage for VinnNo.'s art heavy submition.
Re: Prizes
Personally, I like the idea of prizes... but in practice I think they suck. They can easily destroy the sense of comunity that game jams have and distract people from the rewards of simply making a game or meeting new people. I honestly don't know how I feel about the badges even. Last year I had a really ugly attitude driven by my competitiveness. I would think things like "My game is better than this." or "He is so far ahead of me.", and it got in the way of my ability to see the people behind the games. I do not want to encourage that kind of mind set. I kind of do not want indivual awards You either finished or not, but comunity ones might be cool.
"one month planning"
There was never really a planning period. Everyone knows (or those that participate) that you have all year to create assets for your game jam, as it uses art from OGA that has been here for a long time. Only assets that need to be created or edited will i suppose need that time, but there is nothing stopping you from doing that now, i suppose because the 'jam page' gets advertised one month early that may be the reason for some to think that. but i did that at the beginning as the jam was only just become a thing, so i wanted to give people enough time to know about it. no doubt i will do the same again, but its the idea is to make people aware the jam is comming, not really for the prep of assets. :)
"honor system and problems"
As i have mentioned above, its not about gaining an advantage, its about being made aware the jams start date, the only real advantage is to those that are on OGA community that know about the jam and how it works.:) I don't recall any 'problems', none of major concern.:)
"My game is better than this", "he is so far ahead of me"
lol, well, this happens anyway!, regardless of any prizes, everybody gets competitive because everyone wants to win. but trust me, it shouldn't ever really be about the winning, participation is the real winner and the efforts for your game, and having a game or part there of is still an great achievement. If i bring prizes into the mix, there not going to be life changing tings, there just to drive the jam, its participants which in turn may generate more of an active OGA community, and more assets, but that again it may not. Engagement can happen on many levels through communitys, either via the jam, or the forums. It's up to the persons/people/group how they engage with each other, i only hope they do it respectively. I cant help if people turn into green eyed monsters because of their own competitive nature, or as you say 'encourage a kind of mind set', thats not a thing i can do anything about. :) Id like to offer everyone something for taking the time for participating, giving up there time etc, but i cant, so if i can offer someting for certain aspects in terms of a reward of some sort then i will, because it gives more chance of someone winning something at least. but like i mentioned in an earlier post, im still tinkering. :) If the rewards are something you see as a negative thing, then i hear what your saying, but its something i do want to try since the start and i would like to continue to do so, if it fails then its me that will end up with egg my me face. :)
Chasersgaming | Support | Monstropolis |
Okay, I thought it was actually a part of the jam. Little bit of a bummer to find out it is not, but oh well.
Re: Prizes
Ultimately a persons behavior is on them. That said there are things that a game designer can do to encourage the kind of behavior they want. I mentioned my concern about prizes only to encourage thinking about it. Personally, I have some bad experiences from game jams that got too competitve. So, I tend to lean the other direction, but I do realize that prizes could be beneficial. I look forward to seeing what you come up with. It is your jam after all. :)
I am up for running the Fall jam again.
I don't mind the different jams having different rule sets, I think he/she who runs the jam should be able to set the rules however they want. I think that'll give us a chance to try out different ideas and variations.
So I don't think we should have a formal 'Spring is this Jam', 'Fall is this jam with these rules' declaration. Instead, just get someone to sign off on running each Jam and then let them tweak rules as they like.
I suppose that might get confusing for participants but so far it's been ok and I think it's best to keep ourselves flexible.
I like the schedule you've outlined. Only concerns are how does that match up with the Art Challenge schedule? and is that too many Jams?
Offhand, I'd say we could pair seasonal art challenges with this Game Jam schedule by running 4 week at challenges that were 3 weeks to submit, 1 week for voting. They'd run before the Game Jams, so the schedle would be:
January - Winter Game Jam
Feburary - Winter Game Jam Judging
March - Spring Art Challnge
April - Spring Game Jam
May - Spring Game Jam Judging
June - Summer Art Challnge
July - Summer Game Jam
August - Summer Game Jam Judging
September - Fall Art Challnge
October - Fall Game Jam
November - Fall Game Jam Judging
December- Winter Art Challenge
I'll admit, four Jams a year does seem ambitious, but I don't suppose there's no harm in giving it a try.
A related concern is that looking at that schedue it's 2/3rds Game Jam and 1/3rd Art Challenges. I wish there was a way to make it more equalized, but if we want to avoid overlap I don't see a way to do it.
re: prizes, I agree I am not thrilled at the idea of injecting $$ into the jams. But going with what I was saying earlier, if someone else wants to try running a jam with a cash prize, I think that's great. Like I said, I think it's good if we try different things. I'll say a physical 'Golden Sara' trophy for the winner would be top notch, but I don't know how we get one made and I shudder to think of what the shipping costs might be.
@chasersgaming:
To put my money where my mouth is, PM me and I'd be happy to contribute to a prize pool for the Summer Game Jam if that's something you'd like to do.
https://withthelove.itch.io/
just for everyones attention, should i run any prizes on the 'Summer' jam, they will not be cash prizes. :)
Chasersgaming | Support | Monstropolis |
@withthelove:
Glad to here you plan on doing it again. :)
First, I don't know how well that schedule is going to work out. I have not heard a date from Spring yet, but I suspect March or April. Chasersgaming said June. (I think that is what we came up with to make room for the Fall Jam last year. >.> ) The winter one is currently planned to run in two phases over both December & January.
I feel that Jams and Art challenges work together. The Art Challenge gives people ideas of what to upload and makes uploading assets fun, while the Jams teach us how to use OGA more efficiently and what makes art assets good. Conceptually, I am okay with the seasonal art challenges running all three months. This would let the jams particpate in the challenges. First month is a period of inspiration and planning. Second month lets people build and share assets as part of the jam. The third month encourages people to finish the assets they did not have time for during the jam and make assets they wish they had. (Well if any of the jams actually fit the schedule >.>) Additionally the longer duration challenges would allow for more complete assets and assets that just take longer to make (ex. animated 3D models). The obvious drawback is that with a three month art challenge it might be hard to keep excitement going. :/
Re: Trophies
From a quick look online a trophy looks like it costs about $10 USD and you could get it shipped flatrate in the United States of America for $20 or less. A "Golden Sara" figure/topper would be harder... Someone would have to design it and I do not know how much getting it made would cost. I have a few trophy shops in town, so I could get quotes if you want. I am out of town right now, but I can check next week if you want. My guess is we could get them for under $50. Not saying it is a great idea, just saying I could look into it if there is interest.
@chasersgaming:
I can not answer that for you, but feel free to try it. Just think it through. I will admit a cool prize makes a jam alot more appealing.
Also, thanks for the graphic reviews you did last year. Those were cool.
Current Schedule (As I understand it):
Spring Jam (Hosted by Spring) - Time: TBA
Summer Jam (chasersgameing) - Time: June
Fall Jam (withthelove) - Time: October?
Winter Jam (Saliv) - Time: Dec & Jan
@saliv my Jam will be running from 30th of March of 30th of April if everything goes according to plan.
Strictly Personally, I would prefer not to be shoved into a larger grand scheme or any sort of semi-official schedule though?
@withthelove I think your schedule is a little ambitious and I fear that we would overcommit trying to pull all of that off, at least when compared to previous years' activity, perhaps in 2020 that plan is realistic though, however I would be up for cancelling that spring jam and just having the art challenge in spring instead if everyone thinks that is better.
Speaking of trophies, I do know an artist who can make high quality hand painted figurines, they are of course not cheap by any means though, and I think doing it just for fun is really the best idea anyway ^^
As long as we have some sort of activity in spring, it's all fine with me ^^
@Saliv: Confused. did I miss something? I thought the schedule I posted was the same as yours but with the 'Planning' month replaced with Art Challenge months.
@chasersgaming: If we shoot for seasonal jams, would you be ok running the Summer Jam in July?
@Spring: I agree the schedule looks ambitious, but when you math it out, it's just 4 art challenges and 4 game jams a year. I think 4 game Jams a year seems ambitious, but 4 Art Challenges doesn't seem like enough.
Honestly, I say we just try it. The Summer and Fall Game Jams both had really good turn out, so it seems like there is a good amount of interest in them out there. The Art Challenges have always gotten a good response too, although it did seem like running one once a month got to be too much for participants and admins alike. So who knows, maybe seasonal is the magic godilocks schedule that will be just right.
re: tropies: Thanks for looking into the pricing on those. It doesn't seem as unmanageable as I'd feared. Another alternative to a 'golden sara', would be a plaque or crystal trophy that has sara etched into it. That way we could just dig up a good Sara image for OGA and use that.
@Spring: No worries about being 'locked' into anything. If you just want to run the one jam that's totally fine, no one is asking for lifetime commitements here. I think the idea, like I was suggesting with the Art Challenges, would be to have a thread that lays out the schedule and asks for volunteers to run the run different Jams and Challenges on an individual basis, like a sign-up sheet or sorts. So no one is committing to anything more than one Jam or Challenge at a time.
https://withthelove.itch.io/
@withthelove if 4 jams are too ambitious what about just 3 then? then we can do just the art challenges in spring to get prepared for summer well. It's not like my jam is obligatory.
@withthelove absolutely, il be more than happy to move back to July if that's better.:) just say the word, then I can confirm it.
just to say, I couldn't commit to a 'winter' jam, November, December sort of time as I simply don't have the time during those months. I say that because I would want to support it and whoever runs it,but I couldn't enter or work on anything during those time periods.:) that's just me.
Chasersgaming | Support | Monstropolis |
@withthelove:
The information I posted at the top was for conversation starting reasons only. During the conversation it looked like we were going with a slightly different schedule that I posted in my last post. However, after I posted it, the conversation changed and now it looks like you are correct. :D
@Spring:
I am sorry if my posts have upset you. I am not trying to force you into anything and I completly understand if you choose not to do the jam. Alot can come up in a short amount of time and a jam is not a small commitment.
That said, from what I have seen of you and what I have heard of your jam, it looks like your jam would be a good one. I was looking forward to it, but I do not want you to "force your way through it".
@Saliv
Ahh, don't worry I'm not upset at all, but I do think that if people think there are too many jams compared to art challenges, then mine would be the best one to cut.
@Spring: I am also excited for the Spring jam! I actually think Winter would be the first one to cut, the holiday season is totally brutal for just about everybody.
@chasersgaming: If we're all agreed on the schedule I laid out then I'll start a thread asking for volunteers for the unclaimed jam/art challenge spots. Also, if we have trouble filling the spots, I'll be happy to fill in as needed.
https://withthelove.itch.io/
@withthelove, yep, looks good to me! well done everyone for their input :)
Chasersgaming | Support | Monstropolis |
From the looks of it no one seems to want a game jam in December. So with that in mind, I plan on doing a January only version next year. Which is to say: "I agree with the schedule". I plan to participate in the jams this year and will give a more complete plan later this year, after I have thought it out better.
Thanks everyone for your time!