The general idea is you want to think about all the things that matter to your artistic vision and write them down. There are a lot things to keep in mind.
* Priorities (What is the most important thing for your artists to remember?)
* Technology (sprites, vector, 3d?)
* Platform (PC, mobile, console)
* Engine (It won't help the assets fit together, but it will make them easier to use if the artist knows how you are going to use them.)
* Techniques (Grey Scale Index, Dithering, pallet swaps, transparency)
* RAM hacks (How big a sprite sheet is each character allowed? Is reusing spites in different animations cool? subdividing sprites for different effects? multi-piece animations? etc.)
* Perspective (What angle are we seeing things from?)
* Scale (How big is a meter or does it mater?)
* Themes (hope, fear, decay, morals, fantasy, etc.)
* Factions (Are there teams and if so what divides them?)
* tiles/sprites/hit sparks (Do the same rules apply to all asset types or do different types of assets have different rules and if so what do they share?)
* Color palette
* Shading (Yes/no, when and how?)
* Level of detail
* Animation standards (What animations do all your characters need, are there frame counts on that?)
* Etc.
Personally if you have the money for it I would recommend finding an experienced artist you like to make it for you. This is the realm of concept artists and lead artists. That said remember a style guide is a "guide book" not a "law book" and there is no way to account for everything.
@withthelove The OGA Fall "Harvest" Jam. >.>
Prepare to see a lot of shmups, rpgs, rouge likes, and Kenny inspired platformers. Though if you are cool with that we might get a few gems out of the deal. I am willing to give it a try.
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.
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".
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
Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - 00:47
"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. :)"
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. :)
This might be the motivation I need to actually finish my game... maybe. Anyway, it looks fun. However, you forgot to tell us what we are supposed to do with our entries. I would sugest using a tag something like OGAGameJamArcade and linking them here. Also, given that there is no deadline these are likely to just trickle in from time to time. Especially after new game jams.
@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:
Having a slow pace (One month plan, one month build).
Having the thing ready to go in advance so people will know if it is right for them.
Do some level of advertising for it at least a month early.
Have a comunity focus so this is not a straight replacement for hanging out with your friends and family.
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:
June instead of July this year.
You are planning on keeping it largely similar this year, but are still looking at tweaks to make it better.
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.
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...)
Technical (Is this real chiptune and if so what platform was it made for? Does the song have intros? Loops? Closings? Variations? etc.)
What instruments where used? (includes, excludes, and only the selected instruments.)
What is the song supposed to be used for? (Title scene, battle, boss, character theme, mood, overworld, etc.)
I do not believe it is fair to ask all of that from the artists so a user generated labels option might be a good plan, but I would still like to see what the artist thoughts are though...
Honestly, that should probably be a more site wide discussion. Unless, you want each category to have it's own sort function.
In addition to the LPC style guide the Open Pixel Project has one here if you need more ideas: http://www.openpixelproject.com/style-guide/
The general idea is you want to think about all the things that matter to your artistic vision and write them down. There are a lot things to keep in mind.
* Priorities (What is the most important thing for your artists to remember?)
* Technology (sprites, vector, 3d?)
* Platform (PC, mobile, console)
* Engine (It won't help the assets fit together, but it will make them easier to use if the artist knows how you are going to use them.)
* Techniques (Grey Scale Index, Dithering, pallet swaps, transparency)
* RAM hacks (How big a sprite sheet is each character allowed? Is reusing spites in different animations cool? subdividing sprites for different effects? multi-piece animations? etc.)
* Perspective (What angle are we seeing things from?)
* Scale (How big is a meter or does it mater?)
* Themes (hope, fear, decay, morals, fantasy, etc.)
* Factions (Are there teams and if so what divides them?)
* tiles/sprites/hit sparks (Do the same rules apply to all asset types or do different types of assets have different rules and if so what do they share?)
* Color palette
* Shading (Yes/no, when and how?)
* Level of detail
* Animation standards (What animations do all your characters need, are there frame counts on that?)
* Etc.
Personally if you have the money for it I would recommend finding an experienced artist you like to make it for you. This is the realm of concept artists and lead artists. That said remember a style guide is a "guide book" not a "law book" and there is no way to account for everything.
P.S. Longer is not better. Good luck :)
Almost there...
@withthelove The OGA Fall "Harvest" Jam. >.>
Prepare to see a lot of shmups, rpgs, rouge likes, and Kenny inspired platformers. Though if you are cool with that we might get a few gems out of the deal. I am willing to give it a try.
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!
@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".
@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
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. :)
This might be the motivation I need to actually finish my game... maybe. Anyway, it looks fun. However, you forgot to tell us what we are supposed to do with our entries. I would sugest using a tag something like OGAGameJamArcade and linking them here. Also, given that there is no deadline these are likely to just trickle in from time to time. Especially after new game jams.
@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.
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...
Part of the problem is that there are a lot of ways to search for a song:
I do not believe it is fair to ask all of that from the artists so a user generated labels option might be a good plan, but I would still like to see what the artist thoughts are though...
Honestly, that should probably be a more site wide discussion. Unless, you want each category to have it's own sort function.
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