I was quite busy last week as I found out pretty last minute about an upcoming 24 hour game jam and leapt at the chance to have a go. The aim of the game jam was to create a toilet game using game maker for a windows 8 tablet in teams of two. Well I have to admit I’d never actually used Game Maker before although I’d been intending to for a while, so for the 4 or 5 days leading up to the event I spent most of my time messing about with the software. I actually quite like Game Maker and have since bought the professional version as it’s quite quick and easy to work with. I also grabbed one of my friends and convinced him to do it with me. He’s a programmer however, so as seen as I was the only one with some art skill I also had to grab my graphics tablet too.
When the theme of ice was presented to us we quickly went on a brainstorming session and eventually decided upon the idea of ice fishing. I didn’t want to go for the typical mechanics you tend to first think of with ice (like slippery surfaces) and I also didn’t want to go down the combat/conflict route as it is all too easy to take this direction in game design. I was partly inspired by the game Dingle Dangle (for which oddly enough the developer actually came along and showed an interest in our game), and the fishing programs my dad tends to watch on TV. The most interesting part of fishing for me is the discovery element of it; not knowing what is swimming down there or what will hook onto your line next; a pleasure that I’d like to capture in the final version of the game. The reel motion also gave us a pretty obvious touch mechanic to work with. I’ve also noticed that a lot of successful apps tend to be quite bright with a lot of character, so we came up with the idea of having a seal sat at the top that eats the fish to add a bit more light heartedness to the game.
While it’s a very simple relaxing style of game I think it really works with the motion of moving your finger around the screen and it feels quite good. Our game was judged at the end by people from Microsoft and they were all very impressed with what we’d managed to achieve (we even made it into the finalists for which we had to stand up and talk about our game in front of other developers… eek!) There’s a competition running at the moment to produce a window 8 game before March, so we are now polishing it up to submit it in time for that.
The Game Jam was really fun and I’d recommend the experience to anybody. It can be stressful working under that tight deadline when things go wrong, but it’s a great way to push yourself, get feedback and a game for your portfolio (we also got free beer and pizza 
.) I’ve also managed to impress myself as I’d never designed an app before and so it was all new territory for me. I found it really enjoyable though and I have to admit that I’ve since caved and bought my own tablet as I’d really like to build more. I’ve already got a couple of ideas brewing in my head.
I’m just trying to start out as a game designer/developer, but I’ve been a bit, well, intimidated by the idea of a game jam. If nothing else, I have zero art talent, and I know that can make a big difference in terms of first impressions of a game. Is it really hopeless to show up to something like that without any art skill – should I look to rope in a friend who is willing to take on that role?
-Dustin
I always felt intimidated by the idea before as well, but after I settled into It I found myself worrying less and having a lot of fun (plus I figured that the worse that could happen is that the game simply doesn’t turn out right, but at least I haven’t wasted weeks or months working on it.) At our game Jam we were in teams of two, but not everybody showed up with a team and so they were paired up as programmers and artists at the time. I bought a friend with me because I usually prefer to have somebody else there that I already know the capabilities of beforehand. It is also possible to design games in a style that don’t require much art work, such as Thomas was alone for example so you could consider that route if you really don’t have an artist on hand. In just 24 hours though, I don’t think anybody’s really expecting a masterpiece.
Thanks for the overview. I’m looking to work on my portfolio a bit, so I’ll keep an eye out for anything similar in my area. Honestly it never occurred to me to bring someone to partner up with, and it makes the whole idea a lot less daunting!
Also, while I’m new to the blog, I like what I see!
-Dustin
I’m always dragging my friends out to game events with me as I find it can make it feel less daunting than going on your own. Thank you very much, and good luck with your portfolio work.
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