“I started feeling a little bogged down by the scope of [Brutal Legend],” says Tim Schafer, founder of Double Fine. “It was really huge and I felt like the team had been doing it for a long time and had a long way to go yet. I felt like they needed a break.”
That break was Amnesia Fortnight, a two week game jam during which anyone at the developer can pitch an idea and, if it’s selected, lead a team to turn it from concept to working prototype. Now in its tenth year, I spoke to Schafer about the jam’s benefits, pitfalls and how it’s changed over the years. Read the rest of this entry »
Searching for something unsettling rather than terrifying for the Hallowe’en period, I happened upon Parasomnia by Acatalept. It’s perhaps best described as a futuristic chrome version of the Theseus and the Minotaur legend.
Except you’re not Theseus. Theseus hacked the game by bringing in a ball of string, killing the Minotaur and escaping. You’re (currently) one of the preceding generations of Athenian youth sent in as sustenance for the monstrous Asterion and doomed to die.
“Hello and welcome to the show,” says robot Bob Ross. “I’m your host, B.O.B. R055.” Today B.O.B. R055 and I are going to be learning how to draw a black square on a white background.
Now, as someone who used to work in an art store which sold Bob Ross art supplies and videos I must say my memories of non-robot Bob Ross have him muttering his way through paintings of forest trees rather than taking on the work of Malevich. Non-robot Bob Ross also didn’t host The Rage of Painting, nor had he been created as part of a month-long game jam on the Something Awful forums themed around public access television.
I wouldn’t normally post about something like this so early, but it’s cool. If you judge game jams on their potential to create interesting works, then the Procedural Generation Jam wins by hoping to ride the wave of interest in “making stuff that makes other stuff” towards a slew of fascinating games, tools and toys.
If you judge game jams on your ability to join in with minimum effort, then the Procedural Jam wins again by also livestreaming an afternoon of talks from experts, including Hazel McKendrick of No Man’s Sky, Mark Johnson of Ultima Ratio Regum and Fernando Ramallo of Panoramical.
Super Game Jam continues. The online reality series pairs two indie creators together for 48 hours in order to create a game, films the process, and releases both documentary and resultant game together. Episode four is out now and stars Hotline Miami co-creator Jonatan Söderström and Rymdkapsel creator Martin Jonasson, and their game about underwater something-or-other. There’s a new trailer below.
We’d normally cover jams when they’re done and there’s a bunch of games you can play, but raising awareness early seems fair when raising awareness is the point. The Accessibility Jam wants to give “developers knowledge and experience of how to make mainstream video games accessible to gamers with disabilities, to provide good examples of what’s possible, and move accessibility towards being widely accepted good practice in the game design process.” The jam begins in a little over 5 days and you should take part or pay attention.
Not content with remodelling Wang for the sophisticated modern gamer, Devolver Digital have been snapping up promising indie titles to unleash on the masses. Not content with his machinations in the interactive sphere, the devilish and devious Fork Parker has now set his eyes on the medium of documentary film. Super Game Jam is a five-episode series, with each instalment following two developers over a 48 hour period as they attempt to make a game together. Episode one, featuring Richard ‘Ibb and Obb’ Boeser and Vlambeer’s Jan Willem Nijman, is due in April. Trailer, details and thoughts below.
I know people often feel fatigued by the resurgence of 8-bit and 16-bit art styles, but there’s still not enough games aiming to revive the vibrant colours and sharp edges of old Spectrum games. The Speccy Jam aims to change that. As reported by IndieGames.com, a week of toiling has created more than twenty games almost all of which are playable in your browser. Read the rest of this entry »
The Code Liberation Foundation offers free game development workshops for people identifying as women in New York City. So far they’ve provided short courses on C++ and openFramework, as well as their own game jam, and between now and the end of the year they’ll be offering classes in GameMaker, HTML5 and Unity.
