1. IGDA NEWFOUNDLAND
SCI-FI ON THE ROCK
Game Developer’s Jam 2013
5:00 pm Friday, April 26th – 5:00 pm Sunday, April 28th, 2013
At Sci-fi on the Rock 7
Trinity Board Room
Holiday Inn
St. John’s, NL

2. SPONSORED BY:
Video Game Design Program

3. What Is A Game Jam?
 A game jam is an organized 48 hour event for
rapidly prototyping game designs

4. What Is A Game Jam?
 For this Game Jam, an overall game theme is
announced a fortnight prior to the event
 Games are designed by small teams around
each team’s interpretation of the given
theme
 Playable prototypes are rapidly designed,
developed, tested, and iterated

5. The theme for this event is

6. Original Content
 Upon popular request, this game jam will
focus on creating original assets such as art
and audio

7. Benefits Of Game Jams
 Inspires individuals to innovate
 Indie game developers can develop and
present ideas without publisher restrictions
 Exposes game developer hobbyists to an
opportunity for collaboration

8. How Do I Participate?
 Join the IGDA Newfoundland Facebook
group for details and updates on the event
 Register for the event by attending the event
in the Facebook group

9. How Do I Participate?
 As an individual
 You are welcome to show up and team up with other
people at the start of the event. You may be a
“floater” , see who wants your help during the jam.
 However, you are encouraged to network on the IGDA
Newfoundland Facebook group page beforehand to
meet other participants who are also looking for team
mates.
 Describe your skill set and what you have to offer to a
game development team such as art, design, testing,
programming, scripting, or audio.

10. How Do I Participate?
Teams
 It is suggested to form
teams beforehand but not necessary
 Small teams of 3 – 5 people tend to work
better and be more organized than larger
teams because communications are more
efficient

11. What Should I Bring
 A laptop (or desktop computer and display) with
game development software
 Headphones
 Graph paper, index cards
 Pencils, markers, ruler
 Small white board with dry erase markers
 Outside snacks and beverages are usually not
allowed in the Trinity board room due to hotel
restrictions, you may want to bring snacks for
breaks taken outside of the board room

12. Development Tools
Use whatever development tools you feel comfortable with
Links to games engines and development tools that have free versions:
Game Engines
 Game Maker: http://yoyogames.com/
 Game Salad: http://gamesalad.com/creator
 Unity: http://unity3d.com/unity/
 Unreal: http://www.udk.com/

13. Development Tools
Use whatever development tools you feel comfortable with
Links to games engines and development tools that have free versions:
Art
 Gimp: http://www.gimp.org/downloads/
 Blender: http://www.blender.org/
Audio
 Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
*You are responsible for using software licenses legally and
appropriately for development

14. The Game Preproduction Process
 Preproduction can start as soon as the
game jam theme is announced on April 12
at 5:00 pm on the Facebook group

15. Suggested Steps for the
Preproduction Process
1. Brainstorming
 Collaborate with your team
 Make a list of possible ideas
 Consider scrapping the first 3 ideas and the obvious
ideas

16. Suggested Steps for the
Preproduction Process
2. Research
 Search the internet for similar games to avoid
repetition
 Search for game play and art references

17. Suggested Steps for the
Preproduction Process
3. Consider scope
 Plan for a smaller scope than you think you will have
the time for
 Consider the skills and limitations of your team and
the development tools
 Cut non essential features

18. Suggested Steps for the
Preproduction Process
4. Sketches
 Concept art
 Flowcharts
 Level designs

19. Suggested Steps for the
Preproduction Process
5. Write a Game Design Document to describe
and organize ideas and game mechanics

20. Suggested Steps For The
Preproduction Process
6. Early prototypes
 Use placeholder graphics
 Don’t fall in love with any idea or feature
 Be prepared to kill the whole idea or beloved
features
 Have a back up version of your idea in case another
team has the same game idea
 Consider starting over if it’s not working out

21. The Game Production Process
 Production of the game starts at the event
on Friday April 26th at 5:00 pm in the Trinity
Board Room at Sci-Fi on the Rock
 You are expected to wait until this time to
start actual production

22. Suggested Steps For The
Production Process
1. Emphasize meaningful game play (or fun) over
polish
 Focus on one new concept
 Make game play fun in the first 15 seconds
 Consider including simple instructions in the title screen
then move quickly into game play, or integrate a quick
in-game tutorial rather than starting out with a long
back story
 Use audio to create mood and for efficient and effective
in-game feed back
The team can always decide to turn the game into an ongoing
project and continue to develop the game beyond the jam

23. Suggested Steps For The
Production Process
2. Play test early and often
 Play test often for usability, functionality, and
balance
 Expect many rounds of feedback and iteration

24. Suggested Steps For The
Production Process
3. Keep the player in mind
 Games are made to be played
 Observe play tester reactions
 Do they understand what to do?
 Make note of facial expressions and when they happen:
 Joy
 Frustration

25. Suggested Steps For The
Production Process
4. Plan on taking breaks to eat, sleep, and shower
 The Game Jam will be closed from approximately
1:30am – 7:00 am
 No one is allowed to stay overnight in the game jam
room
 Tiredness often causes diminishing returns and
bugs
 When working in close quarters with a small, tight
knit team, good personal hygiene is appreciated

26. Presentation
 Games will be presented to the Sci-Fi on the
Rock conference attendees on Sunday April 28th
from 5:00pm – 6:00 pm in the Larson Room
 Invite your friends and family to the presentation
 Janice Hertel and Keith Makse will introduce the
game jam, show some images from the event,
and briefly explain the process to the audience
 Teams will then have a chance to present a brief
live demo of their game

27. Who Owns The Work?
 You and your team mates retain rights and
ownership of your own work
 You are responsible for:
 Using software licenses legally and appropriately
for development
 Creating original assets for your game or using
assets according to their legal use agreements
 Documenting and including all team mates in the
credits

28. Who Owns The Work?
 Basically, your team is responsible for
working out the details amongst yourselves
 Intellectual property link for reference:
http://archives.igda.org/ipr/IGDA_IPRights_Whi
tePaper.pdf
If you have trouble with this link by
clicking on it, please type it in to
your browser.

29. http://www.scifiontherock.com/
 Each game jammer will need to purchase a
weekend conference pass for $40.00
 Enjoy the conference too! It starts at 2:00pm
on Friday April 26th
 Please check on the Sci-Fi on the Rock 7
website for info

30. Thanks!
We look forward to an awesome event!
Contact: Join the Facebook group
IGDA Newfoundland