This presentation describes the Atlanti-con Game Developer's Jam

1. ATLANTI-CON GAME
DEVELOPER’S JAM
4:00pm Friday September 28, 2012 through 6:00 pm Sunday
September 30, 2012
Danger Room
Greenwood Inn and Suites
Corner Brook, NL

2. SPONSORED BY:
Atlanti-con
Video Game Design Program
College of the North Atlantic

3. What Is A Game Jam?
 A game jam is an organized 48 hour event for
rapidly prototyping game designs
 For this Game Jam, an overall game theme is
announced 2 weeks before 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

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

5. Table top games and video games!
 This game jam will include development of
video games and table top (board) games!
 It’s your choice

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

7. How Do I Participate?
 Join the ATLANTI-CON Game Developer Jam
Facebook group for registration details
and updates on the event
 Register for the Atlanti-con
Game Developer Jam event
by accepting the invitation
on Facebook

8. How Do I Participate?
 As an individual
 You are encouraged to network on ATLANTI-CON
Game Developer Jam Facebook group page
beforehand to meet other participants
 Describe your skill set and what you have to offer
to a game development team such as art,
programming, scripting, or audio

9. How Do I Participate?
 Teams
 It is suggested to form teams beforehand but not
necessary
 You may be a “floater” , show up and see who
wants your help during the jam
 Small teams of 3 – 5 people tend to work better
and be more organized than larger teams because
communications are more efficient

10. What should I bring for
developing video games?
Suggested Items
 A laptop with game development software
 Headphones
 Graph paper, index cards
 Pencils and erasers, coloured pencils, markers
 Ruler
 Outside snacks and beverages are not
allowed in the Danger Room

11. What should I bring for
developing board games?
Suggested Items
 Paper, Cardstock, Graph paper
 Scissors
 Tape
 Glue stick
 Index cards
 Pencils and erasers, coloured pencils, markers
 Ruler
 Dice
 Outside snacks and beverages are not allowed in the
Danger Room

12. The Game Preproduction Process
 Preproduction can start as soon as the
game jam theme is announced on
September 14 at 4:00 pm on the Facebook
group

13. 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

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

15. 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

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

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

18. Suggested Steps For The
Preproduction Process
6. Early prototypes
 Use placeholder graphics or game pieces
 Don’t fall in love with any idea or feature
 Be prepared to kill the whole idea or beloved
features
 Consider starting over if it’s not working out

19. The Game Production Process
 Production of the game starts at the event
on Friday September 28th at 4:00 pm in the
Danger Room at Atlanti-con
 You are expected to wait until this time to
start actual production

20. 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 polish the game beyond the jam

21. Suggested Steps For The
Production Process
2. Play test ASAP, and often
 Play test often for usability, functionality, and
balance
 Expect many rounds of feedback and iteration
 First year CNA Video Game Design students will be
stopping by as play testers on Saturday and Sunday

22. 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
 Create a short questionnaire to gather feedback and
to ask for other comments

23. Suggested Steps For The
Production Process
4. Plan on taking breaks to eat, sleep, and shower
 The Game Jam will be closed from 1:30am – 7:30 am
 Tiredness often causes diminishing returns and
bugs
 When working in close quarters with a small, tight
knit team, good personal hygiene is appreciated

24. Presentation
 Games will be presented to the Atlanti-con
crowd during the closing ceremonies on
Sunday Sept. 30th from 5:00pm – 6:00 pm
 Janice Hertel will introduce the games, 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

25. 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 and using
assets such as royalty free audio clips according to
their legal use agreements
 Documenting and including all team mates in the
credits

26. 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.

27. www.atlanti-con.com
 Each game jammer will need to purchase a
weekend conference pass for $15.00
 Please check on the Atlanti-con website for
travel and accommodations info

28. Thanks
We look forward to an awesome event!
Contact: Join the Facebook group
ATLANTI-CON Game Developer Jam