A programmer's role in a game jam

1. PROGRAMMER,
IKA'Y GAME
JAMMER
Yo!

2. I'm a web/game developer
I've been to 3 GGJams
and haven't "won" in any of them.

3. I'm
NOT
THE BEST PROGRAMMER
in
THIS ROOM

4. It's
NOT ABOUT
being
THE BEST PROGRAMMER
in
THIS ROOM

7. TECH DEMO
is not a
GAME

8. And this is
NOT A
"TECH DEMO" JAM

9. PRACTICAL ADVICE:

10. 1. BE IN A PROTOTYPING
STATE OF MIND

11. “Oh boy, this extra 1 thousand lines of code will make
sure this runs on Internet Explorer AND Android”
- a platfag

12. DON'T BE A
PLATFAG

13. 2. BE THE ANCHOR
KEEP EVERYONE ELSE
GROUNDED

14. ARTISTS: TURN BAYOUT TO GAYOUT
DESIGNERS: MAKE THE GAME FUN
YOU: MAKE SURE THEY'RE UNDER
THE REALMS OF REALITY

15. SOME IDEAS
DESERVE TO
BE SHOT
DOWN

16. 3. YOU HAVE LESS TIME
THAN YOU THINK

17. 48HR
- (6HR SLEEP * 2 DAYS)
- (1HR * 6 MEALS)
- (6HR PLANNING-TEST-TWEAK)
~24HRS

18. “24 HOURS? That's, like, 2 regular work days!” -
Gameleft® employee

19. IT'S EASIER TO ADD NEW STUFF
THAN CUT DOWN HALF-FINISHED
FEATURES AT THE LAST MINUTE

20. AIM FOR
SOMETHING
YOU CAN
BUILD IN 4-8
HOURS

21. 4. SLEEP
No, really
SLEEP!!

22. IRRITABILITY
DECREASED ATTENTION
SPAN
SLOWER REACTION TIME

23. 5. USE AN ENGINE OR
FRAMEWORK

24. SPRITE MANAGEMENT,
BLITTING, CAMERA
SYSTEM, COLLISION
DETECTION, STATE
MANAGEMENT, SOUND
EFFECTS, LEVEL EDITING

25. 2D

26. 2D

27. 3D

28. SPECIALIZED

29. SPECIALIZED

31. RECAP
1. Prototyping mindstate
2. Reality anchor
3. Aim for less time
4. Sleep
5. Use an Engine/Framework

32. FOLLOW MY
ADVICE AND
YOU'LL DO
WELL

33. OR NOT

34. THIS IS A
GAME JAM

35. NO ONE IS
TELLING YOU
WHAT TO DO

36. DO
WHATEVER*
YOU WANT!
*as long as it's legal, of course