LiveCode Game Jam

Creating Games? Developing something for fun?

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sefrojones
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LiveCode Game Jam

Post by sefrojones » Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:33 pm

I'm not sure if you are all aware of http://itch.io, but it is a great free marketplace for indie developers to sell/host their games and software. The platforms itch.io supports is a familiar one: Windows,OSX,Linux, android, and....web :D They have recently implemented a feature that allows anyone to host their own game jam, setting the rules and dates, etc. I was thinking about setting up a "LiveCode Game Jam" where the only rule is the game must be created with livecode. We can decide on which criteria to judge the submissions and all other details. I am curious if any of you would participate in such an event, and if so, what would you like to see from an LiveCode based game jam?

I would love any feedback anyone might have. I think this could be fun !



--Sefro

edit: removed iOS...oops.

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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by smpcs » Sat Aug 02, 2014 3:12 am

Hi Sefro,

That sounds like a great idea. I would expect to take part. (Assuming I can find the time during the specific week/weekend, which can be difficult to predict in advance.)
What would you I to see from an LiveCode based game jam?
Good question. I don't have any pre-conceived notions or ideas, other than having fun challenge.

Cheers,
RunRevPlanet.com
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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by sefrojones » Thu Aug 14, 2014 6:28 pm

I am setting up this event now. I am looking for feedback from anyone who is interested in participating, and especially from people who are teaching with LiveCode. I would like to have this event during a time when the most students will be earning learning LiveCode. I am thinking about running the event during the whole month of October, but this is subject to change as I (hopefully) get some more input from the community. This event will be open to anyone who would like to submit a game created in LiveCode. I am open to any suggestions on things such as theme,criteria,event date/duration, etc I will post any updates or info in this thread.

--Sefro

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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by sefrojones » Sat Aug 16, 2014 11:11 pm

Possible banner for the Game Jam page:

banner.png



I think The theme will be open(no theme), and the rules will be very simple: Any game created in LiveCode is eligible for entry, not just games created during the event. You can submit as many games as you would like to. If this event is successful, then future jams may have more rules/restrictions. I think the criteria for judgement should be simple, categories could include Gameplay, sound, and graphics, but I am open to any suggestions.

--Sefro

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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by smpcs » Sun Aug 17, 2014 2:34 am

Hi Sefro,

There is a typo in the word "Very" on the top line of the banner. Thank you for organising this.

Cheers,
Scott
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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by sefrojones » Sun Aug 17, 2014 2:44 am

Thanks, actually the lower case y in that font for some reason looks like a "u". I changed it to a clearer font:
banner.png

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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by Newbie4 » Sun Aug 17, 2014 12:46 pm

That is a great idea. I will be encouraging my students to join in.

Are you going to have judges or a popular vote for the winners?

You could use their "Genre" as categories or make up your. There are so many that you could use: educational games, action games, puzzle games, 2 player games. You could do categories by age range (of player or programmer?). You could just give awards by best graphics, most exciting, ... I guess it depends on what your goals are and which would entice students to try it.

You could make it a theme contest: best alien game, then best shoot-it-up game, etc. You could do it by month - October would be a Halloween ( ghosts, goblins, etc), November would be turkeys, December would be Xmas, jean would be snow,...

On one hand, I do not know if that website is a good place for it because livecode doesn't quite fit in. It can go on any one of the platforms or all of them (which one do you submit it for or go to the trouble of building it on all?) It can't compete graphic-wise with other languages that have 3D, physics engines, better graphic/movement engines, etc. On the other hand, that site is a good one for ideas, inspiration, exposure and a place to market your game without going thru the various (and difficult) developer's routes (applying, paying every year, submitting, getting approved, etc - Apple App Store and Google Play).

Maybe you could talk RunRev into sponsoring it and have it on their website. They could give a money prize or a token reward (special forum emblem, t-shirt, or just a mention in their "Game Hall of Fame"). That would be good marketing and publicity for them. Maybe have it an ongoing event, every month. They could use it to answer the questions - "What can you do with LiveCode?" and "What are some examples of LiveCode programs?" and showcase it's applicability as a language for students to use to learn programming.

Anyway, It's a great idea and you are off to a good start. Thanks for coming up with the idea and putting it up here.
Cyril Pruszko
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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by sefrojones » Sun Aug 17, 2014 4:17 pm

Newbie4 wrote: Are you going to have judges or a popular vote for the winners?
The contest will be judged by the participants as per itch.io :

"itch.io’s basic jam system is closely modeled after Ludum Dare, a popular 48/72 hour game jam. Jams have a starting and ending date. Games can be submitted to the jam any time between these two dates.

After the submission deadline passes the voting period commences up until the voting end date. During this period people who have entered into the jam are eligible to vote on the games.

After the voting end date passes, the results are calculated and everyone can see the how the games have been ranked."

This seems like a fairly standard way or running GamJams, but if the community would like to see something else, I think it could be accomodated.
Newbie4 wrote:
You could use their "Genre" as categories or make up your. There are so many that you could use: educational games, action games, puzzle games, 2 player games. You could do categories by age range (of player or programmer?). You could just give awards by best graphics, most exciting, ... I guess it depends on what your goals are and which would entice students to try it.

You could make it a theme contest: best alien game, then best shoot-it-up game, etc. You could do it by month - October would be a Halloween ( ghosts, goblins, etc), November would be turkeys, December would be Xmas, jean would be snow,...
For the first jam, I was thinking of just having the broad "genre" of any game created in LiveCode. My reasoning behind this, is that it would allow anybody who had perhaps been practicing/learning LC by making some games would be able to show-off what they've done without being limited by genre and theme. I would love if this event was popular enough to warrant a monthly competition, but my goal, I think, is to make this first one as accessible to anyone who may want to participate. After that we can see if there is enough involvement to make this a semi-regular thing. :)

Newbie4 wrote:
On one hand, I do not know if that website is a good place for it because livecode doesn't quite fit in. It can go on any one of the platforms or all of them (which one do you submit it for or go to the trouble of building it on all?) It can't compete graphic-wise with other languages that have 3D, physics engines, better graphic/movement engines, etc.
My main reasoning behind using itch.io is that they have a GameJam creation system in place, which makes it very easy to set up an event without worrying too much about designing the website or the hosting of submitted games. As far as what platforms to choose, I am thinking that the options should be open. (i.e. submit for your desired platform, or all platforms) Understandably if one should choose to submit for iOS only, for example, some people would not be able to test their game. One way around this would be to attach a copy of your stack with your submission. Submitting your stack(s) with your submission should be optional as some participants may not want to expose their code. I think that a good amount of participants will probably(possibly?) using the community edition, which would mean that they would probably be including source already. As far as competing with other languages, I don't see this as an issue, as the Jam will have it's own page and is a LiveCode only competition. I have seen quite a few games on Itch.io that could have been created in LiveCode.
Newbie4 wrote:On the other hand, that site is a good one for ideas, inspiration, exposure and a place to market your game without going thru the various (and difficult) developer's routes (applying, paying every year, submitting, getting approved, etc - Apple App Store and Google Play).
This is one of the main reasons I chose itch.io as I see it as a very easy way for indie LC developers to get their games to the public without all of the hurdles you mentioned. :)
Newbie4 wrote: Maybe you could talk RunRev into sponsoring it and have it on their website. They could give a money prize or a token reward (special forum emblem, t-shirt, or just a mention in their "Game Hall of Fame"). That would be good marketing and publicity for them. Maybe have it an ongoing event, every month. They could use it to answer the questions - "What can you do with LiveCode?" and "What are some examples of LiveCode programs?" and showcase it's applicability as a language for students to use to learn programming.

Anyway, It's a great idea and you are off to a good start. Thanks for coming up with the idea and putting it up here.

While I think this is a great idea, I am hesitant to ask for ask RunRev for anything as I belive they are pretty busy now with all of the new goodies coming to LC this coming year. Perhaps someone who is in closer contact with our friends from Edinburgh could see how they feel about this...

In your e-mail you mentioned :
Newbie4 wrote: I would have recommended that it start a few weeks later because some schools do not start until the first of second week of September and that is fairly early into the term.
The dates are not set in stone yet, as the page has not gone live yet, if moving the dates back a little bit would mean more participation, I would be absolutely open to changing the dates.

Thanks for your input and support! I look forward to moving this event forward!

--Sefro

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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by smpcs » Sun Aug 17, 2014 11:06 pm

I agree that using a website like itch.io is better than having a special LiveCode Game Jam Site/Page, because using an existing game dev community increases the exposure of LiveCode to general game makers and programmers.

About multiple categories or genres, while I like the idea of separate categories, it could be that there is only 1 or 2 games in each category, which may seem less exciting. But then there may be tens of participants and categories could work well.

Being the first LiveCode Game Jam it is difficult to know what is best, but I would say keep it simple is a wise approach.

P.S. Sefro, the fixed banner looks better.

Regards,
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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by sefrojones » Fri Sep 05, 2014 4:52 pm

I've decided to extend the duration of the jam, so it will run from October 1st through November 30th, the voting period will be open until December 14th. I have also set up the site and have it ready to go. http://www.livecodegamejam.com

If you have any suggestions,comments, or concerns, please let me know!

--Sefro

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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by catalinanesia » Mon Sep 08, 2014 11:40 pm

Hi Sefro,
Nice initiative, I will definitely participate into this LC Game Jam.
Good luck everyone!
Catalin

sefrojones
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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by sefrojones » Mon Sep 29, 2014 4:52 pm

The event is getting close, and in the name of competition, (and community) I have decided to offer up a 1 year Commercial Indy License to the Highest ranking "original" game submitted. By "original", I mean a game that has not been released anywhere else(app store,google play, etc). Game clones (i.e. Flappy Bird,2048,etc) are eligible and encouraged(as long as submission to the Jam is their first release). I will be updating the website this afternoon, and am also talking with RunRev about a guest blog post to promote the event. As always is you have any questions,concerns, comments or suggestions, please let me know!

Hope to see some great submissions from you guys!

--Sefro

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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by MaxV » Tue Sep 30, 2014 11:23 am

Hi,
I made this example some months ago: http://youtu.be/CRU9qs-_Tkc
I could create a game demonstration like Street Figther, with just 2 characters and 1 level. Is it a legal submission?
Livecode Wiki: http://livecode.wikia.com
My blog: https://livecode-blogger.blogspot.com
To post code use this: http://tinyurl.com/ogp6d5w

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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by sefrojones » Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:53 pm

Hi max!

To be clear, ALL games created with LiveCode are welcome. As long as your game hasn't been released for download elsewhere, it will be eligible for the prize. :D Just remember if you use art/sound/assets that are not created by you, to give credit to the original artist/author, etc.

--Sefro

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Re: LiveCode Game Jam

Post by FourthWorld » Tue Sep 30, 2014 3:04 pm

sefrojones wrote:Just remember if you use art/sound/assets that are not created by you, to give credit to the original artist/author, etc.
...and that such media is licensed explicitly for such reuse (GPL, Creative Commons, Public Domain, etc.). Of course you can also contact the creator of the original work to obtain a license to use it.

Similarly, it may be best to avoid trademarked names unless you have explicit permission from the mark owner.
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