The theme is "TIME". Good luck, everyone!

Welcome to the GameDev.tv Community Jam!

This is a relaxed, friendly event where participants work either in a team or solo to make a playable game in a given period of time based on a theme. Theme will be announced on the start of May 1 (0:00 hours CT) to account for participants across many timezones.

• 31 days to produce a game, either solo or with a team. If team, one person is the designated uploader.
• Buggy submissions are okay! Hotfix patches are allowed after the deadline if you want to fix bugs.
• All entries must include source as part of the submission, or a link to the source hosted externally (DropBox, GitHub, etc.)
• Using paid assets is NOT allowed, but free assets and those under an open source license are allowed.

FAQ

Q: I'm new to game development. Should I participate?

Absolutely! The jam is intentionally long in case you want to complete a course section and submit it as a solo entry. There is no penalty for missing the deadline, so I encourage you to participate because you will learn a lot by just giving it a try :)

Q: I'm new to game jams. How should I plan my time?

Plan to make something you think you can complete in 1/3 of the time (10 days). This will give you plenty of time for issues during development, fixing bugs, and polishing.

Q: Can I take one of my completed projects, adapt it to the theme, and then submit it as my entry?

Game jams are events where developers build a new working game within the timeframe that matches the theme. There is nothing stopping you from adapting an existing work into an entry, but it is highly discouraged.

Q: How do I form / join a team?

Participating in a team is an informal process - just group up with others! Note that only one person on the team will be the one who submits the finished entry. Other team members can be listed in the entry description to give credit.

Q: How do I work with a team?

I recommend establishing a few things:

• How will you combine work? If you use a version control system like Git, you can use a Git Merge tool (many IDEs have git merge support built-in).
• Who will be working on what scene? It's heavily recommended not to have more than one person working on a scene at a time, so clearly tell your teammates when you are going to be editing a certain scene. Also consider working in separate scenes and combining into a 'combined' scene for each scene you intend to have. For example, CombinedMenu, CombinedGameplay, etc.
• What platforms are you targeting? If targeting WebGL, be sure everyone is familiar with the limitations of the platform. For simplicity, I recommend just sticking to PC/Mac.

Lastly, I recommend spending the first 3-6 hours planning not only the general design of the game but also the overall architecture, this way everyone knows what fits into what.

Q: Are there prizes?

There are no prizes as this is not a competitive event. However, users can vote on each other's submissions in three categories (visuals, gameplay, audio) as well as provide comments and feedback. I encourage everyone to try each other's games after the event, learn from each other's source code, and give tips where able :)

Q: Can I use assets I made myself?

Yes! Any assets you make are owned by you and can be part of your entry.

Q: Can I use open source frameworks / libraries?

Yes, just be sure to follow their license terms, many of which require you to credit the author somehow.

Q: Where can I get public domain (CC0) art that doesn't have any license restrictions or requirements?

All of Kenny's assets are public domain and have my highest recommendation.