Welcome to the Culture Bytes Jam Series: Gumbo Jam!
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The jam is currently over, but the series is ongoing.
Please sign up for our mailing list to be notified about future major Jam announcements.
Discord Link: https://discord.gg/cbVpD5mkrd
MGK Newsletter Signup Form: http://eepurl.com/httsfT
(Your email will ONLY be used for important announcements related to the game jam series or the Melanated Game Kitchen.)
We are aiming to make the series a great experience for everyone involved and will continue to improve. We are looking for more team members! If you are interested in helping with the jam series, fill out this survey and we'll be in touch!
Volunteer Signup Form: https://forms.gle/evmQ3DjUZsWckiwT7
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Culture Bytes is a series of jams aimed at creating unique interactive experiences, under the context of ideas, perspectives, issues, and themes relevant to members of various Diasporas, over a 1-2 week period. Exploring the African Diaspora is the current focus of the jam series.
The purpose of this jam series is:
1) To create experiences that are related to themes relevant to members of Diasporas (ie. African Diaspora, Indian Diaspora, Chinese Diaspora, etc)
2) To give creators more time to make something interesting without being as stressed/pressed for time.
3) To collaborate and foster creative friendships in our journeys for self expression and our collective futures.
Theme: Ubuntu
Theme Announce Video Here -> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOB_265ZPEAHwLJglYNiZGg
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There are particular themes, experiences, and perspectives that are part of the lives of many individuals of the African Diaspora that are not explored often enough in games. We want creators to have fun making games exploring themes that are relevant to the African Diaspora - past, present, and very importantly, the future.
Whether you are experienced with game jams or not, this is for you. No Stress.
Brought to you by the Melanated Game Kitchen (MGK)
So you want to participate?
This jam is open to both digital and analog interactive experiences – choose the medium that excites you!
Join our Discord to discuss the theme, share resources, and find team members! Collaboration is a key part of our culture.
We highly recommend submitting works-in-progress if you don't finish over the course of the jam, as you can always submit a fuller version later, and we love to learn more about what everyone worked on! We hope to share everyone's progress, regardless of full game completion, during our closing showcase stream.
If you can't make this game jam, no worries. This is a jam "series". We are planning to do 1 game jam a month for...as long as we can. So sign up for the MGK Newsletter (link below) to be notified when we announce the next jam in the series!
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Please sign up for our mailing list to be notified about future major Jam announcements.
Discord Link: https://discord.gg/cbVpD5mkrd
MGK Newsletter Signup Form: http://eepurl.com/httsfT
(Your email will ONLY be used for important announcements related to the game jam series or the Melanated Game Kitchen.)
We are aiming to make this a great experience for everyone involved and continue to improve this jam. We are looking for more team members! If you are interested in helping with the jam series or the jam, fill out this survey and we'll be in touch!
Volunteer Signup Form: https://forms.gle/evmQ3DjUZsWckiwT7
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Jam Schedule
- Sunday, June 20th: Kickoff Stream via YouTube @ 3pm - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOB_265ZPEAHwLJglYNiZGg - Jam Kickoff, Theme Reveal & Team Forming
- Sunday, June 20th: Co-Work Session @ 4pm - Look for Teammates! Co-work in Discord with other Jammers & Community Member.
- Friday, June 25th: Co-Work Session @ 6pm - Co-work in Discord with other Jammers & Community Members
- Sunday, June 27th: Submissions Due @ 3pm
- Sunday, June 27th: Showcase & Feedback Session @ 5pm - Let's play games from the jam and share feedback!
Works
- Video on the "Spirit of Ubuntu" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wZtfqZ271w
Readings
- https://www.panafricanalliance.com/african-philosophy-ubuntu/
- https://www.thoughtco.com/the-meaning-of-ubuntu-43307
- https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/community-building
General Works for the Culture Bytes Jam Series
- https://thewagaduchronicles.com/ - An upcoming Afrofantasy Online RPG & DnD Setting by Twin Drums
- https://motherlandsrpg.com/ - POC focused sci-fi RPG on twitch
- https://www.organizingforpower.org/ - In-Depth site with resources, tools, and readings for anyone that is interested in creation positive social change.
- https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics - The National Museum of African American History and Culture’s site detailing in-depth learning resources related to the history of race in America and how that affects our society now.
- www.knarrative.com - Web platform for the largest African Studies courses in the world. A great resource for learning history through an Pan-African lens.
Rules
- Most community conversation for this jam will happen via the MGK Discord -> https://discord.gg/cbVpD5mkrd
- We encourage you to jam with new people or on a team, but it is not required. We will be providing resources for team forming at the jam kickoff and throughout the jam timeline for those who want to jam based on the theme.
- During the Showcase/Feedback Session, constructive feedback and positive reinforcement will be the focus. Building for the future and collaboration are about lifting everyone up together.
- All participants, in person or remote, must follow MGK’s Code of Conduct (in a section below)
Recommended Tools/Engines/Platforms
Here are some common tools/engines:
- Digital
- Unity
- Unreal Engine 4
- Game Maker
- Godot Engine
- RPG Maker
- Twine
- Storyspace
- Bitsy
- Analog
- Tabletop RPG
- Board Game
- etc.
Resources (you don’t have to use these, just some ideas)
- Music Composing: Bosca Coeil (https://boscaceoil.net/), lmms (https://lmms.io/)
- Sound Effects Generator: sfxr (http://www.drpetter.se/project_sfxr.html)
- 2D Art: Paint.NET (https://www.getpaint.net/), Asesprite (buy it or compile the sources), Krita (https://krita.org/en/)
- 3D Art: Blender (https://www.blender.org/)
- Coding: Visual Studio (https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/de/vs/), Visual Studio Code (https://code.visualstudio.com/?wt.mc_id=DX_841432)
Code of Conduct
We will not tolerate sexism, racism, or discrimination of any kind. This means, in our community and in the games you create.
F.A.Q.
- Do I need to be a member of the African Diaspora to participate?
- Nah. Anyone and everyone can (and should) participate! The biggest thing we ask is that you utilize the resources that are given for the jam and make an effort to see from the perspective of people who are of the African Diaspora.
- Who is included in the African Diaspora?
- Anyone that has ancestral heritage connected to Africa. That meaning, Brazilian, Jamaican, Haitian, Spanish, African-American, and many other groups.
- What is Pan-Africanism?
- "Pan Africanism is a political philosophy that represents a belief in the laws and representation that benefit Africans across the Diaspora. Ideological Ideas: Collectivism, Independent Political Representation, Ubuntu The Flag: The colors represent the blood of our Ancestors, the melanin of the original people, and the wealth and prosperity of our African homeland." - panafricanalliance.com
- What is the Melanated Game Kitchen?
- The Melanated Game Kitchen is a growing community of game devs from across the African Diaspora, working together to create interactive works "for da culture." Make friends, share ideas, create. Thanks for joining our kitchen!
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