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!READ THIS! Rules, Interpretations, & FAQ Sticky

A topic by PRINCESS INTERNET CAFé created Jul 04, 2022 Views: 2,666 Replies: 73
Viewing posts 1 to 20
Jam HostSubmitted (11 edits)

Welcome to the jam! Once you've read the rules on the main page, here are some more specific cases to give you an idea of what you can work with.

If you can't find your specific case or situation, feel free to ask below!

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GENERAL CLARIFICATIONS

You can:

  • have more than a single choice or fork in your VN/story
  • use your existing universe so long as the player does not need prior context to understand your entry
  • have unlimited solid color backgrounds in menus and in-game generated by the engine, alongside your illustrated BG
  • use Text-To-Speech without impact on any audio limits
  • use any freely available asset (paid, Creative Commons, and others)
  • generate images from AI prompts to adapt into assets if others can reasonably achieve the same output as you using the same settings
  • provide additional information on the VN's website including separate character drawings, backstory info, banners and cover images, provided they don't make diminish the VN-only experience
  • use your own existing assets not specifically made for a VN/game (e.g. vacation photos, childhood drawings, old poem)
  • use previously created custom menu styles/GUI, even if they appeared in other games before
  • submit NSFW/R18 work, provided it's tagged/flagged appropriately
  • create additional simple shapes by code (e.g. squares, circles, etc.)
  • draw an image by code, but only when the results are equivalent to having a single sprite and single BG
  • prepare code for basic VN functions (e.g, skip, auto-forward, text history, save/load, etc.) in your engine of choice
  • use any engine to create a game that is considered a VN first and foremost (e.g. due to the required assets needed, an engine such as any version of RPGMaker would not be allowed)
  • update your game after the jam is complete (we highly recommend making it available as a separate download for posterity's sake, but this is not necessary)

You cannot:

  • use sprites, backgrounds, scripts or other assets made or commissioned for a different VN/game project before (even if it's unfinished or unreleased)

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ONE SPRITE

It is within the rules to:

  • have many facial expressions for the sprite by changing eyes, nose, eyebrows and mouth
  • have many off-screen actors / characters, so long as only one is visually represented by a sprite
  • have a character sprite that includes a separate auxiliary character that does not feature in interactions (e.g, a woman holding a baby, a pirate with a parrot, blind person with dog)
  • have multiple "characters" associated with one sprite, as long as those are all a part of that singular entity (e.g, a medusa with talking snake hairs, a person playing with sock puppets on their hands, etc.)
  • have a "suggestion" of another character represented by a shadow or a reflection with very vague detail (see Illustration/CG rules)
  • have an "extra item" which is a single non-central element that will be hidden (man loses a hat, child's balloon flies away) or appears. 
  • use the single sprite for twins, clones, ghosts, swarms, etc.
  • mirror and otherwise transform the sprite in game
  • show only a portion of a sprite, including cut-outs or zooms.
  • have an inanimate object as the sprite (e.g. UFO, a portal, a robot)
  • having multiple small ambient objects as the sprite (e.g. adding traffic to the city, searchlights to prison)
  • fully or partially assemble a sliced up sprite in game, and apply effects to individual elements (e.g. a snowman's head)
  • animate parts of the sprite to achieve effects of breathing, bobbing their head, or other idle animation (this includes the usage of programs such as EmoFuri, Live2D, or Spline which do not require drawing new frames)
  • create minor frame-by-frame animations involving features of the face, such as blinking or mouth movement
  • have a single alternate movement of a single body part that is drawn differently (head, single arm) so long as it doesn't change the pose, and so long as the VN does not also use the allowed "extra item"

You may not do the following:

  • have multiple changes of clothes for the sprite, or any other separate layers that overlap with their non-transparent parts
  • use a sprite overlay to vastly transform the background (e.g. pre- and post-war city)
  • create extensive frame-by-frame animations of the sprite outside of parts of the face (e.g. snapping fingers, turning a hand around, etc.)
  • change the sprite's pose significantly (e.g. move the torso)
  • drawing alternate forms of hair or shaded clothes for any movement

Illustrations (CGs) can:

  • be used instead of a separate sprite and background
  • feature a character with expression changes and other alterations analog to sprites
  • feature simple crowd silhouettes, or suggestions of people without identifying details

Illustrations (CGs) cannot:

  • show multiple people in high detail
  • show a silhouette next to a fully shown character

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ONE BACKGROUND

It is within the rules to:

  • use the engine's built-in functions, code, or scripting to alter the background (e.g. blur, night filter, mirroring) 
  • have a small looping animation (e.g. inside of train with passing scenery, waterfall)
  • use zooming, panning and cutting around a larger image
  • reveal previously obscured information or areas through pans, zooms and cuts
  • use layers to show a sliced up an image as a single background (no opaque parts of layers can overlap)
  • use custom particle effects, so long as there is only one type of particle being used (e.g, cherry blossom petals, fire, etc.)

You may not do the following:

  • create secondary versions (via multiple separate files) of the background image (e.g. blur, night version)
  • use masks (via multiple separate files) to create secondary versions of the background image on screen
  • use an image which is created in such a way that focusing on segments effectively changes scenes
  • remove parts of a background to create a new scene, even if parts of it were seen in the original (e.g. there is a wall a window with a view outside, and then that wall is removed so the scene is now outside completely)

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ONE THOUSAND WORDS

When in doubt, pure words counted by Google Documents are to be taken as standard. 

Counts against the 1.000 word limit:

  • foreword / afterword / author's notes
  • text of all the VN's branches combined
  • text of choices
  • images of letters or longer-form text
  • any additional parallel language / translation
  • custom menu items like "Start your adventure" instead of "Start"
  • emoji-only statements (count as a single word)
  • emoji made of words (count as the amount of words in the emoji)
  • ellipses (a freestanding ... is considered a word by most word processors)

Does not count against the 1.000 word limit:

  • minigame using words if it's purely a game mechanic (does not advance story)
  • chapter names, even if displayed on screen
  • signs, posters, even if they relate to the story
  • short factual glossary, if explanation cannot be reasonably provided in game
  • in-game content warnings
  • credits, help / controls
  • emoji used to only accompany and reiterate a word or statement
  • repeats of blocks of text achieved by scripting (e.g. common route, recurring dream)
  • surplus text generated from a base text that is within the word count limit (e.g. chat bot, AI generator)
  • name tags, so long as they are not directly conveying narrative
  • image captions intended to describe visuals to players with low vision conditions for accessibility

Concerning the last point, please utilize an engine's accessibility features and do not abuse image captions to add to the narration in a way that moves it forward. We trust that participants will consider making their games more accessible to low vision readers in good faith.

If you are using Ren'Py, we suggest npckc's Caption Tool in order to add image captions to your game.

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ONE MUSIC TRACK OR ONE AMBIENT BACKGROUND NOISE

It is within the rules to:

  • use a looped sound effect acting as ambient background noise (e.g. rain)
  • use a track with multiple melodies / styles, if it existed prior to the jam, and only a single segment is looped, with another segment looped only for a special short segment / occasion.
  • alter the pitch or speed of audio via code

If an ambient audio file you create or find has multiple sources of different audio (e.g. a storm may have wind, rain, and thunder) and you do not control the timing of the other recorded audio, this all counts as one ambient track. If you do control the timing of other sounds, this counts as your sound effect.

You may not do the following:

  • create or use a track by combining composed music and ambient sounds
  • use a mash-up or mix of multiple songs with timed transitions (megamix, medley)
  • have additional menu music that loops (if the VN also has in-game music/ambient noise)

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ONE SOUND EFFECT

The single sound effect...

  • can be used multiple times
  • cannot be looped continuously (if yes, it counts as background noise per the last section)
  • can be made by a person different from the voice actor (we consider this to be a foley sound)
  • can bed altered via code

This limit does not apply to interface sounds, which are considered part of the GUI. Having different sounds assigned to button hover, activation, etc. could be an accessibility feature for low-vision players, as that's audio feedback for different actions.

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ONE VOICE ACTOR

Your entry's single voice actor...

  • can use use variations of voices
  • can have their voice modulated and processed to create completely different sounding voices
  • can be replaced by sound effects / beeps processed to act as voices (this does not count as the sound effect)
  • can speak lines not part of the VN's text, provided they don't go over 1.000 words combined

Regarding usage of voice beeps in lieu of voice acting: you may create different beeps per character as long as it remains consistent to that character.

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SPLASH SCREEN / MAIN MENU / GAME MENU ART / GUI

The main menu / title screen background is now considered part of the GUI and thus is not beholden to many of the previous year's restrictions.

It is within the rules to:

  • display multiple splashscreens before the start (e.g, for the jam, engine used, studio logo)
  • have multiple variations of the title screen / game menu background
  • show as many characters / objects as you'd like
  • show a different location from the one in the game
  • use a combination of the sprite and background or the one CG as the main menu
  • have multiple typefaces

You may not do the following:

  • show any part of the main menu in the flow of your script if it is different from the assets in the game

Regarding image buttons that appear to be objects: these buttons should only appear as a choice, and the images should not appear again in other parts of the game due to the fact that this can be abused to bypass the item/arm/head change limit.

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ONE THUMBNAIL ART

The restrictions for the itch thumbnail for your game's preview have now been relaxed, as we recognize that it is an important aspect of marketing your game to potential players. It is within the rules to:

  • show as many characters as you'd like
  • show a different location from the one in the game
  • create any animation for it, even one with multiple frames of animation

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ONE PROJECT

One person in the O2A2 jam...

  • can only be the primary creative lead for a single project (e.g. producer, director, author)
  • can additionally be a secondary creative contributor for someone else's project (e.g. draw a sprite)
  • can further collaborate on other projects in a non-creative role (e.g. coordination, marketing)

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OFFERING WEB BUILDS OF YOUR ENTRY 

If you offer both a web and downloadable version of your game, you may optimize effects (e.g. video backgrounds) for the web build as long as the downloadable version follows the rules. You may want to note differences between versions if applicable. Please follow this rule in good faith.

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OMAKES AND FANDISC RULES

An omake means "extra," as in extra/bonus content for source material that you own or have permission to develop for. Fandisc is another term for the same concept.

It is within the rules to:

  • reference assets from your main game to create new assets (e.g. redrawing a sprite or BG, making a remix of a song, etc.)
  • reuse code from your main project to expedite development (e.g. recycling animations, code for setting up images, etc.)
  • use the same GUI from your main project

You may not do the following:

  • directly reuse any non-GUI assets you have created for your main game

We highly suggest writing your omake in a way that those unfamiliar with the source material are able to enjoy it, but this is not a requirement.

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FANGAME AND DERIVATIVE WORK RULES

Fangames or derivative works are generally unofficial works based on source material that you do not own or have express permission to develop for. The O2A2 Jam Hosts are not responsible for any cease and desist notices for individual entries should they occur.

It is within the rules to:

  • adapt an existing fanfic or other work you created or have permission to use into a visual novel format

You may not do the following:

  • directly reuse any assets from the official source material (this is piracy!)

We highly suggest writing your fangame in a way that those unfamiliar with the source material are able to enjoy it, but this is not a requirement. For your protection in the majority of cases, we also suggest turning donations and PWYW off for fangame entries.

Host

Changelog:

Section added to GENERAL CLARIFICATION:

- use any engine to create a game that is considered a VN first and foremost (e.g. due to the required assets needed, an engine such as any version of RPGMaker would not be allowed)

Section added to ONE MUSIC TRACK OR ONE AMBIENT BACKGROUND NOISE:

If an ambient audio file you create or find has multiple sources of different audio (e.g. a storm may have wind, rain, and thunder) and you do not control the timing of the other recorded audio, this all counts as one ambient track. If you do control the timing of other sounds, this counts as your sound effect.

New section:

ONE THUMBNAIL ART
The restrictions for the itch thumbnail for your game's preview have now been relaxed, as we recognize that it is an important aspect of marketing your game to potential players. It is within the rules to:
- show as many characters as you'd like
- show a different location from the one in the game
- create any animation for it, even one with multiple frames of animation

Added minor clarifications to other sections.

Host

Changelog:

Section added to GENERAL CLARIFICATION:

- have unlimited solid color backgrounds in menus and in-game generated by the engine
- generate images from AI prompts to adapt into assets if others can reasonably achieve the same output as you using the same settings
- prepare code for basic VN functions (e.g, skip, auto-forward, text history, save/load, etc.) in your engine of choice
- update your game after the jam is complete (we highly recommend making it available as a separate download for posterity's sake, but this is not necessary)

Section changed and added to ONE SPRITE:

- have a character sprite that includes a separate auxiliary character that does not feature in interactions (e.g, a woman holding a baby, a pirate with a parrot, blind person with dog)
-have multiple "speakers" associated with one character, as long as those are all a part of that singular entity (e.g, a medusa with talking snake hairs, a person playing with sock puppets on their hands, etc.)
- have a "suggestion" of another character represented by a shadow or a reflection with very vague detail (see Illustration/CG rules)

Section changed and added to ONE BACKGROUND:

- use the engine's built-in functions, code, or scripting to alter the background (e.g. blur, night filter, mirroring) 
- use custom particle effects, so long as there is only one type of particle being used (e.g, cherry blossom petals, fire, etc.)
- use masks (via multiple separate files) to create secondary versions of the background image on screen

Section changed in ONE MUSIC TRACK OR ONE AMBIENT BACKGROUND NOISE:

- create or use a track by combining composed music and ambient sounds
- have additional menu music that loops (if the VN also has in-game music/ambient noise)

Section added to ONE SOUND EFFECT:

This limit does not apply to interface sounds, which are considered part of the GUI. Having different sounds assigned to button hover, activation, etc. could be an accessibility feature for low-vision players, as that's audio feedback for different actions.

Section added to ONE VOICE ACTOR:

Regarding usage of voice beeps in lieu of voice acting: you may create different beeps per character as long as it remains consistent to that character.

ONE MAIN MENU ART changed to SPLASH SCREEN / MAIN MENU / GAME MENU ART / GUI:

The main menu / title screen background is now considered part of the GUI and thus is not beholden to many of the previous year's restrictions.

It is within the rules to:

- display multiple splashscreens before the start (e.g, for the jam, engine used, studio logo)
- have multiple variations of the title screen / game menu background
- show as many characters / objects as you'd like
- show a different location from the one in the game
-use a combination of the sprite and background or the one CG as the main menu
You may not do the following:

- show any part of the main menu in the flow of your script if it is different from the assets in the game

Regarding image buttons that appear to be objects: these buttons should only appear as a choice, and the images should not appear again in other parts of the game due to the fact that this can be abused to bypass the item/arm/head change limit.


Thank you all for your patience as we respond to your inquiries!

Jam HostSubmitted

Section changed and added to ONE THOUSAND WORDS:

does not count against the word count:
- in-game content warnings
Host

Clarification in GENERAL

  • You may have unlimited solid color backgrounds in menus and in-game generated by the engine, alongside your illustrated BG

AUDIO

  • It is within the rules to alter the pitch or speed of audio via code

GUI

  • You may have multiple typefaces

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New section added:

OFFERING WEB BUILDS OF YOUR ENTRY 
If you offer both a web and downloadable version of your game, you may optimize effects (e.g. video backgrounds) for the web build as long as the downloadable version follows the rules. You may want to note differences between versions if applicable. Please follow this rule in good faith.

If we'd like to update the game after it's finished to include something like voice acting, are we allowed to do so as long as it continues to follow the jam's rules? The game itself would otherwise be a complete product and we are willing to add a note that this change was made.

Host

Right, thank you for reminding us about updating projects after the initial deadline.

In short: yes, that's allowed.

Any future updates we'd recommend making it available as a separate download, but this is not necessary. Generally we'd like to encourage everyone to keep their "Version 1.0" builds up for posterity's sake, as a way to show "this is what we accomplished in a week."

Submitted

With the rules on CGs and silhouette how low/much detail are we talking?

Can it only be just outlines or are minor details allowed?

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

Hi! Thank you for the question!
Personally I'd interpret this as simple shapes suggesting people/silhouettes: no identifying details but you know it's people and not sacks of potatoes. As simple as possible: Minimum Viable Silhouette. If you google "crowd silhouette" you should get good examples of what we mean.

This rule was put in place so people don't overwork themselves drawing many different characters. So please do not go into detail with this. I'd highly suggest that if you do want to flex your skills, you might want to focus you attention to the rest of the CG: whether this is the main character or the background.

Happy to clarify if that doesn't fully answer your question!

(+1)

Re-posted here from Discord server by Jam organizer request:


  • Since one VA can voice multiple characters by using a different voice/tone,  can different characters use different voice 'bleeps'?
  •  As it is possible to have  dozens of sfx for the GUI in total (different hover/activate sfx for each button + quickmenu) , would an ambient sfx or music used exclusively for the main menu count as an 'interface sound'?  (an interface sound can be be a jingle rather than 'bleep'). doesn't make much sense allowing multiple different sound assets on the GUI for free, while being barred from having a single one play continuously on the main menu.
  •  What are the limitations on Splashscreens/Pre-Splashcreen images?

  •  Similar question for Video assets, what are the limitation on those?

  •  What is the meaning of 'extensive' on the limits for sprite animation? Would a sprite 'glitch' effect, without change of expression or pose fall under these strictures? Does it make a difference if the effect is achieved via code or thru actual sprite animation?

Jam HostSubmitted

Hello! Apologies for getting back to you a lil bit late, but we’ve been discussing all of these very specific cases! I don’t have answers for all of them yet. So I will be replying in parts if that’s okay!

if you do want to make some sort of glitch effect, you’ll have to do this in engine. If you’re using Ren’Py, here’s a video that explains how this can be done. 

Jam HostSubmitted

Regarding the beeps: You made a valid point and we’d be alright with using different beeps but it has to stay consistent per character. My recommendation as well is that they are all of the same kind of sound wave (triangle, sine, etc) and the only difference between them is pitch.

Animation: Extensive animation would probably be something that reasonably requires like, more than 5 frames or so to work. You can easily get a blinking animation with 3 frames, mouth to look fine with 2. Please take into account the spirit of the jam: to make a VN in the most simple and crunch-free way.

We consider the Splashscreen to be GUI, so no limitations.

For the video assets, do you mean for sprites or for GUI?

Jam HostSubmitted

For the sounds used in main menu only: it’s GUI, that’s okay. Use your best judgement taking into account the spirit of the jam as well.

Regarding the multiple SFX point: Having different sounds assigned to button hover, activation, etc. could be an accessibility feature for low-vision players, as that's audio feedback for different actions. We fully understand that it may look a bit odd to have no restriction on the SFX for the UI but this is the reasoning behind it. Aside from the fact that we suspect most people will not really try to do much with it.

Submitted

"custom GUI assets like buttons, text boxes, textures and other elements"

Would an imagebutton that looks like an item within the story be considered outside this realm? For example, the player has the choice between a cup of tea or a cookie and you get to click on them to choose. If so, I would just make it a text option.

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

Hello! Thanks for your question.

These buttons should only appear as a choice, and the images should not appear again in other parts of the game. Our main concern is that this can be abused to bypass the item/arm/head change limit.

I understand that this would make the game look a little more different, but on a personal account I’d go with text choices, and spend the time you would’ve used in drawing those images into adding extra detail to the sprite and background or the CG.

Submitted

Would a "MS Word"-ish kind of interface be considered a part of GUI or a background? (i.e. the player chooses some buttons, and a fictional MS Word on the screen reveals some bits of flavor text (lorem ipsum, not relevant to the plot). 

Jam HostSubmitted

Hello! Is this meant to be the main GUI for the game or just something that is shown for a moment as part of a mini-game? How do you plan to implement this? Is it done in code or will it be a mock-up created in a image processing software?

Submitted

I am thinking of using NVL mode, so the screen will be split in two: on the left side, there will be in-game text and buttons, and on the right there will be the "MS Word"-ish kind of program, which will then reveal some parts (hidden with code-made white square) of the "text" written based on the choices of the player.

Jam HostSubmitted (1 edit)

Will this split be made using code or an image processing software? Will it be actually coded UI or just something mimicking it?

And will it be up for the full game or just a portion?

Submitted (4 edits)

Excuse my mad paint skills (nothing of it is assets to be used in the final game, it's a screenshot of my previous game and... my bachelor thesis) 

But I think you can get the idea? 

On the right, there is a "MS Word" I'm talking about - I plan to take a screenshot of actual Word and process the image, and the left part is NVL textbox as a part of default RenPy mode. 

It will be a part of the game, but it will make up the majority of the game, so to say. 

And I plan to hide parts of the in-MS-Word lorem ipsum text with code-generated white rectangles, to reveal it later. Also, the "interface" of the "fictional MS Word" will be custom and actual part of the GUI, so it will have WORDS LEFT field and TIME LEFT field to interact with the player and let them know how much "action points" they have left. 

Hope that makes sense! 

https://imgur.com/GTR5f25

Jam HostSubmitted

Alright, thank you for clarifying!
In that case if you're going to take a screenshot of MS Word (that you will further process), that would count as your background (or your CG if you're not using a sprite)!

Submitted

Does this jam allow the use of code that is written before the jam duration? 

In particular I'm talking within the context of Unity, which is bare-bones when you start up an empty project compared to Ren'Py. I have some coding practice projects that contain the skeleton for components such as menu UI, C# scripts for basic features like dialog box or what could be used in a mini-game, et cetera. I'm not sure if these count as assets or not.

(Thank you for hosting the O2A2 VN Jam again in 2022!)

Jam HostSubmitted(+2)

Hello!

Yes, this would be allowed for menus, GUI, all of the basic elements in a VN engine, etc. Otherwise it’d be pretty unfair for people that do not want to use Ren’Py and would have to spend extra time to get to the same standard/mechanics that Ren’Py users get out of the box.

Anything outside of that, I’d recommend against though.

Hope that makes sense! 

Submitted (4 edits)

Hi!

Great write-up, but I'm still not entirely clear on whether my team's idea will be alright, so I hope it's ok to ask here, mainly in regards to these rules:

  • feature a character with expression changes and other alterations analog to sprites
  • feature simple crowd silhouettes, or suggestions of people without identifying details

We're going to have a big "painting" and have the camera zoom into different parts of it to tell a story (this image will be in place of sprite/BG). The story only features one character, but it's in separate moments of her life (childhood to adult). Her father/mother will be shown but without clear detail in their faces. If it's the same character but at different points in life, does it break the rules? If it does, can we "circumvent" it by making her features unclear in these small images?

(As a side-note, the idea is very inspired by this game from last year which used camera movement and a single sprite to create more than one character for the story, while still only having one asset!)

Ultimately, the camera will zoom back to reveal the whole image, revealing that it's a pinboard of different images. In the middle of this we'll have a high-quality version of the character.

Does this follow the rules? :) hoping it does because we're so stoked about this idea lol

And if it doesn't, how can we tweak it to make it fit?

Oh, another question! In regards to "no changing of the title menu". Can the title menu change if the image on it changes to the one from in-game, or is that still breaking the rules?

Thank you! :)

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

Hello! That sounds like a very clever idea. 

If the features on the painting of the protagonist are vague enough this will be allowed. I’d highly encourage you to think how you can convey this is the protagonist while working with the limitation of trying to make those as simplistic as possible.

Follow the mentality of the silhouettes. What is the Minimum viable protagonist-lifestage -representation? Maybe using a defining colour for the protagonist???

This will be hopefully a challenging limitation that will make you push your limits in abstraction.

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

In terms of the second question: Can the title menu change if the image on it changes to the one from in-game, or is that still breaking the rules?
Can you give me some more detail so I can fully understand what you mean?

Submitted

Sorry for being unclear!

Our idea is that somewhere on the title screen there will be a blurred image, and then when you complete the story the blurred image will turn into a part of the main painting (as featured in-game). :) Just as a nice little visual bonus thing after completion.

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

After some deliberation, and as the jam hasn't started yet we have decided we'll change the rule to allow for changes to the Title Menu. So yeah, feel free to do this!

Submitted

Great, thank you! :)

Submitted (1 edit)

Thank you for the reply and clarification! That sounds great. Solid tips, too. :)

Just to doubly confirm: we can still have the middle part of the painting be full quality just as long as the rest of the images on it are vague, right?

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

Correct!

Submitted

I understand much of the rules but I do have one question! We're allowed to have one main menu art since it's part of the GUI. I was wondering if we could also have a game menu art since that is also part of the GUI? If not, is it allowed to use the main menu art as the game menu bg?

Jam HostSubmitted

Hello! Yes, that is absolutely fine!

Submitted

Hello! I have a weirdly specific question - is it okay i you can see the second character (player character) or their outlines in the reflection or their shadow?  glass, mirror, water, kitchenware, etc.

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

Hi! Can you please elaborate a bit more? As in, we'll be able to see the reflection of an off-screen character in objects? 

Is that what you mean? 

Submitted

Yes, exacty!

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

We thought that it was a very interesting idea!

To keep it in line with other rulings: 

  • the shadow should be okay. 
  • The reflection should be with very vague features: minimum viable reflection.

Personally, the shadow idea is probably the easiest one and I’d highly encourage you to do that.

Submitted

Tysm! <3

Submitted

For either a background or CG, would it be within the rules to do some very simple edits, such as changing saturation or contrast of the whole image? I'm planning to have only a picture of a landscape (either used as a CG or background depending on which fits the rules better) and e.g. desaturating the image or upping the contrast to neon levels would be sort of analogous to changing sprite expressions (since the landscape will effectively be my "character" here). I don't expect any of these edits to take more than 5 minutes to do since it'd just be opening the image in an art program and moving some sliders around.

If that would be acceptable, how about slightly more detailed edits such as turning part of the image to black and white while the rest stays in colour or adding effects such as blood splashes on top? Would things such as changing weather between rain/sunshine etc be ok? (I assume weather is going too far in terms of changing the setting, but I figured I'd ask while I'm still at the brainstorming stage)

Jam HostSubmitted

All of simple edits would have to be made in-engine. As stated in the rules for the Background:

You may not do the following:
 
create secondary versions (multiple separate files) of the background image (e.g. blur, night version)
Submitted (1 edit)

If I may ask, regarding the following rule:

  • use any engine to create a game that is considered a VN first and foremost (e.g. due to the required assets needed, an engine such as any version of RPGMaker would not be allowed

For someone who doesn't use RPGMaker, what assets are required, and how, that it would be infeasible to use it for this jam?

I'm thinking of using an engine that I'm already familiar with, but want to check that whatever it is in RPGMaker that disqualifies it wouldn't also disqualify my engine of choice...

(I doubt it, as the engine in question is a very general one--but I'd rather ask superfluously than find out too late that the engine isn't allowed.)

(Someone else above asked my other question regarding this, which was about developing the mechanical features of a VN ahead of time--I am encouraged that this is allowed!)

Jam HostSubmitted

Hi!

The problem with RPGMaker is that it’s impossible to have a working game in that engine with the restrictions on 1 sprite and 1 background. I don’t use RPGMaker myself, but as far I know that’s the main issue.

As a side note, I will be using an engine that is not for VNs either, but allows me to work within the constraints of the jam.

It would help if you specified what engine you’ll be using, by the way.

Submitted

Thank you for your answer! ^_^

Ah, that's curious about RPGMaker! I do wonder what it is that causes it to violate the rules... But no matter!

As to what engine I'm contemplating, I primarily use Panda3D for my development (link: https://www.panda3d.org/), and had it in mind to build a "light VN framework" with it that I could use for this jam.

Jam HostSubmitted (1 edit)

Yeah, that looks alright! And as mentioned above, feel free to start building the VN framework if you want to now.

Good luck!

Submitted

Thank you, on both counts! ^_^

Host

Hi Ian! The reason we listed RPGMaker as an example of an engine that most likely isn't suitable for this jam is because in order to make a functional map for players to explore in, you'd need multiple tiles (something for the floor, the walls, objects in the room, etc.). That would not be in the spirit of the jam, so engines similar to RPGMaker (such as RPG Paper Maker) wouldn't work well.

Panda3D looks like it'll be fine though. Good luck with the jam!

Submitted

Ah, I see--of course! I hadn't thought of its tile-based approach as--indeed--incurring the presence of a number of assets. Fair enough, and thank you for the explanation! ^_^

And thank you for confirming that Panda3D should be okay--and indeed, it has no such requirement, I do believe. ^_^

(The only caveat that I'll mention is that I believe that it handles text by internally rendering the glyphs of a given font to a texture. I'm hoping, however, that this might not count against it in this jam.)

Jam HostSubmitted

Nah, that’s alright! It’s literally the GUI so you shouldn’t worry about it.

Happy jamming!

Submitted

Excellent, and thank you! ^_^

Submitted

Hello, I have a quick question.

Regarding the "only one sprite". Is the rule only one sprite in the project altogether, or just per game?

Let me explain. I'd like it if I could make the character choose a gender orientation for a short romance linear VN. Since I can only submit 1 project to the game jam, creating two different VNs for different orientations would be impossible.

So, would it be possible to have 2 character sprites in the data, but only 1 used at any time during the game?

Thanks for your time!

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

Hello David! I really like the idea of being able to choose the gender of the Love Interest! However, the rules would not allow you to have 2 different sprites. 

So what I would suggest you do is to draw an androgynous Love Interest and allow the player to:

  1. Choose their pronouns
  2. Choose the Love Interest’s pronouns

This way you could even accommodate for many genders: man, woman, non-binary, etc…

If you are using Ren’Py I’d thoroughly recommend npckc’s Pronoun Tool.

Submitted

Alright. Worth a try, but thanks for the tip!

Submitted

Hello hello! Thank you guys for hosting the jam :D

I have a few questions regarding parts of the rules:

We can "provide additional information on the VN's website including separate character drawings, backstory info, banners and cover images, provided they don't make diminish the VN-only experience"
Question: Can I do this same thing on the "About" section of my VN (as some people don't look at the website)? The player won't be forced to look at the About section.

The single sound effect "cannot be looped continuously (if yes, it counts as background noise per the last section)" and the voice actor "can be replaced by sound effects / beeps processed to act as voices (this does not count as the sound effect)"
Question: It sounds like it (pun intended), but could I use a keyboard sound effect as an indication of someone speaking and consider it a sound effect and NOT as a voice? It is *partially* looped continuously... And I would have a separate voice actor.
In other words, can I have one sound effect and one voice actor as indications of who is speaking? (These personally help me as a reader.)

Just making sure of everything before I start!!

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

Hello!
For the first question you may do that if you wish, but it would count towards the 1000 word limit, as it would be considered "author's notes". We understand some people may want to release that information for the player, and so that's why we allow you to put that info in the game page.  I'd assume you would want to use your 1000 words in the story instead of your notes, so I'm going to recommend you leave those out of the game and post it on the game page.

For the second question, this would not be allowed. The "beeps" ruling has been added for the times when one does not want to have a VA but still some "voice".  So it's meant to be either one or the other, you can't have both, or try to replace the voice effect for a secondary voice. Effectively they are doing very different things, so it'd be bending the rules too much. However, thank you for asking! 

This has an easy solution, though: You can have a VA doing different voices! 

- can use use variations of voices
- can have their voice modulated and processed to create completely different sounding voices

So hopefully this should solve your problem.

Happy jamming!

Submitted(+1)

One quick question about the BGM/SFX.

Is it allowed to alter the speed and/or pitch of the music or sound via code?

Like accelerating the music or playing a sound at different pitches.

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

Hello! If it's achieved by code, that's absolutely fine!

Submitted

Great! Thank you very much!

Submitted

Oh! I wanted to ask something along these lines myself!

Can we use this technique to apply the sound effect to different types of event?

To give my specific case, I'm thinking of using my sound effect to convey footsteps. However, if I start with a longer, deeper effect, then I can additionally use it to convey a character falling to the ground, and speed/pitch it up to then serve as footsteps. Would that be okay?

Submitted

If your engine of choice can modulate the sound effect without using separate files I think you can do it.

Our PRINCESS surely knows better.

Submitted (1 edit)

I hope so!

But indeed, I shall await royal decree! ^_^

Jam HostSubmitted

Yes! That’s correct! As long as you use only one file for the sound effect, you can apply whatever changes in-engine so it fits your needs! Not only this is allowed, but very clever application of the rules!

Submitted

Eeeexcellent, and thank you! :D

Submitted(+1)

First thanks for handling all the questions.

Second, is it allowed still to have a solid color image and a background both present in the game?

Jam HostSubmitted(+2)

Yes, that's alright! But the solid colour backgrounds have to be done in-game and not be an asset!

Submitted

One final question i think, for the following gui rule
> use a combination of the sprite and background or the one CG as the main menu
Is it possible to use just the background.

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

Yes. The whole point is that you can reuse the assets from the actual gameplay for the main menu!

Submitted

hello! is a link to a youtube video allowed? for example, this one. chatsim game 

Jam HostSubmitted

Hello! Where do you want to put the youtube video, in the game?

Submitted

yes, not the video itself, just a url 

Jam HostSubmitted

Is the video discussed in the game or just like a “hey, look at this random thing I found”?

If the video is used to advance the narrative then it would not be allowed. It’s it’s irrelevant for the plot, and it doesn’t affect the narrative - but it’s purely there for flavour - then it’s okay.

Submitted

Can I have some clarity on this rule?
> use layers to show a sliced up an image as a single background (no opaque parts of layers can overlap)
I know prior games like "Unicorn Shake" and "One Hell of a Coffee Shop" had characters appear to be behind layers and I know "Yesterday the World Ended" had animated bg with a part moving the background.

For me specifically, would a layer on top, such as shadows for clouds or rain, be allowed?

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

Yeah, it would. Apologies if the phrasing is confusing. We'll reword it for next year!

Submitted (1 edit)

To extra clarify. "Yeah, it would" means a rain layer is allowed?

Jam HostSubmitted(+1)

Yes.