- What is the DOTS Challenge? -

It is a game-making challenge where you try to make a game or prototype in 48 hours over the course of 9 days, using Unity's Data Oriented Tech Stack. 

The jam starts Friday October 16th 00:00AM GMT and ends Sunday October 25th 00:00AM GMT.
This is followed by a one week period where everyone can play and rate each other's games.

It's all about challenging yourself to learn how to work with the new technologies via project-based learning
I started the challenge because I wanted to challenge myself to learn about the DOTS systems using a small jam. 
Thought it would be fun if other people could do the same so we can encourage and help each other whilst doing so, so here we are.

Voting will be done by the community based on criteria down below.
The Theme will be announced on this page at the official starting time, I'll also post it as an announcement in the Discord.
There is no prize other than my express permission to gloat to your friends about winning a game-making challenge.
Use whatever assets you'd like, as long as you document what's what in the credits.

48 hours is a lot of time, so please take breaks, and don't crunch.
You have at two weekends and a work week to jam, so I thrust that even the folks with a full-time job should be able to make a little prototype.

Be aware that you should test very soon to see if your build works at all, as there are some problems with DOTS on certain platforms. (like WebGL).

You can jam with friends or dip in solo, just have fun and learn something new!

Hop in the server to showcase your work or team up with others. :D If you're going to post your progress on Twitter use hashtags #thedotschallenge and #thedotschallenge1

- Da Rules -

• You have 48 hours (non-consecutive) to make a game or prototype.
• You can use any assets you own. (or make them yourself)
• You must loosely follow the theme, don't worry I'll keep it abstract.
• You can't use any code you made ahead of the jam, unless it's open-source and open to the public.
• You must link some source code that uses DOTS.
• Make sure that your build runs on at least Windows.
• You MUST have fun... or else.

- What is DOTS? -

DOTS is an acronym for the Data Oriented Tech Stack. It's a set of tools which will allow you to write high-performance, multithreaded, and scalable code.

There's three main pillars to it:

1. Entities: The Entity Component System (ECS) - a framework enabling you to code using a Data-Oriented approach.

2. Jobs: The C# Job System - a framework for writing multithreaded code, allowing you to fully use modern processors fairly easily.

3. Burst: The Burst Compiler - a system which generates highly optimized native code from your Jobs based scripts.

- Guidelines-

- Voting -

Please vote on submissions using the following criteria:
1. Only vote for the build that was made within the allotted amount of time.
2. How fun the Gameplay is.
3. How well the Theme was used.
4. Originality, does it do something new or unexpected?

- Submitting -

Please make sure you're adhering to all criteria when submitting;
1. The most important thing, having actually used DOTS technology in your submission.
It's kind of the point of the challenge. 

2. Having a playable build.
The game doesn't have to be finished, but it'd be kinda nice if it starts.

3. Please have a link to some source code that uses DOTS is some way.
No need to link an entire repository, a single https://gist.github.com/ script is good enough. 
Feel free to link your repository though! That way others can learn from your work, or you can get some feedback so you can.

4. Having used the theme in some shape or form.

5. Not having spent more than the allowed amount of time on the game.
Feel free to spend more time on it if you want to, but add the one you spent extra time on as a separate build so everyone can be judged fairly.

Once again: test fast, test often to see if your build works, as there are some problems with DOTS on certain platforms (like WebGL).

- Commenting -

Do not link your own submission in the comments of someone else's, please do it DMs (if they asked for it).

No unsolicited DMs to other jammers, even when you want to ask about teaming up - please do that via the channels that were made for it.

- Getting Started -

Here are some handy resources to get you started with learning about the new systems.

Overview:
https://unity.com/dots
https://learn.unity.com/tutorial/what-is-dots-and-why-is-it-important

Sample Projects:
https://github.com/Unity-Technologies/EntityComponentSystemSamples
https://unity.com/releases/2019-3/dots-sample
https://github.com/Unity-Technologies/DOTS-training-samples

Documentation:
ECS - Manual/Documentation:
https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.entities@0.14/manual/index.html
JOBS - Manual/Documentation:
https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/JobSystem.html
BURST - Manual/Documentation:
https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/com.unity.burst@0.2/manual/index.html

Tutorials:
Unity Job System and Burst Compiler: Getting Started
https://www.raywenderlich.com/7880445-unity-job-system-and-burst-compiler-getting-started
Getting started with DOTS: Scripting Pong (Tutorial)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9AUXNFBWt4
DOTS Game Play
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-05SQhI5rIY2MVt5s_EfvddNXS2GNAtA

 

- FAQ -

Q. How do you mean 48 hours in 9 days?

A. It's meant as work hours - usually with jams every hour is counted, so if a jam is 48 hours in total you only have like 20 work hours in total.
This jam time is 9 days, but you can spread your work hours over those days.
Due to these rules you can't have people working on it for 8 hours every day of the jam, because then they'll have exceeded the time limit.

You don't have to reach the maximum amount of time, it's more than a full-time work week!

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Q. Can I submit multiple games?

A. Yes, provided they follow the rules.

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Q. Does the game have to be finished/polished? Can I work on it afterwards?

A. No, it doesn't have to be finished. Submit whatever you've got by the end of it, even if it's not finished (don't be shy)! I would love it if you kept working on the game after the jam has ended, but submissions will be closed after the jam time has ended.

If you have a game-breaking bug that really needs fixing you can DM me so I can enable you to upload the fix! Be aware the I will be checking if you've altered anything else, so that things are fair.

- Legal -

Everything you make during this jam is your property, I do not in any way claim rights or ownership of your game. 

It would be cool if you referenced the challenge in the credits though! But that's up to you.