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The Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017 is HAS FINALLY CONCLUDED.

This 2017 year has actually graced us with the following three (3) official entries that were successfully submitted to this jam:

...and to find out which game entry has nabbed 1st place in this rather interesting jam indeed, please click here for the final results!!!

Thank you ever so truly much most indeed, and an EXTRA special thanks to all of the 57 total entrants who actually participated in my Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017... it was such a rather fun, exciting, and splendidly inspiring ride that surely excited and captivated so many indie-/retro-game fans and creators alike!!  Now, go and play those three fine entries in this jam and have fun enjoying them, and I am personally looking forward to seeing you all in this very game jam again next year in 2018!!!  ;)

Let me leave you now with something really special that successfully replicates the 2x1 pixel-ratio format brilliantly and effortlessly in your 2d game creation in Unity — the FES Retro Game Framework by pickler.  Full details of it are available for you right here, with a wonderful little discussion about it between that amazing person and myself found here as well.

Bye for now, ladies and gentlemen, and see you all again next year!!!  (^-^)v !!!

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Ladies and gentlemen and indie retro gamers worldwide, I most handsomely welcome all of you personally to this very special game jam on Itch.io which inspires, honors, and celebrates the overall creativity/originality of amazing-quality new games being made in their complete entirety in a 2x1 pixel-ratio format... only better!!  So, for true fans/developers of both indie- and retro-game greatness who want to take their own game creativity to a brand-new level of excitement using this unique and rarely-used pixel ratio, this one especially is for you!  Please enjoy it as richly as ever, and thank you so much in advance for your time... looking forward to your awesome-quality new entries, as well as such resplendent new wonders in gameplay that await us all.  Cheers!!!  ;)

- Adigun Azikiwe Polack
Official Founder and Organizer of Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017

T H E M E S :

You can only select one of the following three (3) themes for your new game:

• Medieval Fantasy meets Prehistoric World
  (think wizards, pirates, sorcerers, witches, elves, fairies, gnomes, knights, peasants, paladins, and kings riding dinosaurs battling through prehistoric times and its many dangers, for a valuable example, and you get the idea.)

• The Wild West vs. Feudal Japan
  (one example of this would be, say, a “spaghetti western”-based run-and-gun game where you have cowboys, sheriffs, Native Americans, and even outlaws face off together against ninjas, yōkai, and ever-countless many different sorts of creatures and monsters that are all straight out of ancient Japanese folklore in a battle to the death, all set to either an Old Wild West or Feudal Japanese overall setting as the key important background behind it all.)

• Your Spirit alone IS an Elemental Weapon
  (in this theme, your main character has to be just a sole spirit/entity that travels alone as it gathers and mixes elemental resources from many countless surroundings and naturally-made environments — such as earth, wind, fire, water, plant, and even natural crude oil, for example — in order for them to *then* be used either as weapons or for any creative means you can freely think of through your own imagination... whether they’re to dispatch the enemies away or to successfully solve key puzzles more efficiently and cleverly in order to make any forward progress in your game, as only two of the many possible instances of using the elements indeed!!  ;) )

R E S T R I C T I O N S :

- GRAPHICS -

You are *only* allowed to use just ONE (1) of the following palettes for your entire game:

• AAP-64 Palette by Adigun Azikiwe Polack
  

• Famicube Palette by Arne
  

• ENDESGA~32 Palette (EDG32) by Endesga
  

• DawnBringer 32-color Palette (DB32) by DawnBringer
  

• Arcade Standard 29 by GrafxKid
  

• Amstrad CPC Palette
  

• Commodore 64 (c64) Palette
  

If you are creating your game on a 16-color fantasy console (such as Pico-8, TIC-80, LIKO-12, or PX8 to name a few), then you are only allowed to use just ONE of the following palettes for that whole project there: 

• Your Fantasy Console’s own default system palette

• ENDESGA~16 Palette (EDG16) by Endesga
  

• AAP-16 Palette by Adigun Azikiwe Polack
  

• Fun16 Palette (FUN16) by DawnBringer
  

• Matriax8c Palette by Davit Masia
  

• Commodore 64 (c64) Palette
  

If you are using Pixel Vision 8 (PV8) or any 64-color fantasy console in the making of your own game for this jam, then you are fully allowed to choose between ANY ONE of the above, aforementioned palettes to use throughout your entire game on there indeed!  ;)

Remember, once you choose your selected palette indeed, you CANNOT switch to another at all for the entire duration of your game project itself, so please pick wisely and go for it!!!  ^-^

Furthermore, all graphics can only be designed from a minimum of 64x128 graphics mode...

...all the way up to an absolute maximum of 320x360 graphics mode...

...all in a 2x1 pixel-ratio format, and the windowed/fullscreen sizes can be stretched up to as much as 3x its own overall original size or so just to fill the entire screen at once without anything missing from it.

And by the way, it is also such a *huge* recommendation that all fade-ins, fade-outs, wipes, and all other special effects be done and executed within the overall constraints of your single chosen palette for your whole game project, especially whenever possible.  This is to further add to the sheer authenticity that we are definitely aiming for in this entire event, please do not forget!  ;*)

For any Pico-8 users who want to participate in this game jam: in order to access a special 64x128 mode in a 2x1 pixel-ratio format, punch in this vital piece of sample source code:

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function _init()
 poke(0x5f2c,1)
 cls()
end

function _update()
 cls()
 cursor (0+abs(rnd(2)),29+abs(rnd(2)))
 print ("64x128 gfx mode!")
 print ("ready to go...")
end

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...and you are all set to get started there, too!!!  ^^

And to aid you even further in wanting to create your own brand-new and original sprites in a proper pure 2x1 pixel-ratio format indeed, I have created this special pixel-art tutorial entitled “The Sacred Art of Sprites in a 2x1 Pixel Ratio” that brilliantly shows you how to do exactly that:

That should give you a wonderful jump-start towards coming up with an amazing new entry for this game jam indeed, whichever theme you select!!!  ;)

- SOUND -

All musics and sounds must ONLY be 8-bit, Chiptune-based, and/or FM-synthesis (think YM2151 or OPL2, for example).  And of course, getting indeed all the music and sounds in stereo is a definite plus for your game audio-wise while you are at it, too!!  ^-^=b !

Some rather great examples of what I am clearly talking about are located here, here, here, and here.

R U L E S :

• You can work on your game project alone or as a team.

• Once you have selected your theme, you must stick to it for the entire duration of your overall game project, creating your new game itself from scratch.  Design it as creative, as bold, as original, and as cleverly fascinating as you can while keeping it both fun and exciting for the player.

• As long as your project is keeping with one (1) of the three themes above indeed, any type of game is DEFINITELY ALLOWED... be it an arcade-based shmup (bullet-hell or otherwise), run-and-gun, RPG, turn-based simulation, endless runner, platformer, 2d belt-scrolling brawling game, Vs.-based fighter, rail shooter, or just any new genre you can dream of!!!  ;)

• Make sure your complete game is easily available for free download so that anybody with access to a computer can have a shot at playing it, even offline.

• Be sure your game runs on Windows first *before* you can add support for other platforms (i.e. Linux, Mac).  That way, I can properly test your project to make sure it successfully works well for this jam.

• All graphics, sounds, sprites, etc. MUST be of your own original creation alone; no ripped stuff allowed.

• Your game must adhere closely to all the restrictions set above.  This is done to enhance overall uniqueness and authenticity in a 2x1 pixel-ratio format in order to excite the many indie- and retro-game audiences worldwide.

• Limit only three (3) game projects maximum per person/team, please.

• All game projects *must* be finished and uploaded between November 25, 2017 and the end of December 9, 2017, so be sure to test your own game(s) extensively to make sure they are as both bug-free and error-free as possible before you submit them as entries.

   

HAVE FUN to your very heart’s content, and all the absolute best good fortune and success to you in this game jam!!!

Feel free to access me at https://twitter.com/AdigunPolack for the newest official updates and more related to this jam.

Now, DO YOUR VERY BEST, and go get ‘em!!!  (^-^)=b !!