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I'm sorry but this is unacceptable and very disingenuous for you to weaponise solo devs, neurodivergent creators, and those without traditional art skills as people who are disadvantaged in this jam - and, by extension, implying that they are less than in general. That is not true at all for the jam. In previous years, people meeting all these descriptors have won categories and possibly even the main categories. (I'm not going to question who may or may not be neurodivergent but both solo devs and those without art skills have won major prizes.)

Speaking as a tech/games journalist now, and not a game dev, the local dev space is incredibly welcoming, although I will concede that it is far more comfortable at in-person events for extroverts; if you are an introvert, such as I am, it's something you just have to learn to push through, just like in the rest of life. I started participating in jams and started working on my various skills because the South African space was welcoming and people are very quick to share their knowledge and give you helpful feedback. I decided I wanted to cross over from being a person who observes the community and writes about its activities to a person who is part of the community and participates in its activities.

Now talking as a dev, I am very proud of the progress I have been making since I started making games. I participate in multiple jams every year and sometimes it goes very well and sometimes I bomb out and end up with a mess. (Admittedly, it is difficult - for me, at least - to finish something in 48 hours but for jams (Global Game Jam notably) that stipulate this I still try my best.) The purpose of jams is not about winning the money, it's about challenging yourself to make something and learn something. In some it's also about community (I presume that's what happens in this jam's Discord but I don't use Discord so I haven't seen it; before the pandemic the in-person jam spaces were really fun spaces and the best experience for me was the year I participated in the SA Game Jam in a team of absolute misfits (in the best way) who had never worked together and we ended up with something marvellous.)

One of those lessons is always about scope creep, and it's a very important one. I try to focus on at least one of my skills in every jam and have a personal rule to make something that has a start and a finish so that someone can play through to an (or multiple) ending(s), even if I have to leave out a lot of what's in the middle to do so (that's also one way to manage scope creep).

You obviously can write, so you immediately have the personal tools to create a text adventure. "Narrative" is one of the categories in this jam and although it doesn't mean "text adventure" - a fully graphical game can also have a strong narrative - it's a way for anyone to start and it's a goal that anyone can aim for. Same with "humour". Similarly, there are arts prizes (art, audio) for people who feel they can't really string a good story together but they can make pictures or sounds. Finally, there's the technical excellence prize, which is best awarded to coders but can suit all sorts of conditions since narrative, art, and audio all also showcase technical proficiency. Everyone is catered for in this jam; category wise it's one of the most inclusive jams in the world.

If you are serious about wanting to join this community and about making games you will be taken seriously if you step away from generative AI and vibe coding and actually focus on learning how to do things for yourself. (This is also true in the greater international game dev community where generative AI and vibe coding is not respected at all.) Everyone here has the skills they have because they've been working on them. Everyone started from nothing, they may just have been doing it for a very long time (often childhood), which is how many skills start. I had never drawn any pixel art in my life, bar some high school dabbling, until six years ago. It's just something I had always wanted to do but never did. I've been working on my skills all this time, training myself, watching instructional videos, reading articles, picking through people's work. I'm really proud of the progress I've been making. I also know I have a long way to go. Although I am a professional writer, it's all been fact based. Consequently, I've spent the last few years working on my narrative writing skills because I don't have much of a body of work in that area. I have a complicated coding history that I'm not going to go into but all I've been able to bring with me into games are the principles ("What is a variable? What is an array?"), plus HTML/CSS/JavaScript knowledge, which works in Twine. I have coding goals that far exceed Twine and Bitsy, which are the main engines I use. I will get there when I get there. It's all been intention and it's all been effort - but I will do the work myself.

You have to put in the work. That's what this community respects because that's what everyone else here has done. If you do, all the doors will be open to you. There is also a massive personal satisfaction in learning, and then improving, a skill. I really would encourage you not to short change yourself with that experience either.

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Thanks sharing your perspective and detailing your journey. I respect the dedication you've put into your craft, and I agree that there's immense satisfaction in mastering a skill through effort. 

However, the belief that "putting in the work" and using generative AI are mutually exclusive is a significant misconception, often held by those with limited exposure to GenAI-assisted workflows.

To be clear, in my case, I'm actively learning and improving my traditional coding, art, and writing skills alongside my generative AI skills. I too have aways to go.  In my view, generative tools are a new type of brush; they don't replace the old ones, but add to the toolkit.

One path does not invalidate the other.

This binary view also assumes everyone has the same reservoir of time. As a single father with three children, my time is (very) finite. I know I am not the only one with a life outside of games, and everyone has something big in life that keeps them busy, be it family, work, disabilities etc. But it must be said, for me, and for many others with significant life constraints, GenAI tools aren't a shortcut to avoid work; they are an essential form of accessibility that makes game creation possible whatsoever at any sort of reasonable time-scale. 

A truly inclusive space must also understand that neurodivergence isn't a single category, but a blanket term for a wide spectrum of experiences. Like you, I have immense respect for the neurodivergent folks who have managed to beat the odds and achieve success at the previous game jams. However, an inclusive community must also welcome the creator for whom - due to their specific neurotype - generative AI is an absolute lifesaver.

This is the nuance that Rule 13 misses. My earlier suggestion for a separate 'AI-Assisted' category was intended as a practical solution to this, preserving the traditional challenge while also making a dedicated space for these new workflows. I sincerely hope the organisers will consider it. 

It may be worth aligning the public messaging with this rule. I was drawn to this jam by the welcoming and inclusive marketing I saw on social media,  only to find that I am in fact excluded. For future events, clarifying the stance on AI-assisted development upfront would help manage expectations for the many creators who now consider these tools a standard part of their kit.

And I totally feel you on the "It's not about the money but the learning and the community" thing. This is precisely why I am being upfront about my workflow and seeking clarification -even though my work is borderline, and definitely IS commercially viable and  copyrightable. Even so I respect the spirit of the jam and as such am taking myself out the running.  

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We are going to have to disagree but I have already given over 30 minutes of my precious game dev time to this so I am not going to continue any further, bar saying that you do not need to leave the jam. You are choosing to exclude yourself. You can open Twine and write a text adventure over the next 66 hours that requires absolutely no coding or art and it will be just as welcome as any other kind of game. You are choosing to build these limitations around yourself and then trying to justify the solution to your self-imposed predicament as being something that this community strongly stands against and, again, also weaponising neurodivergence  in the process. This community is full of neurodivergent people. It's one of the broadest communities in the country.