Hello.
My 9 year old daughter is an avid gamer and she loves JuniperDev and her videos.
I am a software engineer for over 10 years now with some knowledge around GameDev. She started learning Pixel Art recently. She wants us to try and participate in the game jam where she will work on the art and I will work on the code.
Any tips for us as first timers? How can we prepare? How can we use our time during the jam wisely to be able to submit something?
Thank you!
Heya, I just want to say that is absolutely adorable that you’re going to participate with your daughter. Here’s a couple of tips I think will be helpful, as someone who did their first game jam not too long ago:
1. To-do-lists are quite helpful for keeping you in track, you can add deadlines for certain things, like ‘Get movement code done by Wednesday’ as an example.
2. You can prepare by improving upon your skills like normally as you have a month before the jam begins, and maybe think about what type of game y’all are interested in making for this.
3. Keep the scope small, make sure you’re making something that can actually be done in the small amount of time.
4. Have fun! Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t manage to submit anything, or if you think what you’ve submitted is bad. You still created something, and this is your first game jam! Take it easy, and remember this is also an opportunity for you to learn and develop your skills better for future jams that you and your daughter will no doubt take part in.
Sorry for the long reply, but I cannot wait to see you and your daughter has cooked up for the jam!
My biggest advice is to scope small. Try to get the gameplay loop done first, even if it takes you the entire jam to get it done. It's better to have something that's playable even if the game is only a minute long. Unless your game is a narrative game, I'd focus on the gameplay. Also, make sure to pick a type of game that's easy to code for your first jam. It's super cool to go with a game idea that will really set you apart from the competition, but for a game jam that (probably?) doesn't have any money involved, it's better to focus on something that you want to make but small in scope, even if there are other types like it out there.
I love that you chosed to join with your 9y daughter .
So my biggest advice is to scope small like when the theme reveals think of an idea break it into a small pieces chose the best one that it would be good and would fit the theme then prototype it quickly if it was fun then build on it if it wasn't change the idea or change it so it so it can be fun. The scope part dont think you can do multiple bosses multiple areas multiple enemy types just dont plan huge try to minimize any thing you only have 7 days so make everything in the first 5 and polish in last 2 days btw any thing you want to make will take longer than you expect
2nd PLAYTEST PLAYTEST you are the dev you know everything like how to play it you will be pro in your game so you won't know if it was hard or not just give the game to anyone you know from your family, friends maybe your daughter that you will join with if it was hard for new players just tween the difficulty till it would be good if a level was normal for you it would be hard for us if a level was hard for you it would be impossible for us
Sorry if you didn't understand parts i just wake up so my brain isn't fully functioning well so just ask me if you got anything i joind around 8 jams so ig i have a good amount of knowledge to help you with
Super sweet, best of luck, cannot wait to check out your game!
Maybe building an unrelated mini game before that could be helpful? Simulating a whole production pipeline with clear steps and goals, like a three day project?
If she makes the art, it might be useful and inspiring for her to see her creations come to life?
Good luck, have fun!!
Start small, then expand. Get the core gameplay mechanics down first, and then make the game look good. As tempting as it is to start with making the art (trust me, i know) its better to first have a working prototype. The saying "make it first, then make it good" is very much true here:) Best of luck to you and your daughter!
Prepare any common utilities in advance: a manager that starts the game loop, switches to game over, enables restarting, etc. Sound settings are always useful.
Create the repo, then try to build and publish a Hello World app.
For the 9-year-old, tell her what to expect from the development process. I assume she can dedicate only a couple of hours? If so, plan the scope accordingly.
DON’T FORGET TO HAVE FUN!
