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I'm late but I'm live!

I was hoping to have some live session discussing the course content, but it looks like nobody has finished the first quiz, can that be right? I haven't seen anything from the art team, so we're going to have to work with primitives. If we can get a red cube that fights some blue cubes we can call this a win.

Programmatically, One Finger Death Punch can be described as such:  Avatar stands in the middle. Enemies approach from the left and the right. If a button is pressed and an enemy is in range, avatar moves the distance of the range and dispatches the closest enemy. If a button is pressed and an enemy is not in range, avatar moves the maximum distance of its range and whiffs, leaving the avatar vulnerable to attack for a brief moment. Player has two buttons, one representing an attack to the left, and the other to the right.

It might be hard to tell at first glance, but the operative word here is "closest." The avatar only attacks the closest enemy on either side of him when the player pushes a button. First we want to gather a list of enemies and calculate which is closest. Any time you want to select from a list, you'll want to use an array. 

An array is a data structure that stores a collection of elements of the same type. It provides a way to organize and access a fixed number of elements sequentially using an index or a key. Each element in an array is assigned a unique index, starting from zero, which represents its position in the array.

Before reinventing the wheel, we want to research what solutions exist for this sort of thing. Check the Playmaker library of addons and search the Playmaker forums. Search for "array" or an Action that solves this problem, e.g. "ClosestEnemy." Once we can calculate the closest enemy on either side, the rest is mostly OnButtonDown and MoveTo and Deactivate Actions.

Try to come up with something for Thursday and we'll meet up live at 8pm EST on youtube on the NickelCityPixels channel!

Sorry for the late reply, I haven't been able to fix the problem (I think it's one of the issues I brought up with the devs at Tutor LMS) but the videos are the same as those on the youtube channel. I've made a playlist for your convenience: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWWn-q7oQDhERyzu605WuHcTj4GZAnGns

Hi, what's unique about this gamejam is the accompanying course materials. Sign up here for free!:

https://nickelcitypixels.com/courses/learngamedevgamejam-course/

Hi Rin, I just got out of the hospital myself, I hope you are doing well. I take it you want to contribute art? If you're up to it, try concepting the level. Take a look at one finger death punch and add realistic feudal japan elements.

Hi Xenefia, thank you for posting. Don't be discouraged, I hope people will pitch in soon. Now's a good time to teach about the Praeto distribution, ie "80% of outcomes are due to 20% of causes." As pertains to game jams, that can mean that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the participants. The people posting here will likely be part of that 20%.

Hi Xenefia, the theme of the last youtube meetup was "be the change you want to see happen," or more succinctly, "be the solution." I was hinting at the fact that, among other things, game jams are decentralized, collaborative efforts that require participants to self-select into leadership roles. Meeting everyone and getting an idea of their skill level and faction choice is a good idea! I would suggest creating a new thread in which you introduce yourself, describe your skill level (ideally according to the matrix provided in the course materials), your chosen faction (programmer/artist/level designer/etc.,), and invite others to do the same. I'll sticky it. Thanks!

The theme has been decided, as has the game genre and aesthetic! On the NCP channel, the community voted for the Game Jam theme of "Echoes of the Past." During the most recent live stream and after not much discussion, it was decided that setting a "One Finger Death Punch" type game in feudal Japan (a WIP of mine) would satisfy the thematic requirements.  This allows me to temporarily  donate my Tiger Samurai model to the effort, giving the art department a head start, and obliges me to create an "Array in Playmaker" tutorial, something I've been meaning to get around to for some time now. 

I'm excited! I hope you are too! Who would like to start concepting the level?

youtube channel nickelcitypixels

Because of the novice nature of the jam, and the fact that it is compromised of course materials, some synchronous communication will be necessary. If I can volunteer my time while hospitalized I don't think it's too much to ask that participants tune in to YouTube at least once a week so that everyone can get on the same page.

Alright, that didn't go great, but if you don't give up, then I won't give up! Let's try again 8pm Sat June third.

There's also a #LGDGJ poll up in the community section of the youtube channel.

We're here:

Where is everyone?

Thanks! We're live now from my hospital bed!

Tonight's live stream will be postponed until 8pm tomorrow. I have to make an unscheduled trip into the hospital. But either way, it's happening tomorrow. Thank you for your patience. In the meantime, everyone please make progress with the course materials. Thanks!

Hi, please sign up at https://nickelcitypixels.com/courses/learngamedevgamejam-course/ for the course materials. We're going to vote on the game jam theme and I'll field more question during a live youtube.com stream at 8pm EST Thurs. June 1st. Channel is nickelcitypixels. Thanks!

Looks like tomorrow comes today. To clarify, the stream will be 8pm EST Thurs. June 1st.

Looks like tomorrow comes today. To clarify, the stream will be 8pm EST Thurs. June 1st.

Looks like tomorrow comes today. To clarify, the stream will be 8pm EST Thurs. June 1st.

I've finished 90% of the course material! Please sign up at https://nickelcitypixels.com/courses/learngamedevgamejam-course/ for the course materials. On Thursday June 1st we're going to vote on the game jam theme and I'll field more question during a live youtube.com stream at 8pm EST. Channel is nickelcitypixels. Also there's an initial FAQ here: 

Hi, please sign up at https://nickelcitypixels.com/courses/learngamedevgamejam-course/ for the course materials. Tomorrow we're going to vote on the game jam theme and I'll field more question during a live youtube.com stream at 8pm EST. Channel is nickelcitypixels. I'm working on getting the discord channel populated with bots. Thanks!

Hi, please sign up at https://nickelcitypixels.com/courses/learngamedevgamejam-course/ for the course materials. Tomorrow we're going to vote on the game jam theme and I'll field more question during a live youtube.com stream at 8pm EST. Channel is nickelcitypixels. Thanks!

Hi, please sign up at https://nickelcitypixels.com/courses/learngamedevgamejam-course/ for the course materials. Tomorrow we're going to vote on the game jam theme and I'll field more question during a live youtube.com stream at 8pm EST. Channel is nickelcitypixels. Thanks!

Thanks! I'm working on it...

Hi Nico, unfortunately do to ongoing health issues I've had to push the jam back to June. I'm working hard to make the learning material section as good as I can. I should've updated the page to reflect the new date and contacted you to let you know sooner, I apologize. If you email me at admin (at) mikejkelley.com I'll email you a free digital copy of my book to make it up to you. Sorry for the delay.

I'd very much like to commission you to create a series of Sprytile tilesets for use in my FFT-like game, Chess Tactics RPG. Please email me admin( at )mikejkelley.com or DM me (cancerDev) @ nickelcitypixel. Thanks!