You can build upon the work you have done in the past or that you have in your arsenal! If you want to be super transparent about that, you can write about it in the description. If you want to see how well you understand the code and how fast you can make it from scratch - just make it your challenge this week :)
If you want to post proof, you can record your development process (or stream it). Other than that, we just trust people will be transparent. There is no incentive to lie, really, as there is no benefit in the long term. You'd be just deceiving yourself!
The main thing to keep in mind that Trijam was designed for improving your skills and do regular, quick iterations. There are many benefits that come with that, but you can use all the work you have done before, you can use 3rd party assets, etc. 3 hour challenge is for executing the project you have planned. You can plan as much as you'd like before the jam. That's another thing - you develop planning skills and then see if you can scope the project properly. And also, you can go over the 3 hours. It's mostly just a challenge, but to have at least some motivation to beat the challenge, only games that are made within 3 hours can go into hall of fame if they win. Otherwise, you can spend all the time you'd like, not a problem to submit a game. Actually, it would be better to submit a game that you have made in 10 hours than not to submit at all.
When these questions arise, we always go back to basics, why we started Trijam - to practice gamedev, prototype quickly, test ideas and do it regularly to improve! If you feel like using AI assets will help you improve, you should be able to practice using it! :)
Grisgram gave a really good answer! But usually preparation is more like pre-production. You might as well build the game before to understand your workflow and then do the production as part of Trijam. The point of Trijam is to improve planning, focusing and execution under time constraints. It's surprising how much can be done in 3 hours when you know what and how you have to do!
I'm happy to announce that you can now compete for a prize in Trijam!
Trijam has teamed up with Latvian Game Developer Association and they will be providing Steam keys to games made by Latvian game developers till the end of 2022!
Remember that the goal of Trijam is to practice game development and improve your skills. The rest is just for a little bit of incentive to get you working! :)
