Today is the final day in the 48 hour game development competition called the NM Game Jam. At least one team has stayed the entire time working hard on their project and the only challenge we've run into so far is the storm that rolled through last night that knocked out the Internet.
I have called our trusty IT guy, but suspect he may be at church, since he hasn't responded yet. The storm created quite the challenge in trying to catch a few winks of sleep due to all the thunder and lightening.
Since the deadline to complete our games is at 5pm, the Internet issues may cause problems with folks meeting their deadlines.
I will be very curious to see the completed games, as several ideas seemed very interesting.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
2011 NM Game Jam ABQ
Howdy everyone,
I am sitting in the lower level of the Southwest University of Visual Arts campus surrounded by numerous game developers and game enthusiasts. To help paint a picture for you, the occasion is the NM Game Jam competition and there are several teams currently plugging away at developing the next "big" thing in gaming.
This is a 48 hour competition to develop playable digital or board games and the dedication, artistic applications, problem solving and teamwork that I am witness to is definitely inspiring. There are 5 teams on our campus and three other sites around the state of New Mexico. This is the largest NM Game Jam yet, with roughly 100 people participating.
The average age range of the participants is in the mid twenties. At least 2 teams on the SUVA campus came in already formed while the other 3 teams formed after a vigorous round of a "speed dating," get to know you, introduction.
One of the teams that are currently making progress on their game development endeavors are all friends who are enrolled in the IFDM program at UNM. They have worked together on projects before and are preforming together like a well oiled machine. They are all working on less than 2 hours of sleep and their enthusiasm and camaraderie is infectious.
Several Game Jammers took advantage of the sleeping arrangements set up down the hall in a dark, quiet classroom with sleeping accommodations in the form of blow up floatation devices and inexpensive Walmart pillows.
Money for food and beverages was raised through a Crowdfunding event hosted on Kickstarter. $1500.00 was raised to help with food expenses and t-shirts to be given to the NM Game Jam participants at the end of the Jam. Thanks to one particularly generous donation from a fellow in Australia we were able to met our fundraising goals and NM Game Jam is moving along nicely.
One new addition to this Game Jam is the camera crew from Reelz Channel's show The DigiVangelist. They are following several of the teams around, asking questions and documenting the process of game development. This adds a slightly surreal mood around here, as it feels a lot like being on a reality TV show.
What I love the most about this particular event is the fact that you don't have to have any previous experience in Game Development to do well with here. In every Game Jam so far, there have been first time participants who have never done any kind of game development before. Inevitably they are introduced to a team and end up learning valuable information and making new friends, while learning new skills and techniques.
I enjoy seeing their faces light up at the end of a Game Jam wen they have to get up in front of the other teams to share the game they created with everyone. They go from thinking working on a team with their lack of knowledge will be impossible to realizing that anything is possible if they apply themselves and put forth the effort.
Here's to a great NM Game Jam and to many more to come!
I am sitting in the lower level of the Southwest University of Visual Arts campus surrounded by numerous game developers and game enthusiasts. To help paint a picture for you, the occasion is the NM Game Jam competition and there are several teams currently plugging away at developing the next "big" thing in gaming.
This is a 48 hour competition to develop playable digital or board games and the dedication, artistic applications, problem solving and teamwork that I am witness to is definitely inspiring. There are 5 teams on our campus and three other sites around the state of New Mexico. This is the largest NM Game Jam yet, with roughly 100 people participating.
The average age range of the participants is in the mid twenties. At least 2 teams on the SUVA campus came in already formed while the other 3 teams formed after a vigorous round of a "speed dating," get to know you, introduction.
One of the teams that are currently making progress on their game development endeavors are all friends who are enrolled in the IFDM program at UNM. They have worked together on projects before and are preforming together like a well oiled machine. They are all working on less than 2 hours of sleep and their enthusiasm and camaraderie is infectious.
Several Game Jammers took advantage of the sleeping arrangements set up down the hall in a dark, quiet classroom with sleeping accommodations in the form of blow up floatation devices and inexpensive Walmart pillows.
Money for food and beverages was raised through a Crowdfunding event hosted on Kickstarter. $1500.00 was raised to help with food expenses and t-shirts to be given to the NM Game Jam participants at the end of the Jam. Thanks to one particularly generous donation from a fellow in Australia we were able to met our fundraising goals and NM Game Jam is moving along nicely.
One new addition to this Game Jam is the camera crew from Reelz Channel's show The DigiVangelist. They are following several of the teams around, asking questions and documenting the process of game development. This adds a slightly surreal mood around here, as it feels a lot like being on a reality TV show.
What I love the most about this particular event is the fact that you don't have to have any previous experience in Game Development to do well with here. In every Game Jam so far, there have been first time participants who have never done any kind of game development before. Inevitably they are introduced to a team and end up learning valuable information and making new friends, while learning new skills and techniques.
I enjoy seeing their faces light up at the end of a Game Jam wen they have to get up in front of the other teams to share the game they created with everyone. They go from thinking working on a team with their lack of knowledge will be impossible to realizing that anything is possible if they apply themselves and put forth the effort.
Here's to a great NM Game Jam and to many more to come!
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