Guidelines🤔
So, now I'll briefly tell you what to do to make this jam as fun as possible, give some tips and just tell you the information that you may well already know, but that does not hurt to remind :)
Before the jam starts
Find a team or decide that you will participate alone
Find people you would enjoy spending time with or challenge yourself to do it all yourself from scratch. It's ideal if you complement each other's strengths and weaknesses and cover different aspects of development.
Remember that the optimal team size is 3-6 people. With a larger size, if the team is not already working together, there may be difficulties with communication and discussion. The maximum number of team members is 7 people.
Distribute areas of responsibility
Do not postpone this for the duration of the jam, it is better to decide in advance who will be responsible for what part of the game so that you do not waste time and everyone understands in advance what needs to be done. If some people will be doing the same range of tasks - think about how they will divide tasks and not interfere with each other.
Determine a way to communicate
If you decide to get together offline, there's no problem, but if it's online, it's worth figuring out how you'll keep each other informed. Try to choose something comfortable for all of you - talk on Discord, get together at someone's house, post everything to a public chat room, or call each other once in a while.
Choose and prepare a version control system
Murphy's law says if something can go wrong, it will. Choose a version control system like Git or Perforce ahead of time and test it. Make sure you're not uploading any unnecessary files, and that you can upload your changes and load other team members' changes without breaking your game. Checking this won't take much time, but will save a very large amount of time on the jam.
Check all the tools you need and study them
As a continuation of the previous point, make sure you have all the software, engine, hardware and other things you need for the jam and make sure they work. Create a repository and invite all your teammates there, check all the licenses, and understand where you are going to get music, art, and assets if you need them.
Only use materials that your license allows you to use.
Also if you understand the basic functions of the engine and other software in preparation, it will save you a lot of time on the jam itself.
Study the rules of the jam
Go to the jam page and study the rules offered by the organizers, understand what you can use in your work and what you can't.
Also, join the jam, and remember that without that you can't participate in it
Think about what you want to do
The theme will be announced only when the jam starts but you can already know what type of game you want to make - 2D or 3D, pixel art or realistic rendering etc.
Thinking about this will make it easier to get down to business in the jam.
If at this point you're all set, then wait for it to start and the theme to be announced :)
During the jam
The jam will start with the announcement of the theme of the game. You can start discussing right away to see what kind of game you want to make.
Discussion
It's best to start with a general discussion of ideas, without working out the details. Don't get hung up on one topic, write a list and decide which idea you like best.
Remember that there is still a lot of work to do, so do not spend a lot of time on details, they often arise in the process. At this stage, it's very important to come up with the basic backbone of the game and make sure that everyone on the team understands what you're doing.
The optimal time for this stage is a couple of hours.
Keep it simple.
Remember that you only have a couple of days to develop, so don't try to come up with something too complicated. It's always better to make a slightly simpler but interesting game with catchy mechanics, art and music than to make a very complicated game that never gets made.
Distribution of tasks
It's important that every member of your team understands what to do, what your teammates expect from them and in what time frame. This is important, especially if you have a large team so that no one gets lost and leaves to do something that will not be used instead of what is needed.
Communicate
Chat Russian and International🗣️
Communication is very important, remember to share what you have done and discuss your decisions with your team.
Share your progress
Chat Russian and International🗣️
Share results, screenshots of work in progress, and funny moments with other teams in general chat. This not only encourages other participants, but your game may get someone interested already during the jam.
Rest
You don't have to work all 48 hours without rest. Allocate time for sleep, meals, snacks and just rest. Resting and getting back to work will help you get more done than work to the limit.
Have fun
Remember that the main goal is to have fun, otherwise, what's the point of it all? Laugh, have a good time, come up with crazy and absurd ideas, and have fun. You'll have a much more vivid experience spending time this way than demanding each other to work without tearing off and swearing at every little thing. After all, it's just a jam :)
Closer to the end
Know how to stop.
About 2 to 3 hours before the end of the jam, it's a good idea to get to the end of the game. Don't try to do all the remaining features in the remaining time, there is a high probability there's a good chance you won't make it all or even break the game. Better take this time to fix bugs, upload the game and check that the build works when downloading.
A very common problem is that at this stage, something stops working either locally and/or when downloading builds from the site jam.
Communicate
Share the results, tell what problems did you have and what, on the contrary, was easier than expected. This part is not less interesting than the jam itself. And don't miss a moment to brag, let everyone see what you can do :)
After the jam
Play
Go to the website of jam and play in the other participants' games, believe me, there's nothing more enjoyable than knowing that someone played a game you made and someone liked it. Getting any feedback is very nice.
Rate
Vote for games, the more games you rate, the more honest the rating and the more people get feedback on their work
Prepare trailers
There will be a presentation the week after the jam ends, and everyone will want to see your games. After the jam ends, for that week, please prepare a trailer of no more than a minute in length, and we will include it in our presentation so that everyone can see your wonderful work.
Watch the presentation and wait for the award
After voting is over, there will be an awards presentation where you can look at other people's games and your own, see how they're being responded to and how they look from the outside. Be happy for others or for yourself, don't miss it :)
That's all for now and remember that if you have any questions - you can always contact the organizers and ask them