Sponsors

Thank you to Broadview University for hosting and being a major sponsor!
Thank you to EA Salt Lake for sponsoring food and providing mentors!
Thank you to all the volunteers from the IGDA Salt Lake City/Provo Area Chapter and the Utah Indie Games group.

Event

Basic info:
http://globalgamejam.org/wiki/basic-questions

The keynote from the first year (watch this!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW6vgW8wc6c

A documentary from the first year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b6pxpNN4NQ

Venue Notes

Alternate map: http://slc.broadviewuniversity.edu/life-at-slc/directions-to-slc-campus....
Email the organizer at vazor222gmail [dot] com for cell phone beforehand in case you get lost!
There will be special parking arrangements, and we will be restricted to the 3rd floor. Make sure if you leave that you have a phone number of someone in the building, because the doors will be locked and someone will need to let you back in. There will likely be one or two of the meals sponsored, but plan to bring or grab food from nearby. There is only a candy bar machine on site.

Equipment

The school will provide access to their wireless network and a few ethernet cables and switches for us to use.
*NOTE* Bring as many wireless access cards/devices as you can, we will only have limited wired ports and most of the ports in the walls will not work. Bring extra cables, switches, mouse pads, and powerstrips if you can, someone always forgets something at a lan event like this. :)

Schedule

Note that the meal times are simply guidelines and this schedule subject to change. Meal times not marked as Sponsored are meals you need to take care of yourself- why not invite a few others you don't know to go get some food together and meet new friends? Plan for breaks to stretch often and rest your eyes. Don't depend too much on energy drinks. A place to take naps will be available.

Friday, January 28th
4-5pm Check in
5-6pm Opening ceremonies, keynote, warmup, theme announcement, group forming
6-7pm Dinner - Sponsored by Broadview University
7pm Teams get to work!

Saturday
10am Breakfast break
11-1pm Work
1-2pm Lunch - Sponsored by EA Salt Lake
2pm Work
6pm Dinner break
7pm Work

Sunday
10am Breakfast break
11-1pm Work - home stretch
1-2pm Lunch break
2-3pm Finish work
3-4pm Judging, uploading
4-5pm Presentations and farewell

Groups

You can come with or without a group, but if you come with a group, please be flexible in taking in someone that still needs a group by the end of the group forming process.

After watching the keynote and getting the constraints/themes, we will follow with some social exercises to get people relaxed and comfortable (especially in cultures where people are shy by nature), no more than half an hour on this. After people are relaxed, we will start with idea pitches and group forming.

The way pitches work is that people form two-person teams with whomever they are sitting next to. They are handed a piece of paper and something to write with. They get 15 minutes to come up with one or more ideas that fit the constraints. After 15 minutes, everyone gathers in the same room and each team gets exactly 30 seconds to pitch each idea to the entire room (with an organizer being time keeper to keep this moving along). After presenting the idea, it is posted on the wall with all other ideas. Here is a photo of what this might look like from NGJ 06: http://www.nordicgamejam.org/06/report01.html

After all ideas are pitched, the owner of each idea takes their idea, and attaches it to themselves. At this point, idea owners are trying to sell their ideas while other participants are shopping around for an idea they would like to attach themselves to. For idea owners who are unable to sell their ideas, they will have to give up on their idea and join someone else's group. This continues until everyone has a group – no one may start until everyone is part of a group! Everyone will use this time to get their team and their tasks organized.

Also, groups should pay attention to skill sets, to make sure that they have all the skills they need (generally at least one person with programming skills, one with art skills, one with game design skills, and preferably someone among them who knows how to do audio). We will have an audio specialist on site who is considering joining in and making audio for every game if allowed.

We will have a few experienced developers helping out as well. Please don't hesitate to ask them for their help and opinions!

Teams and Submissions

On the GGJ website, each participant should have their own individual account. Each jammer needs to sign in, get an account, and fill out a profile to associate themselves with a specific location. Participants can do this at any time, even at the start of the event, but we encourage them to do it early.

Once a participant has signed up, they will be able to create a “game” object. Once that object is created, the user can add any other users at the same location as collaborators. So, teams are basically formed around games.

Game submissions are handled on the website as well: there is a Web form that can be filled out to upload the game and supporting info. There will be a progress bar while uploading, so you can tell the difference between it just taking awhile and it totally freezing on you. Another advantage of the form is that the games will be available immediately after they are uploaded! In case of HTTP failure, we will also provide an FTP backup, just contact your organizer.

Someone on the team will need to be able to package the game according to the instructions on the website: http://globalgamejam.org/wiki/hand-procedure

If your team doesn't finish, but there is still something to show, those are still welcome. We also still expect a final presentation, sharing what you learned, as a post-mortem. This is not a competition! What is important is that you learn more about game development and have a chance to express and discuss game ideas with others.

The global website and ggj hq are sponsored by several great companies. Some are offering special deals for the jam. Learn more by exploring the GGJ website.

Requirements

You will need a computer. Unless you plan to come and work on pencil and paper the whole time, bring a machine to plug in and do coding, art, or design with. Keep in mind that our venue expects us mostly to use only the wireless network, so bring a wireless ethernet card if possible. If you don't already have all the software you'll need installed, you'll also need Administrator rights to install software on your machine.

You will need a game engine or library to make games at the Global Game Jam, and ideally you should bring one that you are already familiar with. The same goes for any tools, such as GIMP or other free graphics tools to make images for your game.

Some game engines you may consider:
FlatRedBall
Torque
Unreal Engine
Unity3d
XNA (or just plain old C#)
Game Salad (only makes Mac/iPhone games, but reportedly very easy to use)
Game Maker (only makes PC games, but also easy to use)
Python/PyGame
Flash (not free, but you can download a 30-day trial)
SDL (for C++ developers)
Allegro
Scirra Construct
SGDK2
Love
Adventure Game Studio
RPG Maker
Scratch
Alice
...and many more!

Keep in mind that learning an entirely new programming language is an especially tall order for a 48-hour event, so coders should really use what they are already comfortable with.

Unlike tools, the game engine/framework source must be able to be released along with the game code.

All games will be released under this Creative Commons license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

You also give the Global Game Jam the right to show the first version of your game on their website.

You will be required to sign a release form. We would like to use your likeness (videos of the event) and we don't want you to sue us or our venue, thank you kindly.

You will need money if you plan to buy drinks/snacks on site or go out to eat. There will be a guide for nearby restaurants.

Q&A

Q: Is it allowed for participants to use an existing framework, code library, game engine, etc.?
A: Yes, under certain conditions. All games must be released under Creative Commons, so any other code used must be legally releasable in this way (i.e. a proprietary game engine should not be used for GGJ).

Q: Do participants have to sign up as part of a team ahead of time?
A: No, and in fact we strongly encourage you to form teams made of total strangers. Game jams are a wonderful opportunity for participants to expand their horizons, challenge themselves, and meet new people. These benefits are greatly lessened if participants sign up in a group with their friends.

Q: Is there a required minimum or maximum team size?
A: There are no official limits. In practice, you want each team to have all skill sets covered (especially programming, art, and game design) so it will usually not be practical to have a team of less than 3 people. Once team size starts to get over 5 or 6, communication gets to be an issue.

Q: Will the games be showcased anywhere (GDC, IndieCade, etc.)?
A: We will certainly propose this at the major conferences, but of course it is up to the conference organizers and not us. Whether this happens or not, all games will still be available on the GGJ website.

Q: Will there be a global “winner”?
A: To be clear, GGJ maintains a focus on collaboration, not competition. This is not a contest. As far as we are concerned, the experience matters as much as the games. For our local chapter there may be prizes down the line for exceptionally well done projects as determined by a panel of local judges from local game studios.

Q: What happens with my team/game after the event is over?
A: Whatever you want! You still own the game and you can continue to polish it or work with your team on a longer project if you like. The Global Game Jam has helped spur many success stories from indie startups to launching game careers.

Q: How can I help make this event better?
A: If you want to volunteer and/or know anyone that would like to sponsor, let the organizer know.

Q: What if I have other questions that aren’t covered here?
A: Email the local organizer with any questions or suggestions.

Q: How do I find the local organizer?
A: This page lists contact email at the top: vazor222gmail [dot] com