Game Jams

Overview

During the four years that I was studying to obtain my qualification. The course organisers provided us students with a number of game jams. They were not mandatory however I participated in each and everyone. The game jams were held at two different locations; Luton and London. 

Luton University 2015 (48 hour jam)

My very first game jam took place soon after I began my course. I had only covered the game engine GameMaker at this point in the course. So with the team I was assigned to, I was the designated programmer. The other 3 people in the team consisted of a student from the Artist & Animator course, a student from the Game Designer course and a student from the QA Tester course.

At the event we were given the theme ‘TIME’. As a team we decided on a platformer game called Tough Times. The player has to progress through various levels each taking place in a different time period. Our artist created enemies for four points in time; the stone age, ancient Greece, medieval age and the future.

Although I had moments when I wished I had been further along the course in preparation to my first game jam. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was hard work also but a fun experience at the same time. It was nice getting to meet and work with other students from the different courses. Working as a team combining our efforts to creating a game was a valuable lesson for me and this was one I planned to build on more in the future.

Development pictures

Game Details:

Team Size:
Platform:
Project Length:
Game Engine:

4 people
PC
48 hours
GameMaker

Personal Contribution:

  • Audio Implementation
  • Collision Implementation
  • Enemy AI
  • Physics Implementation
  • Pickups 
  • Player Mechanics
  • Power Ups
  • UI System

Microsoft London Studio 2017 (24 hour jam)

For the second game jam. At this point I had read through all the course materials and was just starting my first City & Guilds project. For that project I was obligated to learn about Unity in depth and so this would put in me in good stead for the upcoming game jam.

The theme for the game jam was “SPACE”. The game idea we decided on was a platformer game where the player controls an android that navigates their way through the game environments. Competing with around 6-7 other teams we set off on our quest to make the winning game. After a long 24 hours with only 2-4 hrs rest approximately for myself. Our game was submitted and like everyone else we awaited the results for the game jam.  

To our delight, WE WON! The reward was a meet up for a future date with some Microsoft developers that were involved with the development of the Hololens. On the day of the meetup we were able to test out the hardware. We took part in demonstrations that they had planned for us. These involved simulations, practical applications and a game using the Hololens.

In-game pictures

Game Details:

Team Size:
Platform:
Project Length:
Engine & Language:

5 people
PC
24 hours
Unity3D, C#

Personal Contribution:

  • Audio Implementation
  • Collision Implementation
  • Enemy AI
  • Lighting and Shadows
  • Particle Effects
  • Physics Implementation
  • Pickups 
  • Player Mechanics
  • Score System
  • UI System
  • Win lose conditions 

Luton University 2017 (24 hour jam)

For my last game jam I took part in, organised by the course provider Train2Game. At this point I was just about finished with the second City & Guilds project and so I had gained a lot more confidence by this point in my development abilities using the Unity game engine and with coding in general.

The theme that we were provided with was “GRAVITY“. The game idea we came up with was of a reaction based game where the player enters a lift. A random floor value is then displayed to the player. The player will then have to hold down the spacebar key, then release this when they think the gauge bar correlates with the relevant floor the character should be going to. If the player times this right a win screen will follow otherwise the lose screen will appear.

Just like the previous game jam, in the first hour we went over concepts/ideas. For the remainder of the 23 hours we developed the game we conceived and tried to add polish to the fundamentals. To try and give us an edge over the other teams. This was a smaller game jam consisting of just a few teams. There was not a prize for any of the teams on this occasion but the experience of another game jam for me was enough of a reward. Getting to know more students and to see how people in their respective disciplines approach the game development process.

In-game pictures

Game Details:

Team Size:
Platform:
Project Length:
Engine & Language:

5 people
PC
24 hours
Unity3D, C#

Personal Contribution:

  • Audio Implementation
  • Collision Implementation
  • Physics Implementation 

  • Player Mechanics
  • UI System
  • Win lose conditions