All participants that submit a game are allowed to judge. Games are given 1-5 star ratings in each category, or N/A where not applicable. The categories include:
Innovation – The unexpected. Things in a unique combination, or something so different it’s notable. Fun – How much you enjoyed playing a game. Did you look up at the clock, and found it was 5 hours later? Theme – How well an entry suits the theme. Do they perhaps do something creative or unexpected with the theme? Graphics – How good the game looks, or how effective the visual style is. Nice artwork, excellent generated or geometric graphics, charming programmer art, etc. Audio – How good the game sounds, or how effective the sound design is. A catchy soundtrack, suitable sound effects given the look, voice overs, etc. Humor – How amusing a game is. Humorous dialog, funny sounds, or is it so bad it’s good? Mood – Storytelling, emotion, and the vibe you get while playing. Overall – Your overall opinion of the game, in every aspect important to you.
There’s a complex system that try to force push people to play other games. The more you play (and vote) the more you score.
Other like Kenney-Jam are voted by Kenney himself (and maybe some other people of the staff).
would it be OK to push the end of the compo to end of September?
I personally I am just getting warmed up with Java and I really, really want to make a classy entry into the compo. There were many things (summer holiday and so on) that prevented me from really getting into the groove.
My experience here is that it is always a burden to get familiar with the new language and new APIs but, especially if you have a background in C++ or C#, it does not take a long until it starts to go smoothly. The IDE is beautiful(!) and it is rapidly evolving.
I’d love to make an entry but work on the IDE/emulator/compiler have eaten up most of my time.
An extension of the deadline would be very useful to me.
When people realize that there are actual physical prizes, I think we get few more entries. Some GameJams do not offer prizes, or the prize is an SW product, or a discount of an SW product.
Personally I think knowledge and experience are far greater prizes than mere physical objects. :P
Personally I’m still unlikely to enter even with an extended deadline.
I’m more interested in trying to help improve the Java library, the documentation and other tools and utilities (in between helping out with other projects and playing Morrowind - all shall bow before house Telvanni! :P).
(If I ever do get round to releasing a game, it’ll probably be in C++.)
If it means more/better quality entries across the board I think it is a good idea to extend the deadline.
Plus this helps me with adding scope for audio;D
Just added my project! I forgot to earlier. I think I am like 99.99% finished. Just need to test some more, and then add something (not inside) the game
I have set aside time to fix this for good this afternoon. Be warned though: I intend to push the deadline further back still, to probably 13th of October.
I know its not fair to @torbuntu and @Hanski, as they have spent considerable time on their entries already but: having now tried FemtoIDE and Java on my own, the level of learning needed to make an entry is somewhat higher than last time with the Python compo.
If I can’t make a decent entry in 2 weeks, I think its pretty unrealistic to wait others to be able to.
I do not mind at all extending the deadline. I actually have not done so much as I cannot do it many times a week. Now, I have time to do proper tutorial, animations, start screen etc.
