To Jam or Not to Jam that is the question...

So in the last game jam I made BearBound with TurkeyOnAStick and ChartsOverHearts. I'm torn on whether or not to sign up for this game jam.

I have other things I should be working on but it's tempting. I really don't care for the random word theme generator though. That makes the theme of the game way to narrow in my opinion, and doesn't leave me much room for exploring the idea since it pretty much spells it out.

I've gotten a few people asking me if I was going to participate or not apparently they are allowing people to team up before they start the Jam... kinda changing the entire formula of the NG game jam but it's cool I guess. Should I enter the Jam guys or should I just let this one slide?

OTHER COOL STUFF:

I've been making waves over at Quirky.com. I already have one product that won and is going to be made, and now I'm in the finals again with a cool water pitcher design, and I think I'm in another final for a back to college design competition. If you had told me at Christmas that I would be an inventor by Valentine's Day I would have laughed in your face but I might just have 3 products on shelves by the end of the year. Funny how that works.

Anyway if you guys can help me with my newest idea that would be awesome, it's called the Breezy Broom, it's a broom that you hook a can of compressed air up to. You pull the trigger and it shoots air at the hard to reach dirt and gets it out in the open.

http://www.quirky.com/ideations/55309

To Jam or Not to Jam that is the question...

Comments

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Magical-Zorse 2011-02-16 23:04:04

pfffff, the NG Game Jam is for losers. You should join the NG Game Jelly. All the cool kids are doing it.

BoMToons 2011-02-16 23:27:19

Abobo will turn your brain into jam if you don't help him rescue his son!

JackSmack 2011-02-16 23:27:19

Yeah that is what I thought...

imjeffhip 2011-02-16 23:39:19

could join our team if you want, think we need a coderz

JackSmack 2011-02-16 23:39:19

If I was going to do it I would be a random person I wouldn't want to join a team.

I have a lot going on this weekend though, with working on games and other family stuff. I'll let someone else make the most kickass game this time I guess.

FrozenFire 2011-02-17 01:16:12

Secondary

Luis 2011-02-17 09:51:45

I like the random phrase generator thing, i think it could make for some unusual themes for games. One of my gripes with the last one was that it was such a generic topic. Like i felt that all the game jams were destined to involve the seasons from now to eternity. Now atleast theres a chance for a game about boogers or poop or something.

JackSmack 2011-02-17 09:51:45

I agree that the themes were sucky for the last two game jams. But why not just choose one word and have it be a theme? You could rip a random page from the dictionary and throw a dart at it to pick. Each team could have a random one word theme, but that makes the whole thing rather disjointed.

Anywho I'm not able to participate, but I wish I could... even with the odd theme generator. I can handle more limiting guidelines but if it's completely random based on community submissions I'm more than likely going to get a theme that is something like "Cock butt humping a penis" :P

TomFulp 2011-02-17 12:59:08

What I'm hoping is that people could still get really inventive with the constraints of the random theme generator. Since it doesn't stick you in a genre, you could get creative with how you tackle the topic - maybe completely surprise people by interpreting it in a way no one expected.

Really though I just want more teams to be around when we unveil IDEATRON tonight. :P

JackSmack 2011-02-17 12:59:08

I've done the whole pick words out of a hat and make a game thing. The longer and more descriptive the theme is the less open to interpretation it is. Like if I got "Angry Goth Chicks eating Pie" that is a lot more limiting than just "Angry Goth Chicks" which is a lot more limiting than "Goth Chicks" which is a lot more limiting than "Goth".

I think that the random generator actually makes the creation process a little more predetermined rather than letting the developers fly by the seat of their pants.

jaxxy 2011-03-15 23:32:39

As a WOMAN who does a lot of CLEANING >8T I think this idea needs some work. Personally, I don't WANT air blowing the dust I'm sweeping up at home - it goes everywhere and sticks to anything...and I sneeze enough as it is. There's also a chance that the air will just blow the dust back into the space I'm trying to get at. I think Roomba got it down perfectly. It can reach un-sweepable places
and under sofas and such and has a little sweepy-thingy that's constantly moving to move dust and crumbs into the vacuum. It's a real life saver for spring cleaning. :>
This would actually be a GREAT idea for a MOVIE THEATER (my first job ever) where you have to sweep under those damn seats that are all tightly squished together. It's hard to sweep out popcorn too when it gets lodged somewhere stupid - and when there are HUGE crowds of people we'd end up using a leaf-blower to clean! So this would actually be perfect as it marries the two ideas together. The cans of compressed air could be bigger though, since I can't imagine it would last very long as it is...or even, fuck the compressed air. Just attach a broom to a leaf-blower instead. lol!
Good luck with the Quirky stuffs! See ya 'round, Dave! :D
Anyways, my thoughts summed up; Good for the work place, not so good for the house.