I don't think there is anything 'magical' about the summer jam, but the one thing it is, is 'consistant' every year since it started back in 2017, so because of that its just become routine and perhaps it can be better planned for maybe and more are aware off its existance. The jam will continue to run regardless of particiption unless i can't do it for whatever reason.
Also, there may be some that do want to participate in an OGA jam, but maybe the summer isn't the right time for them, so i really like the idea of others holding other jams later on in the year to cater for those unable to participate in the summer jam, including myself, i cant enter the jam i host, well i could, but i wouldn't want to for rating purposes. Also other members of the community can get involved too if they wanted, and put their own spin on procedings, like your Fall jam operates differently than the summer jam. It's cool to have some variety. :)
IMO, having seasonal jams is the best way i think without over doing it and can be evenly spaced out throughout the year.
We still as of this moment have no confirmation whether or not @XomAdept is going to run a 'Winter jam' or if @Spring is going to do a 'Spring' jam. (i hope they are OK) So as it stands we are only looking at two jams this year anyway (Summer & Fall). Unless Xom is planning on a Feb 1st start, at which case there isn't much time left to 'promote' it, but still doable. :) I hope we can get some clarity on those soon.
In the meantime i propose this schedule:
Spring Jam: April 1st (4weeks) *or however long the host wants to have it run
Summer Jam: July 1st(4 weeks)
Fall Jam: October 1st(4 weeks) *or however long the withthelove wants to have it run
Winter Jam: 1st Jan(4 weeks) *or however long the host wants to have it run
This gives 2 months between each jam, where the art challenges are/could be held in between, or even ongoing during jam periods, for those that want to contribute to the jam in some way without programming.(just through that in there) :)
Should Xom Adept & Spring not want to do the jams then we can leave them blank for now and not schedule them in the year. :)
Well, thats not that easy to answer. There are many types as you mention above, and each will have 'techniques', then theres colour theories and what not. i suppose it will depend on a few things. What your most comfotable doing and what you find easy. however 'easy' is not so easy to define, some may find some meduims difficult, some may find them easy. :) then theres drawing free hand and using software, which again, some will find it easy, some find it hard. So finding the way to create your chosen meduim and the tools to help you create a particular art is going to take time. Some Tools you may not get on with, may make you feel like you don't like a particular meduim, or vice versa. it really does depend on what your goal is in terms of the art you want to produce, but then saying that, will a certain game idea dictate the way you want the art because you want to depict a certain feel to a game?
My advice to you is decide what art meduim you like. Learn about it, practice it, then when your comfortable try and see what too(if you need one)l you like which will help you move forward when creating assets for your game project. And there could be many ways to do this, many tools to do the job. But it will be up to you to discover what works best for you. :)
Personally, Pixel art is my preference, but i knew not a lot about it, so i have been on a journey of learning and discovery with the origins of pixel art. My goal is to produce 16bit game assets, but i couldn't just jump in doing it until i started from the bottom, or where i was most comfortable with. I currently create 8bit assets. Ive have learnt many things and i am still learning. Ive been here on OGA for 5 years, which is as long as ive been doing the 8bit stuff. My work is still not perfect, but it has come on leaps and bounds since starting and i'm well on the way to reaching my goal. One of the biggest issues for me was using software to draw. I hated it. I like to use freehand, with a pencil, but creating digital art with a pencil doesn't quite work. So i tried some tools to help me draw free hand and, transfer them to a format where i could use for my game assets with software. it took some trial and error, but eventually found something i really like.
I use my Ipad to draft,draw,practice my work. it gives me the freedom to move around, research without being stuck at a PC screen allday, take it everywhere with me, incase inspirations hits me, and most importantly, the abilty to use a stylis as a pen, giving me the freehand i so desperatly wanted. :) i can also export my drafts & drawings via email, photo,png, GIF and import them straight into my project, where i can then use the software to make small edited changes, correct mistakes and create animations etc. As a result of doing this i have become more confident in using software to create some of my drawings so i don't hate it as much. :)
The App i use is called Pixaki. It set me back £30 and it was the best investment i ever made. There are many Free alternatives outthere as well, but again this will all depend on your preferences.
If pixel art is not the way to you want to go, you could always try Procreate. you can do a lot of meduims on there, graffiti, oil painting, skecthing, water colour, theres so many to choose. So whatever you want to do. Again, the softwares can do all that to, Blender, Photoshop, Gimp, illustrater. It's what ever you feel comfortable with doing. I often find that some softwares can take a while to learn themselves. It could take time to learn there features and how they work which can be frustrating.
When you first start learning to do something, nothing can seem 'easy', or can be easily done. It takes time, perserverence & patience. but the more you learn the easier it should become. :)
Most important thing to do first is learn the basics in what ever you decide to do. :)
Perhaps a front page post would help, and i'm sure Medicinestorm would do that, and that would be more perminant as it doesn't get used for anything else, no extra development needed. :) Just a image or Just up and comming event text.
Im here everyday, so i could always bump any forum thread post to keep it at the top . ;)
I understand what you mean by being nervous, so it wouldn't be fair to ask you to do all the challenges, unless you wanted to, I'm more than happy to do a couple if others don't, to take the stress off, and if you did fall sick or something else came up, you only have to say "Chaser, Ive got the two bob bits, could you do the art challenge for me this month" , il be more than happy to step in for you to help out.
If you stuck for ideas, im sure the community could chuck some ideas out for you to work with aswell. It doesn't have to be to complicated, any challenge would be good either way. :)
I think 4 jams a year is reasonable, i sort of agree with you a little that there would seem no interest in some jams to sustain them, but perhaps they weren't known about by the many due to post being lost over a couple of days(which happens a lot here), or the other reasons that @ZomBCool mentions, like timing or something else. I don't think the jams reached enough people here in the community so i wouldn't say that its 'clear' theres not enough interest, more of not enough people knew about them, and i don't think we should just give up on them just yet. :) That said if noone wants to hold a re-occuring 'Spring/Autumn/winter' jam, thats OK, at least we(the community) know about it and we can focus on the the 2 jams.
"People just seem to have more time and enthusiasm for the summer jam".
I don't agree with that, The 'Fall jam' 2018 was great success, and had just as many entries if not more as the 'summer jam' that same year. The year after @Spring hosted the 'Spring jam' where it didn't have as many entries, but still produced some great games and again i would say it was a success. Any thing that can use the resources here at OGA and boast OGA as a whole is a good thing for this community and OGA itself. OK, this years 'Fall jam' didn't get the entries, so would seem disapointing, but did it get the attention that the first 'Fall jam'?, did it get enough time for the word to spread before its start date?, Did that have an impact on entries? Quite possibly, or maybe noone had the time, or the timing was bad, as the fall jam this year didn't start at the same time it did the year before so i think it would be harsh to judge it or compare it to the year before. DON'T GIVE UP ON IT :)
Please, In no way am i digging you out about anything(or anybody else), if thats how it comes across, thats not what i'm saying. It takes commitment and time to set up events, and i can appreciate those efforts and endeavers.
It's a shame when our own commitments feel like they are not reciprecated. When participation is key and its low does make one think 'Is it worth it'. Unfortunatly this can be the beast, and IMO, think this is what leads to a lot of events at OGA starting and not not starting again, there on, there off because they feel the participation is not there.
Ive been on OGA 5 years now, and what is clear to me is members come and go, sometimes they stay for a while, sometimes they only pop in month to month, maybe every 2 months, so this is another thing that can impact and does impact on events aswell. Thats just the way it is here. If we persevere and get into a routine of things and are of a more common thing then i'm sure participation will increase, but will obvouisly still vary from time to time.
The 'game jam' space could feel overcrowded, this is because noone really knows who's doing what and when, if we all got together and discussed who would like to do what and when then we could all work together to form something of a schedule and get it all spaced out evenly througnout the year and be more organised. :)
'Summer Jam' 1st July Hosted by chasersgaming (yearly) I'm more than prepared to move thedate of this jam to make space for a more evenly spread game jam occurance. :)
'Winter jam' ?????? Hosted by XomAdept (yearly) 4 weeks before jam host starts an art challenge?
'Fall jam' ?????? Hosted by withthelove (yearly) 4 weeks before jam host starts an art challenge?
then theres the normal art challenges every other months.
I don't want anyone to give up on the jams or challenges. if we get behind them and commit to them and get everything sorted we can really make a good go of them this year which would be good for OGA. :)
What sort of Pixel art do you require? 8bit, 16bit, asset author defined? Do you have a preference/Would you have a preference? Maybe find and post a screenshot of a simular game or has the Pixel art you would like. That might help us to determine who can do it and cannot, should some of us think of proposing ourselves.
example: i can do 8bit pixel art but never worked with 16bit(yet) so should you want 16bit or simular, then that would rule me out. :)
Have you tried PM some members on here of work you like?
The template you have posted, i'm asuming is 'isometric' view/layout?
@withthelove Sorry to hear youve been unwell mate, not the best start to the new year for ya, hope you get better soon!
I like the format, 3 weeks, 1 week vote, im down with that, that covers 4 months of the 12, and them leading into the 'seasonal' game jams.(which i think need cementing as well, Xomadept posted here https://opengameart.org/forumtopic/winter-2020-game-jam
i think 1 art challenge a month would be a good idea to try and do, maybe we could have others volunteer for those if anyone interested, i don't mind doing one or some if needed.
I think knowing about the art challenges before they start would be a good idea, at least until they are more known to the community that they will be more concurrent and expected. :)
I think its really important that we all know whos doing what and when, so theres no one second guessing any events that the community put together or clashes. If this could be done, then maybe we could announce something on the frontpage, idk, a timeline, schedule just something that new users or returning users can actually see whats happening on OGA throughout the year, and not get lost through disapearing forum threads.
@MedicineStorm I agree, definatly helps raise awarness, its good that you can do that, and thank you. :)
Bluecarrot16 won :) with thier awesome Food assets,
if you scroll up a bit MedicineStorm has linked thier submission. :)
Since we are here on the art challenge, are we ready for another? and to start getting this art challenge going on a more consistant manner, someone needs to get this badboy by the horns. :)
anyone? @Medicinestorm @withthelove @danorder @Xomadept any of you want to do this on a more pemanent basis? I dig the 'sharing it' mentalty, the trouble is doing it this way is it leads to weeks, some times months before another challenge is started, how about a 'Rota'?.
I know sometimes maybe there isn't the participation as we would like, which maybe leads to people thinking 'well, i leave it', but if we keep a more consistant flow, overtime it will show 'activity' and more people will join in eventually. :)
New Year, New Start, lets start as we mean to go on
Unfortunatly i don't have the time to participate in a 'Winter jam', these next few months are my busiest. I struggled with the 'Fall jam' myself, but did my best with the time :)
There are a number of us that want to hold game jams now, how many is too many is not easy to answer. game jams are running all the time, everyday, so i just think its more down to who has the time and actually want to particpate, or it they find a theme that sparks there interest.
If it helps i am more than willing to move the date of the summer jam so we can get more jams in, in a more structured, levelled way? so that they don't fall on top of each other? theres also the art challenges to think about, which i thought would tie into jams, or the jams tie into the art challenges, not sure whats happening with those?
I'm not sure if @Spring is hosting another 'Spring jam'? it would be good to get a timeline going with these so we all know what we are doing and at what time and when.
Thats said, its a totally optional thing for people to run game jams how they want to, so if you want to run a 'Winter jam' then do so, i mean i will try and do my best to take part, but i cant promise. :)
I don't think there is anything 'magical' about the summer jam, but the one thing it is, is 'consistant' every year since it started back in 2017, so because of that its just become routine and perhaps it can be better planned for maybe and more are aware off its existance. The jam will continue to run regardless of particiption unless i can't do it for whatever reason.
Also, there may be some that do want to participate in an OGA jam, but maybe the summer isn't the right time for them, so i really like the idea of others holding other jams later on in the year to cater for those unable to participate in the summer jam, including myself, i cant enter the jam i host, well i could, but i wouldn't want to for rating purposes. Also other members of the community can get involved too if they wanted, and put their own spin on procedings, like your Fall jam operates differently than the summer jam. It's cool to have some variety. :)
IMO, having seasonal jams is the best way i think without over doing it and can be evenly spaced out throughout the year.
We still as of this moment have no confirmation whether or not @XomAdept is going to run a 'Winter jam' or if @Spring is going to do a 'Spring' jam. (i hope they are OK) So as it stands we are only looking at two jams this year anyway (Summer & Fall). Unless Xom is planning on a Feb 1st start, at which case there isn't much time left to 'promote' it, but still doable. :) I hope we can get some clarity on those soon.
In the meantime i propose this schedule:
Spring Jam: April 1st (4weeks) *or however long the host wants to have it run
Summer Jam: July 1st(4 weeks)
Fall Jam: October 1st(4 weeks) *or however long the withthelove wants to have it run
Winter Jam: 1st Jan(4 weeks) *or however long the host wants to have it run
This gives 2 months between each jam, where the art challenges are/could be held in between, or even ongoing during jam periods, for those that want to contribute to the jam in some way without programming.(just through that in there) :)
Should Xom Adept & Spring not want to do the jams then we can leave them blank for now and not schedule them in the year. :)
Sounds good, and a good plan! Abracadabra! :)
Well, thats not that easy to answer. There are many types as you mention above, and each will have 'techniques', then theres colour theories and what not. i suppose it will depend on a few things. What your most comfotable doing and what you find easy. however 'easy' is not so easy to define, some may find some meduims difficult, some may find them easy. :) then theres drawing free hand and using software, which again, some will find it easy, some find it hard. So finding the way to create your chosen meduim and the tools to help you create a particular art is going to take time. Some Tools you may not get on with, may make you feel like you don't like a particular meduim, or vice versa. it really does depend on what your goal is in terms of the art you want to produce, but then saying that, will a certain game idea dictate the way you want the art because you want to depict a certain feel to a game?
My advice to you is decide what art meduim you like. Learn about it, practice it, then when your comfortable try and see what too(if you need one)l you like which will help you move forward when creating assets for your game project. And there could be many ways to do this, many tools to do the job. But it will be up to you to discover what works best for you. :)
Personally, Pixel art is my preference, but i knew not a lot about it, so i have been on a journey of learning and discovery with the origins of pixel art. My goal is to produce 16bit game assets, but i couldn't just jump in doing it until i started from the bottom, or where i was most comfortable with. I currently create 8bit assets. Ive have learnt many things and i am still learning. Ive been here on OGA for 5 years, which is as long as ive been doing the 8bit stuff. My work is still not perfect, but it has come on leaps and bounds since starting and i'm well on the way to reaching my goal. One of the biggest issues for me was using software to draw. I hated it. I like to use freehand, with a pencil, but creating digital art with a pencil doesn't quite work. So i tried some tools to help me draw free hand and, transfer them to a format where i could use for my game assets with software. it took some trial and error, but eventually found something i really like.
I use my Ipad to draft,draw,practice my work. it gives me the freedom to move around, research without being stuck at a PC screen allday, take it everywhere with me, incase inspirations hits me, and most importantly, the abilty to use a stylis as a pen, giving me the freehand i so desperatly wanted. :) i can also export my drafts & drawings via email, photo,png, GIF and import them straight into my project, where i can then use the software to make small edited changes, correct mistakes and create animations etc. As a result of doing this i have become more confident in using software to create some of my drawings so i don't hate it as much. :)
The App i use is called Pixaki. It set me back £30 and it was the best investment i ever made. There are many Free alternatives outthere as well, but again this will all depend on your preferences.
If pixel art is not the way to you want to go, you could always try Procreate. you can do a lot of meduims on there, graffiti, oil painting, skecthing, water colour, theres so many to choose. So whatever you want to do. Again, the softwares can do all that to, Blender, Photoshop, Gimp, illustrater. It's what ever you feel comfortable with doing. I often find that some softwares can take a while to learn themselves. It could take time to learn there features and how they work which can be frustrating.
When you first start learning to do something, nothing can seem 'easy', or can be easily done. It takes time, perserverence & patience. but the more you learn the easier it should become. :)
Most important thing to do first is learn the basics in what ever you decide to do. :)
Perhaps a front page post would help, and i'm sure Medicinestorm would do that, and that would be more perminant as it doesn't get used for anything else, no extra development needed. :) Just a image or Just up and comming event text.
Im here everyday, so i could always bump any forum thread post to keep it at the top . ;)
I understand what you mean by being nervous, so it wouldn't be fair to ask you to do all the challenges, unless you wanted to, I'm more than happy to do a couple if others don't, to take the stress off, and if you did fall sick or something else came up, you only have to say "Chaser, Ive got the two bob bits, could you do the art challenge for me this month" , il be more than happy to step in for you to help out.
If you stuck for ideas, im sure the community could chuck some ideas out for you to work with aswell. It doesn't have to be to complicated, any challenge would be good either way. :)
I think 4 jams a year is reasonable, i sort of agree with you a little that there would seem no interest in some jams to sustain them, but perhaps they weren't known about by the many due to post being lost over a couple of days(which happens a lot here), or the other reasons that @ZomBCool mentions, like timing or something else. I don't think the jams reached enough people here in the community so i wouldn't say that its 'clear' theres not enough interest, more of not enough people knew about them, and i don't think we should just give up on them just yet. :) That said if noone wants to hold a re-occuring 'Spring/Autumn/winter' jam, thats OK, at least we(the community) know about it and we can focus on the the 2 jams.
"People just seem to have more time and enthusiasm for the summer jam".
I don't agree with that, The 'Fall jam' 2018 was great success, and had just as many entries if not more as the 'summer jam' that same year. The year after @Spring hosted the 'Spring jam' where it didn't have as many entries, but still produced some great games and again i would say it was a success. Any thing that can use the resources here at OGA and boast OGA as a whole is a good thing for this community and OGA itself. OK, this years 'Fall jam' didn't get the entries, so would seem disapointing, but did it get the attention that the first 'Fall jam'?, did it get enough time for the word to spread before its start date?, Did that have an impact on entries? Quite possibly, or maybe noone had the time, or the timing was bad, as the fall jam this year didn't start at the same time it did the year before so i think it would be harsh to judge it or compare it to the year before. DON'T GIVE UP ON IT :)
Please, In no way am i digging you out about anything(or anybody else), if thats how it comes across, thats not what i'm saying. It takes commitment and time to set up events, and i can appreciate those efforts and endeavers.
It's a shame when our own commitments feel like they are not reciprecated. When participation is key and its low does make one think 'Is it worth it'. Unfortunatly this can be the beast, and IMO, think this is what leads to a lot of events at OGA starting and not not starting again, there on, there off because they feel the participation is not there.
Ive been on OGA 5 years now, and what is clear to me is members come and go, sometimes they stay for a while, sometimes they only pop in month to month, maybe every 2 months, so this is another thing that can impact and does impact on events aswell. Thats just the way it is here. If we persevere and get into a routine of things and are of a more common thing then i'm sure participation will increase, but will obvouisly still vary from time to time.
The 'game jam' space could feel overcrowded, this is because noone really knows who's doing what and when, if we all got together and discussed who would like to do what and when then we could all work together to form something of a schedule and get it all spaced out evenly througnout the year and be more organised. :)
'Summer Jam' 1st July Hosted by chasersgaming (yearly) I'm more than prepared to move thedate of this jam to make space for a more evenly spread game jam occurance. :)
'Spring jam' ???????, ?????????, ???????? (Spring doing this?)
'Winter jam' ?????? Hosted by XomAdept (yearly) 4 weeks before jam host starts an art challenge?
'Fall jam' ?????? Hosted by withthelove (yearly) 4 weeks before jam host starts an art challenge?
then theres the normal art challenges every other months.
I don't want anyone to give up on the jams or challenges. if we get behind them and commit to them and get everything sorted we can really make a good go of them this year which would be good for OGA. :)
What sort of Pixel art do you require? 8bit, 16bit, asset author defined? Do you have a preference/Would you have a preference? Maybe find and post a screenshot of a simular game or has the Pixel art you would like. That might help us to determine who can do it and cannot, should some of us think of proposing ourselves.
example: i can do 8bit pixel art but never worked with 16bit(yet) so should you want 16bit or simular, then that would rule me out. :)
Have you tried PM some members on here of work you like?
The template you have posted, i'm asuming is 'isometric' view/layout?
Thanks. :)
@withthelove Sorry to hear youve been unwell mate, not the best start to the new year for ya, hope you get better soon!
I like the format, 3 weeks, 1 week vote, im down with that, that covers 4 months of the 12, and them leading into the 'seasonal' game jams.(which i think need cementing as well, Xomadept posted here https://opengameart.org/forumtopic/winter-2020-game-jam
i think 1 art challenge a month would be a good idea to try and do, maybe we could have others volunteer for those if anyone interested, i don't mind doing one or some if needed.
I think knowing about the art challenges before they start would be a good idea, at least until they are more known to the community that they will be more concurrent and expected. :)
I think its really important that we all know whos doing what and when, so theres no one second guessing any events that the community put together or clashes. If this could be done, then maybe we could announce something on the frontpage, idk, a timeline, schedule just something that new users or returning users can actually see whats happening on OGA throughout the year, and not get lost through disapearing forum threads.
@MedicineStorm I agree, definatly helps raise awarness, its good that you can do that, and thank you. :)
Bluecarrot16 won :) with thier awesome Food assets,
if you scroll up a bit MedicineStorm has linked thier submission. :)
Since we are here on the art challenge, are we ready for another? and to start getting this art challenge going on a more consistant manner, someone needs to get this badboy by the horns. :)
anyone? @Medicinestorm @withthelove @danorder @Xomadept any of you want to do this on a more pemanent basis? I dig the 'sharing it' mentalty, the trouble is doing it this way is it leads to weeks, some times months before another challenge is started, how about a 'Rota'?.
I know sometimes maybe there isn't the participation as we would like, which maybe leads to people thinking 'well, i leave it', but if we keep a more consistant flow, overtime it will show 'activity' and more people will join in eventually. :)
New Year, New Start, lets start as we mean to go on
HAPPY NEW YEAR! :)
Unfortunatly i don't have the time to participate in a 'Winter jam', these next few months are my busiest. I struggled with the 'Fall jam' myself, but did my best with the time :)
There are a number of us that want to hold game jams now, how many is too many is not easy to answer. game jams are running all the time, everyday, so i just think its more down to who has the time and actually want to particpate, or it they find a theme that sparks there interest.
If it helps i am more than willing to move the date of the summer jam so we can get more jams in, in a more structured, levelled way? so that they don't fall on top of each other? theres also the art challenges to think about, which i thought would tie into jams, or the jams tie into the art challenges, not sure whats happening with those?
I'm not sure if @Spring is hosting another 'Spring jam'? it would be good to get a timeline going with these so we all know what we are doing and at what time and when.
Thats said, its a totally optional thing for people to run game jams how they want to, so if you want to run a 'Winter jam' then do so, i mean i will try and do my best to take part, but i cant promise. :)
Could you post any screenshots of the gameplay?
Its OK, I found the game on itch.:)
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