Thanks for everyone participating! We will start combing through submissions. Let's discuss what we can do to improve the next pixelcram!
I think the goals of this jam weren't super clear, and that's where the main problem was. People saw the jam description, myself included, and though it was just a fun, create-a-small-game type scenario. However, it seemed like in discussions during the jam, Clickteam's vision was in user submissions and videos being used as educational tools for people to learn from in the future, which is a super admirable goal. Unfortunately I don't think that was clearly portrayed in the description of the jam, so people didn't understand the intent of the video, and 15 minutes is a lot of time just to talk about a game submission.
I also submitted my MFA privately because I've known of several instances of people stealing assets on itch.io and reselling or reusing them elsewhere, so I wasn't personally comfortable putting a lot of time and effort into something and then putting it out there open source for anyone to scour. Again, this might be because of the vision of teaching others techniques to use in Fusion, which is great, but I don't really know any other jam that wants developers to provide an open source code of their game. Then again, I don't join many jams, so I could be way wrong on this haha.
Those are my only two issues with the jam, but both were easily resolved, which I appreciate. I also REALLY appreciate the 1-month time frame for the jam. Most game jams I know or have heard of are over the course of 48-72 hours, or a week long. I'm too much of a perfectionist to get something done in a short amount of time like that, so a month-long time frame was absolutely perfect for me.
Yea a month was just right. As someone who works 7 days a week, I can only dedicate hour or two a day, so these short weekend jams would be impossible for me. I don't think I'm the only one either. I once did a 3 Month Jam, which I suffered from so much burnout at the end that I actually stopped working on my main projects till several months after.
I think the jam's objectives needed to be clearer, like "build a short , repeatable single-screen arcade game ala Donkey Kong or Galaga." When I saw the criteria mentioning immersion, storytelling experience, multiple menus, etc, I thought we were being asked to make adventure games.
Regarding the 15 minute video, I think it should've been something that people were invited to do if their games were successfully selected by the judges. Then you could send them instructions outlining everything they should talk about.
Releasing the MFA publicly is a very cool idea but creators working for free do get attached to their assets. It doesn't bother me personally but I can understand it bothering a lot of people. Maybe this could've been two separate jams—one to show what Fusion is capable of and promote the platform, and another with accessible MFAs made using free asset packs.
There were many good questions in the posts that could be included in the next PixelCRAM's overview. I love Fusion as a platform so I really hope you guys do another one—bianually perhaps?
I am a waterfall of constant ideas and designs and am used to having things copied. I will not get all of my ideas into being this time around in this realm. Going to share all I can while available. Try to assign your worth mentally to helping others and learning all you can. Zero point in chasing arbitrary carrot bread monopoly money. Similar to the hate debuff, there are more important things to worry about in tangible, physical, real world life. I think the goal was to have a fun mfa for people to grab on the Clickteam reactor to tinker with and learn from. I planned my game idea to be quick and dirty, that had unlimited replay value if you plotted your strategy of button taps. I apologize for the silly cat song, but hey, it was fun :) - Happy to have shared this development moment with you all!!
Yeah, if the game jam had been presented as wanting to provide open source examples to people to learn from in the future, I would have been okay with that, but it was presented more as "we'll release a complication of these games for people to download on mobile marketplaces" instead. Again, not a bad thing, just conflicting messages coming across, at least to me.
There was a pretty nasty bug that a friend found in my game the morning after the jam ended. A check for an alterable value was missing, and I must've forgot to add it. I've uploaded a bug fixed version alongside the original, but it was after the game jam period. So I know my game will likely be judged by the original upload, which is more than fair, but if it is deemed worthy to go in the compilation, I hope y'all use the bug fixed one. I think it's essential. I didn't touch anything else but the checks to that one value, despite there being other things I noticed that were somewhat off - for the sake of making it more likely for the bug fixed version to be used, I mean. Cheers.
English :
Personally, I had a lot of fun creating a project for this game jam. I liked the organization, the concept of integrating with third-party gameplay, the screen size restrictions, the idea of adding MFA to show our own way to use Fusion, the suggestion to make a video (not done yet, but I'm not giving up: I've always used Fraps to record my screen, but it doesn't capture Windows software like word processors, spreadsheets, or others like Fusion. I'll find a solution, I have no doubt),...
I read that many people participated even though they knew they wouldn't respond to specific requests considered mandatory... I personally have a hard time understanding the idea: if you don't like the rules, just don't participate, right? No one is forcing anyone. Also, I doubt people would go and collect MFA assets since you have to own Fusion and know how to use it. Not to mention that a screenshot tool can select any part displayed in a protected game to turn it into a GIF, and thus usable sprites (with some editing in Photoshop/Gimp).
In my opinion, only one thing surprises me: the jam is over, it was stipulated that there would be votes based on specific criteria, but Itch is already announcing the results (for votes over a single day): 0 votes, and therefore 0 winners. Is this normal? Did I miss something? ^^" But apart from this anecdotal detail, the jam was well organized and moderated, and the ideas for themes and restrictions were pleasant and original. Next time, a jam in the same spirit would be no problem for me. Even a month-long seemed like a pretty good compromise (too long and you procrastinate, not long enough and you rush to screw everything up).
Just a simple thank you for this fun jam, which personally allowed me to revisit an idea I had tried to do in vain (I even have asked for help from another participant in this jam at this time, again in vain ^^), and which worked perfectly this time ^_^ A victory by my own, that's my greatest reward!
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Français :
Personnellement, je me suis bien amusé à créer un projet pour cette game jam. J'ai apprécié l'organisation, le concept d'intégration avec un gameplay tiers, les restrictions de dimension d'écran, l'idée d'ajouter son MFA pour faire découvrir d'autres façons de se servir de Fusion, la proposition de faire une vidéo (pas encore faite, mais je n'abandonne pas : j'ai toujours utilisé Fraps pour enregistrer mon écran, mais ce logiciel ne sait pas capturer les logiciels Windows comme les traitements de texte, tableurs, ou autres comme Fusion. Je trouverai une solution, je n'en doute pas), ...
Je lis que beaucoup de personnes ont participé tout en sachant qu'ils ne répondraient pas aux demandes spécifiques considérées comme obligatoires ... J'ai du mal à comprendre l'idée, personnellement : si les règles ne plaisent pas, il suffit de ne pas participer, non ? Personne ne force quiconque. De plus, je doute que des gens iraient récupérer des assets de MFAs vu qu'il faut posséder Fusion et savoir s'en servir. Sans oublier qu'un outil de capture d'écran peut sélectionner toute partie affichée dans un jeu protégé pour en faire un gif, et donc des sprites utilisables (moyennant retouches propres sous Photoshop/Gimp).
A mon sens, un seul truc m'étonne : la jam est finie, il est stipulé qu'il y aurait des votes selon des critères spécifiques, mais Itch annonce déjà les résultats (pour des votes sur une seule journée) : 0 vote, et donc 0 palmarès. Normal ? J'ai loupé un truc ? ^^" Mais si ce n'est ce détail anecdotiques, la jam était bien suivie dans son organisation et sa modération, les idées des thèmes et restrictions sympathiques et originales. La prochaine fois, une jam dans le même esprit, c'est sans problème pour moi. Même la durée d'un mois m'a paru un assez bon compromis (trop et on procrastine, pas assez et on rush à tout foirer).
Un simple merci pour cette jam amusante qui m'a personnellement permis de reprendre une idée que j'avais tentée de faire en vain (j'avais même demandé un coup de main d'un autre participant à cette jam, toujours en vain ^^), et qui a parfaitement fonctionné cette fois-ci ^_^Une victoire sur moi-même, c'est ma plus belle récompense !
I also typically use FRAPS to record my gamplay videos, so to record my Fusion Editor I used the open source OBS to record. https://obsproject.com/
Thanks. I've downloaded this software this morning with some others, and I try to understand how to use them.
OBS seems to be the most user friendly, so I'll try with this one ^^
EDIT : I tried, but this sofware doesn't record the different menus and contect ones. So it's impossible to see on what I've clicked and what I've chosen/done when I have another window or menu. I don't know if it's possible to fix that. I've tried to configure everything in vain ^^"
Edit Edit : Oh ! I think I've found : clicking on the Fade to Dark stuff have moved the screen display to the right. And now, the context menus are recorded ^^"
I record everything using EaseUS RecExperts, it has a 1 minute per clip restriction, but I don't that to be too much of an issue.
Free Screen Recorder for Windows PC and Laptop - EaseUS RecExpert