Come celebrate the end of the year with us and let loose with those game design and development skills! In November 2018, the UTS Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology will be hosting their Inaugural Student Game Jam. This two day event is chance for students to let their creativity run wild and create a game from scratch. No grades, no job expectations – just a chance to have fun, meet new people, learn new skills!

Dates: Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th November 2018

Location: CB.07.03.10B / G .

This is the primary meeting point for the Game Jam but participants are free to work from any location on- or off-campus that suits them.

Times: The above location will be open from 9am-6pm both days and organizing staff will be present during these times.

Participants should plan to be at this location from:

• 9am-midday 12th November: For registration signup, group forming, and initial brainstorming.
• 4pm-6pm 12th November: For a Day 1 Wrap Session with dinner
• 4pm-6pm 13th November: For final submission of entries, judging, Day 2 Wrap Session with dinner, and prizes

Prizes:

There will be an assortment of awards and prizes for great games and other quirky achievements, including $100 Steam Gift Cards to get you ready for all the Steam Summer Sales!

Who is Invited:

This event is for students of UTS only. While we expect most students will be from FEIT, students from other faculties are welcome too! There are only 70 spots though so make sure you register quick! (and please only register if you are certain you will come on the day)

Team Sizes:

There is no minimum or maximum team size, however we recommend teams of 2-5 people. You can come with a pre-made team but there will also be time to form new teams and recruit new team members on the first day. This is a chance to work with people you usually wouldn’t get the chance to, so make the most of it and get to know others at the event.

Theme:

Not yet! A few core themes will be provided on the day of the Game Jam for teams to design and build their game around. This ensures that all teams come to event with a blank canvas, ready to collaborate on any creative design ideas that are inspired by the themes of the day.

Food:

Light lunch (midday) and dinner (5pm) snacks will be provided on both days but participants are also encouraged to bring their own food and plenty of water.

What to bring:

Whatever you want! Some recommended resources are:

• A laptop to work on
• Appropriate software installed that you think you may need (Unity, Unreal, Photoshop, Blender, etc.)
• Some favourite assets from past projects or asset stores (3D models, 2D textures / sprites, scripts, particle effects, audio, etc.)
• The Game Jam will use Discord and Itch.io for communication and submissions. Get ready by setting up an account with these two systems.

What skills do I need:

In order to facilitate team formations on the day, we will ask participants to think about the skills they have or that they want to work on during the Game Jam. This may include programming, game design, 2D art, 3D art, narrative writing, audio design, project management, or others.
Our team doesn’t have enough skills to create a game!
Are you sure? Games take many different forms and require a wide variety of skills.

• All programmers and no artists? No problem, a game can still be extremely fun without looking polished.
• All artists and no programmers? Create a highly detailed board game or card game that will grab everyone’s attention.
• More of a physically active or social group? Get outside and design a new word game, outdoor activity, or sport.

What if our team fails?

That’s what a Game Jam is for! Get creative and ambitious, and if you don’t reach your goals then at least you learnt new skills, have something to show and work on in future, and had fun trying!

Are there any examples of what a Game Jam game looks like?

Game Jams are happening all over the world all the time. Take a look at itch.io ( https://itch.io/jams ) to see some that are currently occurring online. Or check out past entries in the Global Game Jam ( https://globalgamejam.org/ ).

Finally, see these two wrap-up videos for some unique and achievable design examples for a Game Jam ( https://youtu.be/yDmjt-UfybM ) ( https://youtu.be/s2ebZXQ_J8Q ).

Organizers:

This event is funded and supported by the Faculty of Engineering and IT MIDAS Initiative .

The event is organized by Dr. William Raffe and Dr. Jaime Garcia from the Games Studio research lab, in consultation with students Sebastian Du Toit, George Mitri, and Sean Simon from the UTS BSc. in Games Development.