Pictures by Dylan M. Franklin. More here.

Global Game Jam 2016 is an annual game development event where professionals, students, and enthusiasts come together to see what they can create in 48 hours. The Jam may seem structured as a competition, but collaboration, teamwork, and learning are the main focuses of the weekend. As this was my fourth and most likely final Game Jam as a student, I wanted to document my weekend and try to share some of the experiences with people who may be interested in such an event. I was able to get some fellow “jammers” to take a break and answer a few questions for me in order to provide a few different perspectives.

Opening Ceremony

As I take a seat in the auditorium of the Science and Technology building residing on KSU’s Marietta campus, everyone is talking loudly and beginning to make connections with new people. Some classrooms have already been claimed and taken over by loosely formed teams. The air is abuzz with excitement. Dr. Michael Franklin begins to get the crowd’s attention with some comedic restrictions about creating games with zero color and only being allowed to use their feet for writing code.

Dr. Alan Fowler takes the podium and begins the opening ceremony by announcing some of the paid opportunities available to lucky Jam participants who work hard and display the skills that the sponsoring companies are looking for.

A few sponsors take turns speaking to us: Matt Konigsmark from KontrolFreek; Luke Ryan, president/founder of Chaotic Good; and Ryan’s partner, Magnus Kim. They talk about exciting developments with their respective companies and the video game industry, and how excited they are to sponsor this event. They go into detail about internship opportunities available to ambitious students who want to try out by attempting to make a game under more specific requirements than the Jam’s open-to-interpretation theme.

After the sponsors finish, Dr. Fowler plays the Global Game Jam Keynote Speech that introduces the weekend’s theme of ‘Ritual.’ Once that is finished, the room came alive with conversation as teams were formed and people retreated into classrooms to begin work on their game. I found myself on a team with three other programmers and two artists for a total of six people ready to create what we could in less than 48 hours. We headed off to grab some pizza and begin brainstorming.

Friday: Midnight

My team talked around a marker board for a few hours, tossing around design ideas inspired by the jam’s theme, ‘Ritual.’ There were an abundance of drinks and snacks for everyone to stay fueled late into the night. Once we decided upon a concept everyone settled into a comfortable position and began to work on their contribution to the project. As I had to work the next morning, and only live a handful of minutes from the campus, I departed for home just after midnight.

Saturday: Lunch

I was able to return just as everyone was breaking for lunch on Saturday. A member of my team, game development and design major Kalib Crone, informed me that he had stayed up all night to work on the project. I asked him a few questions about his perspective on the game jam.

Robert Shonfelt: Why did you stay up all night?

Kalib Crone: I just wanted to get as much work done on our game as early as possible, since a couple of our members had to leave last night. I figured I could sleep when they showed back up to pick up where I left off.

RS: What were you working on?

KC: I was working on smooth camera movements and learning how raycasts work within games.

RS: Can you explain a little about what a raycast is, for non-game design people?

KC: Yeah, for sure. Basically, it’s an invisible line that points from one game object to another, and will tell you whether you hit it or not. You can use it for things like bullets and enemy line of sight.

RS: What are you looking to get out of this Global Game Jam weekend?

KC: Just to learn as much as possible. The Game Jam gives me a reason to sit and code for hours while working on a fun project with other people. I learned more than I ever had before at the last fall Game Jam, not only because I was working with other people who were programming but because I was determined to get something done.

Saturday: Late Night

My team and I worked hard on getting our game to a working state for the next few hours. As midnight drew near again, I wandered around the buildings to view the state of some other projects. In a classroom a floor above the one my team was camped out in, I ran into Shah Zafrani, whose team was building an arcade machine powered by a Raspberry Pi. He kindly took a few minutes to answer some questions for me.

Robert Shonfelt: What motivated you to build an arcade machine in less than 48 hours?

Shah Zafrani: Working with technology I’ve never worked with before, seeing new things. We’re in a language called Python, which I’ve never used before either, and it’s really exciting.

RS: Could you explain a little about what a Raspberry Pi is?

SZ: It’s a microprocessor with an easy way to hook up buttons and inputs. It gives us the challenge of programming with a device that has very limited performance capabilities.

RS: What has been the most difficult part of the project?

SZ: Getting over the initial learning curve and unfamiliarity of new technology. It’s frustrating when you have no idea how to do simple things at first, but very rewarding when progress starts to unfold.

RS: What has been the most rewarding part of the weekend?

SZ: Bringing together my friends from different majors to come together and work on a common goal. My team includes a systems engineers, a mechatronics engineer, a computer science major, and I’m a game design major. It has been a blast.

Sunday: Closing Ceremony

At 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, we all gathered together in the same auditorium as the first night on Friday. The room was much calmer now, teams talking amongst themselves while winding down to a close. Up front, I ran into Jerek Aloisio, President of the Game Development and Design Club. He was able to take a break from putting the final touches on the ceremony to speak with me a little bit about what it takes to put on the Game Jam.

Robert Shonfelt: What is the Game Development Club’s role in running the GGJ?

Jerek Aloisio: The Game Club, one of our mission statements is to help volunteer and run the Game Jams that KSU has. In 2010 we had 15 attendees, and this semester we had over 100.

Our volunteers help register people, find rooms, and set up equipment. They monitor everyone and keep the food and snacks stocked while being available for assistance.

RS: How many volunteers do you have helping you this weekend?

JA: We had around 13 people helping us.

RS: Do you get to compete in the jam at all?

JA: We do our best; not myself, but some other volunteers get to join teams and compete in the fun.

RS: What is your personal favorite part of the weekend?

JA: This year for dinner on Saturday we had a ridiculous number of Chick-fil-A sandwiches; it was kind of an inside joke amongst us volunteers. In the game lab, another group had set up a mini movie theater for people to come and watch movies that I also thought was pretty funny.

The Sounds of Game Jam

It isn’t just game design majors participating in the Game Jam. Students with skills in areas such as art, audio, and writing are in high demand amongst the mass of programmers in the crowd. Before taking my seat, I managed to grab a couple of minutes with Simon Needles, Kristin Houston, and Marielle Reed, who are all music majors from KSU’s main campus.

Robert Shonfelt: What kind of things were you guys doing this weekend?

Simon Needles: Sound design, composition. And we did trailer editing for the projects we worked on.

RS: Did you work on different projects?

Kristin Houston and Marielle Reed: Yes, we did two. One 8-bit project and one Asian orchestral score. Simon created Hawaiian music for the game he was helping with.

RS: Have you ever been to a Game Jam or created a game before?

Simon Needles: No, first experience.

RS: Is making music for a game different than other types of media?

Marielle Reed: I thought it was pretty similar to making a movie, composition wise.

Kristin Houston: As long as you get a feel for what the designer wants, it’s not too difficult.

After watching all the submission videos sent in by the teams, the winners were announced and called to the front. My team won the Best Concept category with our submission ‘Charlie,’ earning us not only bragging rights, but some sweet controller peripherals by KontrolFreek.

Dr. Jon Preston, Dr. Michael Franklin, and Dr. Alan Fowler thanked everyone for making the weekend a fun and smooth time, while elaborating on the importance of meeting new people and having a fun learning experience while being here. I had an amazing time working with new people, learning new things, and getting to see the creativity of my fellow game developers.