2018 Fall Game Jam Wrap Up!

The Fall 2018 Game Jam has come to a close, and it's time to see what you've created. This semester's games were incredible! We had such a great variety of games, all of great quality. Everyone who participated should be proud!


Here are your winners :

1st place: Unsatisfying

2nd place: Hail Satan

3rd place: Sidearm

Best art: Hail Satan

Best Writing: Hail Satan

Best Music: Cubie and the Recorder

Most Ambitious: Convexum



Get to the Lab! -  An inventive platformer that challenges players with different control schemes (good luck on the last level, a great reward awaits!)

Convexum - Most Ambitious - Over the shoulder 3rd person shooter with jetpacks! This game was created by a team of one!

Scatter Sketch - This 3-player drawing game is hilarious! play with a group of friends.

Sidearm - #3 Popular Vote - This inventive fps game requires the player to ascend a tower by slamming their sword into tables. I recommend you play this one!

Hail Satan - #2 popular Vote Winner - Best Art - Best Writing - This atmospheric game is truly a work of art. Explore the dark woods and uncover the secret of the shrine.

Unsatisfying - #1 popular Vote Winner - This infuriating game takes you on a tour of humanities greatest annoyances.

If your game is not listed here, please contact us on our discord Here


Check out our photo album!

More Photos!

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SIGN UP FOR THE GAME JAM + Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, it's that time of year again! The 2018 Fall Game Jam is THIS WEEKEND!!

Sign up here! Sign up for the Game Jam!

Sign up here! Sign up for the Game Jam!

Here is some info about the jam:

Where!?  -  9th floor of Gould-Simpson
When!? - 5:30 pm October 26th

This is a great opportunity for any student to pick up game development skills, bolster their resume, and get experience working on a team. We welcome and encourage students of all experiences and backgrounds to participate! Whether it's through making art, composing music, programming, designing levels, writing, play-testing, or providing feedback, there's something for everyone.

You can view our itinerary here: Game Jam Survival Guide



Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do teams get chosen

A. You will form your own teams. The opening ceremony starts at 6 pm, but we encourage you to show up at 5:30 so you can meet others and formulate a team.

Q. I'm new to programming. I don't know if i'll be able to make a game in 2 days...

A. If you're worried you won't be able to contribute, fear not! you'll be working along side experienced programmers and artists that will be more than willing to help you. Our club has members of ALL SKILL LEVELS! Whether you're a freshman CS student, or a professional developer, we encourage everyone to participate! Plus, Artists and Musicians are a hot commodity! If you can't program, a team will probably need someone (you!) who can create assets.

Q. The event lasts the whole weekend?! What am I going to eat?

A. Don't worry! FOOD WILL BE PROVIDED! Breakfast, lunch and dinner! Here's an idea of what we'll be eating

Breakfast - Bruegger's Bagels

Lunch - Jimmy John's

Dinner - Chipotle (Saturday) and Little Caesar's (Friday)

Q. Do I have to stay the whole time?

A. No, but if you are going be absent for a period, please tell your team!

Q. What should I bring?

A. Water, water, water! stay hydrated! Also, you should probably bring a jacket. It can get pretty cold up there!


We hope to see you there!

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Point and Click Games - An Analysis

This week, Jade and I talked about two sub-genres of point and click games: Room Escape Games and Hidden Object games. You can check out the presentations here!

Hidden Object games - by Jade Marmorstein

Fundamental Theory of Digital Room Escape Games - by Joseph Scheidemandel

We have a couple events coming up!

Our next meeting will be Monday, October 1st, in Gould-Simpson 856

Our next Game Night will be Friday, October 5th, in Gould-Simpson 856

And of course, the GAME JAM will be held on FRIDAY OCTOBER 26-28TH in Gould-Simpson 856!

Mark your calendars, we can't wait to see you there!

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Welcome Back! Important announcements!

Welcome back to another year of Game Dev Club! 

We hope you had a great summer. It's time to get back into the swing of things, and first things first: an announcement!

We've Moved!

That's right! Our new weekly meeting place will now be in Gould-Simpson 856! That's one floor below our previous meeting place. 

Our first meeting will be Monday, September 10th in GS 856. We hope to see you there!

We also have our first Game Night on Friday, September 14th. Come out and play some board games with your friends for a night of stress-free fun with other game dev members and UA students!

The 2018 Fall Game Jam is currently scheduled for October 26th - 28th! Make a game with your friends and peers in 2 days!This is our premier event, with free food, drinks, and prizes for winners!

Want to stay up to date on current Game Dev events and chat with members/officers? Join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/H688ee

We hope you have a great semester!

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Spring 2018 Game Jam Wrap - Up!

Hey everyone! We hope you had a great time at the Spring 2018 UA Game Jam! I know I did!

This semester's theme was Sonoran Desert...

You can find the link to all the games here!

If you can't find your game in this list, send us an email at uagamedevelopers@gmail.com!

Here are your winners!

• Best Art - Shifting Sands

• Best Writing - DnD - Dogs in Desert

• Popular Vote  - Our Glass

• Most Ambitious - SagaurCraft

(no photo at this time)

• Best Sound Design - WOOD

(no photo at this time)

You guys really brought it this year. The games made at our game jams get better every year, and this year was no exception! I think that these games we made were some of the best yet! Everyone who participated should be proud.

See all of you next year for the Fall 2018 game jam!

Announcements:

The last game night of the semester will be held on Friday, April 27th in Gould Simpson 914! Bring your friends!

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Understanding Concept Art

How do artists decide on what their game will look like? Concept art is an amazing field which assists in creating and expanding on elements of visual design. How does x creature look? What color is it? How does it move? What shape are it's eyes? All of these questions and more fall under the umbrella of concept art.

lucky for us, we have some very talented artists who were able to help us understand the thought process of creating inspiring concept art. 

You can view the slides here!

Here's just some more of the amazing art courtesy of Dani and Emily 

We are hosting a Blender Workshop on Saturday, March 31st in Gould-Simpson 914!

Sign up for the Blender Workshop here!

Just a reminder that the GAME JAM will be happening April 6th at 5:30pm in Gould-Simpson 914!

Sign up for the Game Jam here!

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Spring 2018 Game Jam FAQ

Sign up for the Spring 2018 Game Jam here!

What's a Game Jam?

You have one weekend to form a team and build a game! Game Jams are exciting and fun opportunities for students of all experience levels to engage in game development.

When and where does the Game Jam start?

The event starts on Friday, April 6th in Gould-Simpson 914. We encourage participants to show up at 5:30 PM to socialize and form teams, and kickoff starts at 6:00!

When does the Game Jam end?

Games are due at noon on Sunday, April 8th, and the closing ceremonies begin shortly after. There, teams present their games to the judges and contestants, and we announce the winners!

Do I have to stay at the event for its duration?

Nope! Many teams choose to stay at the event, but the only parts of the Game Jam that participants absolutely have to attend are the kickoff and the closing ceremony. On the other hand, the event runs continuously for its duration, so some teams choose to stay overnight!

Will there be... food?

Yes! Meals and snacks will be provided all weekend, free of charge, to all participants.

But I don't know how to make a game!

You don't need to have prior game development experience to be a valuable team member! If you can write code, draw art, make 3D models, design levels, compose music, record sound effects, or write a story, your team can help you learn how to apply those skills to game development.

If you or your team need a crash course in basic game development, we'll also be hosting a Unity tutorial on the first night of the Game Jam, so don't worry about needing to study beforehand!

Can I form any team?

There is no restriction on team size, but we recommend sticking to no more than two people of any skillset (art, programming, music, etc.), since that makes it much harder to designate tasks.

Can I make any game?

Pretty much! We only ask that teams make new games, instead of working on existing projects, which is why the Game Jam has a mystery theme to be announced during kickoff that all teams' games should use as inspiration! Reusing individual assets from past games, such as existing art, code, or music, is fine.

This all sounds great! How do I sign up?

The link's at the top, remember? But because you've been such a good listener, I'll link it again here.

Wait! I have more questions!

You can email us with any other questions you might have, or join our Discord server to chat with us and other club members!

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That's So Meta! - Game development metas and trends

This week, Vice President Riley Driscoll hosted a guided discussion about developing games with industry trends in mind. Some notable topics: Horror game scare tactics, 3D platformers, Battle Royale games, and zombies just to name a few.

Here is the presentation : Game Development Metas

Want to talk about metas more? Want to join in live discussions with other UA game developers??

Join our discord here!

A reminder that Game Dev Club is moving! From now on all of our meetings and workshops will be on level 9 in the Gould-Simpson building!

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Programming in JavaScript + Valentine's Day Jam Showcase!

This week, our glorious leader Chris Klimowski showed us how he keeps his sanity while programming games in JavaScript. How does he do it? Well, it's mostly a combination of hard work, determination, and Phaser! Phaser is a lightweight, easy to use, and powerful game engine for producing your own browser games! Chris is a big fan of Phaser, and has used it to make multiple games, including Blast Down

If you're looking for a place to start, Chris has generously shared with us his starter project skeleton. Feel free to use it in all of your future Phaser endeavors.

But that's not all that went on at the meeting, we also got to show off the visual novels we made last during last weekend's Valentine's Jam! Check them out here! 

Special thanks again to everyone who participated! The winner (by popular vote) was the Skyrim dating simulator, by our man Riley Driscoll!

Here's a gallery of some highlights

Remember to sign up for our AI tutorial this Saturday in CSC 914 from 1 - 3 pm!

Sign up for the workshop here!!

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GameDev Club is Moving!

We have an exciting announcement to make!

After years of dwelling in various rooms in the ECE basement, we will be moving all of the club's events (weekly meetings, workshops, game nights, and Game Jams included) to the Gould-Simpson 9th floor!

This change makes sense for us since we are primarily a Computer Science-based club. All CS majors have after-hours access to the GS back door, and the being in the same building as our own department will make event planning much simpler on our end.

And so, starting on March 12th after we return from Spring Break, we will be meeting in GS 914 for our weekly meetings.

See you there!

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Creating your own Visual Novels and Dating Simulators!

Have you ever read a book and thought, "Man, I wish this was a video game!"

Have you ever played a video game and thought, "Man, I wish this was a book!"

What if I told you there was a medium that combined the best of both worlds? Enter the Visual Novel! A Visual Novels are interactive stories where you control the fate of the characters!

This week, resident VN expert Christi gave a talk about what makes Visual Novels so great, and what to avoid when making your own.

Then, Chris and Riley showed us just how easy it is to make your own visual novels using the fantastic application, RenPy! Thanks to everyone for helping us create that monstrosity...

Thanks for this masterpiece, Riley!

RenPy is a free, python-based game engine for creating visual novels quickly and easily. Even if you've never used python before, RenPy is an incredibly accessible tool for programmers of all experience levels. If you want to learn more about RenPy, check out their website! They have great documentation too!


If you're curious about making your own visual novel but don't know where to start, come to the Valentine's Jam! This coming Saturday, February 17th 1 - 4pm in ECE 104! bring your friends!

Sign up for the Jam here: Valentine's Jam Sign-up

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Start of the Spring Semester - Basic Game Programming and More!

Welcome back to another semester of Game Dev Club! I hope you all had a great winter break.

It's been a while since a real website post has come up, and for that, I do apologize. Here's what you might have missed at our meetings!

Basic game programming in Love2D - During this meeting, Chris Klimowski and I programmed a simple galaga-style game in the game engine Love2D. Love2D is a simple, flexible, and free engine written in lua! Still curious about this powerful little engine? Check out it's website!

Love2D Download page

The Love2D wiki has really great documentation, so if you have any trouble with lua syntax, it's a great place to check first

Love2D Wiki

Implementing Co-op in single player games / Successful horror elements - This two-part meeting was put on by our wonderful interns, Emily and Stephanie! These talks went over some of the pitfalls involved in tacking on Co-op elements, as well as what makes horror games so, so terrifying. To cap it all off, we combined what we learned to brainstorm frightening co-op horror experiences.

You can find a link to the slides here:

Implementing Co-Op into Originally Singleplayer Games

Horror Elements


EVENTS THIS SEMESTER

The Valentine's Day Jam will be held February 17th in ECE 104 - Make dating simulators and other fun Valentine's Day-themed games!

The Spring Game Jam will be held April 6th!

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Belated 2017 Game Jam Wrap-Up!

Fall semester, you participated in the 2017 UA Fall Game Jam! All of your submissions were amazing, as always.

This semester's theme was... ALCHEMY!

Here are all the games! Let us know if we missed any!

Ascend - An ambitious Metroidvania game!

Alchemy Dungeon - A halarious visual novel!

Alchemy Mama - An alchemy-themed cooking game!

AL-chess-EMY - Chess, but with alchemy!

Ether Pursuit - A frantic multiplayer potion flinging party game!

Downfall - A stylish platformer!

Razey's Bizarre Adventure - an RPG!

This Can Be Erased - A puzzle-platformer with different potions to play with!

The winning game this semester was....

"This Can Be Erased"

Congratulations to everyone who participated! You're all officially game developers now! 

Check out this photo album from the jam!

See all of you next semester for our 2018 April 6th Spring Game Jam!

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