jdkilby.com

Why I Don't Go To Game Jams

As I settle in this evening for some time to continue tinkering around with HTML5, a quick check of my Twitter feed let's me know that Ludum Dare has kicked off. For those who don't know, it's a pair of competitions (one solo and one team-based) to create a game over a weekend (48 hours for the solo competitors, 72 hours for the teams). After browsing the website for the competition earlier this week, I found myself tempted to join. While I've spent a fair amount of free time in the previous months introducing myself to languages and platforms for game creation as well as making some tech demos to help learn such technology, I haven't made a full game in my spare time in quite a while. I've also never entered a competition like this, a competition often referred to as a game jam. So yeah... time to try something new and make something awesome. Sign me up!

No, wait. Don't sign me up. I will not participate in Ludum Dare. Or any other game jam, for that matter.

Part of my reason for avoiding game jams is a concern for my personal health. After a full week of work, compressing another week of work into the next two days before immediately starting another week of work is not the way I best function. True, the weekend work will be for pleasure - but it's still going to be work that will mentally exhaust what parts of my brain I didn't use on the job this week and leave me nothing in the tank for next week.

I understand that this reasoning isn't universal - and that's fine. There's nothing wrong with spending a weekend doing what you love to do, even if it's also what you do during the work week. Unfortunately, the other part of my reasoning isn't so personal - even though it has to do with making an ethical choice.

I will never understand why members of an industry that have a history of willingness to be overworked through crunch want to celebrate their passion for the trade... by crunching. Sure, it's different to crunch on a project for self, but the industry doesn't need any more evidence that can be used to justify such a wrongful practice.

Yes, it may be closed-minded of someone who has never been to a game jam to criticize it. As great as it would be to surround myself with other game developers and make something creative, I believe the weekends are for self-improvement - be it temporary (such as resting or taking a walk) or long-term (such as writing code or reading a book). Spending a weekend making a game does qualify as self-improvement in many ways. That being said - no matter how much fun it sounds, I know better than to induce unnecessary stress into my life and do something that gives me a reputation for being willing to sacrifice my well-being to rush a project through to completion.

I'm The World's Best Footballer

Quit your smirking - because I am... in the game that I've been playing recently. Ok, you can taunt me now.

One of the common monetization paths for games is "build a free web version, then charge for it on other devices." Super Meat Boy is a frequent example, but I've never personally played a game on the web and then bought it - until this week. After playing New Star Soccer on Kongregate, I purchased it for my Android phone and tablet.

The game is certainly a little rough around certain edges. A lot of the team names are based on real ones and named similarly (call the lawyers!), but sometimes the abbreviations end up awkward (for instance, Seattle becomes "SEATTL"). The game is also a bit childish with its "athlete fantasy" scenario. Part of the gameplay involves becoming happy. One way you do that is by attracting a girlfriend. This girlfriend will only start a relationship with you if you've purchased enough luxury items (which also contributes to happiness). Not exactly my definition of happiness or a trait I find appealing in a woman, but the direction of game's moral compass didn't prevent me from purchasing it.

The first reason I bought the game was because I could tell playing it with my mouse that it was screaming for a touch-screen. The game's controls are all about dragging and clicking - making it a perfect touch-screen game.

The other reason for the purchase is because I loved how it took a sport that can have long periods where no scoring takes place and distilled it down to the key moments. Even the parts it abstracts is thrilling, as you have to decide how much of your limited energy to excerpt during the match (a decision that affects the number of playmaking opportunities you get). Waiting to find out if you will get a chance to make a play can be exciting in a close match.

The best part of this abstraction is that it allows you to simulate a career quickly. It only takes about an hour or two to simulate an entire season (depending on the your team's league). It doesn't compare with NBA 2K12, whose MyPlayer mode takes an hour just to play two or three games even with games shortened to less than half of their standard length.

I highly recommend this game for sports fans who like a quick, fun experience with light role-playing elements. I've been wanting to make an arcade-style or casual sports game for a while and I've never thought about "abstracting the key moments" for the core gameplay mechanics - so this game is food for thought.

In other words, basketball fans should be on the lookout next year for my new game Basketball Life 2013, which will give you the chance to pit top teams like "LALAKE" and "CHICAG" against each other.

(Note to self - allow more than six characters for the team name in the code.)