Although The Game Jam Survival Guide is intended for beginners and experts alike, the reader will already know how to program (in any language). He or she will love games and want to learn how to make their own game in a wild and crazy 48 hour period.
This fast-paced, how-to manual is packed full of expert advice; leading with tips and tricks on how to build a great game with just 48 hours; but clearly defining what should be avoided at all costs during Game Jam mayhem.
Weekend warriors: dominate your next game jam! If you follow the system shared in this book, you will be able to build an amazing game that you're proud of and will entertain players, all in just one crazy 48 hour game jam weekend and survive to tell the tale! Embrace the best practises and techniques of past game jam winners and avoid common pitfalls along the way to the finish line. You too can survive a 48 hour game development marathon with your mind intact and an amazing game to show off to friends and family!
With The Game Jam Survival Guide you will learn the secret techniques that master game jammers use to create winning entries. It starts by showing you great ways to brainstorm and design a game based on a theme. It then moves on to highlight the best tools and techniques to finish a game in a weekend of coding. Anecdotes and advice from past winners and losers combined with humorous words of encouragement are sure to help you on your way. Finally, it presents a list of game jams around the world, online communities worth checking out, fantastic game engines, and art resources. It's the fun way to make your own video game in one weekend!
ChrisMoeller
Posted August 1, 2012
Very good book for preparing for almost any game project
While although this book specializes on giving advice from different experienced game jam developers, anyone looking for advice on creating games, how to manage everything that needs to be done, and how to prioritize and maximize their time on their project would find this extremely helpful.
It covers pitfalls that any game developer will run into, such as having to cut mechanics due to time, focusing on doing a few things very well vs. lots of things not as well, counting in time for things you might not have planned on, such as adding sound, packaging your game to distribute before the deadline, and planning on things usually going wrong.
Aside from avoiding pitfalls, he also introduced you to resources to improve the speed at which you can create games, such as free sound sites, resources for finding game frameworks/engines, and the best ways to prepare for a game jam (which contrary to what it sound like, does not mean starting from scratch after the game topic has been announced).
I would recommend it for anyone interested in participating in a game jam, building their own game, or interested in what goes into creating a game, and the types of things you’ll have to plan on, and ways of avoiding pitfalls which may keep your game from being completed.
m_k_o
Posted July 28, 2012
I was rather skeptical about this book before I started to read, however, it turned out to be interesting introduction to Game Jams and to game development in general.
I don’t plan to take part in Game Jam (at least not yet) but still, the book itself is really entertaining. I read it more in the context of game development itself rather than Game Jam survival guide, and still I could benefit from it.
What I really enjoyed were real life examples of how to approach the topic, how to prepare yourself for the event, how to make sure that everything works fine before you touch the keyboard and start coding like a mad man. I have found “Noob Mistake” vs. “Pro Style” guides really useful. I know that most of the people will say “I knew that already”. However, the fact is, it is good to refresh this kind of knowledge from time to time. Another particularly interesting topic for me was time management. It turns out that most of the people always plan way too much before they start development.
I wouldn’t suggest this book if you are new to game development and you want to learn how and where to start. This book will not tell you how to develop games. On the other hand, if you plan to take part in Game Jam, and you want to make it right, think about this particular title as it may save you loots of time when the Jam starts.
Overview
Although The Game Jam Survival Guide is intended for beginners and experts alike, the reader will already know how to program (in any language). He or she will love games and want to learn how to make their own game in a wild and crazy 48 hour period.
This fast-paced, how-to manual is packed full of expert advice; leading with tips and tricks on how to build a great game ...