Game Jam Game Jam #7: Overview

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Welcome to the seventh annual Relic Castle Game Jam! My name is Cat and I'll be hosting another game jam here on Relic Castle!

For the uninformed: a game jam is an event where developers will get together and make a game. It sounds simple at first glance, but making a good game is much more difficult and time consuming than you might think. Participating in one is a great way to challenge yourself, learn new skills, and polish your overall experience as a game developer.

Can you believe we're already more than halfway through 2021? I mean as judge it feels like I was just judging the second Winter Game Jam... yeesh. If you're interested in seeing what previous entrants have created, check out Fox's archive thread!

The Pokémon fan game community is an amazing place, and that's all thanks to each and every one of you. Take pride in that, and your hard work! Let's make this game jam a special one!

Game Jam Details

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General Details
A staple of our game jams is that there's no mandatory theme required for your entry to follow. You're free to tackle any theme you like, or even forego a theme. Let your creativity shine! We have an optional theme that you can pursue if you so wish.

You aren't required to make a game about Pokémon if you don't want to. You don't have to use RPG Maker XP and Pokémon Essentials, although we highly suggest you do. After all, this is a Pokémon fan game community. Don't let us stop you from creating a fun game, though.

You also aren't required to work alone. Feel free to organize a small team of friends to work on your game with you. Group entries are most definitely allowed, and encouraged. We allow a maximum of four people to work together.

This year we are testing a few changes to our rules. Please bear with us for the following changes this game jam: Number one, you are only allowed one entry per entry period. Number two, we are also only limiting members to only join one team per entry period. Finally, all threads will be private until the entry period is up. You'll be able to submit your thread, edit and improve your thread, and speak with the judges throughout the entire entry period if you'd like! Once the entry period has finished, all entries will be revealed one after the other. If you need clarification, please message me right away.

I am actively looking for feedback on these new rules, please don't hesitate to reach out and give me your feedback and suggestions!


As with previous years, we require that any graphics you create for your project be submitted as a Resource Pack in the Tutorials and Resources section of the site. You must also include a credits list with your submission, and include one bundled with your entry in a text file. These are a requirement. We do have some additional rules regarding resources, which you can check out in the Q&A.

By submitting your entry to us, you give us permission to promote it via social media and if it wins the Spotlight, be eligible for a brand new game badge, or be eligible for one at a later date.

As with previous game jams, we have another optional theme this time around. This has always worked rather well and we typically see a large amount of entries participate, thus we were eager to include another one for this game jam!

Rejuvenation can mean all sorts of things. Healing; to revitalize; bringing back a youthful appearance, whether literal or through a river bringing life back to the land. So many bouncing off points, I'm excited to see where you go from here! There's even a fangame titled Pokémon Rejuvenation!

For participating in this challenge theme, you'll earn an extra badge along with the other badge for entering the game jam. Participating in this theme won't net you an advantage in judging, but putting a twist on this theme in an unexpected way could impress the judges.

Do your best to use this theme in an interesting way; using it in a low effort/uninvolved fashion will likely not get you the badge. This is up to the judge's discretion.

Summary

• There is no mandatory theme requirement for your entry, but there is an optional challenge theme.
• Your entry does not have to be a Pokémon game, or made in RPG Maker XP.
• You may only submit one entry. If you submit multiple entries, only your latest is eligible for judging.
• Group entries are allowed, with a maximum of 4 participants per group.
• You may only be part of one group entry. Playtesting is to be handled by one of your 4 participants, so playtesters cannot be a part of multiple entries.
• Graphical resources created for your entry must be bundled into a Resource Pack and submitted through our Tutorial and Resource section for free public use.
• You may not use any material from your past projects, aside from public resources.
• You can only use public resources created before the entry period. The only exceptions are Essentials and PSDK. (please message me if you think you should be on this list)
• Entries will not be publicly revealed until the entry period is over.
• List of credits must be included with entry post and bundled with the game in a text file. (credits.txt)
• Submitting an entry means Relic Castle can promote it via social media and create a game badge for your entry should it win the spotlight, or be eligible for one later on if it does not win.

Spotlight Entries & Judging

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Each game jam, the judges pick several entries as the "spotlight entries", which are considered the most interesting and or highest quality entries. There is no first place, second place, and so on.

To do this, the judges will take a look at every game jam entry after playing them all and have a roundtable discussion internally on their thoughts. While there is no set criteria for the judges, you can be sure that they'll take into consideration how interesting each entry is, how fun they are to play, how well they're polished, and what not. It should be noted that the judges will not be publicizing their thoughts on each entry unless they choose to do so.

Developers that receive a spotlight will get an exclusive badge, a game badge for their entry, and will be featured on Relic Castle. We hope this encourages you to make the best possible entry!

The judges for this game jam are...
@catwithnojob
@Monika~♡
@PurpleZaffre
@ThatWelshOne_

Badges

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As with every single game jam, we've got some a bunch of badges we're ready to give out this year!

Jam #7 Badge: This badge is given to those who participated in Relic Castle Game Jam #7!

Spotlight Jam #7 Badge: This badge is given to those who participated in Relic Castle Game Jam #7 and had their game featured in the Spotlight!
Challenge Jam #7 Badge: This badge is awarded to those who participated in Relic Castle Game Jam #7 and incorporated the optional theme challenge of "Rejuvenation" into their entry!

Submitting Your Entry

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When submitting your game, please make sure that you've packaged your game correctly and optimized it by cutting our unnecessary/unused files. For more details on what you should do when packaging your game, check out the Finalizing Your Game tutorial on the Essentials wiki.

When the time comes to actually submit your game, take at least six screenshots, put your resources that you've used in a .zip file and upload your game and resource pack to Mediafire or MEGA.

Then post a thread in the Relic Game Jam #7 forum that has the following details listed below, and your resource pack. (See section below for submitting your resource pack.) Feel free to spruce your thread up, it doesn't have to be barebones. Threads will be moved to Progressing Projects (and possibly the Project Showcase) when the game jam concludes.

Game Title:
Game Screenshots:
Game Download:
Made Using:
Team:
Notes:
Resource Pack:
Credits:


Submitting Your Resource Pack

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While you submit your entry, you should have also assembled a resource pack. You must submit your resource pack through the Tutorials and Resources section, in the Game Jam Packs category. You can do so here.

When filling out the details for your resource pack, be sure to mention the entry name in the tag line and description, and link to your entry thread in the resource description. You should also provide a list of credits if people use your resource pack.

Giving your resource an icon is also ideal, but not mandatory.

Q&A

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Q: What new rules should I be aware of?
A: One entry allowed per person. You also may not join multiple teams. You may submit your game jam thread at any point during the game jam, but they will not be public to anyone besides yourself and site mods until August 10. We are revealing all game jam threads at the same time. If you need clarification, please message me right away.

Q: Why is the game jam going on for so long?
A: We've found that a longer game jam yields better results overall. If the game jam was only one or two weeks, you can expect to see much smaller entries by the end. A shorter duration could also conflict with someone's schedule and they could miss it entirely.

Q: Why is the theme optional and not mandatory?
A: Game jams with a focus are great, but we don't want to restrict anyone's creativity. You're free to enter what you like.

Q: Why do I have to include my resources?
A: We want to encourage people to use public resources, showing that you can make a really cool game with them. You're free to make resources for your project, but you have to release them as you submit your game. This is a great way to kill two birds with one stone and get some more resources out there. This also discourages people from using private resources from an existing project.

Q: Can I use resources I've released prior to the game jam for my entry?
A: Of course. You're free to use any publicly available resources. Resources released during the entry period that were created by anyone outside your team are not to be used unless on the list of approved resources.

Q: Can I use things from some of my past projects?
A: No, not unless you released it as a resource prior to the game jam.

Q: Can I release the things from past projects that I want to use as a resource and use them for my entry?
A: No, not while the game jam is underway. Please see the previous two questions!

Q: I can only have three other people working with me on my entry, but what counts as working with me?
A: Anyone who has created resources or helped with playtesting for your entry is counted as working with you. Existing public resources don't count towards this.

Q: Am I allowed to seek feedback for my entry? What about play testers?
A: You're more than allowed to seek feedback from outside sources (even publicly!), but your team should be handling your playtesting.

Q: Are ROM hacks permitted?
A: Of course! They must be provided in a patch, though. No ROMs may be uploaded!

Q: Why aren't you judging all the entries on a set criteria?
A: While competitive game jams are fun, it's very difficult to grade them all on an even scale without more restrictions such as a mandatory theme. We have chosen not to judge them this way and instead choose some of the best entries for the Spotlight. It is also very time consuming to do so, and we want to get the Spotlights wrapped up as soon as possible.

Q: Can judges enter the game jam?
A: Yes, they can. Any projects they've contributed to will be ineligible to win a judge chosen spotlight, however. They are still eligible for a community chosen spotlight.

For any further questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch!