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Hello everyone, my name is Jason Della Rocca, I am the Executive Directory of the IGDA.
It's truly a wonderful and amazing event you guys are taking part in. And I just have one important thing to say:
You're all freakin' CRAZY. Now go have some fun!
Hi. I am Susan Gold, and I am Director of the Games Program Review and Chair of the IGDA Education SIG.
On behalf of our two other coordinators, Ian Schreiber and Gorm Lai, I want to welcome you to the first annual Global Game Jam.
There are destined to be many more!
Last Summer, I was in Sweeden, and I met the guys from the Nordic Game Jam.
And I thought: "Wow! What an incredibly creative, innovative, and collaborative event they've put together..."
"... -- we should try to do something like that worldwide!"
And now we have: we are in 53 locations, in 23 countries -- hard to believe!
And of course we need to think our Platinum Sponsors.
I want to thank Take-Two Interactive Software, Mekensleep Studios in Paris, and Unity Technologies.
I also want to thank our hosts: all the people who have worked SO hard in putting together this event for you...
... at each of the locations. They deserve a round of applause! I also want to thank YOU.
Thank you for coming and participating in such an incredible event.
Now, without much further ado, I want to introduce you to tonight's keynote, Kyle Gabler.
You're about to make a game in 48 hours as a part of the first Global Game Jam.
In this one weekend, over a thousand new games are going to be created all around the world.
Making games like this under extremely tight time constraints, is one of the most effective ways...
... to come up with creative new forms of gameplay.
In the past year, a bunch of other games got their start as a part of game jams just like this.
Audiosurf came from a little seven-day prototype called Tune Racer.
Crayon Physics Deluxe started out as a five-day prototype
Braid began as a small "predictive pool" prototype.
Spore began as a series of small prototypes
"Tower of Goo" is a game I made in four days, which later became a game called "World of Goo"
I talked to a bunch of other indie game developers and came up with a list of 7 easy tricks on how to make a game in 48 hours
Before you get started, here are some materials you might need to make a game.
The first thing you'll need, is a computer, for writing your programming and art.
You should already be familiar with how to make a game.
You'll also need a pen and paper for writing down your ideas.
Your imagination!
And finally: this is the largest game jam ever attempted
It's likely there will be video cameras and media there wanting to interview you.
It's extremely important that even after 48 hours, everyone look their very best.
This is the trick, baby! A white eyeliner is the best investment for a woman --
-- when you're tired and you're sleepy and you look like "oh Lord, I don't want to go to work today!"
you put this in your eyes... just how you put black eyeliner on the insides sometimes...
you put that white eyeliner... and BOO! -- do you see that eye?! It makes it bigger and wider and happier.
Nobody expects you to create the next great FPS or RPG or EA soccer game in the next 48 hours.
It's just not practical to directly compete with multi-million dollar budgets and teams of hundreds of people...
all making the same game as you -- but probably better than you. So *don't* compete.
Just remove yourself from the competition by making something completely different.
In the next 48 hours, it should be entirely possible to make the next great game about fluid-transmitted diseases...
or the next great game about self-replicating robot swarms in love.
The best kind of games that come out of game jams like this are the games...
that introduce one new concept to the world of gaming as fast and as clear as possible.
Over a thousand new games are going to be made as a part of this game jam, but only a few are actually going to stand out.
As the internet sorts through the giant shotgun-blast of games created this weekend, ...
... people are going to spend about 30 seconds on each game before getting bored and moving on to the next one.
The easiest thing you can do to make your game stand out is to make sure that it is fun within the first 15 seconds.
Don't force me to read a giant back-story about warring factions or revenge or a dying emperor's last wish.
You should have a title screen, maybe an instruction screen with (one) sentence explaining what to do, ...
and then let me play the game.
Even better, make the title and instructions part of the game. All the cool kids are doing it these days.
Art games are totally hot right now, so it's a good idea to put lots of feelings into your game.
Choose a piece of music that inspires you as your game's emotional target.
All graphics, sound, and game design decisions should be informed by this emotional target.
To make a good art game, try to make your game about something other than what it looks like it's about, ...
that means it has subtext and theme.
Maybe there's more going on here than we thought.
What if someone's trying to use the game for some purpose other than pleasure?
If you're still unsure how to make an artistic game, just call your game something that sounds artistic, ...
like "Loneliness" or "Perseverance of the Unflappable Destiny"
If you're making a new kind of game that's never been done before, ...
you'll need to find out as soon as possible if your idea is even fun at all.
First, test out your new game mechanic with simple shapes like circles and squares.
Don't wast any time making art and sound assets as this point.
Once you're convinced your new game idea is actually fun, only then should you spend the time to flesh it out.
audio is half the experience, so don't forget about it.
This is a game called "Illegal Communication" by Cactus.
There are only two colors, and the graphics are made from simple lines and circles, but everything just works:
The visuals, the music, the movement all work together in perfect harmony, ...
making a surprisingly deep and enjoyable adventure game.
With 48 hours, you won't have a lot of time to create a bunch of assets.
Instead, think about how you can achieve harmony economically.
I did some scientific study and found that when I'm working on a new project, if I care a lot, ...
the project usually ends up sucking, but if I don't care if I totally fail, it's really easy to make awesome stuff.
This lead me to discover the second theorem of destruction:
As love and effort increase, the probability of self-destruction approaches one.
So maintain a healthy distance, and don't be afraid to fail spectacularly!
Thanks guys. Good luck, and have fun!