About the "Lo-Cal" Gain Jam 8/2023 category (FULL RULES INSIDE)

Gain Jam "Lo-Cal" Gain Jam 8/2023
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Opens August 12th and Closes August 26th

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6th Annual Gain Jam!

The Theme

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Key Information

Clicky!

Who can enter? Anyone of minimum age 18 and who has met Trust Level 1 (T1) in the forum. You can work alone or in teams.

What can I make my game in? Anything, provided you can upload a file that runs on Windows or browsers, and doesn’t require any additional hardware or software.

What assets can I use? The game should be developed during the jam, but you may use pre-existing code and can use whatever art and audio assets you have the legal right to use.

When should I submit my game? You can submit your game at any point after the jam begins by posting a submission thread here in the Gain Jam board. If you submit early, you can continue to update the game at any time before the jam closes.

Who will judge the games? No official judges this year! Instead the games will be freely judged by the public.

Is there a Discord channel for this I can join? Yes! The Gain Jam channel on the WeightGaming server will be open as of now.

Full Information

Main Rules

Who can enter?

This is an online game jam, so anyone, from anywhere, aged 18 or older and has met has met Trust Level 1 (T1) in the forum can enter the jam.

You can work alone or in teams. There is no limit on the number of people per team and people can be in multiple teams.

Only one person needs to submit the game as a submission thread in the forum as well as on hosting sites like itch.io.

What’s the theme?

The theme has been announced as: “Push The Limits”

Your game should follow the theme and you should be able to justify it within the submission thread post. That being said, you will not be disqualified from the jam if your game doesn’t adequately fit the theme or if it doesn’t happen to feature weight gain (though don’t expect the community to look kindly on this fact!). Lateral or creative interpretations of the theme are welcome!

When does the jam begin and end?

In case you missed the giant header above, the “Lo-Cal” Gain Jam 2023 begins on August 12th at 12:00 PST and will end on August 26th at 12:00 PST. You can submit at any time during this period (and we recommend you get your game up early!)

Lo-Cal?

What’s different this year?

In anticipation of possible site disruptions along with various other factors at play, it was decided that if we were to run a Gain Jam this year that it would be a scaled back affair. Hence the “Lo-Cal” Jam.

… Okay, but why “Lo-Cal”?

It’s an overall lighter, more casual affair! No gimmicks, bells or whistles. No official judges and no prizes. For people who want to get into the competitive spirit and stretch their skills in a friendly, community contest.

By getting the community more involved, it’s a more intimate, local event… Local… Lo-Cal… geddit?

More “casual”? This is still a contest, right?

While, yes, this is a contest, we do want to emphasise that there’s no penalty for submitting an unfinished game. Do the best that you can within sensible means. We don’t want to see people unduly stressing out over the contest while contending with possible site hiccups as well. The repeated mantra here is that this is a no-crunch Jam. To all spectators reviewing the entries, please bear this in mind - judge according to the creative potential a submission brings, not just down to how complete the game is.

What You Can Make

When it comes to what kind of game you can make, we’re ultimately looking for games that have a broad range of general adult appeal. If you are to go diving into weirder, more specific kinks then do please mention this in the submission thread and tag appropriately. The games themselves should be simple for people to download, play, and comment on. With that in mind…

What can I make my game in?

You must produce a digital computer game, that runs on Windows - or web browsers supported by Windows. You can support additional platforms (such as Mac or mobile) if you like, but a Windows / browser build is necessary.

While it is not fully necessary, it is recommended to host the game on a site like itch.io for ease of access.

You can make your game in whatever engine, programming language, or software you like. Some recommend engines such as Unity, Unreal Engine, Game Maker, Godot, Construct, and PICO-8.

You may also use engines designed for specific genres such as RPG Maker, Twine, Ren’Py etc

  • You can not make games for consoles (so no Super Mario Maker 2 levels or Dreams (PS4) creations).
  • You can not require the user print things out (so no board or card games).
  • You can not require the user to have hardware beyond a keyboard and mouse (so no VR games, webcam games, and no controller-only games).

Where file compression is required, you can compress your game as a ZIP, RAR, or 7Zip file (ZIP is preferred).

Can I make…?

We try not to put limitations on what people can make, as long as it fits the eligibility discussed above.

Just note that many players will be alone (so they may not be able to adequately judge local multiplayer games) and specific kinks outside of general feederism might make your entry a tougher sell.

While we are lenient on inflammatory topics as long as they are contributive towards the game experience, your game must not contain content involving minors. This could see your game being disqualified and struck from the contest.

For any fan games, homages, or parodies of games that are derivative of other works by members within this community, do please seek permission beforehand and credit them accordingly.

What You Can Use

This game jam is about making a game during a two-week period. This is a race to make a game, and everyone starts running when the jam begins! As such, we expect you to make the vast majority of the game during this time.

However, as the jam is primarily about flexing your design chops, we don’t expect you to make everything in the time slot (unless you really want to!) So…

Can I use pre-existing code?

Yes! You can use pre-existing code, libraries, and functions. And make use of generic code for things like menus or input.

But we ask that you don’t write code specifically for this gain jam, ahead of time. You shouldn’t start designing or developing your jam game before the theme is announced.

You can also create things like a blank Unity project, a Github page, or your itch.io profile in advance to save time.

Can I use pre-existing art and / or audio?

Yes! You can use whatever art and audio you have the legal right to use. We’d recommend making your own stuff (especially your own art) but it’s up to you.

That means you can use pre-existing sprites, textures, fonts, models, shaders, animations, sound effects, and music - including public domain assets, assets you have purchased, assets you have made yourself, or assets that are (legally-acceptable) derivative works of existing media.

You should credit all external art and audio in your game description.

Can I use generative AI to create code, art, or music for me?

While using generative AI tools like ChatGPT or Midjourney while making your game is unsporting, we realistically cannot stop or prevent people from using these tools. While we won’t say that the code, art, music, written text, etc must be made by a human, do note that with AI being the hot-button issue that it is, do use such tools with caution to prevent backlash from the community when it comes to judging your entry.

The moderators cannot advise you individually on what code or assets you can use, including the use of AI, so if in doubt, be cautious and make your own stuff! Please use your best judgement.

Help! I missed the deadline!

The jam ends at 12:00 noon PST (UTC -7). We may add a grace period for late submissions, last minute bug fixes, and any site problems that arise. But after that, submissions will be closed - with no opportunity to upload or change your game.

Once the Jam ends, the moderators or staff cannot help you get your game uploaded or changed during this time.

If updates are made to bugfix the game, you must make it clear that this version is a non-Jam entry, ideally raised in a separate project thread on the forum, away from the Gain Jam board. Remember that it isn’t the end of the world if your game is incomplete. What matters more is the potential of the idea behind it!

If we experience any issues with the site that prevents people from posting their submissions, we will most likely extend the deadline. More details will be posted on Discord as the need arises.

Community Judging Guidelines

Without official judges or scoring criteria this time round, we are instead inviting the community to judge the entries for themselves. Of course this is voluntary - it’s fine to simply leave a :hearts: on the entries you like - but note that participants do prefer a critique of their efforts. For many developers, the jam is an opportunity to showcase new techniques or ideas and it’s useful to obtain feedback on these moreso than a simple ‘like’.

Everyone is eligible to rate and critique games, but a few guidelines to help make things more effective:

  • Try not to just pan what you see as a “bad” game. All games have merit and potential, even it’s for the participant’s own development and experience. Making games is no easy task at the best of times, especially when under a time constraint! Let’s be respectful of everyone’s efforts.
  • Echoing above, remember that we are judging the ideas being presented within the game entry. Not merely how complete the game is. Curb your expectations. This is especially true with this being a more casual, lower-intensity contest - expect to see more unfinished games.
  • Be constructive! Heap praise where it is due, but also do not be shy in highlighting potential improvements. If a participant is considering taking the idea furthe outside of the contest, such feedback will be invaluable.
  • Be consistent! To make the judging process easier, it helps to break down a game into some broad and simple metrics: How enjoyable was the experience? How creative of an idea or use of the theme was it? How did it look and sound? Your feedback will have more weight behind it when judging multiple games.

Those who submitted or contributed to a game will be able to judge whichever games they like.

Hey, this person is cheating!

If you suspect foul play or encounter a virus, please flag the entry as well as speak to the moderation about this.

Help! I need art and audio! (HANDY LINKS INSIDE)

Here are some places where you can find art, fonts, music, and sound effects for your games.

Many of the assets are eligible for use in the jam but check the license before using and provide credit in your game’s description!

Art

Fonts

Audio

Tools

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