Welcome to the great Week 9 & 10 Experimental Prototype Jam!

As you should all know, the purpose of prototyping is to answer a question, and the most efficient and productive questions are directed, closed questions like "What are the right mechanics to use to achieve this design goal?", "What is the best technical method to implement this feature?", or "Does this specific art style fit with our game's intended aesthetic?".

This is very productive, but it doesn't leave us room to experiment. Often we have to make sure we have time to explore and be our most free and creative outside the confines of a productive project environment. If we change prototyping to more open questions, like "What happens if we jam these two mechanics together?", "What fun could we have with this technology?" or "How could we make this visual style interactive?", we get more creative and unpredictable results.

Niagara Mesh Particles in Unreal	Matt Stark's Polaroid Game Camera Prototype

The purpose of this jam is not to make games, or worry about the serious business of efficient development or reliable product delivery. This jam is about asking wide-open and maybe even stupid questions, and building prototypes just to see what happens. Our hope is that in the near future, we might use these experiments and toys as inspiration for actual, more productive projects.

Some ideas for you to start with in Block A:

• What could we do to make our Illusion Project interactive?
• What would a Gauntlet or Space Invaders game be like in full 3D in Unreal?
• What would some of the tabletop mechanics we played with be like in a digital environment?
• ... but remember, there's no limits other than your imagination!

After you submit, we encourage you to play everyone else's submissions and talk about what you might be able to do with them. "Find the fun" and be inspired. We'll do this again next block, and we'll encourage the idea of iterating on your favourite prototypes (even ones you weren't involved in) to make new things to play with.

Scoring is for fun - it's impossible to say who is better or worse when you're experimenting, but we want you to aim to impress people and find a "wow" factor, so we'll ask everyone to score each other's entries on creativity/originality, technical achievement, and potential for fun in a game.

There are a few rules:

1. Teams must, at least, have some input from each discipline
2. Teams must be okay with anyone using the ideas/assets they submit in future jams/projects
3. Entries should not use assets or plug-ins from Marketplaces. All original content only, please!

When you're ready, add your jam entry, and don't forget to add the names of everyone who helped. Jam entries are open from 9am Monday to 5pm Friday in Week 9. Voting is open from 5pm Friday in Week 9 until 5pm Friday of Week 10. If you want to submit late, contact Alan on Teams for a late submission link (if he has time).

There's a Team in Teams where you can find contributors, post your progress updates, and you can always ask for help from students and teachers anywhere (check the Guilds).

Good luck to everyone, and we all look forward to seeing what you make!