Can I join the game jam without taking part? I'm still learning and don't want to get involved just yet and ruin anyone's hard work. Just want to see what they are all about. 

no there is a prize it says so in the main page:

The winner will get a very well drawn fish trophy with their name on it that I will draw all on my own :) (if you want examples of my professional work just look at this page)

Edit 1: nvm I realize now that there being no prize is just because the trophy is yet to be drawn 

Maybe a dumb question but is the jam ranked? Since there is a winner that means all of the games will be scored?

I want to be sure before the jam starts, but is having other people help with composing music and play-testing permitted?

Are you allowed to make the game/level design before the jam starts? That counts as 'working on the game' already right?

is it ok to use some AI generated images. or stock photos in the game?

Hi! Quick and dumb question regarding language: since this is a ranked jam (with obvious scoring of the submission), it's best that the game is in English, isn't it? I'm guessing so, It'd be hard to judge something unintelligible but wanted to confirm just to be sure. Thanks (and fish) in advance!

question: why can we not use ai for visuals? And to what extent can I use ai? Like no use for brainstorming, prototyping, planning, or concept art? Also why doesn’t AI count as a tool? I personally use ai to get rough drafts for me to draw over and for me to animate later. I’m not quite sure why can’t use the same tools as we would to release a game on steam for example. I understand if it’s to not exclude artists from competition but it’s not like ai can replace artists without being obvious anyways seeing as you still need to animate repaint everything because it doesn’t use a your palette. Also for single devs like me who doesn’t have much time to work on a game I really dont want to waste a talented artist’s time because I can only work a say 2 hours a day on the game and especially since it’s my first jam I don’t know if there will even be a finished game at the end. Sorry for being a tad long winded it just had me confused

are horror elements welcome in this game jam? I don't mean like jump scares or ghosts, just adding some fish monsters and a horror atmosphere.

Will a theme be announced when the jam starts or is the theme simply "fish"?

"You can use any pre-existing assets (asset packs) as long as they weren't made for the jam" Does this mean no using pre made fish models?

What criteria will we be judged on? or will it just be overall how fun it is?

I asked this question earlier in a post but didn't get a response yet so I thought I should ask it here. Can you use AI music? I don't particularly plan too but many of the game dev I know are recommending software to try  (if I can I will let everyone know the results in the Streak Club! (in a shotgun goldfish dev log))