Hello, I have a... eh... probably strange question.

I found this jam like... two weeks ago, and joined it then, and... couldn't help myself but already started working on the game I wanted to submit to it... despite the fact jam hasn't even started...

...but I would still love to submit it, if only to get some feedback...

So, my question is: would that be possible? I mean... even if I started before the jam start, I would watch how long I've been working on the game for, and set my deadline to keep my max working time the same length as the jam itself is supposed to last, meaning that in practicality, I'd have no more time to make my game than anyone else participating in the jam, except I'd have it shifted... well... 24 days ahead? Meaning my deadline would be December 18...?

Would something like that be acceptable for you, the jam creator, and possibly other participants? I would have creation of all of it (except first 8 hours of coding/prototyping the idea, for some reason I didn't record that) on video, in a timelapse, so it would be possible to check if I've kept my word...

Because... the thought of participating motivates me immensely, but at the same time, I'm (unusually) self-motivated right now and don't want to stop working on it and risk losing the self-drive and not finishing it just in the name of waiting for the jam to start...

So, would something like this be acceptable?

Thank you for response.

p.s. Even if I finished much earlier (which I doubt, as there's always things to improve so I bet I can happily work on the game up to the end of my own shifted deadline), I could hold on to the submission to a later date, more reasonable within the jam's official deadlines, so as to not demotivate other participants with the feelings of "this guy got his submission in this early? oh my god, what a slow loser am I" O:-)

I don't know what Densanon779 has to say about this, but, honestly, I don't think there's anything wrong with getting a head start on this jam, especially if you're motivated to do so, and I don't think there's anything wrong with using the time that the rest of us have to complete whatever you're working on. I don't think anyone here will give you a hard time, especially since there's no rule saying that you can't start early. Hell, I probably would have if I managed to think of a good idea before now. xD;

If you aren't finished with your project yet though, I would hold off on submitting it until you're done. If you want some feedback though, I'm sure that there are plenty of people here who wouldn't mind playtesting whatever you're making right now and giving you some critique (myself included), so it might be better to ask for that instead instead of putting up a half-baked work.

I am happy to help you along any chance I can. I also strongly encourage any and all game ideas. I hope I have not been an inconvenience to you.

thank you :)