Welcome to the Noroff Winter Game Jam 2022!

The result and winner of this years Noroff Winter Gamejam will be live streamed this Friday at 12.00:

https://noroff.zoom.us/j/86839204304

What is a game jam?  

Simply, a game jam is an event where game developers and people interested in game development is tasked with developing a small and simple yet fun game in a short time period. The game you or your team is developing must often adhere to or be based on a theme the jam organizer has made; this can be very specific or more open ended.  

A game jam can often run from a couple of hours to a couple of weeks, this time around we are holding a 48-hour long jam over the weekend.  

So why do game developers do this?  

Game jams has many benefits, but its main appeal is just that it’s a fun event where we can meet other developers and learn how to create something fun and compelling within a short time period with some creative limitations.  

If you’re a student, game jams both large and small can be a good way to network and get to know the local game development community. As this is an internal student game jam you will most likely just work with other students, but it’s a good chance to get to know students that down the line might end up as your colleges.     

Do I have to know how to develop games to be a part of the jam?

If your a first year student that at this point has a good understanding of basic 3D and know how to model different assets you are more then capable of joining the jam. You will however most likely have to join together with someone that has some experience working with a game engine and designing games such as the student studying 3D games design on the second year. Reach out and join a team!

Is this a school assignment?

No, this is an extra social event for anyone interested in working on a project outside of lectures/guidance hours, so this does of course mean you will also have to work on your normal school assignments. But it is highly recommended that everyone takes some time out of their schedule for events like this as they are highly beneficial for your development as a game developer.

So, how does this work?  

When the Game jam starts, we will host a live stream that talks a bit about the overall rules and give you some tips & tricks before the jam officially starts. At the end of the presentation, we will reveal the theme of the game jam, and everyone is of to the races.  

Do I have to work in a team?  

No, if you want to you can work by yourself, but it is highly recommended that you work in a small team. (No more then 5 in one single group is recommended)  

Now with Covid restrictions, how to we work together?  

There are several ways of working together over the web, but for simplicity’s sake we recommend using Github.com and the Github Desktop application to share files and projects online. Watch the video below for a simple introduction to Github and Unreal Engine 5.  

Most Noroff campuses are also open for student use if need be.  

How do we deliver?

If you’re a solo developer, you can just package the Unreal Project down to an executable file (packed versjon) and upload it on your itch.io page. And then head back here before the deadline to deliver your project as an game jam entry. 

If you’re working in a team only one person on your team needs to upload the project to their Itch.io page and link it to the game jam. Just remember to add a small text document that have the names of the rest of your group members. If all group members has a Itch.io account they can also be added in a collaborators when uploading your project.

There is a limit on how large games can be on itch.io so try and keep the game as small as possible. Most Itch.io projects are under 1Gb.

What happened when the jam is over?

When the game jam is over and hopefully all teams have delivered the game within the time limit a winner will be chosen by us the teachers. We will play each game and judge the game jam entry on 3 criteria:

1. Gameplay & Fun Factor 

2. Visual Presentation 

3. Use of Theme. 

The result of the gamejam will be live streamed on Zoom this coming Friday, link will be at the top as before. Originally we intended to have you the students vote on the best gamejam project, but with not that many participants it would be easy to only vote for your own project and by default the largest team would win, so for this time the teachers will choose a winning team.

If there are any further questions not answered here, please contact your teacher for more information regarding the event. 

Good luck and have fun!