RPG Maker MZ Touch the Stars Game Jam

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RPG Maker MZ Touch the Stars Game Jam community

Submissions are Closed! Sticky

A topic by StudioBlue created Jul 22, 2021 Views: 1,425 Replies: 56

Viewing posts 1 to 14

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago (1 edit)

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in this Game Jam. It takes immense courage and perseverance to put a game together in such a short time, much less share it with the world.

Now that submissions are closed, Touch and I will start to parse out the first round of judging. Each judge will get 1/4 of the total entries to play (so, since there are 121 entries, each judge will start with roughly 30). They will play and grade those entries, elevating the upper portion to the next round. Then, they will swap those with the ones another judge has elevated, moving another upper portion up to the round after that.

This will continue, with every judge swapping with every other judge, until only the finalists remain. At that point, all four judges will decide on the First, Second, and Third place winners. Myself and Touch (as well as Komodo) will not have any part in choosing the winners.

You all will get to start voting on the Fan Favorite as soon as the judging begins, which will be in roughly 24 hours.

(EDIT: I was wrong. Voting for Fan Favorite is open right now. My apologies!)

pupco1Submitted3 years ago(+1)

I can vote right now...

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

You are correct. Post edited. Thanks for pointing that out!

toasty exeSubmitted3 years ago

I saw that there are no updates to the games, so if there is a mild soft lock, I guess we kinda are out of the picture right?

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

I apologize, but I am not 100% sure what you are asking. If you've submitted your game before the deadline, then you're in the contest.

If I'm not correct, can you please clarify?

toasty exeSubmitted3 years ago

Oh I did upload my game but there is a mild soft-lock: https://toastyexe.itch.io/reach-the-star/devlog/276163/softlock

It's still technically fully completable but clunky. And I read in the Jam rules that you cannot update a submission is that right?

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

Once the submission deadline came to an end, all games are locked out of updating. This is so the judges will only play the game that was actually submitted.

SBSubmitted3 years ago

In this case, is it possible to upload a separate file alongside the uploaded one? With the proper indication, of course. This way, the judges could play the initially submitted version, and other people will have a choice between bugged and (hopefully) fixed game. It's just... A month is a long time to leave a game broken.

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

If itch.io allows you to add additional files as a separate download to that game's page, but doesn't count it as a submission to the Game Jam, then sure. The only thing is to make 100% sure that itch.io, and thus the judges, don't see it as you trying to get around the lock after the submission period ends, as that will disqualify your entry.

In other words, exercise caution regardless, as we'd hate to see you get DQ'd just because of a technicality.

SBSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Oh, I see! A warning in the description it is.

iaftersmileSubmitted3 years ago

What about this kind of case? Putting link for a bug fixed version in game description. Not to get around the lock, but give other people to play the better playable version

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

(Reposting from your other question, which was essentially the same...)

As long as you aren't altering the main download, the one you submitted, you're fine. The judges will only play that download, not any addendum or other files on your page. The only way you'll get DQ'd is if you manage to change those submission files. Adding additional links for players who aren't the Judges is fine. :-)

iaftersmileSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

thanks. It is clear now.

AI SinSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Whew. Had the scare of a lifetime. I almost hit the remove game from jam button when I was trying to find my game page.

LotreinSubmitted3 years ago

Tonight I translated the game using the utility (to english).

I completed 90% of the translation at night, and I was going to finish it in the morning. I was so scared when the utility returned an error when exporting the translation 2 hours before the deadline :D

The reason was in the version of RMMZ 1.3.2, and my not updated utility could only work with earlier versions. It's good that I managed to do it in the end.

Starline ArtsSubmitted3 years ago(+2)

Thanks for this Jam, it's my first ever Jam! It's gonna be a long time to wait for the results but best of luck to everyone!!

I'm going to try to play, rate and leave feedback to as many entries as possible!

Lepus NixSubmitted3 years ago(+2)

Thanks for making this jam happen, I'll still be working on updates for this game as long as MZ is free because this endeavor kinda lighted the path of the gamedev for me.

Regardless of the results, I'll bring up a better version of the game at the end of the Jam when all the winners are known.

Best of luck to everyone!

PhoenixGirl1Submitted3 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

Hello! Now that submissions are closed, I do have a question regarding the rule about not updating anything? I understand if we release a V.2.0 or any other updates to what was already submitted it's not allowed. But does this rule apply to changing the screenshots provided? or the Coverart? Or adding a video trailer to our project? Or updating the description?

It's my first time making a game and submitting it to a game jam so my apologies if this sounds like a redundant question.

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

Hey there! Great question. The rules state that you cannot change the game itself. Cover art and screenshots should be fine. If you're soft-locked out of that, then it's a freature of itch.io that we cannot get around.

iaftersmileSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

is it okay to upload url of enemies data in notepad in game description page?

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

You mean like a beastiary? Yeah, that's fine, since you're not altering the game's files.

iaftersmileSubmitted3 years ago

no its actually enemy data in json format to fix the difficulty of the enemy due to the malfunctioning function of "Abort Battle" feature in my RMMZ game project. It is malfunctioning because in conflict with a certain plugin i use in my project. I just want to link the Enemies json file (in description or comment) for downloaders to patch the game. Is it allowed?

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

As long as you aren't altering the main download, the one you submitted, you're fine. The judges will only play that download, not any addendum or other files on your page. The only way you'll get DQ'd is if you manage to change those submission files. Adding additional links for players who aren't the Judges is fine. :-)

PhoenixGirl1Submitted3 years ago

Alright thank you!

2 other questions I have come to mind. First, will we as the contestants know if our game was disqualified? Like by email or notification or it just not appearing in the submissions for the game jam?

Second question, is it ok for us to post our games to other platforms now that submissions are closed, places like Steam or GOG or other similar platforms? Or would it be best to keep the games here on Itchio? At least until voting ends?

Starline ArtsSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

You should at least wait till voting is done since being published on steam is part of rewards. I'd recommend putting an updated version on a google drive or the like if you really wanted to share it.

PhoenixGirl1Submitted3 years ago(+1)

That makes sense, ok i’ll refrain from publishing on steam. At least until voting is done. Thanks for letting me know tho!

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago(+1)

Hey there! Thanks for asking. :-)

1. You'll be notified if your game is DQ'd for breaking the rules. I believe you'll also be notified if your game doesn't advance, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

2. Please refrain from publishing the contest version of your game. If it wins, Komodo will get the rights to publish it, but you'll retain the rights to do whatever you want with it, including making a non-contest (like extended, complete, etc.) version.

HanasakiYunarinSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Hi! I want to ask! Why is my game disqualified? Is there a mistake? Because I didn't get any notification or reason :"((

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

I apologize for that. It could be because the judges are still technically in Round 1. What game was yours? I'll see if I can find anything.

HanasakiYunarinSubmitted3 years ago

https://hanasakiyunarin.itch.io/shimmering This is my game X"(

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

We're currently looking into why this game was DQ'd. It was by me or Komodo, and it wasn't a judge insofar as we can tell.

Once we've done an investigation, we'll let you know what we discover.

HanasakiYunarinSubmitted3 years ago

Thank you! Hope to hear from you soon! X"<

HanasakiYunarinSubmitted3 years ago

I didn't see my game breaking any rules :"( And out of all submissions only I was disqualified with no reason. Hope you can help me with this, I'm so confused right now..

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

We're still investigating. It's nothing that us admins did, so we're having to dig deeper and figure out if it was itch.io or something else.

HanasakiYunarinSubmitted3 years ago

Thank you so much

AI SinSubmitted3 years ago

Could it be related to the comments?

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

We're looking into everything.

View more in thread

The nerd mansionSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

can I stream upload first impressions of these games starting today?

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

Of course! The only ones who have to wait are the judges, as the "brackets" have to be made first. You can start streaming right now if you want. :-)

ThaironeCC3 years ago(+1)

I would very much like to thank you for the opportunity!!

Unfortunately I didn't send my project as it was incomplete and I wouldn't be a suitable competitor but I loved the experience of racing against time to try to do my best and I would really like to know if and when there would be another contest like that.

I've been using rpg makers since 2000 and I love it all but I've never released a full game or demos or anything.

unfortunately I only saw the contest when there were 15 or 14 days left and I didn't even know about the existence of this gamejam. Now I'm going in every day and I'll be sharp for the next competition!!

Now I'm going to dedicate myself to trying to launch the game I was already developing before the contest and go out to fight!

Thanks to everyone involved and thanks for the opportunities that love RPG!!!!

AI SinSubmitted3 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

Looks like some games aren't marked for windows. Are we allowed to change our:

File's registered operating system (ie. Windows, Mac, Linux, Android). This doesn't really do anything except mark which version is for which system, which is how the Itch App determines what can be downloaded via the app.
File availability (whether or not downloads are allowed, basically)
Release State - Doesn't really affect the game, but might affect the ability to download.
Description of the game - Seems like a pretty minor thing. May have a minor effect on people clicking.
Screenshots - see 6.
Cover - might give someone an advantage in the fan vote if it causes more people to check it out because different covers might interest different people, but it doesn't actually affect the game itself.

As a note, it would be very odd for a game with no files available to download to have ratings.

I do wonder about some entries. It is also possible some people might have joined the contest and submitted a project/empty project just to vote, but I suspect some of the entries were more to advertise their game than to actually participate in the jam.

Also, what about games that were not uploaded to itch.io, but to other sites such as google drive?

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

If itch.io allows you to change something (other than the actual game file itself, which it shouldn't), please do so if it'll help the judges find and understand your game prior to playing. There is no rule against that, and only fair. If you encounter anything truly "game breaking", let me know and I'll see what we can do on the admin side.

kinstothegameSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Hello I'm sorry on late reply I wanted to express my gratitude towards the organizers and say 'Thank you very much for the opportunity, it was a real pleasure.' Rpg mz was the best rpg maker tool I had the opportunity to work. This event gave me some experience. May the best one win. Congrats to all of you.

Lepus NixSubmitted3 years ago (1 edit)

Hello again, I was wondering if it is possible to know at what round of the judging process the judges are, as we wait for the final results?

Not saying which games passed or not for every round of course, but to have a general idea of how it's going.

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

Hey there! The judges are currently on Round 1, which ends next week.

AI SinSubmitted3 years ago (1 edit)

For games with multiple versions, is it possible to tell which version the judge played? I just got a comment that sounded like someone was playing the backup version, which is a much older version of the game. (0.0.0.0.a vs 0.0.0.1.c.r9)

(Okay, reading the comments again, I'm guessing they skipped the tutorials and never read them later on. I'm thinking that in the future, I need to make it so that tutorials can't be skipped even if I hate unskippable tutorials).

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago(+1)

Hi there! To my knowledge, the one with the timestamp closet to the Submission Deadline was downloaded. I'll verify that and get back to you.

Nick_KomodoHost3 years ago(+2)

Hey, I just checked through the downloads I made and sent to the judges (i downloaded all of them that night and compiled them into the groups and the judges downloaded from that not from itch.io), and the version I have in my files matches the file size of your 0.0.0.1.c.r9 and not your 0.0.0.0a version.

ThenameisNoName3 years ago

Hi.

I am a member of the game called Shimmering, may I ask if it is possible to bring the game back to the contest while the jam hosts are still investigating why the game is disqualified? It will be unfair if the game is being unable to rate while others can.

Starline ArtsSubmitted3 years ago

I was curious about this as well. The game had the highest rating and was picking up a lot of traffic. So I can only wonder what happened.

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago(+1)

Hey there. Thanks for reaching out.

We've had to reach out to itch.io to figure out what happened, as it wasn't anything that we administrators did (we don't even have an option like that). We're as confounded as you are.

Unfortunately, until we hear back, we cannot reinstate your game. It's not that we don't want to, either. I don't even see an option to restore the game, and I'm an admin.

We are truly sorry that this happened, but until we know what happened, why it happened, and how to fix it, all we can do is try to get some answers.

Thanks for reaching out. As soon as we hear something, we'll let you know.

StudioBlueJam Host3 years ago

Hello. I heard back from Nick. Unfortunately, neither of us have the ability to reinstate your game for voting in this contest. That means that your game is no longer eligible to win the "Fan Favorite" award. However, your game can place in the overall contest (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) if the judges rank it so.

I am very sorry about this, but that is the final decision. If itch.io restores your game for voting, we'll let you know as soon as we can.

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