Just starting a new thread to chat as we work. Without giving any hints that might give away my game to whomever gets it, I'm definitely finding this first stage harder than I expected! Finding that balance between providing enough information for someone to flesh things out into mechanics and functionality, but not providing so much that people get constrained, annoyed, or give up, is actually pretty challenging. Still planning to have it done this week, but wondering if anyone else is having this issue or if everyone just dashed off a great thousand words and is relaxing with a drink already! 

it's possible that I defined things too much in the first stage. But I hope my collaborators don't feel constrained. I hope they tear my work apart like a swarm of locusts and build a idol in their own image from my game's bones.

But mostly I'm just patiently waiting for the 11th so I have something to do. Waiting is the hard part. At least right now. 

I'm pretty happy with my first submission. There's lots of work left to do if the next person wishes, and a pretty strong thesis of what I think the game is about. 

I was lucky that I came upon an idea that I was genuinely excited for early on, and I actually wrestled a little bit with the idea of submitting it to this particular jam. What if other people don't think it's a good idea and decide to do something completely different? What if it ends up looking like something I wouldn't want to play? But I think I'd rather submit something I'm genuinely excited for than feel like I have no skin in the game. Genuinely excited to see what it looks like at the end of all this.

I think it's probably best to start with something solid for this first stage rather than some loose fitting parts. Makes it easier to edit and change things in the later rounds. And that idea doesn't necessarily have to be the parts for an entire game! Maybe it's just a setting or a character class or a way of generating random factions. Hope that helps!

I've been wondering if the deadlines are a little too quick!! I'd be happy to push them back if it would help people (and feel free to email me with those sorts of comments too)!!

I think they're okay, but we'll see where I stand when we hit Round 3! ;) 

I mailed in my round 1 submission a few minutes ago. I had hoped to come up with something completely original for this jam but I've been having a rough week so I went with my backup plan of adapting an old idea that I thought was good but I never really fleshed out. I didn't want to tempt myself with the option of making minor tweaks and edits until the deadline so I mailed it in as soon as I was satisfied that I had something I thought was good enough.

I just mailed in my rough outline for an idea I've had for a little while but could never figure out where exactly I wanted to go with it. This jam is cool as it offers an opportunity to get other eyeballs onto your idea & pick it apart + add to it in ways that you may never have thought about.

Here's hoping for some good results! 👍

:^)

Just sent in my first round submission!

I hope it transforms into something completely unrecognizable by the end of the third round;  I'm excited to see things take on new lives and what subtle or drastic changes people are inspired to make based on their own experiences and dispositions.

I sent mine in yesterday!

I'm simultaneously worried that I didn't write enough, and that I put in too much.

Okay, this is terrifying now that I have my entry to do for round 2. It's going to be harder than I imagined to take someone else's brain fruits and work on them.

It is so exciting seeing not just a sketch of a totally different kind of game, but also a different way of thinking about games.  Different concepts that come first, different structures, what was left partially defined or intentionally left undefined.

The lack of feedback and real collaboration is a fascinating experience, also.  Like, with the possible exception of "subtweeting" here, or whatever, this is essentially a collaboration without collaboration.  No way to know or guess at what someone hoped would happen to their thing.

I'm excited to see what transformative processes are revealed at the final stage!

When I first saw my entry for round 2, I was kinda frozen, I didn't know what I could add to it or how to add to it, it almost seemed to have all the bases covered.

But I have a couple of ideas now.

Totally agree about the different way if thinking about games. I had to grapple with that fir many hours before I started to see how the round 1 I was given could become my round 2.

I mailed in my submission for the second round a few minutes ago. When I first got the game from round one as my starting point I wasn't sure what I could do with it. But eventually I saw some thematic connections between it and some other ideas that are relevant to me right now, and I think it coalesced into a pretty solid game concept. (It's hard to talk about these things while avoiding details that would bust anonymity!) I'm not sure what else a third designer will be able to do with it, but I guess someone else will need to figure that out if and when they get my game in round 3.

Slightly sad stage 3s aren't going out tomorrow but if it means we all get our games to work on that's delightful and a much better outcome. Also avoids Thanksgiving entirely.