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The Indie Game Jam

Rich Carlson writes "The Indie Game Jam is a yearly game design and programming event designed to encourage experimentation and innovation in the game industry."

87 comments

  1. Here's an innovation I'd like to see... by corebreech · · Score: 2

    Why not let me win JUST ONCE!!!

  2. just what we need... by blastedtokyo · · Score: 2, Funny

    more indiana jones games.

    1. Re:just what we need... by yatest5 · · Score: 1

      encourage experimentation and innovation in the game industry.

      I recommend more 1st person shooters, maybe with LAN team play.

      --
      • Mod parent up! [a] by Anonymous Coward (Score:5) Thurs, June 31, @13:37
  3. Gaming Nerds Fasion by alien_tracking_devic · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let's see:

    black shirt, blue jeans
    black shirt, blue jeans
    black shirt, blue jeans
    black shirt, tan jeans
    grey shirt, blue jeans
    grey shirt, black shirt, white shirt
    (that guy in the back has a red shirt--must be gay)

    1. Re:Gaming Nerds Fasion by dimator · · Score: 2

      I don't know about you, but I don't like black t shirts one bit. Maybe it's all in my head, but lighter colors make me feel cooler (temperature). Kind of a shame that most cool geek prints are done on black (or really dark) shirts. What's wrong with white?

      --
      python -c "x='python -c %sx=%s; print x%%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))%s'; print x%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))"
    2. Re:Gaming Nerds Fasion by Naysayer · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually... the guy with the red shirt is me. And I'm not gay.

      It's actually because I was working on computer vision apps, and needed to wear brightly colored clothing since that makes it easier for cheesy webcams to construct a good image.

      Usually... I wear a lot of black.

      -J.

    3. Re:Gaming Nerds Fasion by Jack+William+Bell · · Score: 1
      What's wrong with white?

      Two words: "Coffee stains."

      Jack William Bell

      --
      - -
      Are you an SF Fan? Are you a Tru-Fan?
    4. Re:Gaming Nerds Fasion by ChiPHeaD23 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Black is "slimming". Nerds are not.

      You do the math... :P

    5. Re:Gaming Nerds Fasion by Graspee_Leemoor · · Score: 2

      White clothes reflect more and absorb less heat than black clothes. True Story.

      graspee

    6. Re:Gaming Nerds Fasion by Uller-RM · · Score: 2

      You're right - ironically, most of the nomadic tribes in desert zones wear loose black robes. The change in temperature causes convection, and you get a breeze underneath. It actually feels cooler than wearing light colors.

    7. Re:Gaming Nerds Fasion by Zathrus · · Score: 3, Funny

      that guy in the back has a red shirt--must be gay

      I thought he was just the obligatory soon-to-be-dead crew member.

    8. Re:Gaming Nerds Fasion by rark · · Score: 2

      White always makes me feel like I'm wearing my undershirt on the outside. Okay at home, maybe out grocery shopping, but makes me feel underdressed for work or general public stuff.

      That's just my own particular neurosis, though.

    9. Re:Gaming Nerds Fasion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      May I sugest you check this out?

  4. Pardon me, but it has to be said: by Geek+In+Training · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The Indie Game Jam is a yearly game design and programming event designed to encourage experimentation and innovation in the game industry...

    Whoop-tee-doo! :P Most of us 12:01am showing folks just got back from Episode II premiers. It's 4am, I saw it in digital with 11 close friends. Concensus reaction:

    OH MY FUCKING GAWD.

    (In a jaw-dropped, wide-eyed, wired-at-3am , good kind of way :)

    The big surprise was that we somehow got the "Director's Cut," which according to the theater manager, was 11 minutes longer than the celluloid version. Which makes sense, since we were dispersing behind the 12:05 showing and right alongside the 12:10 showing, both of which were "non-digital" formal.

    Valley View Cinemark in Ohio RULES!

    Favorite quote was some dude commenting to the media after the movie: "Yoda is like Bruce Lee, Mister Myogi, and Kermit the Frog all rolled into one!!"

    :D :D

    --
    SlashSigTheorem: Humorous, Political, Critical, Constructive- If you have a .sig, someone WILL complai
  5. New kinds of games can be fun. by basscomm · · Score: 1

    "...experimentation and innovation in the game industry"

    Hey, now there's an idea. It's nice to see a game every once in a while that doesn't fit neatly into a specific genre. Helps keep things "fresh".

    --
    http://crummysocks.com
  6. Experimentation?? by Qrlx · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "The Indie Game Jam is a yearly game design and programming event designed to encourage experimentation and innovation in the game industry."

    Here's some real innovation and experimentation:
    Dani Bunten Berry

    Pardon me while I feel nostalgiac...every game that comes out lately (esp. in the arcade) is either two guys beating the stuffing out of each other, or some sort of Exxxtreme Simulation, be it piloting a helicopter, shooting a gun, or pushing a shopping cart full of your worldly possesions down the street while being chased by cops and skinheads.

    Okay, that last one doesn't really exist but WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH ALL THE SIMULATIONS??? You wanna be Deer Avenger Mega XL? Why not actually go hunt a deer. There are millions of 'em out there. You want to drive real fast? Go to the local racetrack and ACTUALLY DO IT.

    I miss the quality games like Rampart, which was extremely playable as a multiplayer or single player endeavor...must stop ranting...trying to stay on topic:

    A lot of the games on that web page are very, very cool ideas, and I'm really glad to see the big vendors (read: Intel) getting behind the local community. I would love to play Dueling Machine, because it sounds totally cool, and many of the others seem utterly hilarious.

    God, I miss the good games. I think everyone fell in love with the "rich story line" after Wing Commander II and forgot about playability and the intense PLEASURE that comes from battling it out with a game like Lemmings. I bet the current crop of mainstream game designers has watched a lot more TV and action adventure movies and spent a hell of a lot less time playing lunar lander, drag racer, and Adventure on the mainframe.

    100,000 sprites? You had to do something crafty with interrupts to get more than 7 sprites on my old C64. And yet, I have a game of MULE scheduled for right after I hit the submit button...

    I light a candle for Infocom

    1. Re:Experimentation?? by inha · · Score: 1

      This can be considered as an advertisement, sorry for that. There are still people who do good, intense and imaginative games, specifically at Llamasoft

      Good old Yak!

    2. Re:Experimentation?? by pjp6259 · · Score: 1

      You want to drive real fast? Go to the local racetrack and ACTUALLY DO IT.

      Sure I could spend 100s-1000s of dollars and actually risk my life, or I could spend 5 bucks to rent a game and experience a modicum of the same thrill from the safety and comfort of my living room.

      These things are not comparable, so don't pretend that they are.

      --
      Computers don't make mistakes. What they do, they do on purpose.
  7. This is so cool - they use the GPL! by allanj · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The code is released under GPL, and is available on sourceforge for everyone to play with. I've always wanted to develop games, so looking at *actual* game code is really exciting. I know I can do that elsewhere too, but these are (supposed to be, anyway) top-of-the-line game developers doing their stuff. I'll be downloading the source for sure :-)

    --
    Black holes are where God divided by zero
    1. Re:This is so cool - they use the GPL! by nice · · Score: 1

      So why haven't they released it yet? They say in about a dozen places that the code is "GPLed on Sourceforge" (even the project entry on SF) and as a tiny little addendum as "Stuff To Do" they mention the source has not actually been posted.

    2. Re:This is so cool - they use the GPL! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      so looking at *actual* game code is really exciting


      Be warned, the goal was not code quality. The engine itself has some okay parts, since it was written over the period of a month or so, but even then there are a lot of decisions that were made to make things quick and easy, not clean and long-lived. The games are even worse in this regard, since they were all written in 4 days. The goal was to whip up experimental games quickly, and the code looks like it.

      Sorry it's not up yet...a couple more days, hopefully.

      Chris

    3. Re:This is so cool - they use the GPL! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      So why haven't they released it yet?


      It's taking some time to clean up the CVS tree. Some of the sprites were checked into the tree, and we need to remove those and get permission to post the wads and write docs on how to get to the various games in the tree and etc. I didn't expect to get slashdotted before the games were up there, but somebody must have happened across the page.

      Hopefully in the next couple days,
      Chris

  8. Re:Wow by Qrlx · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Wow, I wonder if that Death Star is gonna get blown up in the next movie??

  9. Neat yes, but innovation on demand? by Joe+Tie. · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The term innovation seems to becoming more and more overused. As much as I'm
    sure that code will be created through this that will be very interesting to see
    and see run, isn't innovation something rare enough to not be expected? What's so wrong nowadays with being proud to have simply made something of quality, even if it's not some earth shattering revelation.

    Sometimes it just seems to me Microsoft's proclamations of their so called
    'innovations' have lowered the bar considerably. I'm about to go make a bowl of
    ramen noodles, and I'll be throwing in some pieces of broccoli. By todays
    standards would that be considered an innovation in the world of everyday
    nutrition?

    --
    Everything will be taken away from you.
  10. interesting by thanjee · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, the concept behind the indiegamejam seems to be very interesting, but what are the games actually like? I would like to download some of them and give them a go, and see what you can actually do over a 4 day period.
    The sreen shots don't give that much away. Just 100000s of people everywhere to kill. How complete was the base sourcecode they were working from?

    --
    I guess everyones attention is on AOTC, so perhaps it would be wise to have a /. discussion in a comments on AOTC news item rather than posting all over the place.

    --
    Saying your OS is the best because more people use it is like saying MacDonalds make the best food
    1. Re:interesting by dingo · · Score: 1

      Im sorry but I dont thnk the concept is interesting at all. You can draw very strong comparisons between this and all kinds of Art-house film competitions. Both industries are comercialised up the ying-yang and for the most part bereft of any originalty. You can pidgeonhole most movies (action,romance,comedy...etc) and games(rpg,fps...etc) and this is a natural byproduct of the cookie cutter,make another game with slightly better graphics.

      Personnally i would really like for there to be no need for this kind of thing.

      we can only hope.

      --
      The Borg assimilated my race & all I got was this lousy T-shirt
  11. Hmm, this sounds familiar... by evilviper · · Score: 2
    designed to encourage experimentation and innovation in the game industry.


    Hmm, sounds familiar. Is it similar to the way patents & trademarks are designed to encourage innovation?
    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  12. Re:Slashdot - Welcome To The New Age Of Adverticle by jukal · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Score:0 Offtopic.

    Offtopic it may be, this is why the Slashdot System is so brilliant. You don't post anything that might criticize your humble and goodwilling intentions. And when someone mentions that your articles are crap and only serve your own needs, then it is naturally off-topic, because it wasn't posted under the thread "Slashdot, News for Nerds, Stuff that VAtters".

    Face it. Slashdot is turning into a propaganda tool for VA, which is whole lot of smaller community than "the Nerds" which used to be your community, or atleast I thought so.

  13. great engine, successful event by Provincialist · · Score: 1
    If we can judge from the screenshots, this engine is terrific. I can imagine some really sweet lemmings-meets-M:TFL games. And while there were a few games produced that appeared to be in that vein, it was cool that a number of completely different ideas showed up as well.

    By the looks of it, the first iteration of this event was a success. It will be great when we can download the games and see for ourselves.

    later,
    Jess

    --
    I am programmed for etiquette, not destruction!
  14. That's how they call it, nowadays? by aTMsA · · Score: 1

    Because it looks very much like a demoscene party.

  15. The 0th annual? by VacheRoi · · Score: 1

    Gotta love how geeks wonder why the mainstream never gets interested in anything they do when they use "funny" programming in-jokes like this.

    --
    "We do not tremble, we are not sentimental..we are a furious wind tearing the dirty linens of clouds and prayers"- Tzara
    1. Re:The 0th annual? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup. Those crazy geeks and their crazy geeky conventions. By the way, how old is something when it's brand new? Right, 0 years old. How confusing.

  16. Offtopic but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You *have* to see "Dr. Web".

    http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~thicks/Win9598NT/Window s9598NT.html

    A quote:

    'DOS is an old (early 80's) command line operating system which requires the user to memorize and enter all commands from a command prompt.
    Windows 3.1 (late 80's) was Microsoft's first attempt at a Macintosh-like Graphical User Interface (GUI); this interface allowed (1) programs to be launched by double-clicking icons with a mouse, (2) files to be copied by drag and drop, and (3) much easier copy & paste. The Windows 3.1 operating system was a 16 bit operating system.

    Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT (4.0) are the current state-of-the-art 32 bit operating systems. They have greatly enhanced the GUI and have proven to be both significantly more powerful and significantly more reliable than the Windows 3.1 operating system.

    OS2 is began as a joint venture between IBM and Microsoft. IBM finished and marketed this operating system. It is not used extensively today. There are a few business applications still running on this operating system.

    Linux is a freely distributed UNIX operating system for the Intel architecture. Linux has all of the utilities to provide printer service, ftp service, network file service, web page service, mail service, and internet service to a host of computers. The current version of Linux is Red Hat Linux.
    '

  17. New games huh? by phunhippy · · Score: 2

    I'd love to see a game where i can be a person who walks around with big guns and shoots things.. like pain in the but moderators for examples.. or just bad guys too :)

  18. Re:Neat yes, but innovation on demand? by Tyndareos · · Score: 1

    I'm about to go make a bowl of ramen noodles, and I'll be throwing in some pieces of broccoli.

    You'd better not. I've patented that.

  19. Re:Neat yes, but innovation on demand? by Qrlx · · Score: 2, Interesting

    When you put broccoli in your ramen, that's called *synthesizing*.

    The ramen noodles are the *framework*. Nutrition is a *functional requirement*. Dumping leftover veggies into your kibble *adds value* and *lowers your TCO*.

    I could keep going except I agree with you too much. Innovation is dead, or at least becoming increasingly more stultified as we approach the "McCultural singularity"

    Democracy is a registered trademark of the America Corporation.

  20. New a bit too late? by Diabolical · · Score: 2

    This took place in March.. how come we hear it just now?

    1. Re:New a bit too late? by phunhippy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This took place in March.. how come we hear it just now?

      Two words: Slashdot Editors

  21. White Shirts by pommiekiwifruit · · Score: 1

    not only are white shirts cooler, you can also wash them at a temperature which kills bacteria rather than just giving them a warm bath.

    BTW I am wearing an olive shirt and bright blue cotton trousers (since they are thin and it is hot today). My white shirts are all drying :-)

  22. According to the US patent office by pommiekiwifruit · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    unmodified human stem cells are innovations.

    The European patent office at least requires them to be modified in some way before being patented (also it lets the process of obtaining them be patented).

  23. Ummmm..... by psyconaut · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    A story gets submitted in that lame-ass fashion and gets put up unedited and without at least the moderator providing some more details?

    What the fsck is slashdot coming to?

    Ooooh...it's an ad for SourceForge!!!

    -marc

  24. jukal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Slashdot is some kind of charge for no charge of GPL licenses. I mean, Slashdot doesn't want your money - save the subscriptions - or your mind, Slashdot.org wants just your soul, not literally.

    Please understand and agree or decline the contract now.

    I agree

    I decline

  25. Bungie, are you listening? by Ilan+Volow · · Score: 2

    This is what I want for Myth IV, Mr. Jason Jones. Billyuns and Billyuns of sprites.

    --
    Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
    1. Re:Bungie, are you listening? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Aren't sprites old? I thought everybody were talking only about multitextures and pixel shading in our today's "hardcore 3d era".

  26. contradiction in terms? by Orlando · · Score: 1

    "innovation" and "game industry"

    --
    -= This is a self-referential sig =-
  27. Re:Slashdot - Welcome To The New Age Of Adverticle by Bowie+J.+Poag · · Score: 2



    No kidding.

    Its just so sad to watch, sometimes.. The whole Linux movement started off being so kind, and generous, and genuinely altruistic....then turned into a steaming pile of bullshit. And disingenuine bullshit, at that. I fought, and fought, and fought to try to get people to realize what was happening, because back then, I still cared. I walked out in disgust, issued a very public fuck-you to VA and the horse they rode in on, and encouraged others to do the same. Nobody listened. Infact, the opposite happened. I got ridiculed and made a pariah for doing so. I'm seriously beginning to think there is no real Linux community left. The people who were there pre-VA, pre-Andover, they've all moved on, and away from this sort of carpetbagging crap.. Myself included.. It seems the only ones left are the people who cant bare to admit its over.

    Makes you wonder what the "next big thing" will be. QNX? BSD? Hurd?...OS X? Sure as hell wont be Linux, unfortunately. As much as we all tried, we're in a situation now where VA has monopolized such a massive amount of mindshare that VA's imminent bankruptcy will drag the Linux movement down the tubes with it. VA is irrevocably linked with the Linux movement. Their demise translates to "See? Linux failed." in the minds of everyone outside the Linux community.

    So.. Doesn't matter if you had dreams. Doesn't matter if you gave everything you had and did everything you could to help. You're an obstacle sitting firmly between Company X and the mean green.

    Welcome to the Golden age of Adverticles, kids.

    Cheers,

    --
    Bowie J. Poag

  28. Re:Neat yes, but innovation on demand? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think the premise of "innovative" is that all possible games and ways to play games haven't been discovered, and that they want to try to find some of them.

    So, they provide a new gimmick (100,000 sprites), and ask the developers to try to discover new games for the gimmick. The gimmick exists to help kick the developers out of any rut they may be in -- to be the impetus for them to exploit their creativity.

    Quality is something we all want. And there are plenty of groups producing games of quality.

    But innovation, while perhaps hard to force, also isn't something that just falls from the sky. You have to keep at it and keep at it, and hopefully finally out of the 100's and 1000's of tries, something is actually new and interesting.

    Or maybe we should be working toward a top quality abacus, nevermind all those new-fangled tran-sis-tors. Translation: if they try hard enough, they may eventually find something that changes everything, that becomes the foundation for everything else. A lofty goal, for certain; but, they've got to start somewhere, and they may develop lots of other cool stuff along the way.

  29. What is still on my wishlist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I'm still missing a multiplayer game where participants could create free-form 'creatures' and let them fight or do another things. Of course there were attempts, like TechnoSphere, some others but usually they are limited to some narrow set of rules, are not developed or not addictive.

    Wouldn't it be nice to have a game where you could design your characted in a let's say modern 3D package, give it physical properties and let it 'live' together with others in a virtual environment. It sounds maybe dull, but look how popular Sims are - and not - Sims is also one of those 'limited' kind of games. Pity.

    /Diolas

    1. Re:What is still on my wishlist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Less free form and more RTS, but check Impossible Creatures?

  30. Re:Slashdot - Welcome To The New Age Of Adverticle by Spoing · · Score: 1

    1 of 5 people are assholes at any given time. Often it's the same people. Get more people together you'll notice more of them since they stand out and make themselves known.

    --
    A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
  31. Angry God Bowling. by torpor · · Score: 2

    Fuck, that's just excellent. Angry God Bowling. I think that just may have to be one of the best concepts for a video game I've seen in a long time ... sorta B&W'ish.

    What I think these folks should do is take all 12 games that were made, and combine them into one big mega-one - you can't get to the next map until you win the existing one.

    Package 'em up, slap 'em in a box called "Angry God Bowling" and sell.

    --
    ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
  32. More indy's and insaniquarium by enrico_suave · · Score: 2

    Another Independent game festival and a pretty addictive java based browser based game insaniquarium
    (it starts off slow, is a simple game, and carpal tunnel inducing, but stick with it, it gets better)

    e.

    --
    Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
  33. Re:Neat yes, but innovation on demand? by Junks+Jerzey · · Score: 2

    What's so wrong nowadays with being proud to have simply made something of quality, even if it's not some earth shattering revelation.

    Yes, true. The trouble is that most game developers set out from day one to write a game "like popular game X." So they follow all the cliches that are laid out before them, and they write a game effectively by the numbers. And that's exactly what people hate in music: bands that are obviously trying to sound like some other band. But when it comes to games, people just accept this--even game critics--and revel in the cliches.

  34. Download link? by Grape+Shasta · · Score: 2
    pushing a shopping cart full of your worldly possesions down the street while being chased by cops and skinheads.

    Whoa, cool... anyone have a link to the demo?

    --

    "I am a cipher, a cipher, wrapped in an enigma, smothered in secret sauce" -Jimmy James
  35. Black & White? by N0Nick · · Score: 1

    Highly acclaimed Black & White allows you, as a god, to Sims-style take care of your own "creature" and take him to fights against other creatures, on single player and multiplayer campaigns.
    Of course, that's not exactly the game's main idea.

  36. Re:Gaming Nerds Fashion by 56ker · · Score: 2

    Strange you never see anyone walking around these game shows with a replica phaser do you?