VR Geeks Jam - Global Game Jam - 48h of VR coding ?

[cbwan]

Hi all !

last year I participated in the Global Game Jame, which "is the world's largest game jam event occurring annually in late January. GGJ brings together thousands of game enthusiasts participating through many local jams around the world. GGJ is a project of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) ( http://globalgamejam.org/jam" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )"

The goal is simple, create a game in 48 hours with a team of people you don't necessarilly know in advance: we met great 3d artists, sound and game designers there !

The jam happens all around the world in lots of different locations at the same time.

I participated with my VR enthusiasts association, the VR Geeks (http://www.vrgeeks.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;),
and we created a small game, VR Escape :http://www.vrgeeks.org/vr-experiences/vrescape

(BTW feel free to join our mailing list : http://www.vrgeeks.org/vr-geeks/global" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )

Usually the games are more 2d games, and we were probably the only ones attempting to create a VR game.

We were thinking that some of you might be interested in participating.

There is nothing to win and it basically costs nothing, appart from some sleepless nights and pizzas.
But it's a great challenge to create something from start to end and to participate in such an event.

So the plan would be to either go to a local GGJ site, or stay at your favorite coding location.

I'm currently talking with the organizers to see if this could be a part of the official GGJ, but anyway it could also be an event besides the official one.
(In Paris this will definitely be part of the official game jam)

The event will take place 27-29 January 2012, and the registration for the official event should begin soon (in the next twe weeks), and you should be fast

Let me know what you think, and if you're interested please fill out this form, which is in no way engaging, or discuss here

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/vie ... alBjQUE6MQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cheers,
cb

[Fredz]

Nice to see you here cbwan, I've been reading your personal blog with great attention. I don't think I'll participate but I wish you the best for this competition.

[cbwan]

Thank you Frederic !

[cybereality]

I may be interested in this (signed up as a maybe). Seems like fun.

Though honestly, what kind of VR can you create in 2 days? I've been hacking away at stuff off-and-on for years and I barely have anything working!

Also: Dude! You gotta hang on this forum. The VR/AR sub-forum is just heating up.

[cbwan]

Well you're not alone during those 48h
We went as two coders, and met 2 3d artists, 2 sound designers, and 1 game designer.
And you don't sleep much.

This makes nearly a whole week with a team of 7 people.
And you can just prototype ideas, interactions, it doesn't have to be perfect !

We also created Sadistic ( http://www.vrgeeks.org/vr-experiences/vrsadistic" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) in probably less time than that!

Have an undisturbed time range with constraints is probably the best way to get something done.
If you won't have constraints you will procrastinate..
There you go straight to the point and focus on the really important aspects..

The forum is here is definitely great. Is there a RSS feed so it's easier to follow ?

Thanks !
cb

[cybereality]

If you go to the VR sub-forum ( http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewforum.p ... 20&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) there is a link on the top right that says "Subscribe forum". I believe it will email you when people make posts. Don't know if this will be annoying or not, never tried it.

[cbwan]

Hi,
it seems that you can already register for some local sites, so you can try to register already : http://globalgamejam.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
good luck and tell me if you managed to
cb

[cbwan]

Hi,
we managed to create 3 VR games during the Game Jam.

Here's a video of the first one, InSnaketion :

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFZSFEoZZC8[/youtube]

And some screenshots : http://www.vrgeeks.org/vr-experiences/insnaketion" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

cheers,
cb

[cybereality]

Very cool. That's pretty amazing for 48 hours of work.

Also, what engine did you use for the project?

[cbwan]

Thank you
We used Unity !

Btw, I'm surprised that most people are trying to play existing games in VR.
Those games are not really created for that.

I really think we have to prototype game ideas ourselves to fully take advantage of VR !
We assemble hardware, nobody will create applications for us, we have to push things forward !

This game is probably not the best example in terms of interactions, here's the one we did last year in 48h also with more interesting interactions :

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vdejfjLX_Y[/youtube]

http://www.vrgeeks.org/vr-experiences/vrescape" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[cybereality]

@cbwan: Yeah, I totally agree. I think most people use commercial games simply because they don't have the skills or resources (programming, art, etc.) to make their own VR simulations. I am actually in the early stages of a driver that will allow for more VR-style control in normal DirectX games. Probably take me a while to get it working, I'm hoping to have a beta version before year's end. I also have some ideas for prototype stuff with advanced interactions as a sort of proof-of-concept. Not sure when any of this will be ready, but you will surely hear about it when its released.