I’m pumped for tonight’s “Dev Jam” at Cipher Prime. The theme is racing so I think I’m going to PoC an idea that’s been bugging me for a while.

What makes it a “Dev Jam” and not a “Game Jam”? A game jam is conceiving and making a game in a set period of time. For the Dev Jam we were told the theme a week in advance. A game jam is a competition to make a relatively complete game, albeit small and unpolished. A Dev-Jam is EVEN ROUGHER. Instead of 24 hours to make a game it’s 12 hours to make a proof of concept, something that isn’t really much more than a cool mechanic that you wanted to throw on the screen and check out. It’s also an excuse to drink and not play Starcraft II.

Tonight the PoC I’m hoping to pound out is a starfighter racing game with a small twist. Your fuel is limited, so I want to make players be careful with their thrusters, BUT using up fuel also reduces the mass of your ship making you faster and more maneuverable. IF I managed to get that done with some time to spare I’ll probably throw together some kind of ‘ghost’ to record your lap so you can race against your past selves. (There is no way I am working out an AI or multiplayer in one evening.)

Now I just hope I can focus in class instead of doodling racing ideas :/