GCU hosts Global Game Jam for 16th time despite weather disruption
Glasgow Caledonian University has hosted the Global Game Jam for it’s 16th year, bringing together game developers from across the country.
The Global Game Jam is an annual game creation event which takes place globally, inviting game developers to create a game in just 48 hours based on a theme.
GCU, which is home to the Scottish Game Jam, saw 136 participants come together which included 62 from the University. Despite some initial weather disruption, the event was able to begin online and continue in-person for the rest of the weekend.
This year, participants of the Global Game Jam had to develop a game using the theme ‘Bubbles’. Team ‘Hell Yeah’, which consisted of GCU students Jamie Caldwell, Lewis Ford and David Hunter, decided to create a washing-game which included cleaning down an astronaut after a trip to Mars.
“If I were to describe the game that we made, I would compare it to ‘Power Wash Simulator’ which is essentially a game where you are in a world that involves power washing everything.” Computer Games (Software Development) student Jamie explained.
“The theme of the Game Jam was ‘Bubbles’, so initially we thought about how bubbles are usually included in games. Usually, bubbles would be used to help collect air, which lead us onto the idea of astronauts in space. Referencing the power wash game, we decided to create a game where the player would clean the astronaut.
The premise of the game is that the Martian has come back from Mars and is completely filthy from his journey, so you put him into a bathtub and clean him. He wears his suit in the bathtub and the goal is to clean off all of the dirt.”
Computer Games (Art & Animation) student Lewis Ford had the job of creating and designing the visual elements of the game, which included designing the astronaut character. He said: “When we first heard what the theme was, it was actually quite difficult to think of an idea since it’s quite abstract.
We know that people tend to think of air bubbles when it comes to bubbles within a game, so we decided to try and do something different.”
Despite the simple-sounding theme, Jamie and the team found some challenges during their production. He said: “My specific job was to create the ‘washing’ mechanic of the game, dealing with the actual colour of the Martian and adding in the textures to show when the Martian goes from being dirty to clean.
There were a few challenges with this, like when certain movements caused the game to stutter. The good thing with the Game Jam as that we know that if the game isn’t perfect at the end, we have the chance to work on the game afterwards and develop it how we wish.”
Lewis added: “The main challenge for me was the timing. I tend to take my time with something when I work, so suddenly you’re in a situation where you have less than two days to come up with something. It was good to see where my limits can go to, like being able to actually create a character for the game.”
As well as being an exciting challenge for game enthusiasts, the Global Game Jam gives students the chance to learn how to work under pressure in a real working environment.
Jamie explained: “The pressure of the timeframe involved in the Game Jam is good for preparing for a work environment. In a workplace, there won’t be a time where you are allowed to do what you want and when you want, there’s always that element of having to have something finished within a deadline. I feel that the Game Jam is a good way to practise working under pressure.”
He added: “The Game Jam has also shown me how to be more realistic with my capabilities and with the time available. With the Game Jam, you know that we only have 48 hours so we had to think about what we could manage within that time.
After Hamid did his introductory talk, our team were talking for about two hours until we came up with the astronaut idea. We thought that it was a straightforward idea and we noticed that previous winners of the Game Jam tend to come up with simple games. When you’re in the middle of creating a game, you can end up being what is known as a ‘Feature creep’ which is when you start having ideas to try something or maybe make something bigger than it needs to be. It’s really important to stay on track as much as you can.”
Now looking back on the experience, Lewis wants to emphasise the friendly nature of the Global Game Jam. He explained: “The Game Jam community is super friendly. There’s a lot of teams and groups, but everyone is working towards the same goal.
I ended up chatting to a team from Dundee, and they were asking about what it was like to study at GCU which was nice. It was really endearing; there are combinations of teams from inside and outside the university including students from the lower levels of my own course. Some of the even asked me how I was enjoying the course and questions about the character I was working on.”
Find out more about the Global Game Jam on their website
By Rachael McAlonan
Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media