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"Jam 2014" redirects here. For the skin, see Jam 2014 (skin).
Nitrome Jam blog

The image used in the first official announcement of the Jam's date.

The Nitrome Jam is a game jam that took place from June 2 to June 6, 2014. During the event, the Nitrome staff was divided into seven teams and had to create a game based on a community voted theme over the course of five days. Other developers were also allowed to participate in the Jam.

History[]

The idea of starting the jam was first mentioned in the February 14, 2014 Friday update blog post.[1] About two weeks after, programmer Aaron Steed revealed the jam's tentative date to be around the month of June.[2] A date was not finalised until Monday May 12, where the details of the jam's structure as well as the event dates were set. Theme suggestions also opened, allowing Nitromians to give ideas in the blog comments.

Ten themes were selected and placed on the Nitrome blog for people to vote on.[3] Voting began on May 27th 2014[3] and ended on June 2nd 2014 at 9:15 GMT/UTC[3].

Structure[]

Prior to the jam, the community was provided the opportunity to suggest theme ideas and vote on them. Each competitive team then has five days to create a game inspired by the chosen theme. Fans evaluate the games and decide on a winner by voting.

Theme[]

Up until the 27th of May, the community was allowed to suggest themes for the games to be built around in the blog comments. Over the course of two days, the jam announcement post gained over five hundred comments, making it one of the most commented posts in the Nitrome blog. Two days after the official announcement date for the jam, Nitrome followed up with another post restating and emphasising guidelines for suggesting themes, particularly the fact that theme suggestions were not to be grounds for Nitrome game related requests.[4]

On May 27 2014, of all the themes suggested, Nitrome selected their ten favourite and listed them on the blog post Vote for the Jam Theme! for people to vote on by clicking on the desired option. The ten option were Numbers, Toast, Survival, Crossover, Dreams, Discovery, Isolation, Light & Dark, Infinity, and Kitchen. On June 2nd, the Nitrome Jam page revealed that the winning theme was "Dreams", meaning that all games made during the jam were to be "dream" themed.

Rules[]

Games made for the Jam have to be playable in a web browser, and thus can be made in any markup language or game engine that is playable in a browser. The dimensions of the game must be within a maximum of 550px x 550px. Created games must have content suitable for the Nitrome audience, such as no excessive blood or gore, or sexual content. This suitability is the same as that of Nitrome's own games.

Jam games have to be able to be hosted on Nitrome.com, and although post Jam the creator of the game is able to host it anywhere else or take it to another medium, this is restricted to the web browser medium if the game contains Nitrome assets. Games created for the Jam have to be created during the Nitrome Jam, and cannot have been created prior to the June 2 2014 Jam start date.

Jam games can have assets from other Nitrome games, such as sprites, characters, or game universes, but the presence of these will restrict the game's usability. Games with these elements will have their post Jam hosting restricted to only being playable in and the medium being web browser, potential revenue from the game restricted to in-game advertisements, and the game having to bear indication it was made for the Jam.

Contestants[]

Other developers were open to participation and could notify Nitrome of their interest via email. In order to join the Jam, the company or person joining has to create a Nitrome account, then go to the "Join" page of the Jam site and input their team name, and click "Join".

The entire Nitrome staff were split into seven teams, most teams consisting of two people, though some teams had more people or other people unconnected with Nitrome helping some teams out. Two Nitrome employees who are no longer working for Nitrome were allowed to come back to the Nitrome office to work on their game.[5]

2014[]

Nitrome staff[]

Current Nitrome staff.

Icon Game Team name
Computerdreamsicon Computer Dreams Team Ceaser
Runbonitarunicon Run Bonita Run Team Winning!
Rockitty9livesicon Rockitty: 9 Lives Moose Pie
Niteniteicon Nite Nite Team Apfelstrudel
8bitdovesicon 8bit Doves Team Marthur
Loopicon Loop Team Awesomotronica
Sleeplesspugicon Sleepless Pug Team Insomnia

Other developers and teams[]

Icon Game Developer
Ocddreamboticon OCD Dream Bot Ish Games
Ratmazenightmareicon Ratmaze Nightmare PixelJAM
Slumberlandicon Slumberland Halfbot
Akittydreamicon A Kitty Dream Raiyumi
Themindicon The Mind Wolve
Indrmzzzicon In drmzzz Bart Bonte
Dreamhoppericon Dream Hopper Askiisoft
Nitromareicon Nitromare Team Nitromare
Dreaminbrothersicon Dreamin' Brothers Chizu Nordenstam
Teddygearicon Teddy Gear Mabi Games
Yellowdreamericon Yellow Dreamer NazoSystems
Dreamtrainicon Dreamtrain #octothorphe
Bakuthedreameatericon Baku: The Dream Eater ChrisJeff Games
Psycopicon Psy Cop AlienCow Studios
Mareexicon MareEx MareEx
Franticdreamicon Frantic Dream Infokub Arcade
Dreamtrekicon Dream Trek Neptune
Oneironauticon Oneironaut Etaercion
Isometimesdreamicon I sometimes dream... Agecaf
Theluciddreamericon The Lucid Dreamer 5x5px
Guardianofthebrainicon Guardian of the Brain RGB Games
Empriseofstratusicon Emprise of Stratus Ceosol
Cloudchapicon Cloud Chap Amazingcookie
Dreamventuresicon Dreamventures Jett Panopio

Participants that left[]

  • Bomb-o-cracker[5] - Was said to have been participating yet did not submit a game
  • Ignatus Zuk[5] - Created a game yet presumably did not finish it
  • Sinclarian[5] - Was said to have been participating yet had to drop out due to his game being corrupted[6] due to computer problems[7]
  • Crocadino - Had to drop out due to not having access to their computer for a while[8]
  • Alex Pang's team - Were unable to finish Jam entry due to both being sick[9]
  • Stefan Castelli[10], Matteo Romanelli[11], Marco Giammetti[12] - The game was submitted to the Nitrome Jam but was requested to be removed by the creator due to the game's glitches.[13]
  • Deryk Buckarev[14] - Presumably did not finish their game
  • Lucien Fatima - Was not able to finish game before the end of the Nitrome Jam[15]

Schedule[]

The Nitrome Jam was started on Monday June 2, 2014 and ended on Friday June 6 at midnight. Games had to be submitted to Nitrome prior to midnight, however, over the weekend Nitrome allowed Jam game creators to to fix bugs and polish their game and resubmit the game before Monday.[16] However, the game had to be submitted to Nitrome first before a modified version of the game could be submitted. All the submitted games would be made available to play on Nitrome.com on Monday June 9th 2014.

Mini site[]

A mini site for the Nitrome Jam was set up on May 16, 2014, and housed the rules for the jam as well as the method of entering it.

Blog images[]

Each post entirely concerning the jam pictures a jam jar with Cuboy's face on the front in front of some fruit. The first post with the announcement date used a cerise background; the subsequent post used blue.

Gallery[]

Coverage[]

Nitrome_Jam_2014

Nitrome Jam 2014

Nitrome staff coverage midway through the Jam

Nitrome has allowed for anyone over the age of eighteen to come directly to the Nitrome office during the Jam in order to take pictures and write blog posts[17] John Kennedy later posted a video showcasing some of the Nitrome staff's work midway through the Jam.

  • Prior to the Jam starting, the Jam was featured on the front page of Newgrounds in a list of upcoming events. [18]
  • The Jam was mentioned in Wriathkal's Indie Gaming Corner June 2 post.[19]

References[]

  1. Game Developer's Blog - Nitrome: New Game Next Week!, 14 February 2014, retrieved 15 May 2014.
  2. Aaron Steed on Twitter: [1], 27 February 2014, retrieved 15 May 2014.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Game Developer's Blog - Nitrome: Vote for the Jam Theme!, 27 May 2014, retrieved 2 June 2014.
  4. Game Developer's Blog - Nitrome: Name that Jam, 14 May 2014, retrieved 15 May 2014.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Game Developer's Blog - Nitrome: New Jam members!: ...Sinclairian who made ‘Cathode Raybits’ and Bomb-O-Cracker who made ‘Night Lights’. ... We have a few ex Nitrome members getting involved too that have since gone on to make their own studios. Iggy Zuk who went on to make Deadly 30 for Steam will be heading back to Nitrome Towers. Going even further back in time we have Carl Trelfa who went on to form ‘the Podge’ will be back too….I don’t even think he has even been in our current office! It will be great to see you guys!, 28 May 2014, retrieved 6 June 2014.
  6. Sinclair Strange on Twitter: [2]: @Amesuki Fantastic, the games been corrupted too. Disappointment isn't the world. Want to cry. :(, 6 June 2014, retrieved 14 June 2014.
  7. Sinclar Strange on Twitter: [3]: Oh no, I've had computer problems for the past day and half, I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish this in 2 1/2 hours #nitromejam, 6 June 2014, retrieved 14 June 2014.
  8. CrocaDino on Twitter: [4]: @Nitrome Hey, Nitrome: I'm really sorry, but I did not have access to the computer for a while and I couldn't finish my game. :(, 13 June 2014, retrieved 14 June 2014.
  9. Alex Pang on Twitter: [5]: Afraid we're not going to finish #nitromejam since both me and martin are sick :(, 6 June 2014, retrieved 14 June 2014.
  10. Stefano Castelli on Twitter: [6], 5 June 2014, retrieved 14 June 2014.
  11. Mateo Romanelli on Twitter: [7], 3 June 2014, retrieved 14 June 2014.
  12. Marco Giammetti on Twitter: [8], 3 June 2014, retrieved 14 June 2014.
  13. Game Developer's Blog - Nitrome: Vote Now! #nitromejam: They submitted the game but then sent an email saying that they wanted to remove it because it was buggy. Tom had a quick go and it seemed a valid entry to us but we are just respecting their wishes., 12 June 2014, retrieved 14 June 2014.
  14. Deryk Buckarev on Twitter: [9], 4 June 2014, retrieved 14 June 2014.
  15. Lucien Fatima on Twitter: [10]: I believe my #nitromejam game won't be finished in time; not to a level I feel comfortable publishing., 5 June 2014, retrieved 14 June 2014.
  16. Game Developer's Blog - Nitrome: [ Nitrome Jam 2014 ends soon!]: We will be sorting and officially launching the games on the site on Monday when we get in so as a nicety we have decided to allow you all a little cool down time over the weekend. Games should still be submitted by the deadline today but if you want to squash a few bugs or add last minute polish then feel free to resubmit over the weekend., 6 June 2014, retrieved 6 June 2014.
  17. Game Developer's Blog - Nitrome: Nitrome Game Jam Webpage is Live!: if anyone is interested and able to come to the Nitrome office that week and maybe take some photos and write some blog posts please get in touch. ... You need to be over 18..., 16 May 2014, retrieved 1 June 2014.
  18. Internet Archive Wayback Machine: http://www.newgrounds.com/ (1 June 2014)
  19. Wriathkal's Indie Gaming Corner:[11](2 June 2014)

External links[]

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