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#GPCv13 Themes
It’s time again, Challengers; #GPCv13 starts now! To our Toronto-based Challengers, who just finished up at TOJam, we hope you had a great time and are still full of game making energy to bring to this month’s GPC. Now, without further ado, the themes are…
ANTAGONIST and CREATION
The details: you have until 11:59pm EST on May 21st, 2012 to submit your game through the submission form which will become usable in the next couple days. Use the #GPCv13 hashtag to discuss your development on Twitter. Web deploy-able games are preferred but not required; simply provide a download link if your game is run as an executable.
It is recommended all developers take part in #ScreenshotSaturday as a progress milestone. A screenshot is necessary to submit your game. Screenshots are requested to be 400x300 resolution and must be in .png format.
May the power of prototyping be with you, Challengers!
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Announcing #GPCv13
Now that #GPCv12 is over, it’s time to start thinking about #GPCv13! So mark your calenders, #GPCv13 will take place Monday, May 14th, 2012 to Monday, May 21st, 2012. Themes will be announced at noon EST on the 14th, and games due at 11:59pm EST on the 21st.
Can’t wait? A brief reminder of other awesome compos and jams you can do:
- Experimental Gameplay Project (April/May Theme: 101 Things)
- PyWeek (A week long Python game development challenge)
There are lots of jams happening all the time, and it’s hard to keep track of them all, but CompoHub is doing a good job of cataloging them, check it out.
Thoughts? Get in touch with us by means of any of Twitter, Facebook, or email and talk to us.
The wonderful banner above was created by Christina Pham.
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Another Spectacular Challenge!
With great speed and impressive flourish, another challenge comes to an end. #GPCv12 resulted in 11 new games which can be found, as always, in the Version 12 archives here.
You can expect more information on #GPCv13 in the coming weeks, and expect the challenge to take place mid-May.
If you’d like to join the conversation about the Challenge and the games from #GPCv12, you can use the hashtag for the Challenge on Twitter as well as visiting the Challenge Chat. Want to wear the Challenge? We also have a Challenge Store. Remember to follow us, like us, or simply check in on us for information on #GamePrototypeChallenge and the next Challenge. Feel free to offer suggestions via any of Twitter, Facebook, or email.
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#GPCv12 Themes
Excited, Challengers? It’s time for #GPCv12, and we’re hoping for great things from everything! We’re on a roll with this Challenge, no wasted time since the last, so hopefully the creative juices are still flowing and everyone is excited for this month’s themes.
This month, our themes from from Challenger Kyle Dwyer. So, without further ado, the themes are…
MOMENTUM and FLOURISH
The details: you have until 11:59pm EST on April 16th, 2012 to submit your game through the submission form which will become usable in the next couple days. Use the #GPCv12 hashtag to discuss your development on Twitter. Web deploy-able games are preferred but not required; simply provide a download link if your game is run as an executable.
It is recommended all developers take part in #ScreenshotSaturday as a progress milestone. A screenshot is necessary to submit your game. Screenshots are requested to be 400x300 resolution and must be in .png format.
Happy prototyping, Challengers!
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TIFF Nexus New Media Literacies Conference
TIFF Nexus is returning with another exciting conference, and once again they’ve extended Industry rates to our Challengers, associates, and partners. Here is an e-flyer containing the details of the conference for those interested. From the site:
Are you media literate? The children and youth of today – and their content creators, educators and families – exist in a drastically evolved media landscape than those of even 5 years ago. Coming up FRIDAY APRIL 20th, the TIFF Nexus series brings together the worlds of Film, Gaming and New Media and sets its sights on addressing what all these emerging creative techs and mediums mean to our concept of media engagement. What can we learn from successful industry and educational leaders about new best practices for content creation and learning models for young people?
To register, visit TIFF Nexus New Media Literacies Conference Registration and be sure to mention the GPC when purchasing at the Industry/Educator level.
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Announcing #GPCv12
In an attempt to ensure that there’s no crazy-long delays between the last and the next Challenge, we’re ready to announce the next, #GPCv12! So mark your calenders, #GPCv12 will take place Monday, April 9th, 2012 to Monday, April 16th, 2012. Themes will be announced at noon EST on the 9th, and games due at 11:59pm EST on the 16th.
Can’t wait? A brief reminder of other awesome compos and jams you can do:
- Experimental Gameplay Project (Theme for March: Economy)
- Mini-LD #33 (Theme: Doodles, on right now!)
- LOVEJam 2012 Märch Showcase (Starts in 4 days)
There are lots of jams happening all the time, and it’s hard to keep track of them all, but CompoHub is doing a good job of cataloging them, check it out.
Thoughts? Get in touch with us by means of any of Twitter, Facebook, or email and talk to us.
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And That’s A Wrap!
It’s been a week, and so #GPCv11 comes to an end. Smaller turnout that usual, probably due to the extended break between this and #GPCv10 before it. We’ll try to avoid such long breaks in the future! Still, a huge thank you to our Challengers! Tentatively, you can expect #GPCv12 for April 9th-16th, but keep an eye out for the official announcement in the coming weeks.
Here’s the Version 11 archive.
We still plan on updating the GPC archive backend, but it’s hard to say when that’ll actually get done. There were several fixes to the submission form that seemed to smooth out this round of submissions, but with the smaller load of submissions it didn’t get as exhaustively tested as last time. If you encountered issues, or notice a bug in the archive, please email us.
If you’d like to join the conversation about the Challenge and the games from #GPCv11, you can use the hashtag for the Challenge on Twitter as well as visiting the Challenge Chat. Want to wear the Challenge? We also have a Challenge Store. Remember to follow us, like us, or simply check in on us for information on #GamePrototypeChallenge and the next Challenge. Feel free to offer suggestions via any of Twitter, Facebook, or email.
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#GPCv11 Themes
Hello Challengers! We do have to apologize for the massive delay since #GPCv10; plans were laid, although to be honest, very little came to fruition. Irregardless, we’re back now with #GPCv11, and we promise to be more consistent with challenges in the months to come. So, without further ado, the themes are…
STIMULANTS and NETS
The details: you have until 11:59pm EST on March 12th, 2012 to submit your game through the submission form which will become usable in the next couple days. Use the #GPCv11 hashtag to discuss your development on Twitter. Web deploy-able games are preferred but not required; simply provide a download link if your game is run as an executable.
It is recommended all developers take part in #ScreenshotSaturday as a progress milestone. A screenshot is necessary to submit your game. Screenshots are requested to be .png files and 400x300 resolution.
Good luck, Challengers! We’re hoping for some wicked-cool games this week!
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The Much Anticipated #GPCv11
Hello Challengers!
First off, our sincere apologies for the delay in this announcement. As you know, we switched registrars, then we were updating the front page, and we have been trying to find the time to update the archive/backend (which is, unfortunately, still not done) and time has gotten away from us. Though we’d like to make the system more functional, automated, and scalable for future Challenges, it’s more important that we don’t lose too much steam, so whether or not the new system is ready by the time it comes around, we’re here to announce #GPCv11.
The other delay is scheduling. Turns out February doesn’t work out so great for our timeline. So, though it’s slightly later than we initially hoped, we’re calling the week of Monday, March 5th, 2012 to Monday, March 12th, 2012 for #GPCv11. Hopefully we’ll have a more dynamic backend in place for submissions by then. :)
Thoughts? Get in touch with us by means of any of Twitter, Facebook, or email and talk to us.
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A Huge Anniversary Record!
Our very special anniversary, #GPCv10, has come and gone, but what a collection it left behind. This iteration of the Challenge netted a whopping 29 games; that’s a 483% increase over the first Challenge, #GPCv1, which shared our themes. What a difference one year can make!
A special congratulations to all our new members and first-time game makers. You all did wonderfully! You can check out all of the games in the version 10 archives here.
The new submission form was a bit hit-and-miss, but it reeks of potential. With the thorough testing of our 29 submissions, there’s a lot of data with which to improve the form for future Challenges. We’re taking a break for the holidays, but hopefully you’ll see an even better GPC with #GPCv11 in January or early February.
If you’d like to join the conversation about the Challenge and the games from #GPCv10, you can use the hashtag for the Challenge on Twitter as well as visiting the Challenge Chat. Want to wear the Challenge? We also have a Challenge Store. Remember to follow us, like us, or simply check in on us for information on #GamePrototypeChallenge and the next Challenge. Feel free to offer suggestions via any of Twitter, Facebook, or email.
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#GPCv10 Reminders
Hello Challengers, just a few things we wanted to make sure you’re all aware of…
The Submission Form
As of this challenge we’re rolling out the brand-new Submission Form. If you ever lose the link, it’s in the sidebar with the archives. You MUST use this form to have your game recognized by the #GPC; Twitter posts no longer cut it. The form is in its infancy, and we intend to keep updating and improving on the GPC website throughout the year.
The Year-One Arcade
If you are in Toronto and not already aware, next Friday (December 16th) at 6:00pm is the #GPC Year-One Round-Up Arcade. If you can make it, we’d love to see you there. #GPCv10 games and games from the entire year will be playable, so it’s a good chance to get some exposure and meet new people if you’re just starting out.
There are 60 hours left for #GPCv10, and we can’t wait to see your games!
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Have You Heard Of IndieCity?
We were recently contacted by Scott MacKintosh about the wonderful IndieCity, and asked to spread the word to you, our Challengers. As we’re more than happy to share the info, here’s what he sent us…
IndieCity aims to be the one stop shop for all things indie gaming. We’re building the site with a lot of input from the community, who’ve helped us design various features.
The main selling points of IndieCity are:
The revenue share. We offer 75% of revenue to you as standard, but the real winner is that if you integrate with the IndieCity Achievements you get 85%! We’re also offering a launch incentive, if we get 100 games on the main store by 31st December then we’ll increase the revenue share by 5%, there are further tiers of reward if we get even more games right up to 100% of revenue for 30 days!
The recommendation engine. Instead of relying on your game being picked for a top 10 list or promoted on a main homepage, each user will have their own personalised homepage with a game list tailored to their preferences. The variety in the indie game world is incredible and we’ve found even within our small team that personal preference is a huge affair, so feeding people a list of games that we personally think are good, or are top selling really doesn’t do the scene any justice.
The download client. The huge plus of the download client is its link to the recommendation engine, if the user opts in then they will be pushed demos of games the recommendation engine thinks that they’ll like. It can automatically install them so you could leave the client open overnight and when you up the next day you’ll have a raft of new games, tailored to you, to try out.
Initially we’re going to be Windows-only, but we fully intend to support OSX and Linux as soon after launch as we can.
As we want to be the home for all things indie gaming, we would really love to get the various game jam communities on board with IndieCity to demonstrate how incredibly creative and diverse the indie game scene is. The upload process is incredibly easy, it takes about 5 minutes to fill out the information and upload a game to the site.
Scott even offered to set up a #GamePrototypeChallenge tag for GPC games on IndieCity. So, if you weren’t sure where to host your games, perhaps this is the solution for you! Feel free to reach out to @IndieCity_Devs for more information, and make sure to check out the developer site to register.
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#GPCv10 Themes (And More!)
It’s time to Game Prototype Challenge! Today is a very special day, as we are celebrating our 1-year anniversary with this iteration! Several things are happening to commemorate this.
1. After a year, a number of questions have arisen. So, we made an FAQ. Check it out!
2. The Twitter-hashtag method has served us well, but we’ve graduated to a submission form.
3. And of course, a very special anniversary edition of the Challenge, #GPCv10.
If you have any questions, hopefully the FAQ will cover them. If not, email them to us and if we’ve been asked it before, it’ll go up on the FAQ to help out other people in the future. Additionally, we’re launching the beta of the GPC Submission Form, which we intend to use and improve throughout the coming year. It isn’t functioning right now, so if you finish your game today, please hold off until next Monday to submit.
I’m sure above all else you’re most excited for this particular Challenge. To celebrate one year of operation, we’d like to compare growth against the initial challenge. This will not be a pattern throughout the year, but for #GPCv10 we’re going back to our roots. The themes for #GPCv10, as they were for #GPCv1, are…
DREAMS and COLLECTIBLES
The details: you have until 11:59pm EST on December 12th, 2011 to submit your game through the brand-new submission form. Use the #GPCv10 hashtag to discuss your development on Twitter. Web deploy-able games are preferred but not required; simply provide a download link if your game is run as an executable.
It is recommended all developers take part in #ScreenshotSaturday as a progress milestone. This screenshot, or an updated one when the game is completed, is necessary to submit your game. Screenshots are requested to be .png files and 400x300 resolution, and will be re-sized if they are not.
Good luck, Challengers! We can’t wait to see how you do.
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#GPC’s Birthday Party
If you aren’t local to Toronto, don’t mind this, it’s just something extra. But if you are in or around Toronto, consider checking this out!
From the post on the Hand Eye Society:
Mon. Dec 5th, 7pm
The Gladstone Hotel, Melody RoomFreeJoin the Hand Eye Society and the Game Prototype Challenge as they come together for the December Social. Try out some of the games made for past versions of the Challenge and talk to some of the developers that have taken part, and get inspired to make your own games.
The Social is also a kick-off event for the tenth iteration of the Challenge, #GPCv10, and a birthday party for the event which is celebrating its one-year anniversary with this Challenge. Perhaps you’ll find that you too can make a game, and join the ranks of Challengers of the GPC. We hope to see you there!
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Announcing #GPCv10
Sorry for the delay, Challengers, but we’re finally ready to announce the date of the Special 1-Year Anniversary Edition of Game Prototype Challenge, #GPCv10!
As a result of being involved in Toronto’s Gamercamp and Hand Eye Society in the coming weeks, there was the potential for a lot of exposure for the GPC and for this special Challenge; however, it made it difficult to pin down the date. So though the birthday of GPC is actually in Novemeber, the anniversary Challenge has been pushed into December.
So mark your calenders, #GPCv10 will take place Monday, December 5th, 2011 to Monday, December 12th, 2011. Themes will be announced at noon EST on the 5th, and games due at 11:59pm EST on the 12th.
Thoughts? Get in touch with us by means of any of Twitter, Facebook, or email and talk to us.
