On Saturday the 23rd February game developers from all over will gather together in Farset Labs, Belfast , to pour forth their creative juices in an extravaganza of game development talent that hasn’t been seen since…well, since the las GameCraft in November, or another game jam :D . That’s right, it’s time for Belfast GameCraft! This time around, particpants, either individually or as a team, have a whole 8 hours to create a game centered around a random theme to be announced on the day.

It will be exciting, it will be intense, it will be…slightly pungent, frankly. But it will be worth it! After 8 hours, a panel of highly trained judges (at least, they look highly trained, they are all wearing monacles) will examine each of the submitted games and select a few stand out entries to be awarded some awesome prizes. While the games are being pinched, prodded, and poked, we’ll all have some well deserved refreshments and a bit of time for the all important networking. Participants are free to use whatever game creation platform they like, be that Unity, UDK, GameMaker, Construct2, XNA, or one of the myriad other fine platforms available today. Good luck and may the most ridiculous game win!

What happens on the day?

• You with your team need to build a game from scratch, you have about 8 hours.
• You can come with a team formed or form your team there
• Platform agnostic
• We announce a topic during breakfast
• Early start, then, at 5pm judging starts. There is a people’s choice so we all get to play each others games
• People and Judges vote .. there are prizes yay!
• Everyone learns
• People meet other people

This event is free but all members of your team need a ticket.

FAQ

Q. Any restrictions on who can join?

All levels welcome.

Q: How many people can be in a team?

Team size is unrestricted, although bear in mind that larger teams will make it hard work as well.

Q: Do we bring our own hardware?

Yes, participants will bring their own hardware, but you will need to look after your own hardware on the day.

Q. Does GameCraft support online participation?

No, but we will look into it for future Dublin Game Crafts.

Q. Do we decide on an idea before the event?

The topic of the game is decided on the day, so probably not a good idea.

Q. Can we also bring pre-written frameworks we code ourselves. Would we need to share these frameworks with the other teams?

You are free to use which ever framework you want. Sharing your own framework is up to you.

Q. What other tools and frameworks should bring along?

Prepare your machine with the tools before you come along on the day, this will alleviate the load on the wifi. You can find information on what you need on this resources page.

Organization

• Andrea Magnorsky (@roundcrisis)
• Matt Johnston (@cimota)
• Greg Maguire
• Andrew O’Connor (@bravesirandrew)