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elvaq

WJ4 Diversifiers

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Hey all, we've been mulling over some ideas for Diversifiers in the Slack so I thought I'd open it up here as well for people to pitch in.

 

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Diversifiers are small creative prompts that will be presented as an optional task for jammers. In general, it’s best when these are smaller ideas rather than entire themes; as people can use a combination of several diversifiers for their games.

 

We'll whittle this list down to 5-10 and announce them at the start of the jam.

 

Thanks for your input!

 

~EDIT~

FINAL DIVERSIFIERS!

  • Mainstream Thumbs - Use an episode title from the Idle Thumbs podcast.

  • When the Thumbs are not enough - Use an episode title from a non Idle Thumbs network podcast.
  • Game Ideas from the Cast - Realise a game idea/joke that has appeared in an episode

  • Idol Thumbs - A past or present thumbs presenter is your player character.

  • Could you repeat that? - Have a character in your game use famous Thumbs quotes in regular dialogue like a real slyboots.

 

  • One of These Things is Not Like the Other - Ask another jammer to draw a sprite/make a model for your game without showing them the art style of your game. Include this in your game without comment.

  • Wizard Jam Shared Cinematic Universe - Place a small in-game cameo or reference to another game participating in the jam. This could be something like placing a character from another game into your game somehow, or using some art from another game as a billboard sign in your game etc.

    • WJSCU Sub-versifier: Building A Legacy - use a recognizable asset from a previous wizard jam - this could be from one of your games or from someone elses if you ask nicely enough! (Bonus points for loving tributes to everyone's favorite yellow gourmand - Dot Gobbler.)

  • Wrong Thread - Base your game on an Idle Forums thread title

 
  • Dishonored Holidays - tis the season! make a game about winter holidays, Dishonored, or ideally both. Corvo’s Carve That Turkey Challenge, anyone?

  • Box art - Make a still image to be the ‘box art’ for your game. Do you remember physical retail? (Bonus points if it’s off-style for the actual game, and misrepresents the spirit of the game [see Mega Man 1 & 2 for reference])

  • Super Briefly  - Right when you think the game is over, a super-brief mini-game kicks in. Or it’s all mini-games. Just do it fast!

  • Learn by doing - Make a game with no explicit instructions or tutorial, but that the player can still learn by playing through it.

    • Learn By Doing Sub-Versifier: No Dialog - No written words at all, even tutorials must be pictographs

  • Ludo-Narrative Dissonance - Make the theme and presentation of your game completely at odds with the moment-to-moment gameplay. Bonus points for not just being “normal game protagonist is secretly mass murderer”

  • From the horse’s mouth - Include some kind of developer commentary in your game. This can be an optional secondary mode after the player completes it or something tied more closely to the narrative a la The Magic Circle.

  • Uncle Who Still Works at Nintendo - Your game has a bizarre cheat code or secret that no-one will believe is real, but it definitely is; my uncle who still works at Nintendo told me about it. Whatever you do, don’t post about this secret on your own thread. You may help spread rumors however...

  • Nice Segue - Don’t just cut from level to level. Wipe that sucker! Add transitions that are interesting, stylish, and ideally fit the mood and look of your game. Look at Blendo Games’ first-person work, where the hard cuts are strong narrative and stylistic choices that evoke a cinematic or dreamlike feeling in the player.

  • Game Development 100% Internalized - Stream your game-making adventures. This can be art asset creation, coding, or even your team design meetings!

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For reference, here're the old diversifiers:

 

Wiz Jam '16

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Uniquely Systemic - Procedurally generate something in your game that’s not commonly procedural. A character’s personality, the game’s secret language, a control scheme, the procedurally generated sky's the limit.

Crowd-sourced - Make a game using input from other people. Let the community decide on creative decisions, or take on lots of mini-contributions which will be used in the game (e.g. sound recordings or photos).

 

Shallow Copy - Choose a genre/style to be inspired by, but specifically don’t use certain mechanics or other elements common to it.

 

Designer Notes - Include a director’s commentary in your game.

 

Tone Control - The audio in your game is reactive and directly manipulated by the player’s inputs and actions.

 

Uncle Who Works at Nintendo - Your game has a bizarre cheat code or secret that no-one will believe is real, but it definitely is; my uncle who works at Nintendo told me about it.

 

Ombudsman - During the jam, produce and distribute a newsletter tangentially related to your game.

 

Focused Palette - Make a game using as few colours as possible.

 

Dead to Language - Incorporate words or language as a core mechanic in your game.

 

Winter Wiz Jam '15

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  • Super Briefly: Time is precious. The rounds in your game are completed as quickly as possible. Seconds in, a player is eliminated. You blink, and a victor emerges. Another minute, and the game has brought you to tears.
  • Focused Palette: Make a game using as few colours as possible.
  • Talk is cheap: Make a game which features no words whatsoever
  • Tone Control: The audio in your game is reactive and directly manipulated by the player’s inputs and actions.
  • Designer Notes: Include a director’s commentary in your game.
  • Crowd-sourced: Make a game which features tiny contributions from members of the forum/public. (Check out the team building thread to find willing contributors)
  • “It’s a Baby Game”: Think back to your youth and create a game inspired from a childhood toy or activity. Bonus points if your game can be played by a baby.
  • Hemispherist: Throw another shrimp on the barbie and make a game celebrating the Southern Hemisphere’s beautiful summers. Penguins in bikinis please!
  • The Great Gatling Gunsby: Unfortunately the practice of adapting classic literature to video game started and stopped with Visceral Games’ Dante’s Inferno (2010). Pick up the torch where Visceral dropped it and make a game that “adapts” classic literature. (Need some help? Check out https://twitter.com/ea_presents)
  • Dishonored Holidays: I don’t really know what this means but I think they generally happen a week before the regular holiday #HappyDishonoredHalloween ! 

 

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After much amazing input and voting, we have a final list up on that there top post.

 

Honestly it was hard whittling it down with so many good suggestions. I hope you all don't mind having plenty to choose from!

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