I created "The Depths To Which I Sink" which was a Gamma 3 selection.
As a result, I feel I can help
unofficially clarify some things.
Kokoromi (the Gamma organizers) would prefer you didn't post your game ahead of time
since that would take away from the "surprise" of the event.
Gamma is meant to be one night celebration of new artistic games no-one has ever seen before.
If everyone has played them (and blogged about them) ahead of time,
it makes that night much less special.
Think of abstaining as doing them a favour.
Received official word from Kokoromi - They're not enforcing a "don't post" rule.That being said, as mentioned above, they would prefer the surprise.
They offered these interesting thoughts that you should consider before posting anything.
- "There's actually no rule at the moment against posting a game early.
Just as long as the creator started it AFTER the theme was announced,
and do submit it to us through the proper channels when that time comes,
then it's not prohibited.
In previous years plenty of folks have posted blogs about the development
of their games and it seemed to work fine.
Early release doesn't make you any more or less likely to be selected,
but it's 100% your game, you can do what you want with it."
- "Preferably no [don't post] - ideally the games "debut" at Gamma.
But also for the very good reason that we tend to avoid choosing two games
that have the same general idea-- so why would you give your approach away in advance?"
- "Yeah, posting your game and/or vids early could even do more harm than good,
for various reasons. But really it's up to each creator to weigh the advantages/disadvantages."
- "I think the developers underestimate the Kokoromi Delight Factor,
which is heavily dependent upon surprise."
I agree wholeheartedly with that last statement.
In my experience, if your game gets selected,
nothing beats the thrill of a Gamma debut.
In my case, I won't be talking about my game
(dev logs, videos) until afterward.
- - -
On a related note... they can only showcase 5-7 games at Gamma/GDC.
Only those selected games will be awarded GDC passes.
Given the talent that's expressed interest,
it's going to be extremely hard to make that shortlist.
Most people won't.
If it's like previous years, ALL entries will be listed on the Kokoromi site after Gamma.
At Gamma 2, my entry "Mondrian Provoked" was not selected,
but received a lot of coverage anyways thanks to Kokoromi's listing.
Received official word from Kokoromi -
They haven't decided exactly what they will do with the unselected entries (if anything).
It really depends on how many games they receive.
- - -
Game Design Tip:
Based on Gamma experience and Kokoromi's About Page:
"Kokoromi is an experimental game collective ...
... to promote games as an art form and expressive medium worldwide"
Gamma is the event that introduced Jason Rohrer's Passage to the world.
Your Gamma game is about providing a unique experience.
Do not be afraid of the word art.
IMO, refining gameplay and mechanics is secondary to providing a new experience.
i.e. It's not about creating the perfect 1 button platformer.
It's about doing things with 1 button that no-one has thought of.
Mind you, if you create a derivative yet polished game,
that might be more memorable than an innovative but poorly produced game.
It's about the overall experience.
- - -
Gamma2 has the best examples of what I'm talking about:
Dive, Dodge Club, My Heart Loves You Very Much, Passage, StdBits were selected.
They all featured unique gameplay.
Mondrian Provoked, Break Invaders, Sunset runner were not.
They featured standard (arcade style) gameplay.
- - -
I stress once again I have absolutely no inside knowledge
of how they make their selections. These are just my personal thoughts.
Good luck to everyone (including me)!
modified to reflect information received from Kokoromi
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