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#GameJamForTheLittleMan Information

Hello there friends! I'll be using my old Tumblr as a home base until the website is up and running.

I'll get right to it: GameJam for the Little Man is a game jam I’m starting up in order to encourage little nobodies, like myself, to live blog and jam out on their pre-existing games. Lord knows there is a million of us with half-finished games laying around, while we wait for a rainy day to finish them. I want us to get to the finish line. The idea is to crunch for your game’s launch, or to at least crush a major milestone, within a four-day period from March 28th - March 31st. If that just sounds like a cool idea to you, and you don’t really want to read my super long thing about it, email me at farman.farout@gmail.com. If you're not sold yet, keep reading.

First and foremost, the idea for this Jam was born from my inability to focus on game development while simultaneously working a full time job.  It goes without saying that there has to be a whole sea of folks out there with the same set of circumstances as me. The problem is that we don’t communicate with each other.

I think this happens for a few reasons. I feel like us amateurs are ashamed of our lackluster portfolios, and because we don’t have a true forum where other likeminded folks can hear us, we stay where we are. The only people who can effectively communicate are successful developers because the masses have a reason to listen. We have to fight hard to hear each other. Luckily, places like Reddit and Twitter help foster our community, but still it is a struggle.

It was also born out my own desire to force motivation on not only myself, but an entire community of folks. I have struggled with motivation all my life. I find it very easy to slip into long breaks from development because of the stresses of everyday life. But it's time to put my foot down. I want to cross that finish line and I want to bring you with me. Not only do I want to finish this damn game, but I want to make a big enough deal about finishing it that it would inspire other people to work hard on their stuff too. The point of this game jam is to feed off of each other for motivation.

I want to show love to everyone in my shoes. I know it’s a struggle. I think it is easier to be motivated when you know there are people eager for you to finish. We often don’t have that luxury as hobbyists, and honestly, the only people who are going to care about our games are each other. Let’s form a community of people who want to see each other's' games. We can be fulfilled by each other – if no one else.

Email me if interested and I'll start organizing things.

Try out the playable alpha of my game here. Tweet @Farman_Farout

-Tom Guererri

Farman.Farout

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Dropkick soft development studio. Let's do this. (at dropkick soft)

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Finishing a Game

As I work towards completing my own game, I’ve been thinking a lot about finishing projects in general. I’ve noticed that there are a lot of talented developers out there that have trouble finishing games. Truthfully, I’ve left a long trail of unfinished games in my wake… I think everyone has. Not every project is going to pan out, for whatever reason. But if you find yourself consistently backing out of game projects that have a lot of potential, it could be worth taking a step back and examining why this happens.

We’ve all had that feeling about at least one game, comic book, movie, etc., that comes out: “Gee, I could do better than this! This is overrated.” But it’s important to take a step back and realize that, hey, they put in the time to finish a project and I haven’t. That’s at least one thing they might be better than me at, and it’s probably why they have the recognition I don’t! If you treat finishing like a skill, rather than simply a step in the process, you can acknowledge not only that it’s something you can get better at, but also what habits and thought processes get in your way.

I don’t believe that there’s a right way to make games. It’s a creative endeavor, so there are no hard and fast rules that can’t be broken at some point. But as a game developer who has discussed this problem with other game developers, I feel like there are some mental traps that we all fall into at some point, especially when we’re starting out. Being aware of these traps is a great first step towards finishing something. (Between you and me, codifying these ideas is partly my way of staying on top of them, too!)

So without further ado, here is a list of 15 tips for finishing a game:

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#laughs (Taken with GifBoom)

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The Top Ten Stand-up Specials of 2012 — Vulture

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My mutton chops at maximum length. They are about to be trimmed for the film.

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Poster wall coming along nicely.

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First deer. Is that some kind of milestone or something?

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Bye Goshen :-(

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My desk rules

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Best

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I'm trying to eat healthier but this is Middle Earth themed.

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Werewolf