Corona Blitz 2017.01 (April 1-8, 2017)

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

Corona Blitz 2017.01 is over!

Here are the results:

https://itch.io/jam/corona-blitz-2017-01/results

Here is a video of the games being played by Jupiter Hadley:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaaT7dlg9h8

Hi everyone!

I know things have changed a bit lately with Appodeal acquiring Corona but this doesn’t change anything “Corona Blitz” related. It’s still on and the countdown has started!

The jam will start on April 1st and end on April 8th. Then, every user on itch.io will be able to vote until April 15th.

Official Twitter account is @corona_blitz (https://twitter.com/corona_blitz) and hashtag is #CoronaBlitz2017

The theme is Virtue! Good luck and have fun!

Don’t forget to sign up on itch.io!

https://itch.io/jam/corona-blitz-2017-01

Here are the RULES:

  • Submit as many games as you want.
  • Thinking of an idea, designing your game or testing gameplay does NOT count against your 4 hours. Only thing that counts as your 4 hours is coding part.
  • You CAN use any assets, libraries and plugins (except “Remove Splash Screen” plugin) that you create, rightfully own or have the right to use it with appropriate licenses but you have to state the corresponding licenses in your game page and your binary.
  • You can NOT use templates of any kind.
  • You can NOT remove “Powered by Corona Labs” splash screen.
  • Since this is a ranked event, you MUST upload your game in at least one of the following formats: .exe (Windows), .apk (Android) or .app (macOS)
  • You HAVE an extra hour for every single submission to make your executable files available for download. Keep in mind that this extra hour is NOT available after the jam period ends
#2

Status update 5:

  • Kick off! Blitz has started with 37 developers and the theme is announced as ‘Virtue’

  • Official Twitter account is live @corona_blitz

Status update 4:

With less than a day to go, we are 35 developers strong!

Status update 3:

  • We are now 18 developers strong!

  • Twitter hashtag decided: #CoronaBlitz2017

Status update 2:

We are now 15 developers strong!

Status update:

We are now 10 developers strong!

I’ve also started posting announcements on Twitter(retweeted by Corona), Facebook(Indie Game Promo, Game Dev Show and Test, Corona Indie Devs), LinkedIn groups and many more are on the way.

I’m trying my best but I could really use some help to attract more developers. It would really help a lot if you could also retweet or share the jam on your social media accounts or wherever possible.

#3

Hey,

we are joining as a team, some of us have Corona experience, so this should add 6 more people. 

We are going to do it at work, for 1 hour per day, I hope we won’t end up with 6 similar games :slight_smile:

I would like to see how it goes with Corona now since most of the team has moved to other SDKs where prototyping SEEMS faster.

Thanks

Krystian

#4

On your itch.io page you have this rule listed - “You can NOT use templates, libraries or plugins.” However, in another post about the jam you’ve said that plugins and our own libraries are allowed. Could you confirm which way around it is?

4 hours sounds like a great challenge and I’d love to take part, however, I’d really quite like to use my puggle library if I can.

#5

@krystian6, that’s great! Don’t forget to join in to encourage more people :slight_smile:

@GrahamRanson, didn’t know you were still around. That’s good to know :slight_smile: Actually, I’m not sure about libraries and plugins. I was thinking about allowing everything but support and opposition for that idea was nearly the same so I decided to keep libraries and plugins out. I’m still not sure about that rule. Which one do you think would be better?

#6

Hehe yea still around ( I’ve been around here too long to go anywhere else, I’m institutionalised to Corona now. I wouldn’t survive in the wild ) however I’ve been a bit quiet of late, I’m trying to remedy that.

Personally I’m all for allowing plugins/libraries ( maybe not actual templates though ). Partially for my own selfish reasons as I would like to use mine, however also because I think reusable code is a very useful thing to get in the habit of creating so more people should do it in general.

I can see pros and cons both sides of the argument though so definitely see where people are coming from in regards to not allowing them.

I know that when we hosted GIGJam many years ago we allowed code/art that wasn’t created during the jam as long as people declared it. Judges then had a section in the score chart to adjust based on how much they felt that helped ( i.e. was it a couple of sounds, or all the artwork ). Naturally, this will now be different as the judges are just anyone on itch.io

#7

Well, maybe it would be better to allow libraries and plugins but not project / game templates. This would help speed up the work done but does not provide a foundation to build on. Do you think it would be better?

By the way, if this jam goes well I’m planning on organizing another one in the coming months where it’s encouraged to use templates, a template jam.

#8

I’m not sure.

If we allow usage of previously prepared libraries and plugins then within those 7 days we can write a template/plugin and use it. We will still get 4hrs to write?

I would opt for spending 4h on writing the code with what Corona gives you.

#9

Thats the idea for not announcing the theme early. It cuts down on prep time. Frankly it takes just as much time to pop a score module on the screen as it takes to put a display.newText() on the screen. Sure the prepped one will likely use bitmap fonts and look nicer, but it’s not going to save significant time over doing  a simple text representation.

I don’t know that we should fear libraries and plugins. Now full templates might be too much.

Rob

#10

I just tweeted about it and posted it to our Facebook channel.

Rob

#11

I agree with the idea of libraries and plugins, but no templates. Since I got a “real job” six months ago I’ve done ZERO gamedev, but I think I’ll plan on jumping into this blitz. I think it’s what I need about now. Jay

#12

@krystian6, as Rob said I don’t think it will provide us much advantage to use libraries or plugins. I don’t think any of us will be bothered to add multi-language support to our games but there is a slight chance that some plugins can make way to interesting stuff.

@Rob, that’s great! Hoping for more devs to join the blitz.

@Jay, good to see you around  :) 

I’ve updated the rules to allow libraries and plugins. Now, everyone is allowed to use pre-made assets, libraries and plugins. Hopefully, this will lead to some interesting gameplay mechanics.

#13

We’ll use all open source libraries so we can release the full source… I’m also planning on time lapsing if I can find software that’s not too wonky…

I’ll probably add a few Ponywolf libraries as open source things before so anyone can use them…

#14

That’s a great thing to do. More useful stuff for Corona developers. Thank you!

We are now 15 developers strong!

#15

We are now 18 developers strong!

With less than 4 days to go, how is it going for you all? Are you getting ready for the challenge?

I wanted to add an important detail. The Twitter hashtag for Corona Blitz 2017.01 will be #CoronaBlitz2017. I’m not pretty sure if I should start a new Twitter account for this but if we get enough participation on Twitter end, I may open a new account for Corona Blitz and share all the games made.

#16

What is the submission format? Windows .EXE, macOS .APP, Mobile, or a project runnable in the simulator with source and assets?

I’d recommend the simulator option, since that’s what everyone can run.

Also it would be worth clarifying that the time to setup your itch.io account and to package and submit the app can happen outside the four hour development window (or does that time need to be budgeted into the four hour window?)

#17

I was excited to enter (my first) jam but will have to pass now… the allowing of existing libraries, plugins and especially assets is the show stopper for me as it skews it to the “haves” and not the “have nots”.  

A jam is supposed to be about " what you can create" and not " what you have already created".

No ones turns up to a music jam with pre-recorded material. Or an art Jam with a partially painted picture.  This is not in keeping with the ethos of what a Jam actually is… shame

#18

@Rob, since it’s a ranked event open to all itch.io users it will require participants to submit .exe, .app or .apk files so players can easily test out the games. Also, submission deadline is when the jam is finished and then the voting phase begins.

@adrianm, you see, we are a band of musicians jamming like there’s no tomorrow and right in between passages, I’d like to add a Deep Purple flavor to the jam and start playing the main riff from Smoke on the Water. I wasn’t sure, I wasn’t even thinking that it was possible to play something I have known before but it fit right there. After playing the main riff for let’s say 5 seconds, we keep on with our jam. In the end, we spiced up our jam song with a little bit of a classic but it’s still the jam that matters.

If you don’t want that, I’m willing to be that “vanilla jammer” to jam with you. I won’t be playing any Smoke on the Water or anything I’ve known before. Let other jammers play what they want, I’ll keep it simple and only improvise. I’d really like to see you jamming and making great stuff. Hoping you’d change your mind.

#19

@bgmadclown I make great stuff (as others here can testify).  I feel you somewhat trivialised my point…

#20

I’m pretty sure you can make great stuff, I’m not questioning or challenging that. I just want you to jam and make great stuff with us.

I’m sorry if you feel this way, it was never my intention to do so. I’m just saying that I don’t think it is against the ethos of a jam. It’s still a jam but without strict rules so you can add a little bit of flavor to it but not set your jam on pre-made stuff since it’s highly unlikely to fit into the current theme and context. You still have to improvise to stay in the game.

Again, I’m sorry if I sounded like I disrespected you. I just want you to join the jam, that’s all.