Event - Spooky Month Game Jam! 2024

Awwwee!! I wish to motivate everyone! You can do it!! It doesn't have to be a super long game! Just something fun short and kinda spooky!:kaocry:

I have just uploaded the downloadable version as well. I took the opportunity to include a text file with all the links to the licenses for the resources

Is that a rule? Cause then I opt-out as well.

It’s not a rule. There were a few browser-only games for the last jam.
EDIT: Though…it I recall correctly…I think @TRIDIUM might still not have internet at home? Is that what’s up?

That is correct, I still don't have internet. It's possible that it will be up soon, but the situation is a bit sticky at the moment.

I'll go ahead and say browser games are fine, cause I can always run to the library if I need to, I'd just prefer/suggest a downloadable version.
EDIT

Although, out of curiosity, are there plugins or something that only work in browser? Curious to know why people don't upload a downloadable.

Yes, notably some of SRD's.

I'm not sure, but I think that would be the opposite question, right? :wink: Is there something that only works in a browser, not as a standalone game (and that would be no).

Maybe they think it's more convenient for players to not have to download and unzip something...personally, I'd prefer a dedicated window to a browser, but whatever.

Yeah, sorry, I fixed it.

I can share my experience with the GMTK Jam. There, I uploaded a downloadable game, and I didn’t get many players. I initially thought it was because the game wasn’t appealing, especially since it didn’t look very good graphically. However, I noticed that other downloadable games also attracted little interest, while web games seemed to receive more feedback. I discussed this a lot in the Italian RPG Maker community, and it seems that browser and mobile games tend to be played more than downloadable ones.

So, I ran an experiment. I submitted the same game to the post-Jam, but this time it was playable and optimized for browser and mobile. The number of views and players did increase. Though, it’s worth noting that the participants in the GMTK Jam and the post-Jam aren’t really comparable. 'Trick or Treat' is also an experiment in this sense. My design for this game has focused primarily on browser and mobile (even though its mobile optimization is currently at 50 %).

I also prefer to play in a browser TBH.

Well, I do have a few reasons for that, but the largest of all, is a system I made for this game, that uses some unique features. Things like the lightning, a stamina bar for running, and other stuff that is realized with eventing only (no use of plugins or javascript, at least for those features.)

Even after deployment, with all assets encrypted, it is really easy to still open that project in RPG maker and just copy/paste everything you want.

I once had someone ask me how I handled my doors. I have a way of passing trough doors, that just works, while most devs either just have a hole in the wall, or use a transfer to spawn at the other side of the wall. I told them that I might do a tutorial on the matter some day, but for now, I wasn't ready to share my secret.

2 days later they posted a video about how they did it and how cool they were for thinking this up... although his even was an exact copy of mine. And the worst is, that he claims to never have even played my game.

I don't mind teaching people, but sometimes I make thing I want to keep for myself, at least till enough people have seen it, before I tell everyone how to copy me.

The same goes for this project. The jam is not that important to me, that I want to give up my ideas before I get the chance to use them myself.

And I know, you would never do that. But I also know that there are plenty of RPG maker users that don't really care about terms and conditions, credits and shout outs. They just was everyone else to think they are awesome, even though they suck.

Sorry, that was a long answer to a short question.


Oh good. Then I'm still in.

I personally play a download version and in window mode (I HATE FULLSCREEN).
so I can have background music and other stuff to continue.

that is a nice way to play and save progress, and continue without going to the
browser again.

as my cookies (not eatable cookies) get removed every day (as my settings).
so downloadable for me :D

That is a very good argument. I can't speak for everyone, but I show small stuff in browsers, and big games become downloads. Since my browser stuff is quite tiny, there is not often a real need for saving. :p

On the other hand, my biggest project so far (a gard game with an RPG storyline) is also a browser game... But only the first chapter. Much like a demo.

For jams like this, I prefer browsers even more, for the reasons I mentioned in the past post.

Last time, with X-mas, I made a stupid interactive greeting card. People can rip that off all they want, I won't care. There is nothing in there thats worth stealing. :p But in this jam I have used methods I had plans for already, which I had figured out in my mind, but never actually got the chance to work them out.

That is stuff I want to use for myself in my bigger games. If the jam had to be downloaded, I would have taken those features out, taking away a large bunch of the scary theme.

I don't care how they made it, just playable as download.
as some complex mechanics I use, are something scattered, encrypted
and event coded, so it would be harder to figure it out.

it would be easy decode if you spend some time in it though, but those
people are cheaters and lazy to do create something their self =)

but stealing and showing off as they claim it is 1 of the biggest issue,
as they don't know how to do it from scratch.

but I got no time to play the jams either today, but which everyone good luck :)

I agree 100%. But... Just because they are cheater, doesn't mean they can ruin your image.

To give my own experience as explained earlier for example again: I made something cool, they get the credit. But what makes it even worse, is that he told people that I copied my method from his video... Which I greatly debunked by posting screenshots of him asking me how to do what he did, and he was kicked from that facebook group then as well.

And to top that off, they made money with their ripped stuff, while I never made a penny with it.

I know people on this forum don't like to hear about it, but on facebook groups (away from admins and mods) I've seen complete tutorials on how to rip encoded assets from RPG maker projects.

There are people who are actually studying hard to learn how they could rip us off, and there are people who are more than willing to teach them how to do it. And they don't even hide... They just discuss this stuff openly on social media.

Note: This was years ago. The person was banned on the FB group and their steam account was disabled soon after (although I never found out if this was related).

But I feel like Ms Little Fish is going to yell at us for being off topic again. :p (Just kidding, Ms Little Fish... Please don't hit me with a banhammer. :p ) since this becomes more about HTML games and piracy than it is about halloween jams. So I made a new thread to discuss this topic. :)

For sure, there are many people who prefer browser games, and adding that option could boost play counts. I was specifically referring to exclusively uploading a browser version. Having both is best, IMO.

@TRIDIUM ,
In my case, it was simply my own oversight. I thought that including both the downloadable version and the browser version would be complicated, but it turned out to be easier than I expected . :uswt:

Well... I want to make a sidenote to that:

You can't compare the stats of browser games with those of downloaded games, here is why:

When you look at the stats of downloaded games, you see 1 hit for each player. Maybe more if you do updates. Even if that player plays your game 100 times before they are sick of it, it still counts as 1 hit, because they only download it once.

When you look at stats of browser games, you see 1 hit each time a player plays your game. So, also when the same player comes back to play your game 12 times a day.

I had like 3 or 4 players like that when I released Chick Hunt, which is a mini game. It is very addicting for a few hours, and then you never touch it again. So, a few players (I know it was just a few, because I knew 3 of them were playing it all the time, and leaving feedback on my discord server all the time) gave me sky-high stats for a day or 3. But back then, I was a bit stupid... I thought my game was popular as Pokémon.

If that game was a download, I would not have 30hits or so in the first 24 hours... I would have had 3.

And still, when I post a link somewhere, I see that same behavior come back. For a day or so it seems real popular, even though I now know it is probably just one or two players coming back to the game.

So, what I try to say:
You can't compare stats for browser games with those for downloadable games, because they are not the same thing.

Hi sweethearts, how y'all doin? :wub Wipe dat snot off ya face, STILL TIME TO MAKE JAM
:kaopride:

I know it's like the most boring answer, but strawberry tends to be my favorite jam.
I had some home-made organic blueberry jam not too long ago that I really like. And similarly a mixed berry jam that was quite unique - but loved it!

If you're making jam, it's okay to go with the classics, the classics are a classic for a reason, but don't be afraid to make some unique jam.