Please take note that this page is still under development and the requirements may change or be added to in the near future



Interested in taking part?

Below are a list of limitations and requirements that your room needs in order to be added to the final game, SoManyRooms.

Signup

: If you feel you are definitely interested in taking part, we have a signup sheet here. The event is taking place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, however anyone is welcome to join in and create a room from anywhere around the globe.



General Guidelines/Requirements

Must be Flash


All games created must be made in Flash (Flash Player 10, AS3). If you haven't used Flash Before, it's super easy to get started with some frameworks/libraries such as Flash Punk or Flixel.

Resolution of 640x480


Your screen size must be 640x480. This does not mean that your room must be 640x480, just that the visible part of the screen/size of game must be 640x480.

Entrance and Exit


There should be a clearly marked entrance and exit door, that the player moves from and to. We want it to feel like the player continues from where he was last, so this is important.

Fade in/out for smooth transitions


When the room starts, it must fade in from black. When the room ends, it must fade to black. This is to provide a clean transition between rooms.

Controls - Single Player


The game should use the Arrow Keys to move, and Z/X for any other actions (such as jumping, picking up an item, shooting, etc). Please do not use any other keys or the mouse.

File Size


Try to keep the file size as small as possible. For this to work seemlessly the next room should be loaded before the previous one finishes. So avoid things like large sound files, graphics or unnecessary frameworks.

Character


We want to make the player easily identified throughout every room, so we're hoping everyone can attempt to keep a similar looking character in every room. The character we have chosen for this jam is the Golden Boy from Winnipeg. We would appreciate it if your character could look similar, in some way, to this one:


Gameplay Length


While there is no exact time length, we recommend somewhere between 30 secs to 90 secs of gameplay. Long enough to let the next level load, but short enough the player gets to play lots of other rooms.

Coding and API

API


Please refernece the API page for information regarding how to implement and use the API.

Templates


Templates for Flixel, FlashPunk and no/custom framework are now available. These include code for the required communication with the master room container (notifying of room beginning and completion). Please refernece the API page for information and to download the templates.

Clean Up Your Room


When your room is finished or skipped you will need to make sure you clean up your room. This means removing any remaining event listeners, stopping audio, etc. Be a good 'room' neighbour. Don't worry if you don't understand exactly what this means, the custom Flixel and FlashPunk frameworks and templates provided will look after most of this for you. Also if you have questions feel free to ask.

Things you should NOT do:

  1. Loading screens
  2. Progress bars
  3. Calls to any external urls (if you have some specific ask first)
  4. Volume changes or mute (the container will have a global mute)
  5. Pause
  6. Hide mouse
  7. Anything in the top 22 pixels that is important (controls and title will appear here)
  8. Pure white background (the top controls and the overlaying text is pure white, so it needs to be visible)


FAQ

Does my game need to be a platformer?


NO! Any type of room is accepted, from top down games, to zelda-like games, to outer-space flying games.. We don't care, as long as it fits the requirements above.

I'm busy Jan 29-30, but I want to make a room!


The expectation is that you will be making the room from Jan 29-30. However, if this time really doesn't work for you at all (we realized the Global Game Jam is on the same date), then you can still submit a room to us slightly before/after Jan 29-30, as long as you made it within 48 hours.

Submit your Room!

So, you've completed your room and are ready to send it to us to be put into the final game! Here's a quick list of everything we will need from you:

  1. The .swf of the room
  2. The room title
  3. Your name


If you have everything ready to go, please send us an e-mail with your game as an attachment to submit@somanyrooms.com.