

GitHub Game Off - remi
https://github.com/blog/1303-github-game-off

======
hahainternet
Apple Store Credit? I'd rather take cash thanks.

~~~
hackmiester
Yes, it seems strange that github would be giving away prizes that are so...
closed.

~~~
jychang
There are more legal restrictions on giving away cash.

~~~
fruchtose
If Github is willing to give away hardware _or_ Apple Store cash, then I would
hope they can be flexible with another form of payment. They're only dealing
with five winners, after all.

------
epaik
Oh man I'm psyched about this. I love game jams, and GitHub's event will
surely draw people new to the concept. The more the merrier!

I'm honestly a little turned off by the prize though. I'd rather there be no
prize at all but instead some internet recognition maybe (like Ludum Dare).
Perhaps they'll introduce some alternative prizes later on?

~~~
jrajav
So give yours to charity when you win it. It's great motivation for a lot of
people who would otherwise not be that psyched to participate.

~~~
epaik
I understand where you're coming from, but my point wasn't "I don't want an
iPad", but rather that I feel like these prizes specifically cheapen the feel
of the jam, especially considering how big github is. I don't know, I guess
I've never participated in a game jam with a prize. But seeing as Ludum Dare
pulled >1000 participators last jam, it doesn't seem like game developers need
too much of a monetary incentive to jam.

In any case, I'm happy that this is happening; prize or no prize :)

------
zevyoura
> You have the entire month of November...

So... it's not November yet. Can you start?

EDIT: They answered this here: <https://github.com/github/game-
off-2012/issues/15>

> I should clarify that. Yeah, you can start now :)

------
encoderer
No joke, on my "ideas to hack on" list, I have: "A game of some kind based on
Github pull requests"

I think this could be good.

------
vitorbal
Can anyone recommend me some good game development books for someone who wants
to create "small" games as a hobby? By "small" I mean that my goal is to be
able to create games for ocasions like the GitHub Game Off, or some small
indie games

~~~
damian2000
There's a book here that looks good - published by Packt -
<http://www.packtpub.com/game-jam-survival-guide/book> ... its by Christer
Kaitila, a game developer with 17-years experience. I don't think its got any
technical information. I haven't read it myself, but these headings from the
table of contents look like good advice...

\- Go with what you know

\- Don't try a new language

\- Don't worry about making it beautiful!

\- Keep It Simple, Stupid!

\- No-art (rectangles) gameplay proof-of-concept

\- Heinous hacks and ugly code are A-OK.

------
matthuggins
I presume the projects that are built are intended to be public repositories,
but it is not clear from the contest rules. Is that correct?

~~~
laggyluke
The original repository you have to fork (github/game-off-2012) is public. You
can't make forks of public repositories private, so you're right.

~~~
daigoba66
The nice thing about git is that it is distributed. Meaning, you don't have to
push to your public fork until just before the deadline if you concerned about
your ideas being stolen.

~~~
laacz
If you are afraid that your idea will get stolen, don't participate. If its
that good, it still will be stolen at the end.

~~~
denibertovic
I don't see a reason to be afraid about stolen ideas. The way i see it you
would enter something like this just for the kicks....not for the prizes..and
it's not like the prizes are millions..soo.. :)

------
padobson
Anybody want to put a HNers team together for this?

~~~
jeremiep
I'd be interested! I've got plenty of free time on evenings and weekends the
entire next month.

~~~
padobson
Cool, send me an email (check my HN profile), and we'll discuss.

------
alttab
No Ipad mini? Those prizes are _so_ last week.

~~~
ionforce
Hence the store credit!

------
brackin
This is quite cool, the coding alternative to NaNoWriMo.

~~~
MartinCron
That's what I thought as well.

Also, for anyone who has ever considered doing NaNoWriMo, I strongly suggest
you give it a try. It's an amazing experience that not only seriously improves
your writing skills, but it also helps you appreciate the craft of
storytelling when you read books or watch movies or whatever.

