Police - withdrawal - difficult (plus 1) App Jam

App Jamming can ignite new app comcepts, reveal success and failure and allow for reflection on what works and what doesn’t to create an app prototype.

After Researching the themes, I thought about everyone’s initial concepts and examined the app market. I am now going to try to produce a simple prototype.

I am going to run with the AR Surveillance/espionage/resistance Concept and see where it goes as this sees the a strong concept in our group.

I am unsure if it should set it in the modern day, ancient history, contemporary history or a fictional world at the moment so i’m going to produce some sketches first just to give more focus. I’m not going to take too long as in some app Jam processes this can be worked on near the end of the Jam. For me though, I like to have a narrative to work with.


Ultimately I am thinking that ideally I will need the following but these ideals are set against time constraints.

• Brief (App Jam constraints) 
• Initial Title 
• Brief game description
• Backstory (narrative) 
• Technical specifications 
• Paper prototype 
• AR Wireframe. (Adobe XD)
• Game Mechanics i.e blood collection and end goal
• AR game artefacts 
• Mock-up images 

Remote Collaboration

Spry Fox game Jam process


Concept

1. word/g doc document 
2. 2 pages max
3. Gameplay, mockups, audience, monetisation, platform
4. Very little theme/setting 
5. Put into Skype channel - add to doc - first stage culling 
6. Living document 
7. The document is added to in a chronological way. 

Simplify

1. Fun subset that can be implemented quickly 
2. Have hours not days 
3. No big  tech solutions

Build

1. No paper prototypes 
2. 1 programmer - direct communication with designer 
3. No artist - prioritise mechanics 
4. Innovate - /polish during implementation
5. Share early and often 
6. This is shared on a dedicated Skype channel 
7. Included is the artist, CEO, the programmer, the designer, 
8. Dropbox for sharing 
9. Develop. A fast build pipeline 
10. Web-based games. If possible flush or uteygane 
11. Playcall -on Skype where everyone plays the game together - fun/unfun moments 
12. Trello for tasks 

Playtest

1. Outside dev team
2. Problems not solutions 
3. Show it within the company - friends - strangers... 
4. there are professional services 
5. Minimum intro
6. They should Stop when they want to stop 
7. Don’t interfere 
8. Watch 
9. Notes 

Analyse 

1. Minutes of fun? 
2. Improve for the net iteration only 
3. one change at a time 
4. Simple - write it in the document 

Next 

1. Go back to step 3 
2. Stop 
3. Kill the idea - is the iteration slow, isn’t the scope of the game, fragile game play, shallow game play, can’t play the game for long, adding features does not add game play, sunk time, 2 day iterations, ignore the ego... hard and heartbreaking 

Production 

1. 60 minutes of fun 
2. Learning - Is it easy to pick up? - can you simplify it? 
3. Rich variations 
4. Robust gameplay 
5. Grand future - different setting, artwork 
6. Monetisation plan - early access, free to play, mobile, at up front, on vita. 
7. Do-able scope.