1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?
I'm Fleece! I'm a 25 year old chinese american cis bi woman. (woman sounds weird but too late for girl now i think)

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?
This is my first time. I saw it reblogged on Tumblr and was like "OK this is a good push to make a game for real. Do it. Do it."  I love playing videogames and wanna push myself to try making them also!

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?
i love...so many games....Soma for existential horror, robots, AI, choices; Starseed Pilgrim for weird ambiguous space gardening; pokemon. the newer zelda games (my first was twilight princess). commander keen, lol. I love!! To make something anywhere near any of those would be so flippin cool.

I guess spite is my main motivator though, because what makes me MOST want to make a game is seeing something I don't like in a game, like the predatory gay trope/dismissal of lgbt characters+possibilities in persona games (UGH), or like, uniforms that get tucked under boobs in visual novel character portraits.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?
I, uh. Did the tutorial for gamemaker and that's IT!

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!
This may sound goofy but i'm really into Learning and Self-Improvement. I was gonna say plants, but that's just one of a lot of things I can focus on to become more knowledgeable about. Keying out plants is super fun when you can get it right though!!

6. What are your goals for this game jam?
To make at least two poses for at least two character portraits, and figure out how to do a branching story path for a visual novel. Hopefully this isn't too ambitious for a first go.

7. Any advice to new jammers (if you're a veteran)?
I'm the new jammer orz

8. If you're a returning jammer, what can the admins do to improve your jam experience?
Am not returning, but already everyone has been very kind and helpful, thank you <3

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hello, I'm PixelRat. Though I go as RathMutatio on most all my accounts. This is a new name I want to use for my game making tag.  I'm  29 years old and use female pronouns. Been drawing for most of my life and currently as my living.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

This is my first game jam. I wish to learn more about working with others and making games together with like-minded individuals.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

I like a ton of games. But the top would have to be the Metroid Series, Castlevania Series and Shin Megami Tensei Series. Of course they all play a big role on the kinda games I'd love to make someday. Though I think I'd prefer to make more calm, puzzle games to start things off.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I've delved into game making a few times in the past, but not finished anything concrete. So I am still very inexperienced. I've tried doing things in Stencyl and Unity. As well as GameMaker.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

I'm really passionate about games and my art work, for sure. I like the idea of using both this mediums to interact and connect with other people, as well as help people stay content. I'd love to tell stories and share experiences with both this mediums in tangent.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

To learn as much as possible about game making and hopefully plant some seeds for more serious game making in the future. Ideally meet some people I can work with comfortably.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

I'm Innes, hi!

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

No, but I participated in Winter 2017. I want to be better about documenting my work and interacting with other jammers.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

I like a lot of games! The MMO Glitch is a pretty big inspiration to me. I also like the Sims series and Sufficiently Advanced, as well as the works of Christine Love, Avery Alder, and Porpentine.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I've made complete if small games in Twine and prototypes in Construct 2, Unreal Engine 4, Ren'Py, GameMaker Studio, and RPGMaker VX Ace. The only work available online at the moment is my previous jam game, which you can see on my profile.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

How implementation of game mechanics can influence the narrative they present. Stopping there because I can quickly go into essays about that, but feel free to DM me about it on Discord or something.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

• a character creation system with stats that impact gameplay
• a combat/conflict system that takes advantage of those stats

7. Any advice to new jammers (if you're a veteran)?

Get something done and write about it every day, if feasible. This will help you keep a rhythm. Also, talk to other people about their games! Ask them questions; tell them what you like.

8. If you're a returning jammer, what can the admins do to improve your jam experience?

Encourage participants to comment on each other's devlogs more. The amount of attention a given game received was highly variable, even if it ended up with a finished demo, and it could feel isolating.

Also, stress constructive feedback and what that means; the only comment I got on my demo itself was half backhanded compliment and half arbitrary complaint, couched in polite language, and none of it was actionable. (So I deleted it.)

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hey! I'm Cam, from Tasmania, Australia. I have a background in UX design and animation (and art in general). I'm learning to program and make games at the same time.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

Yep, I have done two MFGJs now. Last time I really focused on getting a core game loop nailed and this time I want to do the same but while still saying laser focused on that core loop, make it so two people can play it locally.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

I'm a long time Nintendo fan so Miyamoto is a big inspiration for me.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I've used Unity for most of my "games" so far so I'll be sticking with that.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

Local multiplayer and gameplay-first design! I have such fond memories of crowding around a CRT TV with mates when I was young playing the N64 all night. There's something special about those moments with friends that I would love to be able to give to other people.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

As above, a neat core game loop and 2 player action.

7. Any advice to new jammers (if you're a veteran)?

I say this every time but watch out for scope creep. Write out your plan of features, then cut half of it out. Then cut half again and you might be closer to a realistic goal. Keep it lean for the submission, you can always extend it later.

8. If you're a returning jammer, what can the admins do to improve your jam experience?

I felt like in the Questionnaire the question that asks you what type of game you'll be doing is a bit confrontational! I have never had any idea of what I will be doing at the point of filling it out (am I alone here?) and it made me a bit anxious being asked that!

Otherwise, I am super happy with how it has been run, particularly with the mentor roles that occur. 

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hello ♡ My name is Emily, but a lot of my friends have taken a liking to calling me Emmer. I work as a library parapro, but my degree is in graphic design! I was really focused on print design and illustration during my studies, but I'm interested in all facets of design practice.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

This is my first time participating in a jam ever! Post-grad has been a difficult time for me trying to figure out quite which path I want to follow. Recently I realized that my neglected passions for web design, games, and all things tech were something I wanted to rekindle. I decided to take that small spark and run with it, beginning with re-teaching myself HTML and CSS; I'll be learning to program (for web design and games) starting in January! My boyfriend sent me a link to this extremely timely jam, so I think this is the perfect way to kick off a year of learning and growing.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

My first ever game was Pokemon Yellow (which I played on a yellow Gameboy Color), so I have a strong fondness for Nintendo in general. On their consoles I've played tons of different types of games from action to puzzle to fighters all of which I loved playing. I think Nintendo's dedication to fun has always inspired me in my personal work. I want to be able to create things that make people smile ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭✧ Some bigger aesthetic inspirations for me lately have been Poinie's Poin and Jet Set Radio.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I have basically no experience with game development. I fiddled around with Scratch as an introduction to the basics a few months ago but I haven't really done anything since.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

I'm very passionate about all things cute!! I like to incorporate cuteness into as many of my hobbies as I can; for about a year I ran a blog called PlamoPrincess exclusively to feature cute plastic model kits and gunpla.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

♡ Learn the basics of a language for game dev
♡ Re-teach myself some basic animation
♡ Keep my scope small and stay on task with documenting my process
♡ Have fun (of course)

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

I go by Alaris or Alarikun online, and Tom IRL.  28 year-old male. I'm a retail-monkey IRL, but I hope to get into game-development full-time one day.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

I didn't participate in the Summer Jam, but I did in the 2017 Winter Jam. I kind of fizzled out after my second game last year, and I'd like to get back into 'jamming' and making games in general.  What better way than to jump back in on January 5th?

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

Well, I don't think I can say I have on favorite, but of the games that may have inspired me to make my own, I would say Undertale. It was made primarily by one guy, and that is an inspiration to solo game developers, especially since he used an engine I own to make it.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I've made 2 games (in Game-Jams mostly), and while I wouldn't call them complete, they do function, and at least a few people seemed to enjoy them. I used Game Maker Language to make them, but I might branch out from that in a future jam. For now, I'll stick with it.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

Well, video games for one, but I guess that's obvious. 

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

To re-ignite my passion of game-making. I hope to get back into jamming with this, and maybe... just maybe, I'll make a prototype I can branch from to make a fully developed game.

7. Any advice to new jammers (if you're a veteran)?

Umm... I wouldn't consider 2 jams a "Veteran," but if I can recommend anything, I would say to set a plan. The first thing you should do on Day 1 is open up a wordpad, and write out your plan, and how you want to accomplish it. What sprites you need to make, what code, sound assets, etc.

It's a lot easier when you know what you have to tackle, rather than leaving anything to wait until the last day.

8. If you're a returning jammer, what can the admins do to improve your jam experience?

Nothing I Can think of off the top of my head.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hiya, I'm Nicole. I live in Australia and I'm terrible at introductions. I change username more frequently than I should so I have no idea what I consistently go by online...

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

Nope, I was literally just scrolling through the list of jams, and this one seemed really nice. I wanna get into Gamedev more, and this feels like a really good reason to get into it, as well as a chance to see a bunch of developer diary's develop in real time.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

Oh man I could go on forever about games I like, I'll basically play anything regardless of genre, but some of my favourites are the Persona games, Jet Set Radio, Splatoon, Pyre, Nier, Bloodborne, Yakuza, Street Fighter, Monster Hunter, and Animal Crossing to name a few. I've got a big soft spot for platformers, fighters and RPG's, if I were to actually talk about all the games I love I'd be typing for hours... When I was younger, I got a copy of Little Big Planet for my birthday, and the creation tools in that kinda snowballed into me getting interested in Gamedev. Nowadays, seeing indie game development is what mostly inspires me to make stuff; seeing all the cool stuff artists make and games people develop online inspires me to want to make other people feel inspired with what I create too. 

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

Other than some messing around with various engines and one game jam before, I've got fairly limited experience with Gamedev. I've mostly worked with GameMaker 8 mostly, I've got some experience with Unity3D and Unreal 4 too, but not too much...

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

Uhh other than video games, art in general and cooking I guess. ...Why are these sorta questions always so hard to answer?

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I really wanna just make a basic prototype I can be sorta proud of.  If I can at least post it and not HATE it, I'll consider the jam a success. Also wanna make sure to play every single other entry,and stay posted on Dev Diarys. Seeing what everyone else creates is gonna be super exciting

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hello! I'm Peter. Im 29 and currently a Software Engineer in Silicon Valley. 

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

This is my first Jam! I saw this from twitter of a group I follow and wanted to give it a shot. I've recently been interested into shifting my career into the game dev. 

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

So many! I always loved classic JRPG's and newer action RPG's everything from Final Fantasy to Fire emblem. I draw much of my inspiration from these as well as newer games such as the Bravely Series and more! Recently the wave of indie dev's have inspired me to make my own and try to get into the industry. My love for games in what pushed me to pursue a carrier in tech, now games like Stardew Valley and PUBG  pushed me to move further into game dev. 

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

Not much experience directly in game development. Most of my background is from working as a Software Engineer the past few years so I have lots of experience with software development. I have taught myself GameMaker and Unity the past year, reading and doing every Tutorial I could find. 

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

I love telling stories, creating that escape after along day. The feeling of belonging from going on an adventure whether alone on a stormy night or together with friends after a long week. I love to make people smile, feel a sense of purpose and to feel less alone. Thats what games are to me and I want to be able to give that to someone. 

Besides Games and that, I love cooking and learning new things! 

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

To branch out and try something new. I've been sitting on the fence of my current job and wanting to dive into game development and figured this is a chance to try something new. 

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hi, my name is T.J. I currently work full-time in retail sales. I also work on the side with a good friend renting out uniforms, props, and vehicles for movies. Creating digital art, video games, programming, etc. are hobbies of mine.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

I've never participated in a jam before. Saw this jam and thought it looked inviting for first timers.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

I really enjoy RPG's particularly old-school RPG's. Wizardry, Might and Magic, Ultima, Bard's Tale, etc. I would definitely say that those games have inspired me to create my own.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

Very little. I've played around with Blender, PICO-8, and others. I haven't really created anything remotely complete.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

Other than video games, I would say I really enjoy film, illustration, heavy metal music...

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

To learn first hand about developing video games. I want to experiment and use a game engine I've never used before. I also want to release my first game...

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hola! You can call me Taco or Ruben. I'm 32, mexican getting into game development as a hobby.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

I need a challenge to force myself into get better and finish a game.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

Zelda, Diablo,  Minecraft, mostly Mmorpg's. I would like to create fun and immersive gameplay  ! 

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

Just as far as playing around with unity, scratch. Adding controllers, moving players around, but not finished games.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

I'm passionate about creativity and learning new things. everyday.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

To get into a similar minded community. Finish a game and learn a lot so i can keep making better ones.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

I have been Dire Sloth for many a year now. I'm in my late 20s and am interested in making 3D games as a hobby.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

I was not part of the last one, though I think I lurked around the Discord back then. I decided its finally time to start teaching myself how to work with Unity and making the games I keep thinking of.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

My favorite games are ones with excellent writing (Undertale, Night in the Woods) or environment design (which is why I still have a bunch of Assassin's Creed games hogging my hard drive). Games that have excellent worlds inspire me to start making my own world.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I have a teeny-tiny RPG Maker game here on itch.io, which is barely ten minutes long but I made most of the assets myself, so I'm fairly proud of it.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

I have an intensely love-hate relationship with Steampunk - I love the concept but very rarely find games or stories that use it to its full potential.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I'm hoping to become basically competent in coding C# so I can go on to make some sort of 3D exploration / survival crafter in Unity someday.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

I'm daggar!

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

I'm new this year, and my friend fleece convinced me to join :P but I've always been interested in how games are made, and my pipe dream would be to be part of a dev team doing art or storyboarding or something!

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

my favorite games are Okami, LoZ Windwaker, Deadly Premonition, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, the entire Harvest Moon series (including Rune Factories), SOMA, Animal Crossing...basically anything action adventure RPG, farming/daily life sim, or existential horror. I think what made me want to make my own game was wanting to share the feeling of exploration and excitement of watching a story unfold.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

none whatsoever...

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

I'm passionate about stories told in any medium (books and video games especially though). I love themes that focus on the relationship between people and our environments, AI/robots/tech, etc.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I want to finish something and learn how to make objects move!

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hello, my online pseudonym is Geostegma, I have been calling myself this for over a decade. I just recently turned 26 years old and currently live in Canada. I am a life long gamer and have been experimenting with game development for around a year now.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

I have not, this is my first Game Jam ever. I always wanted to participate but just wasn't confident enough in my own skills. I already create games during my spare time, so  I figured I should participate to an event like this and share my work with other like-minded people.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

Breath of the Wild was my favorite game of 2017, otherwise I do love games like the Souls series, Silent Hill and Ico. The first game I ever played that made me realize the potential of Indie games was Grow Home (although some people will argue that it isn't an indie title.)

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I made a few hobby games during the past year. My first attempts were made using my own engine while learning more about OpenGL (they were poorly made Doom clones, but they taught me valuable lessons.) I then moved on to GameMaker 2 after hearing that it was a great engine for beginners; It served me well for a few months, but left me wanting more flexibility. I ended up switching to Unity and have never looked back since.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

For the sake of not being too repetitive, I suppose I should talk about my other interests outside of game development. I love restoring old automobiles and motorcycles. I have been doing this for many years and have become quite good at it. I also used to be a professional photographer, however some bad experiences on the job have left a sour taste in my mouth and I have since been trying to avoid going back to it.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I only have one goal, and it is to see this project through to the end. I have created many games, but have never finished one in its entirety.

7. Any advice to new jammers (if you're a veteran)?

I am not a veteran, but the best advice I was ever given about making games is to "just do it." I am sure this applies to game jams as well.

8. If you're a returning jammer, what can the admins do to improve your jam experience?