itch.io

While I'm sure you mean well, a spam brigade is not going to reflect very well on GBJam. Please refrain from spamming anyone's comments.

Do feel free to contact people and invite them (politely) to the jam though, anyone is welcome to join :)

From the holy scrolls:

You can only have four colors on the screen at once. Black is a color. The four colors include all shades, all tones, all hues. Gameboy does not support semi-opacity. The four colors apply to the whole screen, including sprites. You cannot have one four color palette for your background and another for sprites. This jam does not allow for a fifth experimental color like 'default screen background'. Four is the total amount of colors you are allowed. You may use three or two. Five is right out.

The four colors you choose do not have to be the default palette you've found on Wikipedia. Lospec.com has loads of four color palettes you could try. You can even make your own.

You can change your palette mid-game so long as the new palette is four colors. You cannot change your colors mid-scan-line or any other sneaky trickery. If you have more than four colors on the screen at any one time it is not obeying the rules.

Yes, the gameboy had three colors plus transparency on sprites. No, this is not a restriction you need to obey in your competition entry.

You can change the palette with a light switch or when it's night time so long as there are only four colors on the screen at one time. Are there four colors on the screen? Yes? Congratulations, you abide by the rules. Are there five colors? Do two of the colors blend with opacity to make a new color? Wow buddy, looks like you're in more than four color territory!

'Four colors maximum' means 'four unique colors'. A color is a unit measured by its unique properties such as hue, saturation and value (or whatever other color system you subscribe to). You could have red, blue, green and yellow on your screen, but 'a slightly darker shade of red' would count as a new color. You could not have fifty shades of blue and argue that you're only using 'one color'.

Yes, the illusion of a fifth color counts as a fifth color. Do you quickly flip the palettes to make an extra color? Does it have an extra color on the screen? Welcome to five coloursville friendo, population: you.

No, dithering does not count as an illusion of a fifth color, as long as you are sticking to the 160x144 resolution.

If you want to argue how your five colors are special, do it in your game jam submission. I'm sure the reviewers (your fellow game jammers) will understand... 👀

If your next question starts with "but what if" the answer is no. No, you can't do your special idea. It breaks the rules.

"Can I use shaders?"
Does your game have four colors? Is the resolution 160x144? Does your game art adhere to the spirit of the jam - i.e. does it look and feel like it's on a gameboy? Yes? Go ahead.

"But-"
Then no.

best of luck with finding a team! In the worst case scenario where you don't find a team and you want to do a solo project, I'd highly recommend using bitsy as it'll allow you to make a game without any code or art knowledge.

I drew you this.

You could've saved me the effort by doing a quick wikipedia search or checked the FAQ which was written to smooth this process. We have over 1000 people participating in the jam, and we could do with people using their initiative so as not to over consume resources. Thanks!

I think they mean it's low stakes and can be a small game.

Thanks so much for playing our game :)

To reiterate what @timconceivable said - if you visit this page it'll show you the start and end times localised to your time zone.

There's a theme which is announced on the first day of the jam to prevent people from starting early :)

No, sorry! You can see the rules from last year here: /jam/gbjam-13

I need to update the page with these rules so the explanation is clearer.

There have been a few GBA jams. Try to keep an eye out for them this year, or if you can't see any, host your own!

Info on the art compilation is available here. TL;DR it's on a cool interactive page.

Wow you've managed to fit so much detail into these pieces. You're a natural!

This is such a fun obscure reference. I love your use of halftone for distance.

From: shrimpknight

Title: a magalodon tooth fossil

Wow, this really does go above and beyond. Well done!

This one is so funny. It has me smiling ear to ear. Definitely would be my wallpaper.

Cool, thanks for your submission!

Thanks, the shading was a surprise to me too haha. I felt like I was chiselling away the matrix to find the pixelart underneath.

I love this. It's a sick reference with an excellent execution.

Are you submitting on their behalf? Did they give their permission?

omggg it's so cuuuute

Human brains or corn, y'know, whatever is available.

That's so metal

His name is UFOROADRAGE.gif and my name is Polyducks.

Holy wow

haha that is WILD. Can it display boot screen textmode art?

wow this shading is incredible.

This is fine and appropriate too :D

i was so excited to see you have posted, and I wasn't disappointed. This rocks.

haha what a twist! I wonder what would be weirder - if this scene is set in the future, or the past.

omg adorable :))

This is so obscure. Double plus good subject and execution.

This is such a fun idea. I really like the dog mentor. What sort of things would be archeologically irrelevant?

I was inspired by other people's single line art, so I also made this one.

I like the snotty party one!

I love the clockwork one, it fits so well into the two frames!