I'm very excited to inform you about two very special events.

     First, you'll notice that I'm my own author! The Ghost blogging platform came out with an update for multiple author support, so now I can put that to good use!

     Second, as the title suggests, I am going to IndieCade 2014! As a UCLA student and a game developer, I could not miss out on the opportunity to volunteer at IndieCade, which is taking place in Culver City, California (about an hour by bus from UCLA). It should be quite the learning experience, and I hope to see a bunch of my fellow developers out there. If any of you still want tickets, here is a discount code:

     I'll post reviews of how the festival went after IndieCade, but you can definitely follow any action during the festival at our twitter, @Elrel_Studios (same as at the bottom of our blog).

     I'll be working the Game Tables in the morning and then the FireStation in the evening on Saturday, and the FireStation again Sunday

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     Hoo boy. A little bit more than a month without a post. Well, having an internship has caught up with us, but never fear. We keep the gamedev gears churning during the downtime, and we feel that this topic needed covering since there has been a burst in the number and popularity of game jams. Note that I, Joraaver, speak from my experiences, but if you feel otherwise or have more to add, go ahead and comment.

Without further ado, let's dive right in.

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What is a game jam?

     Well, I see three distinguishing characteristics in a game jam.

1. It is a contest concerning the development of a game, often with prizes for winners.
2. The time span is relatively short: most game jamsare a weekend up to a week long. However, there are some that last for a month (One Game a Month is a great example, which you should start following at @OneGameAMonth) or even a year. The main idea, though, is that game jams are short.
3. It is often theme based, either arbitrarily chosen or based on the time the jam starts.

     Put

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Hey guys. It's Joraaver here, coming to you with slightly contradictory news in regards to Suchaaver's last post.

jME is holding it's own game contest!

And even though I have a physics midterm this Thursday, I will be dedicating every ounce of time that I am not either studying, eating, sleeping, or working out, to game development. That said, this contest goes from today, May 19, to May 27, so it's more than one whole week! Therefore, if push comes to shove, I may remap the words "Memorial Day Weekend" to "Game Development jME Style Weekend" to crank out a game.

I'll be posting updates alongside Suchaaver on our twitter, @Elrel_Studios, so be sure to follow us so you can follow along!

Till the next update!

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I'm going to keep this pretty short.

For those who aren't aware, the Public Domain Game Jam has begun! I'm participating, and you should too! And when I say "I," I mean that I am doing the programming and the art. Why, you ask? Well, I'm done with finals, but Joraaver has midterms next week. Hence, I'll be hacking some code!

I'm planning to make the game in three.js so I can get some 3D experience (in WebGL here), hopefully for our next full-fledged game.

To keep you guys up to date with progress, we are now on Twitter! Follow @Elrel_Studios to stay on top of the latest development news (look for #PDJAM). I'd also love to follow you guys back, if at least to keep up with your gamedev updates as well

Well, I'm not going to hold your attention any longer. It's Friday afternoon/night. Carry on  ;)

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     Hey guys! Joraaver here, with a small but important post. I know you haven't heard from me in a while, but that's because I've been trying to package a new (not Elrel LLC related) game for release!

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Heroin Hero v2

Play it now at heroinhero.clay.io

What a lovably fun game!

     This game is actually the product of my time with two friends at LA Hacks two weekends ago. It's a play on South Park's "Heroin Hero", with the object of the game being to catch the dragon and stay as high as possible while doing so, which means collecting the most drugs, let it be marijuana, beer, or heroin. Of course, dodge the water and your blasted roommate--they sober you up.

Pause screen

     At the end, you can see how well you did compared to the rest of the world through the global leaderboard! Finally, you are posed with a moral question: will you play this dangerous game again?

What will you do?

Play it now at heroinhero.clay.io

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Small Note

     Now, this game is no way

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     I'm currently taking a Digital Animation course at Berkeley, in which I am learning 3D modeling and animation in Maya. I feel it is actually geared a little more towards understanding the pipeline for movie development (“Frozen” like stuff), but much of the pipeline is the same for game development (modeling, rigging, UV mapping/texturing, animation, to name of few parts). However, I want to discuss one specific aspect of the pipeline that I feel sometimes gets overlooked in the game dev world, especially when on an indie budget—character design.

     A few weeks ago I went to a character design seminar the class set up to learn more about how professional artists create characters for Disney and other film studios, and how I can apply these concepts to my own characters (specifically, for the short our class is required to make). I want to share what I learned with you as well as examine other character designs, so you can learn how to create a character that burns its own image into the minds of your players.

     Keep in mind that what I know

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