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Dust off your game dev environment with the Linux Game Jam 2023

By - | Views: 29,001

The Linux Game Jam 2023 is happening and a good chance for you to blow the dust and clean away the cobwebs from your development environment and perhaps come up with the next big hit?

Starting on May 27th 2023 and running through until June 6th 2023 it's being hosted on itch.io and here's the rules:

  • You can use any engine. Your own custom built one (developed outside the jam) is totally fair game.
  • Your game specific programming should be done within the time frame of this jam.
  • Your game must be submitted to the official Itch.io game jam page before the end of the day June 5th (UTC).
  • Your game must have a Linux build.
  • Your game's Itch page should have a brief summary of your mechanics and clear instructions on installation, dependency requirements, and how to run the game.
  • Your game can use assets that you created or assets that are freely/open culture licensed (including music, sound effects, fonts, etc.). Freely licensed material must be given proper credit on your entry's page.
  • You’re allowed (and encouraged) to work in teams if you like. Head over to the community section, the Discord channel and look for people who want to team up.
  • There is no theme, but if you need inspiration or extra constraints, you can take a look at the optional prompt list.
  • Don't just submit a project that you've been working on outside of the jam.
  • This jam is not a venue for racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or other forms of discrimination.
  • Adult/sensitive content in submissions is allowed, but please check the boxes under Metadata » Audience & Content and make note in your submission description.
  • Finally, you get one bonus point if your game is released under a Free/Open Source software licence, and a SECOND bonus point if your game is developed with open source tools.

Officially, if you win, you get the warm feeling of participation but I think we can do a little better. So, I'm going to be giving out some prizes this year just to sweeten the pot a little for the event.

Here's what I'm going to offer up:

  • First place: £50 directly to your (PayPal) or donated to your favourite cause.
  • Second place: £25 like above.

Plus, both first and second place will get a little feature here on GamingOnLinux when covering the finished event.

I very much look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Be sure to keep an eye on the itch.io page.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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16 comments
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grigi Apr 28, 2023
Awesome, just moved to Brighton and have nobody to geek out with. I think this could be a way to find people and do something!
Cheeseness Apr 28, 2023
Exciting times! Thanks so much for this!
spacemonkey Apr 29, 2023
Hoping someday Unity + Visual Studio Code just works on Linux. Game Dev is what is keeping me on Windows.
Eike Apr 29, 2023
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Quoting: spacemonkeyHoping someday Unity + Visual Studio Code just works on Linux. Game Dev is what is keeping me on Windows.

VSCode should run all fine as far as I know?!? (Though personally I hate it! :D )
jonahhw Apr 29, 2023
I'm glad to have something pushing me to open Godot again - it's been too long
spacemonkey Apr 29, 2023
Quoting: Eike
Quoting: spacemonkeyHoping someday Unity + Visual Studio Code just works on Linux. Game Dev is what is keeping me on Windows.

VSCode should run all fine as far as I know?!? (Though personally I hate it! :D )

Try getting intellisense to work. It requires the exact correct combination of software versions for Unity, VSCode, Dotnet, Mono and the C# plugin for VSCode. So don't even think about updating any of these, once you get it to work. And also expect random Unity crashes.

Game dev takes a lot of time, so I hate it when the environment I work in is wasting it.
Eike Apr 29, 2023
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Quoting: spacemonkeyTry getting intellisense to work. It requires the exact correct combination of software versions for Unity, VSCode, Dotnet, Mono and the C# plugin for VSCode. So don't even think about updating any of these, once you get it to work. And also expect random Unity crashes.

Game dev takes a lot of time, so I hate it when the environment I work in is wasting it.

Any software development takes a lot of time and all of my brain, that's why I'm loving a stable, "it just works" environment, which I found, sorry to say - it was decades ago - in Visual Studio. I tried VS Code, but it feels to flaky already to me without meeting the problems you describe.


Last edited by Eike on 29 April 2023 at 7:35 pm UTC
HeroOfDermwood May 1, 2023
I might just do this jam. I have a hard time getting into weekend jams. But this one being a week and a half, plus the fact that is is for open source and linux game development is right up my alley. Looking forward to it.
Ironowner May 10, 2023
Silly question. I would love to try, but is rpgmaker allowed? There's still JavaScript coding there...
Pengling May 10, 2023
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Quoting: IronownerSilly question. I would love to try, but is rpgmaker allowed? There's still JavaScript coding there...
Admittedly I don't keep up with RPG Maker, but the Game Jam's fourth rule is that your game must have a Linux build, and I'm not aware of any version of the tool that outputs those.
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