PlayCanvas Community Jam

First of all, thanks everyone for participating this jam! We would like to congratulate the developers of “Clark in Mars” on achieving the first place. We would also like to congratulate the developers of “Hola Baciu” on achieving the second place. The winners have already been personally informed. You can read the jury’s assessments below.

Originality

@DevilZ: “In this regard, both games have done well. The game concept of “Clark in Mars” is not unique in itself per se, but the developer has approached many aspects of the game in an original and fun way. A good example of this would be the simple and easy to understand UI and the shaders that he has used. Most of these open-world space games tend to go with a first-person WASD/arrows sort of control scheme, and I found this game to be quite refreshing in that regard, among other strong examples. While “Hola Baciu” also has a rather common horror/FPS sort of theme, some of the ways in which they’ve explored their in-game challenges are quite interesting. IMO, this category is a tie between both projects.”

@Albertos: “I think both games have a well-chosen storyline. Although the gameplay is not unique, the story makes both game one of a kind. Adding quirky characters and elements reinforces this in Hola Baciu and because Clark in Mars takes place on two planets that you have to combine, the whole has become a surprisingly original puzzle.”

@Leonidas: “Clark in Mars: It was refreshing to see a top down camera game with point and click pathfinding in PlayCanvas. Although the gameplay in itself is not fully unique, the execution has an original flavour. Hoia Baciu: Even though the idea is not original being a horror game, the selection of assets (scary duck) made this funny in a nice way.”

Technology

@DevilZ: “When it comes to technology, though both games have done well and used several techniques in a unique way, “Clark in Mars” comes out slightly ahead on this count for me. Animations, scripting and shaders are solid, and a some of these effects are better than what I’ve seen on one or two client projects! Considering that the developer mentioned that this was their first endeavour with shaders adds brownie points. This is not to say that “Hola Baciu” did not do a good job, quite the contrary, but due to the great work on visual effects “Clark In Mars” just edges it on this one.”

@Albertos: “Both games have used different techniques for animations, sounds and shaders. The scary duck and the sound of a chainsaw is a good example of this in Hola Baciu and the self-made shader and other special effects did well in Clark in Mars.”

@Leonidas: “Clark in Mars: Good all around use of both the PlayCanvas api, and adding their custom shaders and pathfinding on top to continue with their game design. Performance seems great as well. Hoia Baciu: Well done for managing to bring this to life. Some remarks, loading time felt a bit too long, shadow acne could be easily fixed with a single setting (next time feel free to ask on the forums!), and for some reason the JS thread momentarily paused when exiting the building.”

Design

@DevilZ: “The UI of “Clark in Mars” is clean and simple, yet super easy to understand and use as a player. In fact, the UI looks pretty much production ready in many parts of the game. IMO, more thought was put into the UI of “Clark in Mars” and this is highlighted quite well in the presentation where the developer shows the progression in UI. The only thing that might have taken away from the whole experience was the black screen in the beginning, which was a little confusing for me the first time I played. Fantastic effort all round though! In “Hola Baciu”, while the FOV and controls are solid, a bit more though could have been put into the design of the rooms, which at times were difficult to move around in. Once again, great effort from both teams, but the slightly more polished UI in “Clark in Mars” wins on this count.”

@Albertos: “The design of both games creates a good atmosphere. Also a great UI has been added. However, I also have some criticisms here. “Clark in Mars” starts with a black screen, which made me doubt if something went wrong. In Hola Baciu you start in a too small house so that the furniture is crammed together, which could easily have been remedied."

@Leonidas: “Clark in Mars: Ok, I have to admit the initial black screen got me there, thought something was broken. But I get where this was going, to create anticipation. Apart from that, the use of the provided assets seemed excellent and very much in place. The font chosen for the text on screen reminded me of older point and click games, and that brought nostalgia, good choice. Hoia Baciu: The contrast between the light and dark areas is quite successful in this case, together with the increased field of view. Definitely continue improving your UI and you the game will get better and better.”

Conclusion

@DevilZ: “That pretty much sums up what I had to say on the two games. I vote for “Clark in Mars” to be the overall winner of this jam for the same reasons I have stated above.”

@Albertos: “Clark in Mars wins for me. This game is a little better developed and I managed to finish the game. I couldn’t finish Hola Baciu, because I simply couldn’t take out the enemy with shooting. Despite that, the game is good enough for the second place. Congratulations to all!”

@Leonidas: “Congratulations to both participants for the effort and going all the way to produce and release these games. “Clark in Mars” gets my vote!”

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Wow! It really took a lot of work and a lot of effort and I am so happy I made it.

Thank you for posting such detailed feedback on the projects in the forum. It’s very helpful to know what are the strong and weak features in one’s work to other people’s (trained) eyes. I’m definitely not going for that black screen again, although it seemed fitting at the moment :yum:

I am very happy about having participated in this Jam, and I would love to participate in others in the future.

I know very few projects were presented in this edition of the Community Jam, but I’d like to thank you for making it possible anyway. Maybe a little more diffusion next time would engage more participants and make things more interesting??

Thank you again for all your dedication and effort in making this Jam possible

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