Shmup 'Shoot-Em-Up'Jamming for 2015

[Buko-Studios]

Hey All,

Just a quick greet for the new year and post about some Game Jamming(of sorts) we have started.
We are targeting the Shmup genre: Shoot-em-up games, aka STGs.

We hope this will be the first jam of many, the focus on this one is the origins of the genre.
Think Space Invaders, Galaxian etc.
The Era of the first ever video games mid/late 1970's!

This is to start us off easy as we consider an attempt at a shmup a month for 2015.

If you are into this genre, starting out, or just looking for a (simple?) outlet to sharpen some development knives why not take part?
I've got an actual 'Jam' up on another site right now, but I see no reason not to encompass NG too.

The rules are fairly open for this jam.. it's not really a competition, just for fun.

Create something retro looking, modernise a classic.. Perhaps simplicity could be the key to getting in a quick submission.
You have the whole month of January, so plenty of time.

The main hub at the moment could be on our group on Deviant Art, http://shmuproom.deviantart.com/.
But we can also include some updates on here.
We'll figure something out if things start to get too messy.

Just respond on this thread if you have any interest or wish to take part as part of the NG Massiv!
Or you can tweet to us @Buko_Studios or use the hashtag #shmupjam

We are Buko-Studios, http://www.buko-studios.com we create graphics and games professionally, and we invite anyone with an interest in shmup action games to join along with us on this Jam.

We will be offering some help where we can, with some guides, and our thoughts for creating a classic style shmup.

Cheers all, Happy New Year!

[Buko-Studios]

We are 10 days into our shmup jam for January.
We are making a little progress our end, here is a little teaser..

The Jam Page is getting a few visitations but not too much engagement yet.
There is still plenty of time to ‘scramble’ something together.. or just help spread the word.
Tweets with the #shmupjam hashtag will get highlighted on the main jam page.
Also let us know if you are interested but if something is stopping you from joining in..

Lack of assets or not sure where to start?
We are happy to share the assets used in our game or advice on getting set up if it would help.
Maybe others can also help out.

The essence of this jam is to look right back at the source.
To consider what things have become out-dated, what elements may have been lost, and what routes the genre has taken as it has evolved.

For us, we are using it to study the games that made this genre so special, while going through the motions of recreating key features and exploring modern techniques.

We came across a great in depth write-up on the original space invaders here..

Of course other shmups popped up soon after such as Defender(Williams Electronics), Galaxian(Namco), and Ozma Wars(SNK).
We are also eagerly looking ahead to next month where we will take things up a generation.