Jam starts: March 9, 2020
Submission deadline: March 15, 17:00 (Moscow time)
Jam results: March 18, 2020
Let me clarify immediately that I am no VR-industry expert: I have certainly not played every game and attraction. But from the experience I do have, this is the picture so far:
Experience developing for VR, playing VR games or completing escape rooms is welcome but not required. Imagination matters more than copying elements from other games.
2. To streamline production, we will use one or several existing environment and character packs:
Dungeons Pack, Office Pack, City Pack, Sci-Fi City Pack, Battle Royale Pack, Western Pack, Sci-Fi Space Pack, War Pack, Town Pack. Follow the links to see what each pack includes. If you really want to, you may suggest other Unity Asset Store packs.
3. Players must visit an unusual world: space, other planets, fantasy worlds, an underwater city, a moon base, Atlantis, a world of talking animals—anything, as long as the entire experience is not set in an ordinary room. You may use an ordinary room at the start to help players ease into the new environment.
4. The players' goal is not to win but to experience an adventure.
5. The scenario should last 10–20 minutes.
6. The session must have a strict time limit. If players get stuck and fail to perform the actions the script requires, the story must still continue.
7. Under no circumstances should players feel visible time pressure. No timers!
8. No shooting or other combat. Think of what else players can do in unusual worlds.
9. Players can talk to one another because they are physically together.
10. The game may include characters who communicate with players, give hints, tell the story and perhaps even drive it forward. Preferably, they should remain outside the play area so players cannot physically interact with them.
11. As an option, try voice interaction with NPCs too. Yandex and Google services can recognize speech, but we will not make a full chatbot. Players must say specific phrases recognized by the script, and must be told this.
12. Players move through space either on foot or because something transports them. For example, they can enter a train carriage that takes them somewhere, pass through a portal into another dimension, or enter Doctor Who's police box and emerge into another world. Some VR games use a button to move forward or teleport short distances, but we do not want that: it puts players' real and virtual positions out of sync relative to one another.
13. Space for movement is limited. Ideally, stay within 2×2 meters so the result can be played in cramped homes—for example, with all players seated and stationary. Let us set an upper limit of 5×5 meters. Players cannot wander endlessly through the game space, and the virtual world's limited area must always have a justification.
14. Do not require fast movements, jumping or running. Again, space is tight and players could injure one another.
15. Ideally, play without controllers. We track players' bodies and hands and can tell whether their hands are clenched. Players can move objects by hand, press buttons, pick things up, insert objects into the right places, or lift an item with one hand and activate it with the other.
16. The result must be a Google document open for comments.
17. The work must be written in Russian.
18. Comments explaining why particular script decisions were made are welcome. They must be visually distinct from the working material.
19. Start the document with your first name, last name and contact details, so I or anyone else interested in your abilities can contact you.
20. All submissions will be published openly. That is the point of a jam and of research: ultimately, we can all enrich ourselves with ideas.
21. All entries are open for comments, so you can and should leave feedback.
22. Authors retain the rights to use their work. If I or anyone else wants to use these scripts in a project, we must first agree on terms with the authors.
23. Participation is free and there are no prizes. I will choose the best entry in my opinion, but that does not earn a reward. Participating in #YarJam is always based solely on your own motivation.
24. If you want to partner with the jam and offer prizes, content or expertise, message me on Telegram:
@YarKravtsov
1. Alexander Rogachev
2. Vitaliya B.
3. Anna Wagner (seeking full-time remote work)
4. Sergey Burov (seeking a full-time office job)
5. Anna Pimonova (seeking full-time remote work)
All scripts are open for comments and other discussion.
Submission deadline: March 15, 17:00 (Moscow time)
Jam results: March 18, 2020
Introduction
People make games for different reasons: sometimes to earn money, sometimes as a hobby, sometimes to learn. In 2020, I have a persistent desire to make a game for research. I want to explore storytelling in VR games. I think there may be a gold mine here with enough for everyone.Let me clarify immediately that I am no VR-industry expert: I have certainly not played every game and attraction. But from the experience I do have, this is the picture so far:
- The most successful games focus on mechanics without a story, or have recognizable narrative elements but still no complete story. Examples include Beat Saber, Super Hot and Job Simulator.
- Successful games involving movement through a world use shooting as their main gameplay. Examples include Arizona Sunshine, Robo Recall, Eleven Assassins and Boneworks. Alternatively, they use melee weapons: Gorn, Blade and Sorcery, Journey of the Gods.
- Multiplayer games are also about combat: Rec Room, Pavlov VR.
- VR attractions offer either shooting or a particular experience, such as giant swings, flight or sitting in a racing-car seat.
- There are also enormous numbers of games that support VR but were not originally designed for it, making them a rather particular pleasure to play.
- And there is a small category of games that truly immerse you in an unusual world's story, with characters and unfolding events: Vader Immortal, Accounting, Red Matter.
The jam's task
Your entry should be a script document describing the events that happen in the game. It must be something a person can sit down and work from: not a plot outline, not text for the player, not lyrical reflections on the theme, but a concrete working brief with no ambiguity or gaps. Unlike other script competitions, the challenge is to meet a set of constraints.Experience developing for VR, playing VR games or completing escape rooms is welcome but not required. Imagination matters more than copying elements from other games.
Conditions
1. The script should accommodate a group of 1–4 players. If you get completely stuck on this point, you may write for a fixed number of participants.2. To streamline production, we will use one or several existing environment and character packs:
Dungeons Pack, Office Pack, City Pack, Sci-Fi City Pack, Battle Royale Pack, Western Pack, Sci-Fi Space Pack, War Pack, Town Pack. Follow the links to see what each pack includes. If you really want to, you may suggest other Unity Asset Store packs.
3. Players must visit an unusual world: space, other planets, fantasy worlds, an underwater city, a moon base, Atlantis, a world of talking animals—anything, as long as the entire experience is not set in an ordinary room. You may use an ordinary room at the start to help players ease into the new environment.
4. The players' goal is not to win but to experience an adventure.
5. The scenario should last 10–20 minutes.
6. The session must have a strict time limit. If players get stuck and fail to perform the actions the script requires, the story must still continue.
7. Under no circumstances should players feel visible time pressure. No timers!
8. No shooting or other combat. Think of what else players can do in unusual worlds.
9. Players can talk to one another because they are physically together.
10. The game may include characters who communicate with players, give hints, tell the story and perhaps even drive it forward. Preferably, they should remain outside the play area so players cannot physically interact with them.
11. As an option, try voice interaction with NPCs too. Yandex and Google services can recognize speech, but we will not make a full chatbot. Players must say specific phrases recognized by the script, and must be told this.
12. Players move through space either on foot or because something transports them. For example, they can enter a train carriage that takes them somewhere, pass through a portal into another dimension, or enter Doctor Who's police box and emerge into another world. Some VR games use a button to move forward or teleport short distances, but we do not want that: it puts players' real and virtual positions out of sync relative to one another.
13. Space for movement is limited. Ideally, stay within 2×2 meters so the result can be played in cramped homes—for example, with all players seated and stationary. Let us set an upper limit of 5×5 meters. Players cannot wander endlessly through the game space, and the virtual world's limited area must always have a justification.
14. Do not require fast movements, jumping or running. Again, space is tight and players could injure one another.
15. Ideally, play without controllers. We track players' bodies and hands and can tell whether their hands are clenched. Players can move objects by hand, press buttons, pick things up, insert objects into the right places, or lift an item with one hand and activate it with the other.
16. The result must be a Google document open for comments.
17. The work must be written in Russian.
18. Comments explaining why particular script decisions were made are welcome. They must be visually distinct from the working material.
19. Start the document with your first name, last name and contact details, so I or anyone else interested in your abilities can contact you.
20. All submissions will be published openly. That is the point of a jam and of research: ultimately, we can all enrich ourselves with ideas.
21. All entries are open for comments, so you can and should leave feedback.
22. Authors retain the rights to use their work. If I or anyone else wants to use these scripts in a project, we must first agree on terms with the authors.
23. Participation is free and there are no prizes. I will choose the best entry in my opinion, but that does not earn a reward. Participating in #YarJam is always based solely on your own motivation.
24. If you want to partner with the jam and offer prizes, content or expertise, message me on Telegram:
@YarKravtsov
Submissions are closed
5 scripts were submitted, in order of submission:1. Alexander Rogachev
2. Vitaliya B.
3. Anna Wagner (seeking full-time remote work)
4. Sergey Burov (seeking a full-time office job)
5. Anna Pimonova (seeking full-time remote work)
All scripts are open for comments and other discussion.