From Friday, Sept. 27 to Sunday, Sept. 29, teams of programmers, sound designers and artists filled the atrium bridges of the Gates-Dell Complex. As participants of the Electronic Game Developers Society’s Texas Game Jam, teams and solo participants had 48 hours to code a video game.
An interdisciplinary student organization, the Electronic Game Developers Society is open to all students interested in exploring the world of video game design and development. Every year, EGaDS! hosts Texas Game Jam, where participants of all skill and experience levels design and develop a game in 48 hours. After the weekend ends, participants showcase their finished games to judges who give out awards for best design, visuals, sound and overall.
Gavin Hughes, a Texas Game Jam participant and programmer, said the 2024 theme was “Takes Two to Tango.” His team created a game featuring a rocket ship in orbit, which players can press a button to launch from one asteroid to another.
“We were inspired by how in a tango or a dance, two partners orbit around one another,” said Taryn Morris, Hughes’ teammate and a video game artist. “We extrapolated that into a space theme and planetary mechanics.”
In addition to programmers, game jam teams include artists and composers to create the game’s visuals and sound design. Austin Merkel, the composer of Hughes and Morris’ team, said he learned to streamline his creative process for game jams.
“I really like music from video games, so that’s a direct inspiration,” Merkel said. “But seeing your own music being applied where it enhances everything else is also
very satisfying.”
Bobby Youstra, a Texas Game Jam organizer and participant, said that the first night generally involves brainstorming and whiteboard discussions. On Saturdays, participants are focused on programming, drawing and composing. The final day often involves polishing the game or finishing it as quickly as possible.
“It’s a weird feeling to describe because you spend 80% of your waking hours there over that weekend,” Youstra said. “But it’s a lot of fun, and you get to really have fun with people that you may not have met.”
Rodrigo Okamoto Corbellini Pereira, a former president of EGaDS! who now works at video game development company Treyarch, said that participating in game jams helped prepare him for his career.
“If you want to have the skills and the portfolio for a career in games, you 100% have to do stuff outside of class,” he said. “EGaDS! helped a lot with that — not just (by) having opportunities to make games, but (because) having people that are motivated helps you make more projects.”
In addition to the annual Texas Game Jam, Youstra said EGaDS! holds speaker nights with industry professionals, workshops for art and the Unity programming language, dev nights and socials throughout the year. Youstra said because the club welcomes all majors he has made friends from a wide range of disciplines.
“(If) you’re a physics major, the friends you’ll make in your classes will probably be physics majors,” Youstra said. “With EGaDS!, the script is flipped.”
