xyz The focus of the whole thing can easily disperse in that long of a period.
maybe I'm confusing two different things, a game jam and a contest. whatever.
xyz Afaik most jams have deadlines measured in days, sometimes few weeks. I wouldn't go over a month, ideally two weeks. I personally prefer shorter forms like weekends because it makes you exercise constrain and face your limitations. This is fun and breeds creativity. It's can be a great learning experience as well 🙂
the problem is everyone has to align their schedules which can be very difficult, so a longer jam doesn't mean people are going to work for the entire month, but whenever they have time.
this forum in particular people can take up to 3 days to answer and goes rather slow most of the time, and then suddenly it fills with posts.
xyz I haven't participated in a jam for a very long time though. Maybe the several month deadlines are customary now?
I think I saw some long jams. looking again, I think Thor's jam was like a month, but that was the period for submissions, I don't know if the theme was announced in advance.
On the other hand there was toast's fake game jam where they were sleep deprived on stream working non-stop for 4 days, and they were 4 people (and chat). now imagine a single person doing all that, which I imagine will be what most of the contestants will be here, not many teams.
other jams I saw required or provided some premade assets to use, so this would have to be discussed too. premade assets or not.
I think you are right, 2 weeks to 1 month should be the goal, announced in advance and starting the moment the theme is chosen.
