The Epic Games organized a special event, the 2020 Unreal Spring Jam, for the duration of a week with interesting prizes. A game jam is a competition that consists in create a videogame in a short span of time from nearly zero, the theme of the videogame, in fact, is submitted at the start of the competition to avoid pre-made works.
The official rules haven’t been released yet by the Epic team but let’s answer some questions about this event.
The prizes of 2020 Unreal Spring Jam: different prizes for different categories
There will be three different “absolute” winners, each member of the three winning teams will receive:
- a 1-year Houdini Indie license from SideFx
- $200 in credit to the Unreal Engine Marketplace
- a 1-year GameTextures.com Freelancer subscription
- a 1-year Visual Assist license from WholeTomato
- All marketplace packs from Velarion
- All marketplace packs from Tala Esenlikler
- Any three packs from Dekogon
- POLYGON – Western Pack, POLYGON – City Pack, and POLYGON – Sci-fi Space Pack from Synty Studios
- Ultimate Material Pack from Plan B Studios
- Pistol Pro, Rifle Pro, Mobility Pro, and Death Animations from MoCap Online
- a featured playthrough on the June 18th Livestream
- a highlight on the Unreal Engine blog
Only a lucky one of all people in those three teams – extracted in Falcon Northwest Grand lottery – will get a special prize:
A branded new computer that mounts a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super 8GB, a 32 GB RAM, a Intel Core i9-9900K 8-core 5GHZ CPU with a special Unreal theme on the case!
There will also be three winners of three special categories:
ARMY OF ONE – for the best game developed by a solo developer
TINY AWARD – for the best game that is less than 100MB (total size of packaged playable game)
IS THIS REAL LIFE? – for the best VR or AR game
With some prize less than those listed before.
Q&A: let’s answer your questions!
Let’s answer some questions about the 2020 Unreal Spring Jam:
How many members can include my team?
From one to five people.
What kind of content can I use to develop the game?
Whatever you want if you have the license but all arts in-game must have a material different than “DefaultMaterial” and the gameplay should exceed what is offered in starter templates.
When is the event scheduled for?
It’s scheduled for the week between 14 and 19 May 2020.
When the theme will be made public?
The theme will be published on May 14, 2:00 PM EDT.
For when is set the deadline?
It is set for 19 May, 11:59 PM EDT.
For what devices the game must be packaged?
Submissions must be packaged for Windows or MAC OS X or Android or iOS (development build) or Lumin or Oculus Mobile. VR and AR are accepted as well.
Where should the game be uploaded?
You should upload the game on your Itch.io page before the deadline first than submit it on the official page.
Can I already join the jam?
Sure! Create an itch.io account and click on “Join Jam” to enter the competition!
Should I pay something to participate?
No, all prizes are offered by Epic Games and sponsors.
Is there a minimum age required?
Any limitations have been imposed till now, but they could as soon as official rules will be published.
Can I develop the game with any engine I want?
Despite it isn’t specified yet, you must probably use Unreal Engine 4 for the developing of the game to submit.