Global Game Jam 2011 - Beefalo and HTML5

Okay, GGJ11 happened like six weeks ago, so this post isn't even the least bit timely, but if I let it slide I couldn't call myself a wannabe game producer. 

In the days leading up to the actual Global Game Jam event I kept hoping that something would come up that would give me an excuse not to go.  Mostly I didn't like leaving my pregnant wife and 17-month old daughter for 48 hours.  Also, I absolutely loathed the idea of forgoing sleep in favour of being hunched over an 11-inch laptop monitor.  But, when the weekend was over and all the pussies who whined about not having the time or being too old asked me how it was, I was able to report that it was simultaneously the worst and greatest thing I've ever done.

Well... maybe it wasn't the greatest thing I've ever done, but it was totally worth it.  I will almost certainly go back next year (unless I can think of convenient excuse to do otherwise). 

Because I actually am too old for this game jam nonsense

This year's game jam theme was extinction.  With that in mind, my three teammates and I decided to do something buffalo themed.  Then, recalling the whole infected-blanket-aboriginal-genocide thing, we decided to go with the buffalo's politically neutral half-brother... the beefalo.  

Cow + Buffalo = Beefalo

As it happens, this tremendous beast occupies a special place in my heart.  It also boasts a coveted top-ten spot in my list of funniest things ever.  Few things tickle me more than the simple fact that this creature actually exists.  In Grade 8 I even self-published a comic book starring the The Incredible Beefalo and his side kick Low Self Esteem Man.  Conversely, this abysmal comic creation ranks in the top-ten of the most embarrassing things I've ever done.  It was bad by Grade 8 standards.

Being the kind of guy who likes to make life hard for himself, I convinced my team that creating our game entirely in Javascript and HTML5 would be a good idea.  To make it even better and because I'm totally bad ass, I decided to write the whole thing from scratch (i.e., without the aid of any tools or libraries).  Did it work?  Yes!  Is it fun?  Not in the slightest.  It's only fair to mention that the other programmer on my team had to work the first evening.  Had he been there, he would probably have talked some sense into me and our game would have been a thousand times more awesome. 

If you want to try The Running of the Beefalo, or if you just want to rip off our code, feel free to download the source.  It is offered without warranty and without documentation.  Have fun!  It works best in Chrome, though I've had some success with Firefox.  Just download, unzip, and double-click the index.html file.  I used to have it available online, but successful downloads/startups only happened about 50% of the time.  It's totally reliable when loaded locally, however. 

Finally, a special thanks to Owen, Norm, and Jeff.  If I have one regret, it's that I spent too much time focused on the code and not enough time getting to know you all better.  If you come back next year and are up for something crazy (not likely), it would be my privilege to work with you again.