8-Bit Jam

Pretty big update but I don’t really have a lot of time to write a good devlog, so here’s a short overview of the changes I made:

• Added a backend that connects to a prisma postgres database to store interest form signups and accounts
• Users can create an account on the website with credentials, Google, or GitHub

Added the sponsors page and the about page to the site. For the sponsors page, there’s a hero section describing the page, 3 different tiers (gold, silver, bronze how original) with placeholder sponsor cards listed with dashed borders that redirects you to our non-existent email if you are a sponsor that wants to reach out to us. Because it’s still pretty early, we haven’t started sponsor outreach yet so this page is pretty much useless. For the about page, there’s a short paragraph talking about the hackathon with links to the interest form on the homepage and the faq page that’s coming soon. There’s also a section of cards for the team on the page, each with their slack profile image, name, and roles listed, as well as the link to their personal website if they have one. Added SEO to all the functional pages as well so our site can actually be discovered by sponsors (please do), and updated some styling.

Added a section on the homepage with a bunch of cards, each with an icon, heading, and description for an aspect of the hackathon so you can get to know the event better, including prizes, categories, sidequests, and more. This lets the user instantly understand what the hackathon’s about without reading through too much. Also added a simple footer with our social links (the accounts haven’t been set up yet) and logo. Added a 404 not found page as well that redirects you back to the homepage or the last page you visited. Updated some content and styling as well to ensure the site is responsive and functions properly across all screen sizes.

This is my first time hosting a hackathon with a team of 5 other people, and I’m super excited to get the website set up as quickly as possible since we need to start looking for sponsors and sending out interest forms. This is basically a game dev themed hackathon with a lot of mini games and sidequests to make it as engaging, fun, and memorable as possible. Since our name is 8-Bit Jam, I decided to design the site with a retro 8-bit style and font. It turned out really clean and it’s a really fun experience trying out this new design style. In this update, I set up the basic Next.js project with all the boilerplate and dependencies configured, added a cool nav bar with our logo, links, and sign up button, as well as a hero section with important information regarding the event and an input form for email RSVP interest signup (currently doesn’t work). Added responsive design to ensure the site works well across all screen sizes, improving navigation and accessibility. Also deployed the site to Vercel so people can actually see it.