[Discussion] My thoughts on the layout of the Game Dev section

seperate game showcase forums.

I don't like it at all. The truth is that game development fourms are pretty much dead so what is exacatly the point in making seperate showcase forums? I know most of the games don't get past route 1 or so or are just being ideas, but the truth is thet progression games showcase gets almost zero attention and there are some really good and progressing games. I would much rather see single showcase forum which only accepts games that are actually progressing. If there is no update in a month the thread should be moved to progressing games / ideas thread. Or main remain in game showcase if the creator is busy and its staded that the work has been on hold. Moderators might not agree with me because there will be much work for them but i really think some good games are not getting much attention or nothing at all..

What are your thoughts on this?

Riansky said:

separate game showcase forums.

I don't like it at all. The truth is that game development forums are pretty much dead so what is exactly the point in making separate showcase forums? I know most of the games don't get past route 1 or so or are just being ideas, but the truth is that progression games showcase gets almost zero attention and there are some really good and progressing games. I would much rather see single showcase forum which only accepts games that are actually progressing. If there is no update in a month the thread should be moved to progressing games / ideas thread. Or main remain in game showcase if the creator is busy and its stated that the work has been on hold. Moderators might not agree with me because there will be much work for them but i really think some good games are not getting much attention or nothing at all..

What are your thoughts on this?

Click to expand...

I love this idea. There are games(Like Apex) that have been here for almost a year, and is no longer getting Publicity because all of the other games flooding the top. There should be 3 game dev sub categories. Completed/Majority of game thread, Progressing/Demo thread, and Beginners showcase/ Ideas. That way these "Ideas" aren't interfering with actual progressing games.

Agreed. My game is getting little attention where it's at currently, but there isn't enough for it to be in Game Showcase.

joeyhugg said:

Agreed. My game is getting little attention where it's at currently, but there isn't enough for it to be in Game Showcase.

Click to expand...

We went a little silent for a couple weeks as i had no computer to develop, and since i wasnt there, Dillon lacked the motivation to keep updated. now that i have a computer again, we are pumping things out, and no one even veiws our thread

The Showcase is for games which are worthy of being shown off. This includes completed games and any projects of a high quality and decent demonstrated progress. If you think your thread is worthy of being moved into the Showcase, let me know via PM and I'll have a look at it. This decision is almost entirely subjective, and is based on the first post of the thread only. The same applies for threads you see which you think shouldn't be in the Showcase.

So having a Showcase section is fine. I don't think anyone can argue what goes in there.

The next section down is, currently, the only other game thread section that exists. Progressing Games is for "everything else". In practice, this means a lot of obviously non-starter idea threads which tend to drown out some of the more promising projects. I say "tend" and "some", because if they really are promising, they should be active and large and keep being bumped to the top of the section.

Now, I let people post idea threads because I don't want to restrict their creativity by demanding that they must have some real progress made before they post (even though such a scenario would be ideal). Is this a good policy to have? I don't know.

I've had a look over at the ROM Hacking section, and they have two sections for hacks: a Showcase and a Progressing one. Obviously ROM hacking is different to making a game, with some different processes and focusses, but I don't think having just two sections is a bad thing. What the Progressing Hacks section does have that we don't is a sticky thread titled "Quick storyline idea thread". It's a place for everyone to post their ideas without having to make a proper thread out of them, and without them drowning out the actual progressing games as much (there will always be a blurry boundary between the two, but I can cope with more subjectivity). What do you think of implementing this?



In short, it seems the problem is that all the non-starter idea threads are bringing down the perceived quality of the entire Progressing Games section. How about making a sticky thread for all the ideas, instead of letting them be separate threads?

Ideas threads that are just blurbs of story, maybe some fakemon/concepts? I see them going into said thread and not hurting the board.

It literally takes 30 minute to set up RPMXP, a dropbox for offsite backup, and to finish a rough(re)mapping the first town if you've actually thought about it some. Longer if you try to find/make a newer tileset, but the rough map can be map in GBA gfx just fine.


I just found Curt's Region Starter Kit. This should be sticked or something.

I think an Ideas thread for Idea posts only would work. Fakemon concepts could go in resources.

Maruno said:

In short, it seems the problem is that all the non-starter idea threads are bringing down the perceived quality of the entire Progressing Games section. How about making a sticky thread for all the ideas, instead of letting them be separate threads?

Click to expand...

Like i said, there are many "Ideas" that flood the Porgressing Games section. But all they are are Ideas. They might have a story put together, and 1 map. But thats it. Some of them have sat there for 3-4 months with only that much, yet saying they have been making progress. There are some games that are making enough progress to be seen that aren't. I sticky for strictly Game ideas would be a good idea. Thats way Ideas are together, Progressing Games are actually progressing, and the Games Showcase is for really far in DEV games.

I agree with an idea of a Idea subforum, even if this is only for a test period.

As a person that's going to make a thread in the game dev subforum,reading this might scare some people off. I'd like to think that I could get a good amount of attention there when I decide to post.

Qhauriq said:

As a person that's going to make a thread in the game dev subforum,reading this might scare some people off. I'd like to think that I could get a good amount of attention there when I decide to post.

Click to expand...

My project is in the progressing section, and I will not lie to you when I say that getting attention is something that just does not happen in this section.

I am also going to be real with you, and tell you that your game is going to have a LONG ways to go, and that the attention should be one of the least important issues in these stages. Unless you are at a demo, or marginally close to one, it just is not very important.