Rules: Progressing Games Forum Rules

Maruno · Jan 8, 2012

Rules of Progressing Games

The community rules and Game Development section rules also apply here.

About this section

This section is for all the game idea threads and game project threads.
All new game threads should be made in here, regardless of how complete the game already is.
You should contact this section's moderator if you want your game's thread considered for moving to the Games Showcase, or changed in any way you can't do yourself.
New threads have to be approved by a moderator before they will appear. (This may take up to a few days, so be patient before contacting a moderator.) Approval is at the discretion of the moderator.
You can try to recruit new team members in your thread.
Do not ask about when a beta/demo/release is going to come out. It's spam.
Please refrain from bringing up Nintendo sending a C&D takedown notice, DMCA, or anything of the sort. We all know the risks fangame development brings and we do not need to be reminded every other message.

Free-for-all ideas

A free-for-all idea is one which you just want to put out there, and which you don't mind other people using. These go in the Free-for-all ideas stickied thread.
Give as much information about your idea as possible.

Game project threads

These are games which you intend to create. They can be at any stage of development, from an idea to a completed game.
The thread should use the most suitable thread prefix. It can be changed later if necessary.
It must be tidy and easy to read. It is recommended that you highlight important information (e.g. download links).
It should contain/mention as many of the following as possible:
- Show what you're using to make your game
  You must indicate which engine/tools/software/kit you are using to develop your game.
- An introduction to your project
  This is a concise introduction to your project (not the game itself), which can include things like why you chose to start making your game and why you chose to do it the way you did.
- The plot and back-story of the game
  This should be a reasonable length, and provide a decent amount of relevant information. In particular, you should explain features and plot points unique to your game. You may also talk about characters and whatever else you want. If your game doesn't have a plot (e.g. an arcade-style game), then you should describe the game and its premise here instead.
- A list of features
  This is well worth including. Mention anything that will make your game stand out, and anything that you think is important to your game or is worthy of note. This includes both features that you want to include and features that you have included (it's good to indicate which one each feature is).
- Progress report
  Again, well worth including. This is an indicator of what you're doing and what you have done for your game's development. You can show your progress in whatever way you choose.
- Screenshots/videos of game-play
  These should show things unique to your game. They should reflect the latest state of your game. The more the better, and the more diverse things they show the better. You may also include other kinds of pictures and other media if you want.
- A complete list of credits
  If you use any scripts, tools and/or resources that weren't created by you, you must credit the people who made them by listing their names alongside a description of what they did. You should credit the people who created the things you used, not the people who distributed them.
A thread should only be about one game.
You should keep the first post of your thread up to date. It's the easiest part of the thread to find, and it gives a reader their first impression of the game, so it should at least be accurate!
Game thread categories must be used properly. To use the "Demo" tag, you must have a publicly available demo and download link. To use the "Developing" tag, you must have some physical proof of development, such as screenshots of the game, music or custom sprites.
Pokémon Essentials cannot be monetised in any way. The same goes for games made using Essentials, and for anything else that is distributed which contains content from Essentials in part or in whole. This applies to both mandatory and optional payments, required or requested for gaining access to all or part of a game (no matter how seemingly insignificant the fee-locked elements are, and no matter whether said content could be accessed for free by some other, typically more long-winded, means). There is no acceptable reason for the developer to want or even expect money as a result of their Essentials-made game. The developer should fund their game (if it requires funding, e.g. server costs, website costs) by themselves, and not ask other people to "Support this game!". The game cannot be used as an excuse for getting people to "Support the developer", especially not if the developer demands a certain amount of money before they will continue development of their game. You can find more information on this topic here.

Revised rules written by Yuoaman and Cilerba, and rewritten by Maruno.
Some parts rewritten from older threads, by [url-inline=member.php?u=160]Avatar[/url-inline], [url-inline=member.php?u=6053]Neo-Dragon[/url-inline], [url-inline=member.php?u=1422]Berserk[/url-inline], [url-inline=member.php?u=1206]Darkmage31[/url-inline], [url-inline=member.php?u=3121]Dawson[/url-inline] and [url-inline=member.php?u=3002]Hiroshi Sotomura[/url-inline].

Rules: Progressing Games Forum Rules

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Maruno

Lead Dev of Pokémon Essentials