[Discussion] Game Developer's Digest

[Worldslayer608]

There once was a time where this section had a series of game development articles where members could read about some of the latest news, or brush up on their development with fresh tips and tricks.

It was written by a number of members over the years, and back in early Game Development 2012 I even worked on 2 articles of the GDM. However time, content, and contribution were limited and it really was not entirely feasible.

These days, I find myself wanting to write. I have been writing articles for another project for the last year and a half, and I find myself wanting to branch out again. Probably not as a weekly or monthly issue, as there is not all that much content coming through these days.

Would people be interested in periodic articles from time to time, whenever I find spare time?

 

[Riansky]

Yes! Yes! and again Yes!

That is something I always wanted GD forum to have. You can also present some of the upcoming games from the Progressing games sub forum and also have some interviews with random game devs.

I really hope something like that will return soon!

 

[Worldslayer608]

Yes! Yes! and again Yes!

That is something I always wanted GD forum to have. You can also present some of the upcoming games from the Progressing games sub forum and also have some interviews with random game devs.

I really hope something like that will return soon!

Those were things the GDM had before. I really want to do something like this, but as I said, time, content, and contribution is limited. I don't want to start this with the expectation that it would be a regular article series unless things drastically picked up here in the forums and there were others regularly involved in the articles.

 

[Maruno]

The GDM was a nice idea. The main trick to it is to get enough people working on it to keep it going, particularly when there might not be much going on in here. It needs organisation and collaboration, and that always seems to tend to fall apart after a while.

The Game Dev section has the thread prefix

Article:

Article:

, which was originally intended for things like GDM threads. However, I see nothing wrong with creating separate threads for stand-alone articles, so long as they're not better suited elsewhere (a game review would go in that game's thread, a tutorial goes in the Tutorials section - this only slightly limits the options). Opinion pieces, interviews and even challenges can all go in article threads quite happily.

If you (or anyone else) want to write something, go ahead! I think it'd be better to post each thing in its own thread as it happens, rather than store them up for a Game Development Occasionally newsletter. There's no need to make a big formal thing out of it, unless it naturally develops that way.

Maybe I can finally post that article I wrote for GDM March 2012 which you ended up never making.

 

[Radical Raptr]

I like the idea, and it would be a cool way to get people interested in less popular games, or ones that never seem to get as much views and stay at the bottom of their section. I wouldn't mind contributing to something like this, and I know of a couple really cool games in the progressing games section that don't have as much views as they should.

 

[Rayquaza.]

I'd love to see GDM back as well. Unfortunately I found that the games reviews and showcases lessened over time because the number of games that stood-out from the others became more scarce. Even today I believe this is still the case because not many people take the time to change the graphics and scripts and just stick with the frlg graphics. There are a few that stand out, in my opinion, but I don't believe there are enough to write an article about.

 

[Worldslayer608]

The structure would pretty much be the same as that of the GDM I used as a reference, but the Spotlight section could be trimmed down to a single, more in-depth review. Previously, I had just been doing short new pitches. The articles would more than likely be something like a quarterly release if I was to do it myself, which would mean that the articles should be longer than that of a GDM.

 

[Luka S.J.]

I'd love to see GDM back as well. Unfortunately I found that the games reviews and showcases lessened over time because the number of games that stood-out from the others became more scarce. Even today I believe this is still the case because not many people take the time to change the graphics and scripts and just stick with the frlg graphics. There are a few that stand out, in my opinion, but I don't believe there are enough to write an article about.

Simply changing a few graphics or scripts will not make your game stand-out. It is innovation and originality that becomes more scarce. Several reasons for that: not enough motivation/creativity, and you can't keep re-inventing the wheel, and other stuff which I can't think of right now. You can make a mind-blowing game with the simplest of FRLG graphics, just as easily as you can make a super-sh*itty game with great graphics/scripts. The games that stand out around here, are the ones that are not afraid to try something new.

Back to the topic. I'd be happy, to see the GDM return. One change that could be this time could be the visuals (much like the improvements you made to the general structure in your post). We're seeing more and more people with really neat thread designs, and CSS knowledge. Making it look more and more like a magazine, rather than a newsletter might get more people interested in it. Apparently visuals seem to be the most important thing. There could even be a "page" filled with various screenshots, and artwork made (and there are a lot of those).

Content wise I'd say (of course) have the News/Tips & Tricks/Spotlight sections. You could also add a "Trends" page, to see what current graphical styles and features are popular. Maybe do some questionnaires and publish the poll results, so that developers can orientate themselves according to popular demand. Offer some links to popular public resources/tutorials that are already available. Maybe some "Ideas" section could be there as well, suggesting some alternative starter trios, or things like that. Give the newbies something to think about when making a game, "how to make trainer battles more interesting?", "what to consider when typing and making a gym?", "how to make a good opening to the game?". That sort of stuff. Some questions and ideas that could potentially start some originality, and stuff we haven't seen before.

Closer: I really think that the GDM would be/look super cool if it was made as a magazine.

 

[Worldslayer608]

I am not sure how to make it look like a Magazine really. That is a lot of work and I am not entirely sure if that is even possible. My knowledge of CSS is really not that great, when it comes to that sort of thing, I try to outsource that, it is not my sort of thing.

I could keep the previous design by Cilerba, and spruce it up a bit and make it look more like a Newspaper though.

 

[TBM_Christopher]

I'd honestly like to chip in that a periodic thing would probably be more interesting to me than a stream of random articles.

If it would help at all, I'd be interested in contributing in some way, and I'm sure I could find some discussion points from my design classes that may be worth writing articles about.

 

[Worldslayer608]

I was thinking about trying to get a Skype chat recording talking about Game Development a bit, and going over a bit of design concepts, maybe talk about a couple titles, scripts, and features floating around etc.

In addition to a few topics.

Thoughts?

 

[Radical Raptr]

I was thinking about trying to get a Skype chat recording talking about Game Development a bit, and going over a bit of design concepts, maybe talk about a couple titles, scripts, and features floating around etc.

In addition to a few topics.

Thoughts?

is that like a podcast? iunno what one is exactly, but regardless there could be a segment like that periodically, it's a pretty cool idea - I'd support something like that

 

[Worldslayer608]

is that like a podcast? iunno what one is exactly, but regardless there could be a segment like that periodically, it's a pretty cool idea - I'd support something like that

Pretty much, more or less.

Given the planned frequency of this all, it would probably be with every article if possible, which right now, I am assuming I will probably do it quarterly or so, along with any other articles.

Quarterly means there is time for news to build up, games to progress, and I don't have to devote to much time to it on a regular basis.

 

[Maruno]

If you're planning to actually do a Game Development Seasonally or whatever, let me know.

 

[Worldslayer608]

If the Digest was to have a podcast discussion for a launch issue, would a Skype chat for asking questions be something people would like to see and participate in? Or would it be best for you all to email us your questions?

Who all would like to be considered for the 3rd seat in the podcast?

 

[TBM_Christopher]

I'd like to offer myself as a possible candidate to the third seat; As a student in game design I'd hopefully be able to offer some insight into the design process or simply working with different sorts of teams.