CodeWalrus

Featured Member Projects => Completed and Inactive Projects => [Inactive] VelocityGames (PC/Web) => Topic started by: Jokeriske on May 28, 2016, 12:27:34 PM

Title: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on May 28, 2016, 12:27:34 PM
Velocity Games is changing

During the next few months, we will be working on updating parts of our website.

At first, most of the changes will be invisible, internal changes. When all the internal parts are ready, then we will start adding new features based on them.

Since most of the new features are still in a planning phase, we prefer to keep the details secret for now. If everything goes as planned, then this should make our site into a more unique experience that can be used for more than just a platform on which we share the games we make.

Unfortunately, working on the website can cause it to be less stable. We'll still try our best to keep downtimes at a minimum, but if something does get messed up, then at least you know what caused it.

We'll keep you guys updated once the new features are ready.
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on May 30, 2016, 03:45:12 AM
Will there be changes to the SMF install? I am curious about what will be the changes. Just make sure to not push alpha or even pre-alpha versions of your site to the public as replacement to fully-working builds, though. That can be annoying for users >.< (it's usually better to allow users to opt out or only offer the new site as test)
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: ben_g on May 30, 2016, 04:32:44 AM
Once we're done with these updates, SMF will probably be removed completely (though we might keep a read-only version of the old forum online).

The updates will largely fall into 3 categories:
The first cathegory is the forum. The forum will be replaced by a system that functions more like a blog. It is intended to be an easy to use and better platform to post about projects (with features such as the ability to post as a group, and each member of the group can post in the blog and edit posts there). A forum-like system will probably also still be present, but probably based more on tags than on full boards, so that it is easier to order topics based on personal preference.
The 2nd category is a social aspect. Instead of just using our website as a platform to release our games, we'll try to turn it into a place where gamers can meet eachother. There will be stuff like a system to find friends for co-op games. The system will be focussed on meeting strangers (but not random like Omegle). We have some cool ideas for this system, but since almost all of it is still in planning stage, we prefer to keep the details to ourselves for now.
The final category is internal stuff to make those systems possible.

@Jokeriske already programmed the new account system and a part of the blog/forum system. I'm still in Thailand for 2 weeks, but after that I should have time to work on the website too. For now, those systems are in a hidden folder on our website, and they will remain hidden untill they're either ready or untill we do a beta test. After that, the main problem would be getting enough people to join to make the social parts work.
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on May 30, 2016, 04:09:28 PM
This is going to be a fun adventure of programming, i'm excited to work on this project.
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on May 30, 2016, 08:54:50 PM
I hope you keep the old posts or convert them to blog topics with comments. I think it might be a good move to move away from forums, though. I might be biased since I run a forum but a lot of smaller sites that starts side by side with larger ones tend to not have an high level of activity, so the move to a blog to showcase people projects and such things might help making it stand out. The tag thing is something I wanted to implement on CW but we would still keep the forum system (just that it would work closer to PICO-8 forums rather than a traditional bulletin board, and we would keep the bulletin board system in place as an option for people who don't like the new system).

As for the random stranger thing, yeah it's a good move to not go full Omegle, else get ready for massive troll influxes. >.<
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: alexgt on May 31, 2016, 05:58:38 AM
Sounds awesome! I frequent velocity quite a bit now ;) I have almost beaten the record for platformer game lvl.1 :trollface:
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on May 31, 2016, 09:49:28 AM
Quote from: alexgt on May 31, 2016, 05:58:38 AM
Sounds awesome! I frequent velocity quite a bit now ;) I have almost beaten the record for platformer game lvl.1 :trollface:


i'm glad to hear that :) , does the platformer still works tho? we recently did some changes and it glitches sometimes, but i hope we fixed it.


Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on May 30, 2016, 08:54:50 PM
I hope you keep the old posts or convert them to blog topics with comments. I think it might be a good move to move away from forums, though. I might be biased since I run a forum but a lot of smaller sites that starts side by side with larger ones tend to not have an high level of activity, so the move to a blog to showcase people projects and such things might help making it stand out. The tag thing is something I wanted to implement on CW but we would still keep the forum system (just that it would work closer to PICO-8 forums rather than a traditional bulletin board, and we would keep the bulletin board system in place as an option for people who don't like the new system).

As for the random stranger thing, yeah it's a good move to not go full Omegle, else get ready for massive troll influxes. >.<


Yeah there are going to be alot of trollers out there, i think we are going to keep the forums up as a read only mode.
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on June 02, 2016, 05:00:10 PM
SOmething to keep in mind though is that if your blog suddenly becomes very popular due to certain type of video games, then that alone can bring in trolls, so it's up to you to decide how to enforce rules. On Omnimaga when nDoom got featured  it brought in a massive influx of spammy or troublesome users from hardcore gaming news sites and eventually we had to instate temporary modified rule enforcement to fend them off (although we would probably not have gotten to do it if certain people who were not involved in the first place got involved and constantly tried to force us to run our site the way they run theirs. The latter was like if they tried using oil to extinguish the fire or to keep it alive while we tried extinguish it.

But at first you are probably not gonna get comments much, so it's best to focus on content and showcasing your content elsewhere (like here) to increase traffic.
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on June 02, 2016, 05:03:32 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on June 02, 2016, 05:00:10 PM
SOmething to keep in mind though is that if your blog suddenly becomes very popular due to certain type of video games, then that alone can bring in trolls, so it's up to you to decide how to enforce rules. On Omnimaga when nDoom got featured  it brought in a massive influx of spammy or troublesome users from hardcore gaming news sites and eventually we had to instate temporary modified rule enforcement to fend them off (although we would probably not have gotten to do it if certain people who were not involved in the first place got involved and constantly tried to force us to run our site the way they run theirs. The latter was like if they tried using oil to extinguish the fire or to keep it alive while we tried extinguish it.

But at first you are probably not gonna get comments much, so it's best to focus on content and showcasing your content elsewhere (like here) to increase traffic.

yeah i know, we actually have some plans for that, but first we are going to focus on development, then we are going to focus on how we are going to run things, but i can't tell much now, but i can tell you that we are making good progress, i'm so excited about this project :)
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on June 02, 2016, 05:14:33 PM
Do you think you'll have some screenshots early?
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on June 02, 2016, 05:24:00 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on June 02, 2016, 05:14:33 PM
Do you think you'll have some screenshots early?


i have some yeah, should i upload them? just a screenshot from the layout we might use
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on June 02, 2016, 05:51:15 PM
You could upload them at img.omnimaga.org unless the new site will take months to be public, in which case it's up to you if you want to create hype too early or not. :P We can give suggestions on design/layout, though. :)
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on June 02, 2016, 06:12:18 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on June 02, 2016, 05:51:15 PM
You could upload them at img.omnimaga.org unless the new site will take months to be public, in which case it's up to you if you want to create hype too early or not. :P We can give suggestions on design/layout, though. :)

yeah, currently i'm the only one developing the system because Ben is in thailand,  this is going to take some months for sure, but it really depends how advanced we are going to make it.  I will screenshot  if i have something more to show then just the layout :)
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on June 03, 2016, 05:33:47 AM
Do you know when (or if) ben_g is coming back to Belgium? Hopefully you can get some help but from what I learned, that tends to be harder than making the site itself. :P
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: ben_g on June 03, 2016, 12:49:03 PM
Even though Belgium apparently is a real mess now with the strikes and weather, I'll still come back.

My flight is on the 11th of June, but because of exams and thesis, I may not be able to work on the site untill the end of june.
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on June 03, 2016, 04:19:31 PM
Aah ok, I was wondering because that seemed like an unusually long trip. At least it's not one of those LDS Mormon Church missionary trip where you are not allowes to use Internet for 2 years straight, though.
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on June 03, 2016, 05:54:34 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on June 03, 2016, 04:19:31 PM
Aah ok, I was wondering because that seemed like an unusually long trip. At least it's not one of those LDS Mormon Church missionary trip where you are not allowes to use Internet for 2 years straight, though.

2 years without internet? thats hell on earth right there
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on June 03, 2016, 06:37:32 PM
Yeah. I personally would have an hard time without Internet for that long, plus it would suck for CW activity >.<
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on June 04, 2016, 10:00:19 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on June 03, 2016, 06:37:32 PM
Yeah. I personally would have an hard time without Internet for that long, plus it would suck for CW activity >.<

yeah you are the most active person on this website :p
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on June 04, 2016, 03:49:13 PM
Yeah, when I lost internet access in Feb 2007, Omnimaga went from 2000+ posts per month to 700 in just a month span. That said, when Dudeman313 went less active here a few weeks ago it did not impact activity that much (although perhaps it did nullify a potential increase).
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on June 05, 2016, 07:04:19 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on June 04, 2016, 03:49:13 PM
Yeah, when I lost internet access in Feb 2007, Omnimaga went from 2000+ posts per month to 700 in just a month span. That said, when Dudeman313 went less active here a few weeks ago it did not impact activity that much (although perhaps it did nullify a potential increase).

thats alot of posts :o
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on June 05, 2016, 07:18:23 AM
Well 2K was pretty standard for a TI forum at the time, but if you mean the decrease, then yes it was drastic.
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on June 05, 2016, 07:20:50 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on June 05, 2016, 07:18:23 AM
Well 2K was pretty standard for a TI forum at the time, but if you mean the decrease, then yes it was drastic.

yeah, if you want to keep a community active you need to keep it active by being active too, youtube at first , no one uploaded, so the developers from youtube uploaded videos themselfes so people would do too.
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on June 05, 2016, 03:51:05 PM
Yeah, I noticed that most forums where one of the admins are not among the top posters don't last as long as others unless they have high traffic from newbies seeking for help, and even then it seems that fewer and fewer people ask for help if only those people ever post.
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on June 06, 2016, 04:03:49 PM
Update : i just finished email styling, i still need to make a automatic email sending script but the email itself is done.
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on June 06, 2016, 04:07:47 PM
What kind of e-mail will you send automatically?
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on June 06, 2016, 04:09:10 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on June 06, 2016, 04:07:47 PM
What kind of e-mail will you send automatically?

when you register it will generate a link to activate your account, and also for password recoveries and stuff, we might setup a newsletter but you will have to sign up manually for that, but we dont know tho
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on June 06, 2016, 04:11:33 PM
Ah ok. For newsletter you might want to have a newsletter box checked by default on the register page that the user can uncheck, else some people tend to be annoyed if a site starts sending them newsletter without asking. :P (and some sites send them every 24 hour O.O)
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on June 06, 2016, 04:40:30 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on June 06, 2016, 04:11:33 PM
Ah ok. For newsletter you might want to have a newsletter box checked by default on the register page that the user can uncheck, else some people tend to be annoyed if a site starts sending them newsletter without asking. :P (and some sites send them every 24 hour O.O)


yeah thats what i meant by manually signing yourself up for news letters :p
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: c4ooo on June 09, 2017, 02:56:52 AM
Quote from: xlibman on June 06, 2016, 04:11:33 PM
Ah ok. For newsletter you might want to have a newsletter box checked by default on the register page that the user can uncheck, else some people tend to be annoyed if a site starts sending them newsletter without asking. :P (and some sites send them every 24 hour O.O)
Hehehe the code walrus website was doing this to me a few months ago (and unchecked button didn't seem to work <_< ) xD
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on June 09, 2017, 03:16:22 AM
Weird, that shouldn't happen, but that might be related to that one thing we had once a while ago when we fixed some site issues with permissions or user settings being reset for no reason. Or it might have been one of those rare e-mails that are sent to everyone no matter what (eg when Omnimaga got hacked and we had to tell everyone to change their CW passwords)
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on July 19, 2017, 12:52:14 PM
don't know if anyone even noticed, but the website was offline for a week or 2, it's back online.
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: _iPhoenix_ on July 19, 2017, 02:48:18 PM
Quote from: Jokeriske on July 19, 2017, 12:52:14 PM
don't know if anyone even noticed, but the website was offline for a week or 2, it's back online.
Maybe only in your region? It was fine for me :)
Title: Re: Website - Updates
Post by: Jokeriske on July 19, 2017, 08:07:21 PM
Quote from: _iPhoenix_ on July 19, 2017, 02:48:18 PM
Quote from: Jokeriske on July 19, 2017, 12:52:14 PM
don't know if anyone even noticed, but the website was offline for a week or 2, it's back online.
Maybe only in your region? It was fine for me :)

ohh it was? the server which runs our website is located in my home  ??? , a problem with portforwarding occured which caused our servers to be offline :/