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Posted By
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Pete Nattress
Cheesy Bits img src/uploads/sccheesegif
Registered
23/09/2002
Points
4811
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6th July, 2003 at 14:00:50 -
i guess this is my version of the "improve the download section" post.
im looking at the download section now, and there are one or two decent games nestled in between a load of crap demos, alphas, abondonwares and minigames. the problem is, newbies flood the download section with all this crap and all the decent games quickly slip off both the download page and the front page, making them impossible to find.
so, can we please have a seperate PAGE for alphas, minigames etc, so that the proper games that people work hard on stay in their proper place for longer. and then people can go to the minigame section and download the crappy stuff and tell newbies how to improve it.
but if SC and co dont want to do this, please do something, because people's decent creations are all too quickly being buried by crap. thank you.
www.thenatflap.co.uk
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Knudde (Shab)
Administrator
Crazy?
Registered
31/01/2003
Points
5125
      
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6th July, 2003 at 16:17:10 -
I'm proud to say that I haven't released crap..or anything for that matter, cept for a few articles..
Craps, I'm an old man!
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Assault Andy
Administrator
I make other people create vaporware
Registered
29/07/2002
Points
5686
   
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6th July, 2003 at 21:20:52 -
Damn straight PETE! It is so crap, when you work for ages on a game, then it is on the new downloads for 10 mins before it gets pushed off by crap. *ARRRRRGH!*
-Andy
Creator of Faerie Solitaire:
http://www.create-games.com/download.asp?id=7792
Also creator of ZDay20 and Dungeon Dash.
http://www.Jigxor.com
http://twitter.com/JigxorAndy
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Crono
Registered
02/01/2002
Points
579
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6th July, 2003 at 23:00:46 -
Who gives a shit how long its on the new downloads sections for. I download games if they're good, not just all the ones on the new downloads. No offense andy but your stuff isn't that damn, certainly not enough to call other stuff "crap". Almost all the stuff here is crap. The Gotw is a joke now "Oh hey you, you're the only one left so I guess you win!". I think the best way to improve the damn downloads sections is to delete all the bad games, and to keep the good games(if any). Plus the preview sections is full of crap, I wish they were fucking detailed screenshots and infomation about a good game, instead of some shit game with decription, not screenshots, and a joke name.
(insert crap here)
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Eric
Registered
12/09/2002
Points
1473
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6th July, 2003 at 23:51:12 -
I thought this was gonna be another post complaining about the download section without any real insight, I was wrong however, good show Pete.
I wanted to put a bullet in between the eyes of every panda that wouldnt screw to save its own species. - Tyler Durden - Fight Club
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Shen
Possibly Insane 
Registered
14/05/2002
Points
3497
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7th July, 2003 at 01:26:59 -
Yuh, I actually agree with you here.
Filtering out the crap would take too long though, and there's always the debate of if it's crap or not. I think having games reviewed 8.0 on average or over in red or something would be the best way to pick the best ones. If a game hasn't been reviewed it's obviously not worth it 
gone fishin'
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Alex Scobell
Registered
22/07/2002
Points
717
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7th July, 2003 at 02:28:46 -
Yeah make a sepearte Beta, demo, alpha page so good games will be easier to find.
www.sunfungames.50megs.com - The Secret of T.E.L.X coming soon!
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Cybermaze
Registered
03/04/2003
Points
853
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7th July, 2003 at 17:20:41 -
Well, since I got a thread on this matter, Im obviously interested in changing the download section too. Its simply the worst overall feature of TDC (when looking at the options on the top menu bar of TDC).
It is my believe that the downloads section should be divided into separate sections, like the forum/board is divided into 4 separate sections. So when one selected downloads one would be presented with the separate sections: Games, Demoes, Apps and Developments.
Maybe there could be more sections, thats the ones Ive found so far. The first 3 should be obvious. Generally I would treat abandonware as either a demo (if developed far enough to look like one) or as a development. Development covers initial abandonware, engines and other stuff you can either look at and learn from or directly use in a existing project or complete yourself.
Each section could then have what today we today know as sections. Ie Games could have the sections: all, RPG, RTS, Board game etc. You get the drill???
But that is not all. Then I propose that there is formed a "Download review team". The staff is of course some TDC members. The team could be up to like 10 members depending on the amount of work and how much time the team members can spare.
When a new download is submitted its not displayed right away. Instead its placed on a special download list that only the "Download review team" can see. And so 2 members of the team look at the submitted download. Is the section it is proposed to be in correct? If not the team can change it. And the team can also decide if the quality is good enough. This is NOT intended to mean that anything is rejected just because it looks noobish. Its only intended to stop the really really meaningless submissions that may or may not come. In addition the 2 members looking at the download must agree upon a review of the game. They do a review together of the game/app/demo/etc. So any download has one review as a start.
The overall score of the game should be listed on the download list and it should be possible to sort after that.
Now by dividing the downloads into more independant sections, the stuff to look through is way smaller. Its easier to find what you seek both because the number of downloads is smaller, but also beacuse the sections are reliable.
And one more thing. Every member should have a favorite download list. Its a list where you can add your favorite downloads. So if youve made a comment about a game/demo/whatever you can easily access that game/demo/whatever again to see if your comment has been seen and commented on.
That was quite a lot ... well ... comment on it!
If you knew, I would have to kill you...
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Cybermaze
Registered
03/04/2003
Points
853
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7th July, 2003 at 17:27:07 -
The thing I call a "section", like Games had: all, RPG, RTS, Board game etc. should really be seen as a filter, because thats what it is. So to distinguise the terms I will in the future use the word "section" about the separate download lists like Games, demoes, apps etc. and the word "filter" about "subsections" like all, RPG, RTS etc.
If you knew, I would have to kill you...
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Pete Nattress
Cheesy Bits img src/uploads/sccheesegif
Registered
23/09/2002
Points
4811
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7th July, 2003 at 18:36:18 -
it's good to know that people are thinking on the same lines. cybermaze, i like that idea but i think it would be too time comsuming for the "review team". a better idea, IMO, would be to have a button on the page as a "suggest a move/deletion" feature. that way, admins are made aware only of problems that exist and need rectifying. and the review feature may become a bit tiresome.
for some reason, i think that shadowcaster is always reluctant to change the site's coding, or to add more admins, or whatever. i dont profess to know what type of red tape is involved in changing the site, espescially totally modifying it. but its good that the majority agree that something must be done, because there are so many submissions now, people's stuff gets buried too quick in a single list.
perhaps a suggestion for a new site poll could be "Do you think the downloads section needs improving?". i think the result would be an overwhelming yes.
www.thenatflap.co.uk
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Cybermaze
Registered
03/04/2003
Points
853
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8th July, 2003 at 10:36:12 -
Its always nice we can agree on something 
Pete Nattress and JD (Heretic Emu Studios). Such button features would only move the problem to the allready burdened admins. I can find many downloads thats totally misplaced which is annoying. Curing the problem from the root automatically cures the top too.
One more note. When in a section there should be 2 lists. First a list with the 10 newest downloads and then the main list sorted by rating. That way one can find both the newest downloads as well as the top rated ones without using hours of work.
As a new user I find it almost impossible to find out what games are popular so I can try them out myself.
If you knew, I would have to kill you...
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Ashman
Possibly Insane
Registered
12/06/2002
Points
3974
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12th July, 2003 at 02:14:00 -
"...downloads section is a pain in the arse..."
Yeah it is, sometimes when I sit down... wait! That's hemoroids!
Show me the power child,
I'd like to say,
That I'm down on my knees today,
Gives me the butterflies,
Gives me away,
'Til I'm up on my feet again,
I'm feeling outshined.
"Outshined" - SoundGarden
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istvan
Registered
03/07/2003
Points
1540
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12th July, 2003 at 02:41:48 -
yeh i dont think we should delete the crap and show off the great, that would be against everything TDC stands for, but we should organise the crap so if we ever wanna see someone elses crap we are free to do so, whilst still being able to find everything else
'oh yeah? he's thrown a kettle over a pub, what have you done?'
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ShadowCaster
Possibly Insane
Registered
02/01/2002
Points
2203
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12th July, 2003 at 04:58:54 -
I didnt bother reading all the posts here because there's too much text  I've just added the ability to vote for a game without having to review it (and authors cant vote for their own games) so that should hopefully help you sift through the crap... as long as everyone gets involved and starts voting!
I've wanted to put in Demo, Engine, etc buttons for ages, though it takes a while to implement (and half the people that submit games dont submit them to the right genre anyway, so I dont think people would want to click a button that means they're going to get less people playing it... since obviously people just want to play full games.
Anyway, I hope you find the Thumbs system useful. If you have any more comments you can post here or DC mail me, etc.
 Mike 
"Now I guess we're... 'Path-E-Tech Management'" -Dilbert
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Pete Nattress
Cheesy Bits img src/uploads/sccheesegif
Registered
23/09/2002
Points
4811
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12th July, 2003 at 10:48:47 -
yay! i think i remember suggesting something like that ages ago, even if i didn't, it's good to see it's been implemented. its a great way of seeing how popular a game is as soon as you view the downloads page.
its a good first step. i know it isnt exactly what cybermaze and myself were asking for, but at least somethings been done. thanks sc.
www.thenatflap.co.uk
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Pete Nattress
Cheesy Bits img src/uploads/sccheesegif
Registered
23/09/2002
Points
4811
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12th July, 2003 at 10:54:55 -
nice to see you're prioritizing: download pages look fine in Netscape 7 but there's formatting problems in IE.
www.thenatflap.co.uk
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ShadowCaster
Possibly Insane
Registered
02/01/2002
Points
2203
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12th July, 2003 at 20:16:04 -
I dont use Netscape, only IE, and it looks fine to me
"Now I guess we're... 'Path-E-Tech Management'" -Dilbert
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Pete Nattress
Cheesy Bits img src/uploads/sccheesegif
Registered
23/09/2002
Points
4811
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13th July, 2003 at 06:25:56 -
ah... it's because i wasn't logged in with IE. so i had the username/password box on the left instead of my avatar. you might want to look into that if unregistered members cant see the pages properly.
www.thenatflap.co.uk
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ShadowCaster
Possibly Insane
Registered
02/01/2002
Points
2203
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13th July, 2003 at 06:31:34 -
Yeah, I noticed that, and had posted about it previously. The problem is there is only 1 small part that is different for people who arent logged in, totaling about 5 lines, and there is nothing wrong with it... so it's kind of confusing to work out what is causing it.
Last year one of my lecturers showed me a program that lines up HTML tags... for example:
<TD>
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</TD>
but obviously on a much larger scale. If anyone knows the name of that program, and could tell me, it would be appreciated. Because I think that would help me find the error on the final page.
Mike
"Now I guess we're... 'Path-E-Tech Management'" -Dilbert
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ShadowCaster
Possibly Insane
Registered
02/01/2002
Points
2203
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13th July, 2003 at 06:32:06 -
Whoops, that came out wrong, but hopefully you get the idea anyway.
"Now I guess we're... 'Path-E-Tech Management'" -Dilbert
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