An Online Adventure Game Design Document App (The Plan)

[selmiak]

Two questions people.
Question 1:
Does anyone care about oauth or similar logins i.e. being able to use their google, facebook or twitter account to log-in rather than registering for yet ANOTHER service.

I think it'd be plausible, in the future, to link to your AGS account but I'd have to talk to AGA about that.

Do you plan to store all this on your server? I'd prefer a installable solution that you can install on every server that has php/mySQL.

[Peder 🚀]

Question 1:
Does anyone care about oauth or similar logins i.e. being able to use their google, facebook or twitter account to log-in rather than registering for yet ANOTHER service.

I think it'd be plausible, in the future, to link to your AGS account but I'd have to talk to AGA about that.

I personally don't think it would be an issue if there is no way to connect to the site using another service, but sure it wouldn't hurt giving us the option. But definitely not something to prioritize!

Question 2:
How important would a task/to-do list and messaging (internal system chat/message inbox)? I'm tempted to scrap it entirely... at least for now. We can revist any features later.

I think a task/to-do list is something you should NOT scrap, however messaging is not a feature I would miss, but would for sure be useful! But like with the login thing probably not something that is anything to prioritize to start with!

[magintz]

Do you plan to store all this on your server? I'd prefer a installable solution that you can install on every server that has php/mySQL.

I'm very much against this as an idea generally for a few reasons, the key being collaborative.

Having it an install across multiple servers will de-centralise the core user base. Meaning that a user will need to register across multiple instances of the app on multiple servers to deal with multiple games. Just to take an example from Grundislav who works with Dave Gilbert on Wadjet Eye stuff as well as his own Grundislav Games projects. I don't think there are any benefits here to have it as an install.

Secondly, it de-centralises the code, meaning that updates have to be rolled out progressively and small bug fixes take a long time to propagate to all users and will block my agile, iterative approach of delivery small packages of new features and bug-fixes and will generally slow down development.

It will slow-down adoption. People will be less likely to use it if they have to download and install it. I don't think the majority of users have their own hosting solutions.

Lastly it's not written in either PHP or MySQL. IMO PHP is a horrible language and the users of PHP are generally Unskilled 'code monkeys' and graduates. Whilst I have nothing against mySQL or SQL in general I'm actually using a NoSQL system known as MongoDB. For no other reason than I want to expand my knowledge base. I'm liking it so far but it does require dedicated hosting (i.e. a VPS such as a hosted linux box) to run.

I'll probably end up making the code open-source on GitHub at some point to allow people to fork and host on their own or improve later. But for now, I'm trying to keep it internal (too many chefs spoil the brew yadda yadda)

[selmiak]

I don't think there are any benefits here to have it as an install.

So someone hacks your server and there you have it, an instant goldmine of gameideas. Or maybe you are creating a honeypot for game ideas. Nah, just joking about the last...
And hey, php is a pretty cool language used by cool people!

[Eric]

I don't think there are any benefits here to have it as an install.

Two potential benefits I could see some advocating:

1. Intellectual property -- developing a game whose assets are stored on a third party's server might be off-putting for some.
2. Control -- With an install on my server, I have access so long as I keep it up. If it's on yours, and you lose interest, don't pay your hosting bill, have bandwidth overages, get kidnapped by Somali pirates and are forced to live out an ascetic existence on an unheard of island...then everything is gone.

[MiteWiseacreLives!]

Hey Magintz,
BUMP
Any progress on this project? or has it been dropped?
My interest is in using some thing like this for solo projects (for now), a really nice way to organize and review things. It seems pretty neat. Although I suppose pencil and paper work for now but I feel like its so easy to get lost in small chunks and lose sight of the big picture of your plot/game.
So? What's up?

[magintz]

Don't worry, this hasn't been abandoned. It's just delayed somewhat. I'm working on some other projects as well as a game I hope to release soon. I came across a lot of things I wanted in and thought were cool, but at the same time were handled far better by Google docs and Dropbox. I decided not to reinvent the wheel but to create Something that fills the gap and creates a symbiotic relationship between these tools... For that I needed to go back to the drawing board a little which is also where my need for http://bigwhoop.omgaz.co.uk/ came into play (which I am still writing, but needs editing and sorting out - I'll publish soon).

Hopefully when the dust settles from a very personally chaotic xmas and New year I'll be able to continue.

[jannar85]

Anything new regarding the app?
I'd be interested in donating to speed up the process Also, testing if you want

[magintz]

Things really haven't progressed at all since I last posted, not that I'm any less put off from doing this.

The big thing affecting me getting this done is my upcoming trip. I'm leaving the country at the end of September and won't be back for several months - I'm touring the world for a bit.

I'll be having lots of resources made public before I go. Game design lessons, structuring a GDD etc... most of which I have in draft format and just needs editing and publishing.

The other big thing is I'm working on coding up a travel blogging platform that will be used whilst I'm away. I've got a month to get this finished - so keen on getting it done

Hopefully my travelling will settle down in the New Year and I'll have my laptop with me on my journey to work on this. If I have time I'll try to release something (even if it is an early prototype) before I go.

Here's some older stuff on github: https://github.com/omgaz/ags-gdd if you want to have a look.

[jannar85]

Can't you put up a "donate" button. I'd be interested to donate money to see this one completed faster

[jannar85]

Anything new?