Random game on site / forum

Peter Bear · Thu 12/01/2006 07:46:02

Hello

I know this feature must has been submitted or used before,

but what about a "random game" , with title, screenshot , somewhere in the site design.

That would give so chances for unknown game to be played, unless everyone play only the awards winners and the monthly picks ...

this is a idead that could be linked to the banner idea : http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=24319.0

As the game could be displayed there to ... I dont know, this is just a design issue, but for game creators and visitors this will be a cool improvement

Thank you

Gilbert · Thu 12/01/2006 08:57:27

Or, just Visit the Games page... and look if there're games you hadn't played yet...

Mordalles · Thu 12/01/2006 20:19:41

hey, i think its a good idea.
just look at how much downloads japca got from being pick of the month.
ive been through the games section loads of times, and then suddenly i see a game like japca on the front page which i totally missed when i went through the games section myself.

Anarcho · Fri 13/01/2006 02:18:37

I think it's a good idea as well. Considering they change the "Pick's of the Month" about twice a year, it's smart to just randomly select titles to be showcased.

Elliott Hird · Fri 13/01/2006 12:43:21

$game = mysql_query('SELECT * FROM GAMES WHERE id=' . rand(0, NUMBEROFGAMES)) . ' LIMIT 1');

I'll leave the NUMBEROFGAMES bit for you - it's easy

AGA · Fri 13/01/2006 16:01:25

Good thing you're here, Elliot. That CJ n00b doesn't know jack about PHP!

Pumaman · Fri 13/01/2006 22:48:15

Yeah, some sort of "Random game" feature could be nice. I'm not sure where it'd fit into the site design, any ideas?

QuoteConsidering they change the "Pick's of the Month" about twice a year

Hehe indeed, Pick of the Month is still looking for a permanent maintainer, at the moment it's just done by one of the moderators when the current pick is getting *really* old...

Quotejust look at how much downloads japca got from being pick of the month.

This is an interesting statistic actually - on average the Pick of the Month game gets about an extra 200-250 downloads per week, so it has certainly turned out to be a feature of the site that people are using.

QuoteThat CJ n00b doesn't know jack about PHP!

PHP? Is that what you kids are calling cocaine these days?

ManicMatt · Fri 13/01/2006 22:55:18

Right underneath pick of the month? You got a free area of space there?

...Is that not what you meant?

PHP?? Pot Hungry Pipesmokers?

HillBilly · Fri 13/01/2006 23:19:38

While we're at it, I think it should be a "sort by popularity/score/etc" feature in the games section. I don't like how it's alphabetically organized, so games that begin with a letter in the middle/end of the alphabet gets kinda ignored. I'm guessing "The Paparazzi Prince" is only on top of the short game list because the author was cheap enough to give it a "1" in front.

I don't know, maybe I'm going off topic here, but it would be a nice feature. I'm also supporting the "random game" and "updating pick of the month more often" idea.

T_ed89 · Sat 14/01/2006 18:34:39

I'm also disturbed by the "1 Paparazzi problem" , but a problem with the "sort by popularity" feature is that the newer games wont get a chance. They will just begin at the bottom of the list and stay there, because everyone will think that they suck, but no one have ever really played them.

Oh, and I do also support the random game feature...

Pumaman · Sat 14/01/2006 19:32:29

That "1 The Paparazzi Prince" thing is rather a cheek (though I give them credit for trying

)... I've renamed it now, and I'll add a clause to the page that states that anyone found attempting to 'cheat' like that in future will have their game permanently banned from the page; hopefully that'll stop any wannabe copy-cats.

As for sorting by something else, we've discussed it before but never managed to come up with a good way of doing it.

If you sort by popularity/downloads, the older games will always come top and newer games will always come bottom.
If you sort by rating, new games without a rating will always be at the bottom, and there is the potential for the list to be skewed by a game with only 1 or 2 votes for it coming unreasonably high or low.

HillBilly · Sat 14/01/2006 20:16:04

Quote from: Pumaman on Sat 14/01/2006 19:32:29
If you sort by popularity/downloads, the older games will always come top and newer games will always come bottom.
If you sort by rating, new games without a rating will always be at the bottom, and there is the potential for the list to be skewed by a game with only 1 or 2 votes for it coming unreasonably high or low.

Well, I was thinking the games could be sorted by recently added/date submitted. Then you could choose from a drop-down menu to sort games by popularity/rating. Another idea is an option to list all the games that need more votes, if anyone is feeling helpful.

ManicMatt · Sat 14/01/2006 21:28:51

I agree with HillBilly.

My game in progress begins with an 'S'!

I'm changing the name of my game to "A Secret". Yup.

*Note to CJ. I'm joking. Please don't ban my game.

Peter Bear · Sun 15/01/2006 10:41:19

Hey again

glad you loved the idea

Where to display it ?

well, I was wondering was is in the "Games Showcase" of the main page ( index ) ? This is always the same games, you could put one or two random game there no ?

And on the game page

Maybe the "pick of the mounth" is taking to much place, one full page, and you barely see the "option 1" below ...
Maybe resizing it a little bit , splitting the table in two parts vertically : on the left : pick of the month, with a shortened story line, and on the right part : the random game.

Plus
you could think to add Option 6 : pick one randomly , that would be useless if you consider using my first solution ( splited table ) , as you only need to refresh the page, to chose another one.

Maybe below the shown random game put a link to games.php itself : "Show another random game" , "Launch the wheel of chance ... :p" just to refresh the same page ...

voila

Peter Bear · Sat 28/01/2006 13:20:38

this thread looks like beeing forgotten :'(

Kinoko · Sat 28/01/2006 14:02:22

I agree that it's not the fairest sorting system, but I can't honestly think of a better one. At least sorting by alphabetical order does give you the chance to find the game you're looking for quickly.

I do't know how many people do it this way, but when I'm searching for a game at random, I always tend to click on a letter around the middle of the alphabet, so I rarely start at 'A'.

I know it's been said many a time before, but I really would like to see the Pick of the Month revived. It's a shame that it's become a joke... can't we find someone willing to dedicate their time to choosing one and doing a little write up every month? I don't blame anyone for being too busy for it, but surely someone out there must want the job?*

* I don't.

scotch · Sat 28/01/2006 14:07:33

I don't think it is a case of it being too much work... whoever it is assigned to tends to forget, that's all, I think. So whoever it is now... just set up something to remind you once a month. If it isn't assigned to anyone I don't mind doing it.

mwahahaha · Sat 28/01/2006 14:32:46

If there is a random games feature it should have, IMO, 5 random games at once, that way you'll never end up having to refresh because you got a game you had before, or an outdated demo.