Ways to contribute

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Revision as of 11:45, 3 June 2021 by Hobbes (talk | contribs) (Formatting)
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AGS is completely run, developed and managed on a volunteer, unpaid basis by its community members. It's been this way for decades and has produced a lively, friendly and engaged community dedicated to making AGS the best it can be. However, there's always room for improvement and we want to have as active a community as possible. So if you want to engage more with the AGS Community but aren't sure where to help, take a look at some suggestions below:

How to help out

Engine Development

AGS is created under the permissible Artistic License 2.0. It's hosted on GitHub and actively developed. If you're interested in helping to code the next version and further improve AGS, please consider joining forces with your fellow community members there. There are many active discussions on how to best take AGS into the future on the forum and we invite you to join the conversation there.

Testing and Reporting Engine Issues

We use the GitHub Issue Tracker to stay on top of all current feature requests, issues and bugs in AGS. So please take the time to report these as you're using the software. Managing the AGS code is a complex job with many moving pieces so clear reporting on any issues if/when they arise will only benefit the future stability of the program.

Join the forums

The forums are a very active place and considered (by many) to be the beating heart of our community. It's where we all register our username for the first time to then begin to engage with our fellow community members. So please sign up, introduce yourself and join in on the conversation.

Make Games

It goes without saying that we encourage everyone to have a go at creating adventure games - it's our love of the genre that brought us all to AGS in the first place! Whether you use ready-made game packs or design everything from scratch, there's so much to gain from putting your own little game together for the first time. So please do, the more people that use the engine, the more we expand our knowledge base together.

Play Games

An unplayed game is almost as sad as an unread book left on the subway. Or a painting gathering dust in the attic. Or... well, you get the point. Games are designed to be played and enjoyed, that's why we create them. So even if the idea of making your own game is too daunting at this point in time, please become an active player (or tester) of the many AGS games out there. Be sure to leave a friendly comment on any games you like in the AGS Games Database, the creator(s) will really appreciate that!

Help write things

If all the game design stuff isn't really your strength, but you like to put words to paper - you're in luck. AGS has two big member-supported areas where this is useful: this Wiki and the AGS Manual. Good writing is succinct and clear and the world can always do with more of it. So consider helping out on the AGS Manual or this Wiki. The Wiki is constantly being refreshed and can do with updating some historic bits (check the dates on some pages and you'll see what we mean) or adding completely new pages. There's always a need for exciting, up-to-date tutorials for example, so please click that Edit button and help improve our Wiki.

Create free art

Music, sprites, backgrounds, fonts... anything that can help your fellow community members to easily put a game together is appreciated. The great thing about AGS is that it can load so many different types of art into the program so whether you're an aspiring composer, (pixel) artist, font designer or writer, there's always something you can contribute. Keep an eye on the Recruitment area on the forums to see if someone's specifically looking for help.

Join us on Discord, Facebook or elsewhere

You can take a look at the Communities page to find out more about the different places to engage with fellow AGS community members. Our Discord is a popular and active place, but for some, Facebook is more enjoyable. Or perhaps you'd rather join a forum in French or German? The possibilities are, well, not endless, but there are definitely quite a few ways to meet fellow AGSers.

Spread the word

If game creators have Itch.Io pages for example, or you're active on Twitter or any other social media... spreading the word helps. It's that simple. Please help raise awareness about the games we create. Point-and-Click adventure games are nowhere near as popular as the big triple A titles (nor do we really desire that level of "fame") but more exposure for our games is always great and really helps put a positive spotlight on the AGS community.

The only costs currently happening are hosting costs. And whilst they don't run into the thousands and thousands of pounds, web hosting isn't free so any contributions made towards that are greatly appreciated. So please consider heading over the donations page and helping out financially, even a few bucks will go a long way.