Game Maker's Garage Forum
Game Creation => GameMaker => Topic started by: Circuit on May 28, 2012, 05:21:44 PM
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I have this idea that has been bouncing around in my head for a long time. As some of you know, I used to be a GMer. I made a lot of games in the late 90's. That was a very hard time in my life because I was chronically ill with celiac disease and depression. But GM, and the GM community, were an escape for me. I made a lot of friends, had a lot of fun, and learned a lot of things about computers and programming. Those memories are the best memories I have of that time in my life. As a result of that, I'm now working towards a degree in programming, hoping to make a career of it.
Anyway, here's the idea. I want to make a database of all known GM games, of all time, not just the 90's. Each record would have fields like: the name of a game, its creator(s), the story, the date created, the version of GM used, the features used (click areas, scripting, status bar, timer, etc.), the number of pictures and sounds, the graphic and sound tools apparently used, franchises borrowed from (Star Wars, etc.), a link to the download, background information from the AOL forums, and other miscellaneous tidbits. The records would be sortable by any field. Sorted chronologically, the database would be the history book of GM.
What do you guys think? Does this sound cool? If so, what do you think would be the best way to make it? FileMaker, PHP, wiki, etc.? I think a wiki would be cool, but I don't know if wiki records are sortable, and there's the question of where it would be hosted.
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Php with SQL to store data sounds like the best bet.
It could be hosted on the GMG.
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Id enjoy seeing it as a wiki. Perhaps we could also do profiles for everybody cause there are people that i havent heard anything about that used to be very involved with the GM
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I'mma be famous... 8)
Zoo, in 2010, Zoo released 2 games that would change video gaming fornever. They were farmageddon and Escape The House. There was a planned sequel to Escape the house planned for summer of 2011, but it was never finished due to obsolete technology and laziness
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The easy part would be coding something like that in PHP and MySQL. The hard part would be finding all that data.
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I think all of the really old games from the AOL days are still available for download on AOL. The links are hidden, but I think they still work. I have them in my fav places for AOL on another computer. I will have to check.
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Php with SQL to store data sounds like the best bet.
It could be hosted on the GMG.
Thanks for offering to host Gan. Unfortunately, I don't know any PHP or SQL. If somebody else could take care of that, I could enter the data...
Id enjoy seeing it as a wiki. Perhaps we could also do profiles for everybody cause there are people that i havent heard anything about that used to be very involved with the GM
That's a great idea. The people are more important to me than the games that they made. They were really cool guys, and some of them went on to do incredible things. Each game page should link to the page of its creator, and vice versa.
I'mma be famous... 8)
Zoo, in 2010, Zoo released 2 games that would change video gaming fornever. They were farmageddon and Escape The House. There was a planned sequel to Escape the house planned for summer of 2011, but it was never finished due to obsolete technology and laziness
Well, hey, sure. We want the complete history of GM, not just the old days.
The easy part would be coding something like that in PHP and MySQL. The hard part would be finding all that data.
Hey, I'm glad you think that would be easy... maybe you and/or Gan could take care of the coding. ;D I have most of the games on my HD, downloaded from the Old games archive (https://www.box.com/shared/ijvs45xf2v), so it would just be a matter of entering the data into the database one piece at a time.
I think all of the really old games from the AOL days are still available for download on AOL. The links are hidden, but I think they still work. I have them in my fav places for AOL on another computer. I will have to check.
Whoa, really? :o That would be great if they're still available. Please check on that, Al. I want to get all of the games, not just some. And if I have to download a trial version of AOL to access their software library again, I will gladly do that. Actually, I don't want to do that... I forgot how hard it is to cancel an account with them... but I would do it anyway.
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Yeah I guess I can help set it up.
If we made it in PHP we'd hafta figure out all the data we want to store in SQL. Then I'd make an input page where you can add creators and games. Then I'd make the php pages to show the games and creators. We'd have to figure out some sorta design for the page. It could be plain text but that isn't too pretty.
Alternatively we could use a Wiki and have all coding done for us. It'd give us an interface design too.
You can decide which you want. A wiki would do all the manual work but have it's own design, not as customizable and would have to be a bit separate from the main site. Php+SQL would be very customizable, we'd have to make the design ourselves though it could be integrated into the site and actually use forum login and usernames.
(I don't have too much knowledge of wikis, never set one up)
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I wouldn't mind doing design/coding work if you went the PHP/MySQL route. A simple input page and display page wouldn't require too much effort.
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I've been imagining the database as a wiki, simply because they can be edited by a community of users, and because I know what wikis look like. But it doesn't have to be a wiki. The best choice is what you guys know how to program, which is PHP and SQL. If you could design it to look and function somewhat like a wiki, that would be cool.
If we made it in PHP we'd hafta figure out all the data we want to store in SQL.
Yeah, I've been thinking about that a lot. It has to be broken down into types of records (i.e. types of pages), and fields (pieces of data) for each type of record. I'd like to have more types of records than just Games and Creators. Things like: Companies, Places (AOL forums, GMU, SNET, GM forum, GMG), Events, Years, and Tools (GameMaker, ClarisWorks, MacPaint, SoundApp, etc.).
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Editing ability does seem possible. I am able to integrate it into the forum, so if someone's logged on as a member they can edit.
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Well i am by no means a web based programmer. So ill do the descriptions. Ill play all the games and write synopsi for them read through all the posts about them in their threads and incorporarte reviews. Should i look anywhere else for information? And although i wont explicitly elucidate on easter eggs i will strongly hint some of them.
Also, and this is a stretch, we could have a game graveyard. Old abondoned projects we can put there, or on github and then put the github link there.
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Looks like all the old GM games are still on AOL, but I can only get to the links from the Windows AOL because there's no Mac AOL anymore. It's just AOL Desktop which is basically just a web browser with an integrated AOL email client. I may try connecting with my old Mac, but other than that I'll have to download them all from my parents house over the next few weeks. The descriptions are all there which makes it interesting. Here's a sample of one of the descriptions. This is for RPG NEO:
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Subject: GMKR: V1.1 RPG NEO
Author: Masamune13
Uploaded By: Masamune13
Date: 7/13/1999
File: RPG NEO.sit (2891126 bytes)
Estimated Download Time (63277 baud): < 12 minutes
Download Count: 198
Equipment: Macintosh
Needs: Macintosh, QuickTime 2.0 or higher
Keywords: Gamemaker, NEO, Color, RPG
Type: Freely Distributed
This is an updated version of the GM hit, RPG NEO. Due to some several nasty bugs, I re-uploaded this version. If you hacen't downloaded RPG NEO before, download this version.
What started as two demos, turned into a big project like this. I was overwhelmed at the responses I received. Due to the complications with the original RPG NEO, I redid it on my new computer, thus creating a better game.
This is the game most people think GameMaker could not do, well, you'll be surprised after you play this game! This game has all the aspects of a RPG. This time with nice, crisp graphics and a excellent plot. Also with MIDIs to help you get in the mood of the game.
This game has:
• A good plot
• Very good graphics
• A well done RPG setting
• Almost everything that you would expect from a RPG
• Nice music
This is very well worth the download. All MIDIs have been translated to QuickTime files due to complications.
This is the SECOND version of RPG NEO. If you encounter any bugs, please send me an email of all bugs, comments, and complaints at:
Masamune13@aol.com
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Editing ability does seem possible. I am able to integrate it into the forum, so if someone's logged on as a member they can edit.
That's good. You might want to take it a step further and only allow 'trusted' members to edit. Not that I distrust anyone here - I would worry about what the rest of the internet might do, if all they needed to edit/vandalize the database was a forum account.
Well i am by no means a web based programmer. So ill do the descriptions. Ill play all the games and write synopsi for them read through all the posts about them in their threads and incorporarte reviews. Should i look anywhere else for information? And although i wont explicitly elucidate on easter eggs i will strongly hint some of them.
Also, and this is a stretch, we could have a game graveyard. Old abondoned projects we can put there, or on github and then put the github link there.
There are a ton of games to go through, so your help would be invaluable. You know, there are a lot of games I haven't played yet, games that were made after I left the GM scene. Maybe since you're a newer GMer, you should do the newer games, and I should do the older ones.
I like the idea of a game graveyard, too. I can recall several interesting demos that never turned into full games, and sequels that were announced but never materialized.
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This is a very interesting idea. I am watching from afar (lurkin' as always).
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Looks like all the old GM games are still on AOL, but I can only get to the links from the Windows AOL because there's no Mac AOL anymore. It's just AOL Desktop which is basically just a web browser with an integrated AOL email client. I may try connecting with my old Mac, but other than that I'll have to download them all from my parents house over the next few weeks. The descriptions are all there which makes it interesting. ...
Wow, excellent! Hey, would you mind posting the links? (IIRC, if you go to your Favorite Places folder, you can click an "Edit..." button to view the actual aol:// protocol URLs.) I recently installed OS 8 on my Intel Mac under SheepShaver, and I think I might be able to access the libraries with the old AOL 4.0 client. I have a lot of free time right now, so I wouldn't mind downloading them all and saving the descriptions in TextEdit. Whichever ones are missing from the GMG's archive, I'll send to Gan or Tim so that they can upload them. (Hope they don't mind... lol). BTW, some of the games are compressed with Compact Pro and as VISE installers, so they need to be downloaded on a Mac or else the resource forks will be lost and they won't work.
This is a very interesting idea. I am watching from afar (lurkin' as always).
Hey x. I've always wondered how you became connected with the GMG, because as far as I know, you haven't made any GM or SC games. Did you used to be on the AOL forums too?
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Looks like all the old GM games are still on AOL, but I can only get to the links from the Windows AOL because there's no Mac AOL anymore. It's just AOL Desktop which is basically just a web browser with an integrated AOL email client. I may try connecting with my old Mac, but other than that I'll have to download them all from my parents house over the next few weeks. The descriptions are all there which makes it interesting. ...
Wow, excellent! Hey, would you mind posting the links? (IIRC, if you go to your Favorite Places folder, you can click an "Edit..." button to view the actual aol:// protocol URLs.) I recently installed OS 8 on my Intel Mac under SheepShaver, and I think I might be able to access the libraries with the old AOL 4.0 client. I have a lot of free time right now, so I wouldn't mind downloading them all and saving the descriptions in TextEdit. Whichever ones are missing from the GMG's archive, I'll send to Gan or Tim so that they can upload them. (Hope they don't mind... lol). BTW, some of the games are compressed with Compact Pro and as VISE installers, so they need to be downloaded on a Mac or else the resource forks will be lost and they won't work.
This is a very interesting idea. I am watching from afar (lurkin' as always).
Hey x. I've always wondered how you became connected with the GMG, because as far as I know, you haven't made any GM or SC games. Did you used to be on the AOL forums too?
Yeah I was a member of the old GM forums, as well as the old GMG forums. I've been lukin' for about a decade I think 0.0.
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Yeah I was a member of the old GM forums, as well as the old GMG forums. I've been lukin' for about a decade I think 0.0.
That's what I thought, but I don't remember anybody named x. What was your AOL username?
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Yeah I was a member of the old GM forums, as well as the old GMG forums. I've been lukin' for about a decade I think 0.0.
That's what I thought, but I don't remember anybody named x. What was your AOL username?
I can't remember, I think it was something stupid like 'infect' or some random assortment of letters and numbers like 'mw3489'.
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Here are the links to the AOL GameMaker Games libraries. You need to sign onto AOL using the AOL software to access these.
GameMaker Games 1: aol://4400:12739/
GameMaker Games 2: aol://4400:29333/
Mac Game Design Tools: aol://4400:29621/
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Here are the links to the AOL GameMaker Games libraries. You need to sign onto AOL using the AOL software to access these.
GameMaker Games 1: aol://4400:12739/
GameMaker Games 2: aol://4400:29333/
Mac Game Design Tools: aol://4400:29621/
Awesome! Thank you so much, Al. Sorry to pester you, but do you have links to any of the other Mac game libraries too? If you could post all of those that you have, that would be really great. Thanks Al. :)
EDIT: I just tried connecting to AOL with 4.0, over TCP/IP instead of dial-up, and... it... works! Somehow it WORKS! I was hesitant to try because I was afraid that my dad would get an unexpected bill from AOL (we switched to Comcast years ago). But if a bill does come, I'll pay it. Now it's time to download EVERYTHING!!! It's going to be a long night...
EDIT AGAIN: The second time I launched AOL, it remembered everything from the old master account: usernames, my buddy list, etc.. When I got off, it said "the pricing plan for this billing cycle is for unlimited use." Some kind of bill is definitely coming. ::)
EDIT AGAIN AGAIN: Cola Quest is mine once more! I will never delete you again, my love.
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd504/Circuit11/colaquest.png
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It pains my heart to know that you younger folks have never seen this. You must download this, it's pure gold. If you don't, your life will never be complete.
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I'm glad you're having so much success(and fun). I'll try out Skate or Die in Sheep Shaver...
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It should work in OS X, unless you have Lion.
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I'm running Lion.
Crazy thing, I try to open it in Sheep Shaver and it alerts "Unknown Error". Then Sheep Shaver dies.
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That's odd. Perhaps it's the added carbon code that's causing the problem? Here, try the non-carbonized version.
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When I got off, it said "the pricing plan for this billing cycle is for unlimited use." Some kind of bill is definitely coming
Go to keyword BILLING. There should be an option for a free account. That's what I have. AOL is free if you connect using another ISP. I have verizon.
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Non-carbonized worked well!
Haha, couldn't figure out how to play though. Kept dying.
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Go to keyword BILLING. There should be an option for a free account. That's what I have. AOL is free if you connect using another ISP. I have verizon.
Thanks. I tried keyword BILLING, but the page wouldn't load because the server couldn't be found. No problem though, I just looked at my account info on aol.com with Safari, and it says I already have free AOL. Woot!
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Non-carbonized worked well!
Haha, couldn't figure out how to play though. Kept dying.
Yeah, you have to click the invisible button and then enter the secret 50-digit code. ;) I just felt like sharing this because it's such a good example of the spirit of GM: cool, random, violent, and hilarious.
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Non-carbonized worked well!
Haha, couldn't figure out how to play though. Kept dying.
Yeah, you have to click the invisible button and then enter the secret 50-digit code. ;) I just felt like sharing this because it's such a good example of the spirit of GM: cool, random, violent, and hilarious.
Great... I'm going to be playing this all night...
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This is all a great idea. I hope you can manage to salvage stuff from AOL without it closing or anything. My advice (which I also gave antoher time) is: put the games on your own server, not something like mediafire, so that they are safe and not randomly deleted, and try to make the HTML/HTTP simple enough that it can make it into the Web Archive [i.e. dont use e.g. hashbang/javascript URLs] :)
There are lots of old game files here: http://www.box.com/shared/ijvs45xf2v/
I'm not sure where they came from. Some rare stuff in there.
That link was posted a few years ago on these forums.
It's nice that several people here have a good SheepShaver setup.
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This is all a great idea. I hope you can manage to salvage stuff from AOL without it closing or anything. My advice (which I also gave antoher time) is: put the games on your own server, not something like mediafire, so that they are safe and not randomly deleted, and try to make the HTML/HTTP simple enough that it can make it into the Web Archive [i.e. dont use e.g. hashbang/javascript URLs] :)
There are lots of old game files here: http://www.box.com/shared/ijvs45xf2v/
I'm not sure where they came from. Some rare stuff in there.
That link was posted a few years ago on these forums.
It's nice that several people here have a good SheepShaver setup.
Yeah, I've been constantly afraid that the games might disappear from AOL. The other Mac game libraries were closed years ago. IIRC, the GM games were left intact because an admin decided to 'overlook' them during the liquidation, God bless him. But the games won't be there forever.
I've actually already downloaded all the games from that link. I went back to AOL because I noticed that several were missing. It turns out that more than 100 games are missing from the GMG archive! :o
If I had my own server, I would definitely follow your suggestion re: the web archive.
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Hey Al, is there a way to determine the number of cards in a GM game using ResEdit?
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Hey Al, is there a way to determine the number of cards in a GM game using ResEdit?
There are always 250 cards except for really old versions that only had 100 cards. Determining how many are actually being used is a little harder. You can see how many cards have a picture (which is usually a good way to determine the number of cards in use) by opening the PICT resource and seing how many PICT resources there are. There will be a picture for each card. They are numbered using 1000 + the card number. So card 5 will have PICT 1005.
You can also count how many cards have some kind of scripting by looking at the Scpt resource. They are numbered the same as the PICTs. If anything on card 1 has a script on any button, click area, or the card script, then there will be a Scpt resource 1001. All the scripts on a card are saved in that one Scpt resource for that card.
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I think the few-years-old GMG Wiki (http://manual.gamemakersgarage.com/ (http://manual.gamemakersgarage.com/)) had some info on some of the more popular games and could be adapted to serve this purpose. Assuming that the data is still intact somewhere.
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It would be great if we could get that data and incorporate it into the database.
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(http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd504/Circuit11/databaseform.png)
This is the database form that I made in AppleWorks. Besides what's already on there, what other fields should it have? I plan to add number boxes for # Cards and GM Version, and a checkbox for Timers. Is there anything else?
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Looks good to me.
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Perhaps the graphic theyve chosen as the icon or the main screen. The o ly other thing i thought weird was the comment section, its more facts than reviews/descriptions, or was that your aim?
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Looks good to me.
Thanks Gan. :)
Perhaps the graphic theyve chosen as the icon or the main screen. The o ly other thing i thought weird was the comment section, its more facts than reviews/descriptions, or was that your aim?
The AppleWorks database is only intended to store basic info about the files, and any interesting facts that I feel like writing down. The real database on the GMG will have all of the things that you mentioned.
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Impressive, I didn't know anybody still used Appleworks! :D
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