GM Game Database

[Circuit]

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.

[Gan]

Php with SQL to store data sounds like the best bet.
It could be hosted on the GMG.

[GMG Kurt]

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

[Zoo]

I'mma be famous... 
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

[Charlo]

The easy part would be coding something like that in PHP and MySQL.  The hard part would be finding all that data.

[Al Staffieri]

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.

[Circuit]

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... 
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.     I have most of the games on my HD, downloaded from the Old games archive, 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?     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.

[Gan]

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)

[Charlo]

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.

[Circuit]

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.).

[Gan]

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.

[GMG Kurt]

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.

[Al Staffieri]

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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[Circuit]

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.

[x]

This is a very interesting idea. I am watching from afar (lurkin' as always).