TPR's Game Exchange Moderators Thread

[mcjaco]

Hey Matt,

 

I was wondering, with all the sites like CoasterSims, No Restraint (thrill network.com) and NLDC closing, do you thing it would be possible for TPR to kinda take on the challenge of hosting coasters and games for people like these other sites did?

 

I know that we can upload coasters and such to the forum right now, and add pictures and such to the post, but its unorganized. And unless someone actually creates their own thread, or follows the Preview thread, you wont really find a lot of the rides and games that have been uploaded. Plus, after a few weeks, the thread will get lost when it goes off the main page.

 

Do you think it would be possible to create something like CoasterSims where its basically a database where all the RCT, No Limits, and other games could be stored and have it on TPR? Also, do you think Robb would go for something like this? I know the games forum isn't as big as the others, but if we had something like this, it would probably start to grow.

 

It would stay in the games forum, obviously, and be something like a sticky topic, or under announcements, or even just create a new header after announcements.

 

Let me know what you think.

 

Thanks!

 

Edited December 10, 2010 by robbalvey

[TPDave]

We could even do it "park index" style and have a proper database that people could submit to. That would make things easily searchable...

[robbalvey]

It's a good idea. we would have to do it like TP Dave said. But it would need to be set up and managed and that will cost time and money.

 

I think it's something we can put on the back burner right now until we get done with this years' trips.

 

--Robb

[mcjaco]

I've tried to make the forum more searchable by requesting they use [RCT3], [NL], etc for prefaces in threads, but these kids don't fucking read, so it never happens.

[robbalvey]

I'm ready to put this into development.

 

I'm thinking this would need to be VERY simple. It would basically live as a link from the games forum. We need a name for it -

 

"TPR Games Index"

"TPR Track Index"

"TPR Games Park Index"

"TPR Game Files"

 

I have no idea. Tell me what you think.

 

I see it being a link that you click -

 

www.themeparkreview.com/games/gamefiles.php

 

And it brings up a list of files, the type of file, the game they work with, who created them, and when they were uploaded

 

So for example the default list would be formatted like:

 

Anaconda - Track File - RCT2 - Robb Alvey - 9/11/2001

Busch Gardens Tampa - Park File - RCT3 - Robb Alvey - 9/11/2001

Glory Hole: The Ride - Track File - No Limits - Robb Alvey - 9/11/2001

 

When you click that file it will take you to it's page with a download link and up to 4 screen shots.

 

The format would look like this:

 

Park or Track Name (or whatever else this file might be)

Game

Author

Date Uploaded

Download Link

Screenshot #1

Screenshot #2

Screenshot #3

Screenshot #4

 

And then of course on the main page you can sort by:

 

- Game

- File Type

- Park Name

- Ride Name

- Author

- Date Uploaded

 

Matt, what I need to know from you is....

 

- Are there any other categories we need to add?

- What games should we support?

- What file types do we support? Do we limit to tracks and parks or should we have an option for scenery as well?

- How many characters should we limit for park name and/or track name

- Anything else you can think of?

[mcjaco]

The obvious games are RCT2 and RCT3, and No Limits. I know we have a few posters, and the random people that pop in, that still use the original RCT and Scream Machines. I can't think of anything else right now.

 

I think the categories are good. Most posters just want track files and park files. I know I would like track files perhaps broken down into actual recreations versus the posters own designs. Finding actual coaster recreations on the net is really difficult because most sites are run by 12 year olds, and no one organizes stuff properly.

 

I would say we should have the option for scenery, as a lot of scenery creators are looking for places to upload their stuff other than the usual craptastic download sites.

 

Most of the creators always make a park titled after real life companies, so you almost need the character limit to be pretty long. So when a poster creates "Cedar Fair Tallahassee" it all fits.

 

Let me ponder some more on other stuff, but I think this will give it a great start!

[mcjaco]

Hey Robb,

 

Just wondering if there's something I can start doing to get this off the ground. We're starting to see a bunch of new kids (good and bad ), posting now that a lot of the NL forums, and the RCT forums are slowing down or are closed.

 

I can be the Obsessive Overlord of the Games Index.

 

Games we should definitely support:

 

RCT

RCT2

RCT3

NL

SM

[robbalvey]

Are we still interested in this?

[mcjaco]

Absolutely.

 

Games Forum is seeing a lot of activity on a daily basis since a lot of the old RCT1 & 2 Forums are gone.

[robbalvey]

Matt, I may have something as early as end of next week to check out. Do you have the time to project manage this?

 

It's going to be real simple to start out -

 

- Upload file

- Add pictures

- Title and description

- Sort by game type, user, title

- Rank file

- Admin backend will allow us to add file types to upload and populate the system with current tracks people have uploaded to the forum.

Edited November 9, 2010 by robbalvey

[mcjaco]

Robb, the week of Thanksgiving, all my model train stuff is over, and our office move is done too.

 

My schedule gets infinitely more open then (knocking on wood). Either way, I'll have time.

[robbalvey]

Like with CoasterTube, the one thing I'd like to have when this goes live is as much content as possible. Even going back to when the games forum first started, we should try to upload every track or park that was uploaded.

 

Do you think we have 200-300 tracks/parks of each popular game? Assuming the most popular ones are RCT2/3 and NL?

[mcjaco]

Like with CoasterTube, the one thing I'd like to have when this goes live is as much content as possible. Even going back to when the games forum first started, we should try to upload every track or park that was uploaded.

 

Absolutely.

 

Do you think we have 200-300 tracks/parks of each popular game? Assuming the most popular ones are RCT2/3 and NL?

 

Doing a quick search just off the naming convention I told all the posters to follow:

 

RCT2 has 353 listings on 54 pages

RCT3 has 688 listings on 69 pages

 

That's topic titles, which in turn should be only parks, tracks, scenery items, etc. I'd say we'd have a ton of items for both. I have 100's of items myself that I could start uploading too.

[mcjaco]

Being the anal SOB I am, I've started to go through the last pages of the Forum, and update Thread Titles per my naming convention, so I can easily find files for migration to the database.

 

It's taken me almost two days to get through six pages. We have a TON of No Limits track files uploaded (much to Dave's chagrin!).

[robbalvey]

Matt, here is a first pass:

http://themeparkreview.com/track_exchange/index.php

 

See if you can get into the admin panel with your username/password:

http://themeparkreview.com/track_exchange/admin/

 

A couple of things I've asked them to add:

 

1. A "File Type" description - Track File, Park File, Scenery, etc.

 

2. Fix the bug so .bmp files can be uploaded.

 

3. Change the background blue to the TPR gray background.

 

4. The ranking should go on the main page.

 

Question - Since this is more than just "track" files - should we call this the "Game Exchange" rather than "Track Exchange" or what do you think people will most likely refer to this as?

[robbalvey]

Once you're in the admin panel, we should be able to start uploading files, as I've done, and assigning them to members. Something I've noticed going through the threads in the games forum - we seem to have a lot of people who have uploaded pictures and desciptions of their park/ride, but not the actual track/park files. Is this normal?

[mcjaco]

Matt, here is a first pass:

http://themeparkreview.com/track_exchange/index.php

 

See if you can get into the admin panel with your username/password:

http://themeparkreview.com/track_exchange/admin/

 

A couple of things I've asked them to add:

 

1. A "File Type" description - Track File, Park File, Scenery, etc.

 

2. Fix the bug so .bmp files can be uploaded.

 

3. Change the background blue to the TPR gray background.

 

4. The ranking should go on the main page.

 

Question - Since this is more than just "track" files - should we call this the "Game Exchange" rather than "Track Exchange" or what do you think people will most likely refer to this as?

 

Just tried. I can't login with my account.

 

Do you want to stay away from .bmps? Most members don't upload them anyway due to the ToS.

 

I'd go with "Game Exchange." There's lots of park files, and one member is uploading a ton of RCT2 scenery files too.

 

Once you're in the admin panel, we should be able to start uploading files, as I've done, and assigning them to members. Something I've noticed going through the threads in the games forum - we seem to have a lot of people who have uploaded pictures and desciptions of their park/ride, but not the actual track/park files. Is this normal?

 

Lately yes. If you go waaaay back, there's a lot of uploaded track files. And again, with dmaxsba uploading over 50,000 pieces of scenery, I've got my work cut for me!

 

I think once we get this off the ground more people will upload items, as it'll be easier to search, populate, etc.

 

Looks like I've got a Turkey day weekend project!

[robbalvey]

OK, working on getting you admin access now. Not sure why I'm getting an error. I've got .nltrack and .sv6 as accepted file types. What are the others I should add?

 

bmps should be ok only because it looks like a lot of the RCT2 pictures on the forum are BMP files. If I remember correctly, that is the format that RCT spits out when you take a screen shot.

[mcjaco]

OK, working on getting you admin access now. Not sure why I'm getting an error. I've got .nltrack and .sv6 as accepted file types. What are the others I should add?

 

Honestly, I'll have to check tonight when I get home. I don't think there's anything other than those two....although .sv4 seems to be nagging at me. Most eveything else is either .zip or .rar for add ons.

 

bmps should be ok only because it looks like a lot of the RCT2 pictures on the forum are BMP files. If I remember correctly, that is the format that RCT spits out when you take a screen shot.

 

Yeah. BMP is the default. Most everyone on the Forum converts it to jpegs. I know they can be a major pain for viewing on slower networks, so just wondering.

[robbalvey]

Yeah. BMP is the default. Most everyone on the Forum converts it to jpegs. I know they can be a major pain for viewing on slower networks, so just wondering.

Ok, maybe it was just random chance, but the first two RCT files I tested both had BMPs that I had to convert to JPG to upload. I was just thinking allowing a BMP would be more of a help to us so we didn't have to keep converting things when we're trying to populate the database with like 500 files!

[robbalvey]

Matt, can you at least log into the user end and rank tracks?

[mcjaco]

^ Yep. Just ranked the RCT2 Six Flags park.

 

And I'm pretty disappointed in your selection of photos for the test files. I was expecting something much worse than a flower.

[robbalvey]

^ Hey, that wasn't me, that was the developers!

[mcjaco]

For shame.

[robbalvey]

Matt, I have just uploaded a track file via the admin panel under username "mcjaco" can you log into the user panel, click "manage my tracks" and see if it shows up for you?