TPR's Game Exchange! BETA TESTING!

[dmaxsba2408]

Congratulations Robb and mcjaco for getting this off and running. It should prove to be a amazing resource for all the game forum regulars and anyone who just looking for a little fun playing a coaster game from time to time.

[robbalvey]

You are very welcome! Now someone try to upload a file and see if you can rate your own submission!

 

That bug and the bug with the uploader should now all be fixed.

 

Please help test as much as you can!

 

Thank you!

 

--Robb

[Twister II]

Just a suggestion, Though I know this will be time consuming, but could it be possible to link the thread that some of these creations were advertised in? I feel this also would show the overall progress of some of these files.

Do you mean like having a box on the uploaded where you can paste a Forum URL of where you are discussing the track/park?

Yeah, that would be a great idea.

 

There seems to be a bug with the User search. I type in a name and it just gives a blank upload page (this only happens when you search from a ride page)

[King of Ka]

A nice surprise to find, I've been wondering if this sort of thing would ever happen on TPR, and I'm glad to see that it has! Good job Robb and mcjaco (I want to say Matt here but I'm drawing a blank), I think you guys will do a great job of keeping it in order.

 

So, first test thoughts:

- If it doesn't evolve the use of the Game Exchange beyond what you are aiming for it to be, a sort of "advanced search" would be great, where designers can put more classifications (Theme, engineer, elements, etc) into their rides' profiles, and the rides can be searched through these factors. I don't have any tracks uploaded to TPR, and so I don't know what sort of UI there is for somebody once their ride is uploaded, but I imagine the only plausible way of inserting this info would be by the user, and not forcing mcjaco comb through every upload to add in what it's supposed to be themed to or after. This might not be possible with the structure of the uploads or just the idea in general, but it's something I think would improve the ability of a person to efficiently find what they're looking for.

 

- Having the usernames in the table be links to a list of their rides (i.e. as if you'd searched their username) would make finding a designer you like or a person's earlier projects easier.

 

- Maybe a way to insert the table you see when looking at a ride's page into a forum post, so that the combination the forum and the exchange are more seamless, as was done with Coastertube? This seems very code-intensive to me, but would effectively solve the issue of a commenting system and having the exchange be an addition, not a replacement, for the games forum.

 

I really hope there's so info here that can be useful to you, this is a great addition to the site and something I think makes TPR far and away the most complete coaster site on the internet. Really appreciate it and hope I can help.

[robbalvey]

- If it doesn't evolve the use of the Game Exchange beyond what you are aiming for it to be, a sort of "advanced search" would be great, where designers can put more classifications (Theme, engineer, elements, etc) into their rides' profiles, and the rides can be searched through these factors. I don't have any tracks uploaded to TPR, and so I don't know what sort of UI there is for somebody once their ride is uploaded, but I imagine the only plausible way of inserting this info would be by the user, and not forcing mcjaco comb through every upload to add in what it's supposed to be themed to or after. This might not be possible with the structure of the uploads or just the idea in general, but it's something I think would improve the ability of a person to efficiently find what they're looking for.

When the user uploads a track, they automatically have an account page created for them and they can go into "my tracks" and edit the details. It's totally possible that we can add additional stats options later on down the road. Consider this v1.0 of the Game Exchange.

 

- Having the usernames in the table be links to a list of their rides (i.e. as if you'd searched their username) would make finding a designer you like or a person's earlier projects easier.

Great idea. Let me see if this can be done.

 

- Maybe a way to insert the table you see when looking at a ride's page into a forum post, so that the combination the forum and the exchange are more seamless, as was done with Coastertube? This seems very code-intensive to me, but would effectively solve the issue of a commenting system and having the exchange be an addition, not a replacement, for the games forum.

Not sure exactly what you mean here. Can you make a mock-up of it?

 

I really hope there's so info here that can be useful to you, this is a great addition to the site and something I think makes TPR far and away the most complete coaster site on the internet. Really appreciate it and hope I can help.

Thank you!

 

--Robb

[Angry_Gumball]

Glad to see the nlpack situation ironed out (Noticed my Dipper recreation is now up). Unfortunately, I don't have any other packaged tracks to try at the moment but hopefully as soon as I finish my Flight Deck recreation, I can check this out. In the mean time, I trust you guys that it's working now.

 

About the comments thing:

Say that we've uploaded to the exchange. Would you say that it's fine to create a topic in the RCT2/NL/RCT3 section to discuss, link to the exchange for download, and overall comment on the user's work? That way there, all the comments still live in the forums and not elsewhere (which would probably call for more moderation as mentioned). Chances are that we would post a topic anyway about the progress of our upcoming project and then link to the exchange once the project's finished if they care to download.

 

And with the last sentence said, earlier (a few pages back) people were asking about "How will they know if the track/park's good?" Well, if the project's thread has enough 'meat' to get people interested/enough hits, then they will know about the project and the work put into it. Frequently lurking in the game section, I often see the hype built up in these 'preview/project threads' depending on the quality of it. If someone posts a lot of pictures and description of what they are making and regularly update it, it obviously gets a lot of hits and feedback. In the end, they've generated enough interest in the rest of the TPR community to download the finished project.

 

And search options would be a nice improvement for down the road, clickable user names, track types, simulaters/games, etc. so we can filter what we are looking for. Right now though, the search works fine, simple to use. I was able to locate all of my tracks when searching for my name.

[robbalvey]

About the comments thing:

Say that we've uploaded to the exchange. Would you say that it's fine to create a topic in the RCT2/NL/RCT3 section to discuss, link to the exchange for download, and overall comment on the user's work?

Absolutely! This is exactly how I intended this to work.

 

Basically, the Game Exchange replaces uploading the file to the forum. Yes, I realize it's an extra step to upload the file, and then link to it in the forum, but then all those files are in one, easier to search place.

 

It's just like uploading a video to CoasterTube and then embedding it into a post in the forum to discuss.

 

And with the last sentence said, earlier (a few pages back) people were asking about "How will they know if the track/park's good?" Well, if the project's thread has enough 'meat' to get people interested/enough hits, then they will know about the project and the work put into it.

QFT. I believe most work will live or die on their own merits. If someone posts a thread to the forum that is all "CHECK OUT MY AWESOME PARK!!!" and they link to it in the Game Exchange, if it sucks, enough people will either respond that it's crap, or not respond at all. The opposite will happen if said game file blows people away. Something that is truly awesome, and deserving of merit won't go unnoticed.

 

And search options would be a nice improvement for down the road, clickable user names, track types, simulaters/games, etc. so we can filter what we are looking for. Right now though, the search works fine, simple to use. I was able to locate all of my tracks when searching for my name.

Keep in mind that you can at very least click the headers and sort by name, game type, username, etc....

 

I'm sure we'll add more search options once we get further down the road.

 

--Robb

[AlmereStars]

I Think this will be a big step towards having a game-community that is really rocking!

 

Since I haven't been posting my creations lately, its great to see that ALL the parks/coasters that have been uploaded are now up there to grab.

I'm from the Steffen_dk/Dbru/KPWoCkAxX (and many more) era, that all posted great stuff like 2 years ago. Great to see all those things again!

 

Right now, there are some NL coasters downloading to see if I find any bugs.. if so, i'll post it here off course!

[mcjaco]

QFT. I believe most work will live or die on their own merits. If someone posts a thread to the forum that is all "CHECK OUT MY AWESOME PARK!!!" and they link to it in the Game Exchange, if it sucks, enough people will either respond that it's crap, or not respond at all. The opposite will happen if said game file blows people away. Something that is truly awesome, and deserving of merit won't go unnoticed.

 

This is what I've been harping about to all of you for the last couple of years. Good quality Threads, and creations will thrive in an active community. Ones that are poorly laid out, and just not good, will not.

 

I'm viewing the Game Exchange as each of your personal little NL/RCT/Scream Machines, etc, Storefronts. Pimp out your creations in a thread, and have them available to download through the exchange. You can clearly see which ones caught everyone's eyes right away already. Notice how their constructed within the Exchange. Catchy descriptions, and catchy pictures!

[DisWiz]

I just logged in and tried to edit my park description but was not able to.

 

(I don't remember seeing a mention of this yet in this thread).

 

Under Manage My Files I clicked on Edit for my one park and the screen looks as though it tries to load and part of it flashes but no edit options are ever brought up.

 

I tried it in Chrome and Firefox without results.

 

Getting nerdier I was looking at Firebug in Firefox at the requests and the GET request to go to the edit page when I click edit returns a 302 Moved Temporarily error. I'm not sure if this is the case or if it's a different problem.

[mcjaco]

Just did it through IE8. Did it last night on Firefox (latest version). It works at my end.

 

After you submit, it just shows you the file's page. Click the "View My Files" and the new description will show up.

Edited December 10, 2010 by mcjaco

[DisWiz]

I just tried it on IE 8 with no luck. I click edit under the actions column and nothing happens.

 

In other news I was able to vote for my own entry.

[lankanboy101]

I uploaded something, too, an it doesn't appear.

[mcjaco]

I uploaded something, too, an it doesn't appear.

 

How about some description of what you're trying to upload, and what's occuring?

[mcjaco]

I just tried it on IE 8 with no luck. I click edit under the actions column and nothing happens.

 

In other news I was able to vote for my own entry.

 

I just edited one of my files for the third time.

 

Again, click Edit. Edit the description, click Update. It will refresh the screen with your new description. Then go up and click on Manage My Files. It'll show your file with the newly updated description.

 

I have to beleive if you can rank it, you can edit it as well.

[robbalvey]

I was able to edit a track just fine:

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/game_exchange/track.php?id=21

 

Not sure why you're having trouble.

[robbalvey]

I also was able to upload a track just fine:

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/game_exchange/track.php?id=495

 

If you are really having problems editing and uploading, we need step by step instructions, what browswer you're using, and as many details as possible to track down the bug. Otherwise the information is just useless to us.

 

--Robb

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Thank you Robb and Matt (and whoever else, if anyone) for putting this together. Ill upload all my coasters now that I can have a place to put them

[coasterdude28]

Awesome feature Robb and TPR!

 

I just uploaded a coaster of mine, Gwardar. It is a track I spent a lot of time on about three years ago and never had the opportunity to share it with anyone. Pretty awesome coaster imo

[robbalvey]

Awesome feature Robb and TPR!

 

I just uploaded a coaster of mine, Gwardar. It is a track I spent a lot of time on about three years ago and never had the opportunity to share it with anyone. Pretty awesome coaster imo

Excellent! And no problems uploading at all? Can you do me a favor and try to edit your description just to let us know if it works ok?

 

Oh, and see if you can rank your own track. You shouldn't be able to.

 

--Robb

[dmaxsba2408]

OK, I am getting stuck in a loop once I view a park.

So I find the park I wanted to see. In this case Bob's Funland.

Page opens just fine and was able to vote for it.

Then I try to leave to see other things. I move up and select Game.

Then select RCT2.

What shows up is page with the icon pictures shown above. I can click on the pictures and they open in a new tab. But I cannot navigate away from this page using the selection tabs. To get out I have to use View All button on the right and start over from where I came into the database.

[robbalvey]

^ Click "View All"

 

Maybe we should re-name that button to something like "Exchange Home" so it's more clear?

 

And the search function from within viewing a track is getting fixed.

[DisWiz]

Ok here's the rundown of what I'm doing (or possibly not doing).

 

Login to Game Exchange

 

From main Game Exchange page I click "Manage My Files". This brings up my files, one RCT2 park Disneyland.

 

I go the Actions box on the right of my park and click "Edit"

 

The page flashes as if it's loading/refreshing/trying to do anything but nothing becomes editable (no matter how many times I click).

 

Either I'm doing something very wrong or something is wrong.

 

Tested on:

Windows 7: Chrome - Firefox - IE 8

Linux Fedora: Firefox (this was a completely different computer and network)

 

I get the same lack of results on all of them.

[mightbeawannabe]

Okay, a ride I attempted to upload isn't in my files or anywhere else, but the screenshot page from above has a picture of it. It's the NL red and navy blue coaster with neon green trains going through a loop...how did that happen?

If it helps, its name is Serpentine.

[coasterdude28]

Excellent! And no problems uploading at all? Can you do me a favor and try to edit your description just to let us know if it works ok?

 

Oh, and see if you can rank your own track. You shouldn't be able to.

 

--Robb

 

 

Robb-

Uploading was very easy and trouble free. I just went and edited the description without any problems as well. And no, I can not rank my coaster. Everything looks good here