I had the crazy idea of making a coldstone community website the other day and I was wondering what you think about it. I know a lot of the people on these boards have a website of their own, on which they put their games, graphics, tutorials etc.

I had the idea of a website which has all these in one place.
If I started it would probably have these features.

Graphics archive - Somewhere that people can add FREE graphics they have made that anyone can use in their games

Game archive - A list of all game projects in coldstone. This would allow users to see other users games.

Tutorials - This would start out with the basics but (with a little help ) should go onto how to make different types of games (platform, scrolling shooters), how to go about designing games, how to make graphics and any other things I could think of.

FAQ - so that people don't have to keep asking the same questions over and over again on the board.

The reason I said "If I started" is that I need some comments on the idea first.

1. Would you use the site if I made it?
2. Are there ant sites like this out there already?
3. Would you help me with the tutorials?
4. Are there any other features you think need adding?
5. Would anyone help me make the site (mainly a members area, I can do most of the rest)?

If I get enough replys here I will start work.
If not, it was worth asking.

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Pilky
(url="http://"http://www.mcubed.cjb.net")M cubed homepage(/url)
Cheesiest film line of all time "Flash I love you but we only have 14 hours to save the earth" from Flash Gorden

You have a good idea here. The only thing is, is that some of your ideas have already been addressed by other people. Ambrosia does have a way to post free graphics, and I doubt that anyone would want to go to a different board. Other people have tutorials and faqs, and I think that there's a list of games made by people here somewhere.

I think that what's needed is a coherent site where a person can link off of to all of these other efforts. And what would be helpful is a tips page. For instance, you can have a tip on what tools to use to make graphics or how to get rid of the "white halo," or people's solutions to make an event, etc. One terrific tip to me happened when someone posted that it's a good idea to arm ALL of your NPCs with a weapon, even if it isn't seen so that you can use the event links. I suggest that, since you seem willing to put in the work, to search all of this board from way back when, find tips, and place the tips on your site. This way, you can also find all of the web sites that have these other efforts. Looking at a person's signature will often take you to these sites.

To be honest with you, I doubt that anyone else will be able to help you with your project. I hope someone does if you really need it, but most of us are busy with jobs or school as well as trying to make games. Nevertheless, I really appreciate your willingness to make things better for the rest of us!!!

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-- Debra
Danillitphil Productions
(url="http://"http://www.danillitphil.com/graphics/index.html")www.danillitphil.com(/url)

(This message has been edited by Debra (edited 09-06-2003).)

Quote

Originally posted by Debra:
I think that what's needed is a coherent site where a person can link off of to all of these other efforts.

You mean like (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/coldstone/weblinks.html")this(/url)?

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(url="http://"http://stark.evula.net/pogwalkthrough.htm")PoG Walkthrough and Compendium(/url) | (url="http://"http://stark.evula.net/plugins/dev_tools.htm")PoG Dev Tools(/url) | (url="http://"http://stark.evula.net/plugins/spells_expander.htm")Spells Expander(/url)
(url="http://"http://stark.evula.net")Stark.evula.net(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.net")EVula.net(/url) | (url="http://"http://mail.ambrosiasw.com/mailman/listinfo/coldstone_dev")Coldstone-dev mailing list(/url) | (url="http://"http://ucplugs.evula.net/pog.html")PoG Upcoming Plug-Ins Directory(/url)

Quote

I doubt that anyone would want to go to a different board

You dont need to have your own board there you could just link to this one and have it appear in a frame...

That would be great I hope you will make it

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(url="http://"http://www.ledorax.da.ru")www.ledorax.da.ru(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by Stark Bledfast:
**You mean like this?:)

**

I am thinking of something a bit like that. The only links outside would probably be to the homepage of whoever develops the game.
The page you put has links for game pages, tutorial pages, pages to get graphics. I want to put as many of these in one place.
Enough software has a good resource page, some have two. The only problem with coldstone is that i have not found any for coldstone that meet all the requirements. The closest is ellrx's site.

As for a message board. Possibly. I had the idea of a message board in which you can comment on a certain game (so the creator can get lots of feedback). First priority would be to get the main site up

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Pilky
(url="http://"http://www.mcubed.cjb.net")M cubed homepage(/url)
Cheesiest film line of all time "Flash I love you but we only have 14 hours to save the earth" from Flash Gorden

css - (url="http://"http://www.htmlhelp.com/reference/css/")http://www.htmlhelp.com/reference/css/(/url)
blog - (url="http://"http://www.blogger.com")http://www.blogger.com(/url) ( got bought by Google )
iframe - (url="http://"http://www.htmlhelp.com/reference/html40/")http://www.htmlhelp....ference/html40/(/url)

css
use of css can save you space and time when formatting, each of your sections will likely have a header text, and some text below, if this format is consistent thoughOut the document then you needn't constantly define each one wwith haaphazard antiquated font tags.
for example

p { font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-family: "Arial","Geneva", "Verdana", sans-serif; color#545454 }
h3 { font-size: 18px; font-style: bold; font-family: "Times","Geneva", "Verdana", serif; color#545454 }

means that every time you place a paragraph it will automatically gain the style of you see there.
and all your h3 will have automatic styling
which makes the file simple enough to edit by hand.

blog
easy publishing, just place a link with a name, pun intended. you can then use the page that the blog will be nested in to jump to segments of the blog, similar to the dropdown list architecture i have in my vault.

iframe
you won't be using the blog as a primary page, you just need it as a data base, use an iframe to ***** the contents of the blog into the page, that or you open the #link up into a new window, don't usse trendy javascript pop ups, safair and such blocks them.

the forums is the other way to go, you'll need to keep it death-defyingly simple, or face it eating up your brain.
there's nothing wrong with getting webspace and using a forum to publish your page, but be smart about it, too much forum, too much navigation to get to the goods...http://members.freewebs.com/

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• (url="http://"http://www.ellrx.com/index.html")eLL' Rx...Last Updated 09.02.03(/url)

• (url="http://"http://www.ellrx.com/articles/vault/index.html")CGE Vault(/url)

... bwahhaaaaahaaaaaugh fooooolish sammurai.

Quote

Originally posted by Stark Bledfast:
**You mean like this?:)

**

Um, sortof, but not quite. I was thinking of a links page that just has to do with using Coldstone. Like ellrx's pages and Stray's and your (Stark's) plug-in -- pages that really address how to use Coldstone to make a game. A way to really know the specifics. Pared down so that people don't have to sift through the general gaming stuff.

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-- Debra
Danillitphil Productions
(url="http://"http://www.danillitphil.com/graphics/index.html")www.danillitphil.com(/url)

Well I'm starting work on it. I should have the basic site up in about a week, maybe less. Anyone who wants their games to be put up on it straight away will have to email me at m3sup@hotmail.com with the following things.

Name of game
Your homepage (if you have one)
What name/company/alias you want to be displayed as creator.
A short description
Percentage complete

I would also like to put screenshots of games on the actual site. If you would like me to put them up please tell me:

Which site to get them from
Which screenshots you would like putting up

If you prefer I could just put a link to your screenshots page.

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Pilky
(url="http://"http://www.mcubed.cjb.net")M cubed homepage(/url)
Cheesiest film line of all time "Flash I love you but we only have 14 hours to save the earth" from Flash Gorden

I have uploaded the website but it is not fully finished yet. I'll put info for my games up soon though I have not recieved any other info. If anyone has any graphics they want to add please email using the link on the site.
To get on the site click on the link in my signature

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Pilky
(url="http://"http://www.mcubed.cjb.net")M cubed homepage(/url)
(url="http://"http://scorpius.spaceports.com/~pilky/coldstonecentre/home.html")Coldstone Resource Centre(/url)
Cheesiest film line of all time "Flash I love you but we only have 14 hours to save the earth" from Flash Gorden

Quote

Originally posted by Pilky:
**I had the crazy idea of making a coldstone community website
**

Honestly, I have thought about this, and in fact I have almost finished a site that is just Coldstone Resource oriented. But I have come across two problems at this time about this massive site I'm creating.
1. Hosting: I'm looking for a reliable hosting server. I saw the other free servers crap, but trust me, It's really not worth it!!! So if anybody wants to see this happen, or could lend a hosting hand, let me know ASAP.
2. As problem one is eliminated, I can move on to putting together a stock of stuff that I think people will use, without a doubt, even if it wasn't designed for Coldstone in the first place. Right now all I have really is a few tutorials from me (in which have become corrupted, go figure :redface: ) and a few that I got from the great and almighty ellrx, but if I find a secure place to put this stuff, I could report some new things that I find out, similar to mini-tutorials. And then if people want to contribute, they could email me, and I could put download/create a link of the document (depending on how much space the server has or how large the files are) and that way. I could help others with any certain situations they might be stuck in, and maybe offer some help. Maybe we could all ask Ambrosia for server space and they'll grant space to us, or then again, maybe not. Maybe they need it for more important purposes. Let me hear your thoughts on the situation guys (and girls- I mean ladies.......females....yeah. (I don't want to leave Debra and others out ). But seriously, let me know your thoughts. I think a resource site is becoming a necessity, and I would like to see this happen.

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-The ZeroWarrior

(This message has been edited by zerowarrior150 (edited 09-08-2003).)

Quote

1. Hosting: I'm looking for a reliable hosting server. I saw the other free servers crap, but trust me, It's really not worth it!!! So if anybody wants to see this happen, or could lend a hosting hand, let me know ASAP.

Why aren't free hosts any good? Is it the ads? Or the lack of space? If it is either of these then there is no problem. I could find you some free hosts with lots of space or no ads.

Quote

**
Maybe we could all ask Ambrosia for server space and they'll grant space to us, or then again, maybe not. Maybe they need it for more important purposes.**

I get the feeling that ambrosia wont gives us any more space other than the board.

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Pilky
(url="http://"http://www.mcubed.cjb.net")M cubed homepage(/url)
(url="http://"http://scorpius.spaceports.com/~pilky/coldstonecentre/home.html")Coldstone Resource Centre(/url)
Cheesiest film line of all time "Flash I love you but we only have 14 hours to save the earth" from Flash Gorden

Quote

Originally posted by Pilky:
**1. Hosting: I'm looking for a reliable hosting server. I saw the other free servers crap, but trust me, It's really not worth it!!! So if anybody wants to see this happen, or could lend a hosting hand, let me know ASAP.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why aren't free hosts any good? Is it the ads? Or the lack of space? If it is either of these then there is no problem. I could find you some free hosts with lots of space or no ads. **

If you could do that, you would be the best! But it needs to be reliable as well. Not too many hosting spaces I found had all of these, but maybe because I don't spend a zillion hours online (and I don't mean that you do :p), so maybe you found something worthwhile that I didn't. Very understandable.

Quote

**
quote:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe we could all ask Ambrosia for server space and they'll grant space to us, or then again, maybe not. Maybe they need it for more important purposes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I get the feeling that ambrosia wont gives us any more space other than the board..

**

Hey, you never know. I've gotten the best possible situations that had arisen from the worst possible ways. I can get around somethings sometimes. But hey, then again maybe not. Either way let me know. I want this site to be a reality.

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-The ZeroWarrior

I use spaceports.com. You get popup ads but nothing serious. You also get unlimited space (even though it says 20mb).
Could you tell me what you think of my design. What features do you like? What don't you like?

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Pilky
(url="http://"http://www.mcubed.cjb.net")M cubed homepage(/url)
(url="http://"http://scorpius.spaceports.com/~pilky/coldstonecentre/home.html")Coldstone Resource Centre(/url)
Cheesiest film line of all time "Flash I love you but we only have 14 hours to save the earth" from Flash Gorden

If you cant find nice free web hosting, go to
(url="http://"http://www.free-web-space-finder.com/")http://www.free-web-space-finder.com/(/url)

I might have missed something about what you meant, but it does not matter for me:-D

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(url="http://"http://www.ledorax.da.ru")www.ledorax.da.ru(/url)

Comments.

justify the text, most books,etc. use justified text.
specify a monochromatic color scheme for the links.

say a shade of blue or green.

medium for links
bright for active links
dull for visited links

the popUps are murder if you're not using Safari or other browsers/systems which
block these popUps.

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• (url="http://"http://www.ellrx.com/index.html")eLL' Rx...Last Updated 09.02.03(/url)

• (url="http://"http://www.ellrx.com/articles/vault/index.html")CGE Vault(/url)

... bwahhaaaaahaaaaaugh fooooolish sammurai.

justified text? What do you mean.

I usually only get one pop-up that just reappears in front when every page comes up.

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Pilky
(url="http://"http://www.mcubed.cjb.net")M cubed homepage(/url)
(url="http://"http://scorpius.spaceports.com/~pilky/coldstonecentre/home.html")Coldstone Resource Centre(/url)
Cheesiest film line of all time "Flash I love you but we only have 14 hours to save the earth" from Flash Gorden

Quote

Originally posted by Pilky:
**I use spaceports.com. You get popup ads but nothing serious. You also get unlimited space (even though it says 20mb).
Could you tell me what you think of my design. What features do you like? What don't you like?

**

Well....you handed me a wide open question Pilky, so I'll do the best of my ability to answer it.
I believe it is a little plain, but that's coming from me, the one who does nothing simple. Take my not so updated company website (url="http://"http://www.miktek.netfirms.com")http://www.miktek.netfirms.com(/url)
It is an example (a not so great one) of what i am used to. But then again, if you are not accustomed to doing web design, I'd say it's a pretty good start. I really couldn't judge the entire website at it's fullest, but keep working on it. Maybe if you get stuck at designing something on the site, or just out and out wanted some help, I would be glad to be of some assistance. Either way, give a shout, and let me know. Graphic design is what I do best.

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-The ZeroWarrior

I'm thinking of a flash version as well but I want to get the HTML one up first.
I know it is a little plain but it is a work in progress. I need to add more graphics but I should of finished by weekend.

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Pilky
(url="http://"http://www.mcubed.cjb.net")M cubed homepage(/url)
(url="http://"http://scorpius.spaceports.com/~pilky/coldstonecentre/home.html")Coldstone Resource Centre(/url)
Cheesiest film line of all time "Flash I love you but we only have 14 hours to save the earth" from Flash Gorden

'justify', essentially uncenter the text.

popUps, i get several, including a date finder, one from tera-byte hosting which pops up the most frequent
technically they are popUnders, as they will not allow you to close them when they are loading.

Flash is unnecessary
i wager some of the users here still use:
netscape 4.75
quicktime 4.0
OS 8.6
have any range of plugIns
system anomalies etc.

why complicate something that should be easy to access and straight forward and efficient.

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• (url="http://"http://www.ellrx.com/index.html")eLL' Rx...Last Updated 09.02.03(/url)

• (url="http://"http://www.ellrx.com/articles/vault/index.html")CGE Vault(/url)

... bwahhaaaaahaaaaaugh fooooolish sammurai.