Request: Game Templates Section for OGA
So, I've been here every once and a while posting art and stuff, and I've noticed a serious lacking of a game template section. Maybe it wouldn't really be useful for others, but I think it'd be really cool to be able to post my game templates up on here along with my art.
Is there any way we could have this kind of thing added to the site? Or would it not be worth the time to implement?
That would be a great idea but, sadly, I have no idea how to make that possible.
We can probably ask bart about that. But I think we should gather a template or two to start it with before we do that. Input?
I guess maybe bart didn't see this post. But I've got some game templates to share. I usually share them only on my website, but they might see more light on a website made for sharing free content, just like here on OGA. I prefer to keep most of my uploads to one place, and I really like OGA. I'll see if I can email about it, and share what I've got. Hopefully I won't be the only person contributing to it if it's added! XD
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In the meantime, you can always create a set of public collections. Pick a few templates you have in mind and add assets already on the site into each collection. Add each other as collaborators on the collections so you can all curate each template collection. Good way to showcase the idea and test reception.
--Medicine Storm
Well im glad this seems to be working out into a pretty good place. Thats a pretty good idea medicinestorm.
I could submit game templates as well.
Really nice idea! I was thinking the exact same thing. I would also contribute to said section.
That's a pretty good idea :).
The shared project template would be more beneficial for multiple parties, so might be a better idea. Thanks!
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Bart doesn't need no stinking game template section. Bart simply demands that a game be made, and is obeyed.
More seriously, where do you imagine the template section fitting in? Do you want another category (like 2D art, Sound effects, etc)? I notice there is a section there for "Featured Game Tutorials" which links to a manually currated subforum. Perhaps Bart could simply add a new Forum for Game Templates, and people post their ideas there.
You could get started by just posting them under General Discussion, as Bart did. Then, as MedicineStorm suggests, if they gain enough traction they may be moved to a dedicated forum, and/or a link may be added to the Browse menu on the main page.
There is no need for life on the planet either. no need to be rash and try to shoot the idea down. I do honestly feel there should be a section along with 3D, 2d, sound ect. featured tutorials has a section and I dont see much booming there. and normally just anything gets put into forums. many times art gets there rather than the actual categories.
I didn't mean to seem like I was shooting it down, I think it's a worthwhile idea, but I wanted to know how people thought it should integrate into the site.
I personally don't think game templates should be featured alongside the other art categories (eg featured in the latest art feed, most recent comments, etc...) because it seems tangential to the site's purpose. However, I think a dedicated forum is the perfect place for this. There is some precedent of the forums being used to post game templates, as well as linking game to a forum from the front page browse menu.
Thanks for saying you didnt mean to seem like that. It may have also been part me taking it like that. And I think I see what your saying, something more obviously dedicated rather than just letting it be shown on the front page for a day then having it slowly disappear to the abyss. Im kinda getting drawn to the forum idea thinking about it more. But really only two or three forum categories are actually looked at these days.
Although I agree it'd be a place to start, the problem with starting this as a forum is that it'll basically be invisible to anyone browsing the site. Even if they ventured into the forums section, unless it literally gets a new submission every other day or is somehow marked 'sticky' it'll drop to the bottom of the list pretty quickly.
Well, not trying to be a downer, just thinking out loud I guess. :(
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Good points. I think it could work well if it eventually got its own forum (not just a post, but whole forum alongside categories like "General Discussion", "Tutorials", "Resource Request", etc. And I think it deserves a link under the "Browse" menu, similar to Featured Tutorials. This would prevent it from getting buried, or being invisible.
However I think the front page latest art feed should remain dedicated to newly published assets, and I still don't think that game templates should be featured like that.
I also don't know If templates can or should be licensed the same way as other assets. I can imagine someone taking a set of CC0 and OGA-BY assets, combining them into a game template, then releasing that template under CC-BY-SA. Now if someone makes a similar looking game combining those assets, is the game required to be released as CC-BY-SA?
I think a forum guideline could spell out that all templates are CC0, and users only must abide by the licenses on the assets. If a whole new art category was created, it might be a pain in the butt to disable license selection on the submission page to default to CC0 when the uploader selects the "Game Template" radio button. And someone browsing the art may find a template, see that it is CC0, think the license is intended for the included art, and use it in a project without knowing it came from another source.
Interestingly, I think that collections are often used as a surrogate for project templates, or at least a place to store all assets someone wants to use in a project. I like that about them, because collections show up right on the page for the art itself. I think this would be a nice feature for game templates, so I guess that's another point for collections over forums. But I think collections may suffer from the same "get burried" problem that forums do.
I think I just came to a conclusion of an idea that might work a bit better as far as all this goes. I definitely agree with what you've noted about licenses, and I hope I didn't make it seem like I'd want to be credited for that kind of thing. I already make free templates with the intent of not getting credit, simply because I don't want or need it, just to make that clear to anyone that might think I'm trying to be sneaky ;)
Seriously though, I think that a game templates section could just be merged with the collections. Basically keep everything the same, but be able to show off more of what it is and be able to make the page for the collection in a similar format to that of artwork. That would provide a nice medium of making it obvious who to credit (as well as easy, love the whole credit downloading thing) and allow people who make game templates a nice medium to share it, the same way artwork would be shared. The nice thing about something like that is that it'd be beneficial to the artists who made the art that got put into it. It'd be like a big showcase of cool things that artists have made here on the site. :)
Hey guys! I'm a game developer from Indiana, making original games, art, and music. If you like my stuff, please consider following me on Twitter! https://twitter.com/chayedcreates