G-9 2021-12-19 16:59
...and only 10-20 of them are active. Why ?!! If you are one of the 332-322 inactive users, just post your first program, and we will help ya out
lookin forward for new (active) users ! ;)
Timo 2021-12-19 18:05
I guess they just didn't come back and so they won't see your message...
Prove me wrong, inactive users! :)
was8bit 2021-12-20 04:06
How can I tell who the users are?
was8bit 2021-12-20 05:59
I know a few people personally who love playing the games, but just aren't interested in the programming part...
TrashCan Games 2021-12-20 07:10
I try my best not be in active but I always make half finished games and never post anything. I’m trying to go back and finish them but I’m not sure if I’ll post anything.
nathanielbabiak 2021-12-20 11:19
I'm active, I check the website at least three times a week, I just don't post often. I'd like to upload more frequently, but my stuff just takes so long to create!
nathanielbabiak 2021-12-20 11:27 (Edited)
Also, I'm not sure userid is a great indication of number of users. I recall going through each userid a while back (to look at uploads sorted by user, rather than upload date), a bunch of IDs don't appear to ever have been used. There's gaps between some of the numbers, maybe 80% or so are actual user profiles.
Timo, do you keep site statistics on number of unique views vs. number of unique posters? It's always a mystery how many people are eavesdropping on a post!
Timo 2021-12-20 18:27
Normally user IDs are incremental, but there was one attack on this website where lots of fake users were created. I deleted these, so that’s the gap.
I have standard web analytics from my host, not even Google Analytics. it’s not very detailed.
But I have a “number of plays” counter for each program. It’s only visible to me though. I don’t want to make it visible for everyone, because I think it could change the dynamic of this community. I don’t want too much competition.
But maybe I could publish a “highscore” list of play numbers once in a while.
was8bit 2021-12-20 19:58
Would it be possible to let only the user see their own stats... so for example if i am logged in my account when i visit the community then i would only see the # of hits for MY posted programs and no one elses....
It might be too much trouble to code thst though...
... i think what you currently have is fine... a featured section and featured games are randomly presented on the main page...
nathanielbabiak 2021-12-20 21:15
I was thinking more along the lines of number-of-unique visitors to any portion of the website, either per week or per month. Unique views over a (recent) timespan is a nice way to see how big the community is. (I agree that number-of-plays would definitely change the feel substantially.)
BlockHead 2021-12-23 13:12
I’ve been inactive for almost a year (I was previously known as “@BlockHead”) but I’m still alive.
was8bit 2021-12-23 14:26
:)
Timo 2021-12-24 08:18
I got an e-mail that registration is not working, because the automatic e-mails don’t arrive. This is also the case for “forgot password”.
So probably we also lost some users, because they cannot log in :/
I’ll fix it after my holidays.
Wild William 2022-01-09 10:16 (Edited)
ill admit the small community was a double edged sword, it made it less intimidating to ask questions and ensure the most dedicated people would help out, but it also meant i couldn't get some of the solutions i needed. i was really close to making a episodic Mario game with multiple worlds, story, collectibles akin to Mario deluxe spread across multiple carts. however, i couldn't figure out both collision without getting stuck and how to do accurate gravity (falling faster than 1px/frame. in other words, i was too ambitious, on the edge of burning out and couldn't describe my issues properly because of this wonderful language
was8bit 2022-01-09 10:42
Hiya Wild :)
For falling faster than 1 pixel per loop, there are 2 tricks...
EASY TRICK, but not precise...
1) before you move, store original position
2) perform move and check for collision
3) if collision, return to original position and process as such
... its easy, but then you have a small gap.. you could just leave the gap, or slow the movement to 1 pixel to close the gap
HARDER TRICK, but more precise:
Do a dedicated loop to process a movement greater than 1 pixel... do this loop without WAIT VBL, and move within this loop at 1 pixel per loop...
so if movement is 3 pixels per game loop, run this loop 3 times, and upon contact backup 1 pixel and exit out of the loop
If no contact, the whole movement is done..
By not using WAIT VBL inside this dedicated loop, the fall will appear as quicker, as expected... although of course if your game has a ton of stuff going on it could occaisonally force the graphic changes to appear, making the aniamtion feel jerky or abit off..
was8bit 2022-01-09 10:54
I "think" the original mario processed movement faster than one pixel by using a combination of both above methods...
You could store original position, move as normal... if stuck inside something, back up to original position and reprocess this move in a pixel-at-a-time loop..
If your graphics use the whole cell (blocky look) contact checking should be easy... for graphics using only small portions i have a method of converting all surrounding cells into temporary sprites, and the SPRITE HIT check takes into account of the pixels only for contact detection... its abit more trouble though..
Ive always wanted to make a worms combat game, but like you, burnout gets me every time ;)
I dont let it stop me though... i lower my complexity and try make games within my time and brain burnout limits ;)
I occaisonaly experiment with different ways of doing things, but it is helpful to keep these in a small package dedicated to JUST focusing on the new experimental approach to see if you can create a new way to do something ;)
Jeanmilost 2022-01-11 02:15
Hello, I’m still active on this community 🙂 I’m not posting often, however, because I like generally to develop my projects to a well advanced stage before turning them public. And I work on them on my own, when I have time for that, for that reason a project may go quickly during some time, then be paused for a while, and finally be continued later, before be paused again, and so on.
Currently I’m working on 2 games simultaneously. In the first I’m developing large scrollable levels with advanced collisions techniques, in the other I’m writing a short story based on a deep parallax asset I posted some time ago. I don’t know when these projects will be completed enough to be posted, but I’m working on them step by step.
On the other hand I notice that collaborative projects aren’t very common on this site. It could be interesting for people which want to create something but haven’t skill for develop all the aspects of a game. For example someone may be strongly interested in graphics creation, but not to code a game. And I assume that this may be frustrating for some people.
Perhaps create a kind of forum where people may exchange ideas and start collaborative projects could bring more people to be active on this site, what do you think?
LVXKING667 2022-02-15 18:13
Howdy I am brand new, found the app about a month and a half ago and just created my account today, Nathaniel is also my name and babiak i have scoured each ur works over the past week!
was8bit 2022-02-15 22:23
Welcome :D
Jenifer the programmer 2022-02-18 02:24
Hemlo