New Project...

What are you doing? Just writing articles about various games? I have a couple on the site in my signature, Muffins is my latest and I'm working on an RPG engine which you can spot in my screenshot section.

news reviews and community views

ill have a look at ur stuff...cheers

drumming up support...
do you reckon its a good idea, crap or what?
like a mainstream games magazine, only smaller!

Since you asked, I think it's crap. Hope you don't intend on using your website with all those stupid banners, because thats really irritating ... But, indies do need a little spotlight, so go crazy and whip it up.

thanks for the vote of confidence
im not guna use the website...and what dya mean by go crazy and whip it up?

[Edited by - spacemonkeystudios on December 8, 2004 2:52:01 PM]

Quote:

Original post by spacemonkeystudios thanks for the vote of confidence im not guna use the website...and what dya mean by go crazy and whip it up?

Do it while you still have the energy, motivation, time and resources. Don't worry about what I think, I just responded because you asked if it was a crappy idea.

Maybe an indie monthly newsletter would be cool, where you can post updates on projects, feature new indie games, and add some interviews from indie game devlopers. I would read it.

would it be a web-site or just an outgoing E-Mail to those who sign up for updates, I think, especially on these forums, that it would be pretty popular; interviews with the lead designers, programmers, artists and such for the different ongoing projects. That could be kinda fun. If thats where your going I would be willing to help, that is if you wanted any. If you dont want any then just sign me up for the newsletter.

well, if you are interested in working in such an enviroment.

The Round Table Development is apparently a young indie community. It is slowly growing and could use another administrator i think or a mod to organise newsletters, magazines perhaps and other stuff. The site is a bit empty as its still under construction so im told and content will be uploaded soon.

Our team recently joined that community and it seems there is alot of potential there.

Other indie teams should check it out too btw and post on the forums, there is alot of legal/business material there to answer the most asked questions by indie teams.

Sounds like an intersting concept. What is the goal of your project? Look forward to seeing it.

cheers!
it will be an e-mail with perhaps a small website behind it...but eventually it would be great if it was in paper...hopefully!

im getting some hosting soon with mysql and php, so that should deal with the sign-up...but if anyone is good at the e-mail side of things that would be great!

would it be possible to sell advertising space?

any help would be appreciated.

steve

I'm very fond of the idea of an indie community newsletter, where team leaders could post updates about their projects along with anything else that might be useful.

I actually wrote some software that our team uses for our own newsletter (examples can be found here), and I could very easily modify it to work with your newsletter system, although I do believe a web-interface setup would be a much better way to go.

So. I don't think that finding people to interview and get articles from is gonna be the hard part. Heck, we're all starving for attention. ^^

What's gonna be difficult is creating a useful, efficient, and appealing format that has a level of professionalism that makes this project worth being a part of.

I'm willing to offer a bit of help, simply because (just like everyone else) I would love the attention that a newsletter would bring. So what exactly are your plans? What do you need? Our project puts out a newsletter every Sunday and Wednesday. You're free to use that content as you begin designing, and I can give you the software (and code) that it uses. I can give you interviews, I can do graphics. But I want to make sure that you know what you're doing. ^^

I really think that even if SMS's attempt doesn't take off, an indie newsletter would be an excellent idea and a "small start" for anyone who's looking for a bit of field experience, as well as an awesome outlet for indie developers. Let's face it: very few people use the Announcements board here. They're just too cluttered, and there are too many people posting brand new websites for games that probably aren't being made. What we need is a professional appearing newsletter that people want to be a part of, filled with articles and interviews written by/with members of active projects.

Interviews, articles, latest screens...

This idea can definitely take off, as long as a good team is put together with a lot of enthusiasm and the resources to handle it.

I will be glad of your help TheArtifex.
If you are interested in helping, e-mail me: Mail

Also any projects that would like attention, pm me.

steve

I don't believe the idea of a paper newsletter ever arose. In a field like this, the idea almost seems outdated, ne?

yeah, I agree, it really is an exciting project, I can write well so if you need help E-Mail me at Slowpid@hotmail.com, if you dont need help with writers then at least sign me up for the letter!

cheers guys,
i will e-mail you later slopid.

sms

The fact that nobody asked is troubling...

sms: Here are six (ten, if you discount reading ease separations) vital questions that need good and honest answers.

1. What is your background? Do you have any experience with game development or project management?
2. Do you have a background-related portfolio? If yes, show it.
3. Do you have a project plan? If your project is to be profitable, do you have a business plan?
4. What is your objective? What is your project's mission statement?
5. How much time will you dedicate to your project? Will you contribute any money to your project?
6. What distinguishes your project from the horde of other related projects?

Quote:

Original post by Adraeus The fact that nobody asked is troubling... sms: Here are six (ten, if you discount reading ease separations) vital questions that need good and honest answers. 1. What is your background? Do you have any experience with game development or project management? 2. Do you have a background-related portfolio? If yes, show it. 3. Do you have a project plan? If your project is to be profitable, do you have a business plan? 4. What is your objective? What is your project's mission statement? 5. How much time will you dedicate to your project? Will you contribute any money to your project? 6. What distinguishes your project from the horde of other related projects?

meh ... If the hurdles are the ones mentioned above then nothing will ever be accomplished by young energetic people. Instead of pretending like you are some sort of Donald Trump and asking interview questions, why don't you offer your grand expertise in the areas you defined. Let's get one thing clear, programmers are not business people. If you were smart you would recognize that a mass amount of young people here have huge untapped potentials and no business sense. What I would do in your position is offer assistance in the area's of project management, business development and leadership. This way these energetic people will be steared in the right direction.

Adraeus this is not meant to be a personal attack on yourself but a suggestion to the community as a whole. If people here continue to go it alone and not act as leaders then of course these projects will fail. So buck up, and offer some assistance, too many people are afraid of failure. A good quote from Bill Cosby that sums this up: "In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure".

this idea is raising a little controversy i see.
how are you meant top get a portfolio of work, if you have to have a portfolio to do a project like this.

thanks for all of your support on this idea!

Quote:

Original post by Adraeus The fact that nobody asked is troubling... sms: Here are six (ten, if you discount reading ease separations) vital questions that need good and honest answers. 1. What is your background? Do you have any experience with game development or project management? 2. Do you have a background-related portfolio? If yes, show it. 3. Do you have a project plan? If your project is to be profitable, do you have a business plan? 4. What is your objective? What is your project's mission statement? 5. How much time will you dedicate to your project? Will you contribute any money to your project? 6. What distinguishes your project from the horde of other related projects?

Personally, I never knew that having an extensive background in game development was so closely linked to the management of a newsletter: even one that is based on game development. He stated the project plan in as much detail as I believe he needed to. He wants to start a newsletter containing interviews with (and articles written by) indie developers, and he plans to keep an online archive of the newsletter available as well. This can be done in a free and easy manner via http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/. Also, I believe this is the first honest attempt at a newsletter I've seen on Gamedev. Unless of course you were under the misconception that SMS is trying to create a game- which would lead me to believe that perhaps you should read a bit more carefully before you post your advice.

Anyway, just to summarize... I'm glad you're scrutinizing the ambitions. But there's a point where it's okay to do things without a business plan. You can only take the "start small" philosophy so far. Nobody wrote a business plan for pong- and that's arguably an easier task than this newsletter would be, since it would involve coding.

I'm very interested in helping out with this. I can take over the webhosting, and I really wouldn't mind being in charge of publishing a week/biweekly/whatever we decide, since it would essentially just be a matter of adding an extra 15 minutes to the time I already spend formatting our newsletter. I would very much appreciate it if someone else would go out on a limb and spare $8 to register a suitable domain name for this (which brings us to a much more interesting topic: what shall we name the newsletter?), simply because it's nice to know that I'm not going into this alone, but if need be, I'll cover that, too. I'll begin modifying my offline article-writing client to suit the needs of this newsletter (a download for the client that we use on our newsletter can be downloaded from our website, if you'd like to see what I have in mind), and if any PHP coders are interested in doing a port to a web interface, that'd be excellent.