Help Wanted: MacScene Team

Niemann

On December 15th, 2009, MacScene v10.0 was released. This was a completely new system following another one of our devastating data loses. I felt obligated in many ways to program and release v10.0 after seeing how incredibly resilient the community has been in the more than ten years that MacScene has existed (in one form or another). But v10.0 is quite dated, the design is terrible, integrating the emulator database has proven to be difficult under the current structure of the site, and frankly I know we can do better.

The v10.0 version of the site also marked the first time Elemodo Software (the company that was started by members of this same community) actually worked on MacScene as a project.

With this in mind, I've decided to begin developing a new v11.0 (probably the first time in the history of the site a voluntary refresh will be done). The first step is to put together a Team of you guys to help out. If anyone has any design experience, development experience (PHP; especially Joomla! which is what most of Elemodo's software is based on), database management experience, content / article editing experience, or think you can contribute to the development of the new MacScene in anyway, please let me know.

We have a lot of exciting potential for v11.0 including the emulator database, Archive integration, social network integration, more playful features (how many people have unlocked the parade of video game characters on the site?), possible revenue (which would of course be shared among the Team), and, best of all, a new and faster design.

Elemodo has developed some pretty exciting software which could be used by this Team to construct a very prominent classic gaming / emulation site.

Hopefully this thread will serve as a place where people can share ideas (I have a few of my own), share links to sites that do things well (it'd be nice to find a site that has a well designed download database which we could use for our emulators), and introduce themselves if they would like to join the Team.

I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do, I've always been impressed by the range of talents and devotion this community has had to MacScene. This is our opportunity to grow the site and turn it into something we are proud of.

menace690

Pretty sure you can guess my stance on this one :)

For anyone who can't... I'm in

mossy_11

It goes without saying that I'm in, too.

To expand a little on the content side of things, it'd be great to have more people contributing news. I'm happy doing the monthly round-ups, and may well continue to do so even if we can get news updates throughout the month, but I'd love to see news getting posted as it happens rather than a few weeks later. I don't have time (or motivation) to do this myself, though, so there's definitely room for a news writer or team of news writers.

My personal interest is in putting out interesting editorial content. We've got two recurring features -- Retro Game of the Week and Mac Classics Reborn -- that could use more attention. There could also be articles on the state or growth of emulation, guides to emulating each platform, retrospectives -- about not just retro games or retro gaming platforms, but also emulation back in the 90s or early 00s -- and personal stories about how games have affected our lives.

When the new site is ready, there'll be plenty of room for tutorials/how-tos and other more focused guide-type articles.

I would love to get someone else contributing regular feature articles, since I just don't have the time to do anything more than one a week (and often not even that). Pixelcade's being doing a fine job helping with RGotW, but I hope more of you will step up. And if English is not your first language or your writing is not quite at a publishable standard but you really know your stuff, do still consider -- I'm a good editor.

Pixelcade

I'd love to keep writing. Its something I've started to look forward to. Also I have 11 years as an Art Director under my belt for various companies if you need someone to flush out ideas and concepts. I'm no programmer though.

dickmedd

I'm 100% up for contributing more on the articles and news related items more in the future. In a couple of months I'll have graduated (provided something catastrophic doesn't ruin everything) so I'll have time to do non-university related activities.

RGOTW is something I'm always pleased to see, I think it's an excellent feature and I'm looking forward to having the time to play and write about some more games soon (my last two articles were hampered slightly as a result of a hectic schedule).

Unfortunately, this is probably the only area I can contribute in (other than feeding back on any issues I encounter as I go) but if it helps the site press forward then I'm always happy to be on board. Can't wait for the Emulator DB, Archive and more achievments!

Niemann

So I've started active development of the new MacScene. In case anyone is interested it will be based on a much more feature-rich and stable version of Elemodo's software (which includes Joomla 1.6).

I'm not much of a designer, and wanted to know if anyone wanted to take a crack at a new logo for the site. The rocket and 'MacScene' you see above was done in about five minutes (I think I even used Pages for it). The rocket itself is actually Elemodo's logo, but if people like it, then feel free to use it. If there aren't any submissions, then I'll have an Elemodo designer take a crack at it.

Niemann

I've finished a new design for MacScene, along with the incorporation of a number of new features (Emulator Database included). There's still quite a bit of work to do. Any ideas on the logo? The new design is a bit darker, not sure Mucx will catch this thread but it incorporates parts of the Archive design (as promotion for Archive later this year).

Once we get a logo, I'll need to find some admins for the emulator section. My goal is to make it as easy as the MacScene v7 system (one post updated the news area and emulator database). Then I just need to redesign the forums to fit the new style, and migrate all the data over.

dickmedd

Great news.

I'd definitely go with an Apple/Mac link with the logo, something that says 'emulation on Mac' as clearly but cleanly as possible.

EDIT: Also, I'm currently jobless and won't be starting anything until around late August/early September time. If there's anything at all I can do to help, no matter how banal or simple, just let me know. :side:

Niemann

dickmedd, I've messaged you.

IUG

Niemann wrote:

dickmedd, I've messaged you.

Which is interesting, because usually people are receiving messages about dickmedds, even if it's long enough already.

dickmedd

Niemann

The core functionality of the new MacScene system is now complete. Obviously the biggest feature is the emulator database, so I thought I'd share a quick screenshot. You can ignore the theming on it, I just borrowed it from another Elemodo project.

Entering new emulators is a breeze, I was able to enter about thirty last night in the course of an hour or so (for instance all of Bannister's). Hopefully this means we can keep everything up to date. I'm currently debating whether we should include sections for interpreters and virtualization tools.

There is a lot of cool functionality in the emulator database including social sharing, comments, and a very easy to use backend for the admins.

Niemann

Doing more work on the new system I've decided to move away from the Video Game Fact of the Day. Perhaps a Screenshot of the day showcasing cool video game events (game endings, funny quotes, famous parts of video games).

The weekly poll might also be something to abandon. Or is that a feature worth resurrecting?

Achievements are also something on the cutting block.

I'm interested in getting some feedback on these items.

dickmedd

My opinion:

- Fact of the day is great but there are only so many facts. The amount of research required to make it an interesting feature (or the amount of different fact-finders contributing) might not be worth the effort. Screenshots sound interesting, perhaps expanded to SFX, box art and more?

- I love polls but that's just me. Regularly updated Polls on the back of recent news or discussion would keep it relevant.

- I also like achievements (recently I've become more of a trophy-hunter on PSN) but they don't fit into the current MacScene that well for me. If profiles were highlighted more, they would make more sense...what role do they play in the new MacScene?

Niemann

- Fact of the day is great but there are only so many facts. The amount of research required to make it an interesting feature (or the amount of different fact-finders contributing) might not be worth the effort. Screenshots sound interesting, perhaps expanded to SFX, box art and more?

With our partnership with Archive, this would be very easy to do. I'd just have to browse around the Archive database flagging items for 'Media of the Day' or whatever. Sound effects might be a bit more challenging, but I like that direction. There is a big focus on 'media' in the new version.

- I love polls but that's just me. Regularly updated Polls on the back of recent news or discussion would keep it relevant.

I always fall into a groove doing things like 'Will you buy the new iPhone 5' and 'What do you hope Apple will update next?'. Maybe polls will be easier to come up with since Mossy and the gang are doing a great job of widening the scope of MacScene.

- I also like achievements (recently I've become more of a trophy-hunter on PSN) but they don't fit into the current MacScene that well for me. If profiles were highlighted more, they would make more sense...what role do they play in the new MacScene?

They play a very minor role, same as on this current version. I'll have to think about this some more, find a way to make things competitive around here.

I think I've completed the frontpage design today, next stop is putting a matching theme on the forums. Then I just need to tweak all the registration, login, forgotten password / username, profile, edit profile, edit avatar, etc. pages. The only piece of the puzzle I'm really missing is a logo. I'll probably end up with the Elemodo rocket with a stylized text logo of 'MacScene'.

Niemann

Quick apology for the past few hours of downtime. I was creating a migration script for the new MacScene v11 system and didn't realize that it had broken the configuration of the current MacScene site.

Special thanks to the six members who emailed, IMed, PMed, chat whispered, and Google+ messaged me. Situation should be resolved.