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Calling Homebrew Authors! Need Help with new Downloads Module!


Albert

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I'm working on the Downloads module, which I intend primarily to organize homebrew and development-related files.  Each file can have a description, screenshots, reviews, link to a discussion topic (if one exists), link to where to buy (if applicable), file versioning (including release notes for each version), support for NTSC/PAL/PAL60/SECAM files (for the 2600), which controllers are supported (for 2600, 5200, 7800, Jaguar, ColecoVision, and others as I think of them), and more. 

 

I'd like to enlist the help of homebrew authors and others to help flesh out some of these categories with games and other files.  Ideally the original author would upload the file(s) for his or her games, but I have also added an "Author" feel if the author is different from the person uploading the file.  I can change the file uploader after the fact, so other people can help add files and I can then change the uploader, as long as that person is active on AtariAge.  This makes it a bit easier to find other files by the same person.

 

Here's an example of one game I added while I've been testing:

 

image.png

 

I will be tweaking the layout a bit, since this didn't get much attention while working on the theme since it wasn't setup yet. I'm open to feedback on the information displayed for homebrew files.

 

Here are the categories I've created so far (this is by no means final, and I'm open to suggestions on how this is organized):

 

Screen Shot 2019-07-19 at 10.41.12 PM.png

 

If you'd like to help out, please let me know.  I'm especially interested in getting homebrew authors to upload their own files.  Please send me a PM and I can give you access to the Downloads module so we can get this party going!

 

Thanks,

 

 ..Al

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18 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said:

Cool idea! :thumbsup:

Will you allow to attach the files directly too? If yes, how many and which versions (e.g. WIP)?

Yes, that's how it works, you need to upload the files directly when adding a new entry in the Downloads app.  You can add as many versions as you'd like, but if you're adding a whole slew at once, you'd want to make sure to add them in the proper chronological order.  You need to finish the entry for the first version, and after that you can then add a new version: 

 

Screen Shot 2019-07-20 at 10.21.53 AM.png

 

When you do this, you can update the version number, add details about the changes, update the files, and update the screenshots as well if necessary.  There's no limit to the number of versions as far as I know.

 

You can also upload multiple files at once for each version, which is useful when you have NTSC and PAL versions of files (sometimes NTSC, PAL and PAL60, and rarely SECAM). 

 

 ..Al

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Here's an example from another forum what it looks like when you have multiple versions of a file:

 

Screen Shot 2019-07-20 at 10.26.41 AM.png

When you choose a version from the popup, it will update the information displayed below.  It will also let you download the files for that particular version.

 

 ..Al

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8 hours ago, Albert said:

When you do this, you can update the version number, add details about the changes, update the files, and update the screenshots as well if necessary.

 

Potentially, this is going to be very big for zero page homebrew.  A lot less searching when then want to do a retrospective of the development of a particular game or when focusing on the accomplishments of a certain programmer.

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12 minutes ago, D Train said:

Potentially, this is going to be very big for zero page homebrew.  A lot less searching when then want to do a retrospective of the development of a particular game or when focusing on the accomplishments of a certain programmer.

One of the goals is to organize homebrew games in a central location to make them easier to find through organization, searching, and filtering.  I'm not convinced yet that the Downloads module will be that vehicle, versus a purpose-built database. But one way or another it's going to happen. The Downloads module should be a good vehicle while I potentially work on a purpose-built, more advanced database.

 

 ..Al

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35 minutes ago, D Train said:

Potentially, this is going to be very big for zero page homebrew.  A lot less searching when then want to do a retrospective of the development of a particular game or when focusing on the accomplishments of a certain programmer.

 

This is definitely going to be a huge help for sure for the information and files, especially if it's kept accurate by developers and maintained by active members. Right now the go to resource for Atari 2600 Homebrew releases is @Arenafoot who has an up to date database of over 3000 entries! I'm sure he would be able to help out with suggestions for this.

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12 hours ago, D Train said:

 

Potentially, this is going to be very big for zero page homebrew.  A lot less searching when then want to do a retrospective of the development of a particular game or when focusing on the accomplishments of a certain programmer.

 

I've been playing around with the Downloads Module a bit and it definitely has the potential to provide a good way to track a game's development/change log.

 

But it is a bit unforgiving of mistakes at the moment.  I've been playing around with uploading the older versions of ChaoticGrill and made a few mistakes.  It would be nice if there were a way to edit or delete entries in the Change Log feature.  Granted this is more of a "migrating old data to a new system" sort of issue.  But it would be nice to have if possible.

 

image.thumb.png.0a114df9c9e13820235933fd16e752a1.png

Screenshot Note:  The box above the See Changelog button is the list of versions.  Version defaults to a full, current timestamp when no version is entered.

 

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4 minutes ago, splendidnut said:

But it is a bit unforgiving of mistakes at the moment.  I've been playing around with uploading the older versions of ChaoticGrill and made a few mistakes. 

It would be nice if there were a way to edit or delete entries in the Change Log feature.  Granted this is more of a "migrating old data to a new system" sort of issue.  But it would be nice to have if possible.

I'm fixing this right now, it's just a permissions issue I was unaware of.

 

 ..Al

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On 7/20/2019 at 7:38 PM, Albert said:

One of the goals is to organize homebrew games in a central location to make them easier to find through organization, searching, and filtering.  I'm not convinced yet that the Downloads module will be that vehicle, versus a purpose-built database. But one way or another it's going to happen. The Downloads module should be a good vehicle while I potentially work on a purpose-built, more advanced database.

 

 ..Al

 

On 7/20/2019 at 8:05 PM, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

 

This is definitely going to be a huge help for sure for the information and files, especially if it's kept accurate by developers and maintained by active members. Right now the go to resource for Atari 2600 Homebrew releases is @Arenafoot who has an up to date database of over 3000 entries! I'm sure he would be able to help out with suggestions for this.

I open to helping you @Albert any way I can!

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10 minutes ago, TwentySixHundred said:

Nice i have a (WIP) project or two that are near worthy of uploading, this perhaps could help with motivation and make documenting updates alot easier rather then posting a random topic.

It definitely works quite well for documenting updates.  :)

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Just now, TwentySixHundred said:

Yeah im not seeing a downloads module in apps? Am i missing something or is it down for maintenance at the moment?

It's only available to individuals to whom I've given access.  Still making changes to it, and want to make sure there are no big issues before I open it to everyone.

 

 ..Al

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