ianrace Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 Would it be possible to add a "Series" field to a game's metadata? Ideally, it should function exactly as the "Genre" field, meaning that it should accept multiple entries. Just as a game can be a platformer and adventure with stealth elements and therefore fit all three genres, so too can games be grouped into more than one series. Final Fantasy is probably the best example of this. First there is the main series with Final Fantasies I-XIV, but then there are the FFIV duology, the FFVII series, FFX duology, the Ivalice Alliance, and FFXIII trilogy. Each of these series also has at least one of the main series games in it. But the main series also has games that never began their own franchise. Mario is another one with multiple characters being spin-offs of other series. Heck, even the original Donkey Kong can be considered as part of the Donkey Kong series and Mario series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SentaiBrad Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Jason will see this when he gets back from his business trip, just so you know this isn't being ignored. Also, I saw it... and I like that idea. Only, this is something the user has to set, and I honestly see this as being a Premium Feature. What do you think? As far as the idea, I do like it a lot, it makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrace Posted February 15, 2015 Author Share Posted February 15, 2015 Thanks for seconding the motion, so to speak. To the best of my knowledge, there is no gaming front-end that let's you sort by series. I think it could prove to be a very handy feature. And I agree that this, if implemented, would probably go in the premium features because it would most likely rely on user-generated input. Having said that, Wikipedia lists which series a game falls under, at least for the larger titles. So that could probably be at least one automated source for the data. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SentaiBrad Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 ianrace said Thanks for seconding the motion, so to speak. To the best of my knowledge, there is no gaming front-end that let's you sort by series. I think it could prove to be a very handy feature. And I agree that this, if implemented, would probably go in the premium features because it would most likely rely on user-generated input. Having said that, Wikipedia lists which series a game falls under, at least for the larger titles. So that could probably be at least one automated source for the data. Wikipedia is very hard to work with sadly though. It's not perfect with its API and since that is also user input, one person will use the correct formatting and another user wont. That's why when you get errors with data when using Wikipedia there isn't much we can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xananax Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 I would like to second this and say what is needed is simply custom fields. For example, I'd like to have a field "historical relevance" in which I could choose between "grandfather" (games like Colossal Cave or Rogue), "breakthrough" (Doom, Ultima), "Game Changer" (Final Fantasy) , "Iconic" (Mario, Zelda...) I'd like to have a field to store "Working Condition", in which I would fill in "not tested", "works but needs tweaks", "doesn't work"... I'd like to have a field "Controller Type", which would allow me to know if the game works with my Xbox controller or not A field called "Time Pace" to know which game are turn-based and allow me to play when I want to sleep and don't want something too trigger-heavy A field called "point of view" in which I'd store "3rd person", "1st person" "Graphics type: 3D, 2D, isometric", "Self-produced, indie, published" ....And so on All these fields are not useful for everyone and adding them by default would bloat the soft to no end anyway; However, if there was a "custom field" option, I could order and sort my library with all the minutiae of the freak I am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Carr Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Good thoughts, guys. The series field is indeed planned, but I hadn't though about needing multiple series. I'm sold on the concept now though, ian. Thanks for the input. We will see that feature eventually. Xananax, you got it. Custom fields are indeed coming. However, I think Series would need to be its own special field in order to handle the multiple series logic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bd00 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Xananax said I would like to second this and say what is needed is simply custom fields. For example, I'd like to have a field "historical relevance" in which I could choose between "grandfather" (games like Colossal Cave or Rogue), "breakthrough" (Doom, Ultima), "Game Changer" (Final Fantasy) , "Iconic" (Mario, Zelda...) I'd like to have a field to store "Working Condition", in which I would fill in "not tested", "works but needs tweaks", "doesn't work"... I'd like to have a field "Controller Type", which would allow me to know if the game works with my Xbox controller or not A field called "Time Pace" to know which game are turn-based and allow me to play when I want to sleep and don't want something too trigger-heavy A field called "point of view" in which I'd store "3rd person", "1st person" "Graphics type: 3D, 2D, isometric", "Self-produced, indie, published" ....And so on All these fields are not useful for everyone and adding them by default would bloat the soft to no end anyway; However, if there was a "custom field" option, I could order and sort my library with all the minutiae of the freak I am. Wouldn't each field need to be applied manually on a per game basis? This could be very VERY time consuming, especially for those with large libraries. Do playlists not make more sense here? With drag and drop, context menu, etc. for speed and ease. Not to mention cluttered game details windows. You could just add an element to the game details window displaying all the playlists that particular game is in, like tags or something. Maybe an option in the game details page to add to playlists too. Playlists can also be shared easily. Am I missing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xananax Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 No, there would be a "custom fields manager" in which you could add your own fields. These fields would then be found on every game in your DB. Ideally, you could choose between a few types of field, like, checkbox, text, or selection, but just text will suffice for 99% of usages. Playlists, like tags, do not offer the same functionality. I can tag a game "precursor", but how do I tag "Music: Koji Kondo" and "Designer: Tim Williams"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bd00 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Create a playlist called "Music by Koji Kondo" or "Designed by Tim Williams" would probably work I suppose. Then add any games that fit the criteria to the relevant playlist. However, I do see your point now I think about it. I am just put off by the time it would take to set it up and the mess it would make of the details pane, but I guess that is just personally subjective. Your idea would appeal to many people I am sure. I still believe playlists have something to offer. For example, if I wanted to create a group of games, say "Top 10 Games From the 80's" I would much rather have a playlist than a field that then shows up in every game in my library named "Top 10 Game From the 80's". Then 90's, 00's, etc. etc. What if I wanted top ten from 2015? 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, etc, etc, etc. Then top ten rpgs, shooters, racers, platformers, etc, etc. Then top ten Sega titles, Nintendo, Atari, etc. etc. I could go on, but I think you see my point by now. Imagine the game details window now. Also, i have mentioned this before, but playlists could be shared among friends/family/the community. For example, you create a playlist called "Breakthrough Games" which contains all the games you see as breakthrough games. You can then share that with me. I import it to my library and any games that I have will show up. Any games that I don't could have a default poster which displays the fact I do not have this in my library. Any games I have but have never played, I could give them a go and see what the fuss is about. Any that are missing and I want to try, I can go looking for them. Things like Music/Composer, Designer, working condition, etc. would definitely be better in fields though. Also, working condition should have color coded icons overlaying the poster or at least in the in the sidebar/popup which are easily visible with a quick glance. But now I am starting to head of subject so I will stop here. At the end of the day I guess, in my opinion, both custom fields and playlists would both be useful additions. It all depends on what each user is looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Carr Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Yes, both custom playlists and custom fields are planned (though admittedly neither are a primary focus for the moment). We'll simply add a new tab for custom fields, with a grid of sorts, as to not over-complicate the dialog. It also probably won't even be visible for non-premium users. I see both custom playlists and custom fields as premium features. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xananax Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 @bd00 yes, now that I think about it, playlists would be awesome. I am using all sorts of custom filters now (number of stars + platform, etc), but playlists would be very handy for the usage you describe. @jason: I think it makes perfect sense to have those as a premium features as both playlists and custom fields are really not core functionality and should be reserved for the tinkerers. Then again, I am speaking from the standpoint of someone who has already purchased the full version, so I might not be the right audience to decide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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