Feedback, Features, & Requests

[Special T]

I joined this community two weeks ago and have read through every topic in the LaunchBox Games Database section to familiarize myself with the state of the database and what obstacles people are faced with when adding or moderating content because I would like to be a contributing member of this community, but I worry that the effort may not be worth it which is how others new members may feel as well.

Be for warned, this will be a long but hopefully interesting post to read through. I hope the development team of LaunchBox and other community members read through this post and leave honest feedback or point out potential caveats that I may have overlooked. Since I’m new to this community and to LaunchBox, I hope none of the information I’m posting here is inaccurate, but if any of the information is incorrect, please let me know and I will be happy to update this post.

 

Development Priority:

Spoiler

Right now LaunchBox has a higher priority that Games Database and more time is spent on its development to implement feature requests, bug fixes, etc. which I can understand because LaunchBox is where the revenue on this site comes from. The proposal I’d like to make would be to split development time 50/50 between LaunchBox and the Game Database.

The thought process behind that request is that the development of Launchbox is solely driven by the development team with the exception of users posting bugs or feature requests and those members that create themes however, the large majority of content being added to the Game Database is being driven by the community (moderators & contributors). As far as I can tell LaunchBox is 99% functional now and it’s just being refined with the addition of new features, bug fixes etc, whereas the Game Database is in an alpha state and needs a lot of love.

So, I guess the point I’m trying to make is that the community has more of an impact on the Game Database than it does on the software, so once the database becomes more functional it will allow the community to contribute more. I would love to count myself among one of those contributing members, but I’m waiting until the database is developed into a more stable state.

Lastly, I know nothing about writing code, creating databases, or making applications so I’m sure the development team has sunk hundreds of hours in to the development of the database and LaunchBox. I want to thank for the time and effort you’ve put into both of them.

 

Compressive Change Log:

Spoiler

I can see that LaunchBox has a detailed change log I can access within the application, however I couldn’t find one for the Games Database aside from Jason’s post on 8/15, but I’m sure more changes have taken place since that was posted.

I think it would be beneficial to see a compressive list of changes made to the database that gets updated on a regular basis. Looking over the posts in the forum, I was unsure which questions/ suggestions have been implemented and which ones are still being worked on. Several of the posts end with a response similar to “it’s on the too do list” or “it’s not done yet but we’re working on it”. If the change log was comprehensive, I could go there to see if it’s been implemented.

 

To Do List:

Spoiler

I think it would be useful to incorporate a list of features that plan to be implemented into the Game Database, for example if I hadn’t searched the forum I wouldn’t have known about the plan of merging games and platforms from different regions and adding multiple fields for release date & names. This again would just be a quick easy to read list of changes that are planned for the Game Database.

Also, I may have missed it in a pinned topic but the only link I found to the Game Database BitBucket was posted randomly in a couple of the forum topics. It would probably be useful to include a link to the BitBucket in the To Do List topic and link to a few of the items on the list if they are in the BitBucket so people can vote on them and help you prioritize which ones to implement first.

I would assume every suggestion uploaded to the BitBucket won’t get implemented because it either doesn’t fit the scope of what the database is trying to accomplish or it would require too much work to implement and only a marginal number of users would benefit, which is why the To Do List would help us see which changes are seriously being considered and worked on.

Lastly, it might be useful to break the To Do List up into two sections which would be “User Requests” & “Moderator Requests” because it would be easier to identify which types of changes would benefit which types of users i.e. Moderators – Skip to next submission, comment on rejection, shoutbox, etc. / Users – add functionality for multiple regions, add comment section when adding a game or making a change, include fields for hack / fan translations etc.

 

Features that will not be implemented:

Spoiler

I would be nice to see a list of features that have been request but you know for sure you will not be implementing for example I read a few people still debating over the split vs merged database regarding how the games should be listed. I assume since the decision has been made it won’t be reversed so that would be good item to include on the list as well as adult games that contain nudity and any other feature that you know for sure won’t be implemented. This would prevent people from asking for something that won’t ever happen (or would be extremely unlikely).

 

My suggestions and feature requests:

Please let me know if any of these suggestions are useful and I’ll be happy to add them to the BitBucket.

 

Add a link to the Moderator & Contributor guidelines within the Games Database:

Spoiler

This could be places on the Game Database homepage as well as the submission page. This would be extremely helpful considering most people wouldn’t immediately think to check the forums for a link to the guidelines. Honestly, it took me a while to find them and I saw posts from other users indicating the same thing.

 

Split the Name field into two separate fields and incorporate a tag system:

Spoiler

The fields would be “Box Art Title” & “Title Screen Title” and they would allow multiple entries per field similar to how the Developer, Publisher, & Genre fields are currently set up, but also include a tag system that allows users to select region, hack, and/or fan translation.

Box Art Title: Some games were released with alternate names in the same region

• USA - Mystaria: The Realms of Lore (Original release)
• USA - Blazing Heroes (Re-released with this name for copyright reasons)
• Japan - Riglord Saga
• Europe - Mystaria: The Realms of Lore

Title Screen Title: 

• Some games have different titles when comparing the box art to the title screen
  • USA Box: Phantasy Star IV
  • USA Title Screen: Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
• Fan translations groups may list title’s differently than what is listed on the games original title screen or box art
  • Japanese Title Screen: Battle Mania Dai Gin Jou (バトルマニア大吟醸) [also known as Battle Mania Daiginjou / Battle Mania 2]
  • Fan Translation Title Screen: Trouble Shooter Vintage (not an official release so no box art)

 

Benefit within LaunchBox: If the box art / title screen name field and tag system was implemented, LaunchBox could add the ability to select which naming convention to use when importing games if the Games Database was selected for scraping data i.e. Use names from the Box Art Title for all regions, use the names on the title screens from USA games, etc.

 

Allow multiple entries in the Release Date, Publisher, & ESRB field and Incorporate the above mentioned tag system:

Spoiler

• Release Date: allowing entries for multiple regions is already planned but it could also be used for release dates of rom hacks and fan translations

• Publisher:

• ESRB: 

 

 Convert ESRB field to an Age Appropriate field:

Spoiler

It would probably be much easier to maintain (no need to update if changes occur) and be more user friendly (when viewed in LaunchBox) to utilize a numeric age appropriate system instead of the text based version that is currently in place (ESRB, BBFC, PEGI, CERO, etc.). If I lived outside the US and wanted to figure out which games I should try to play with my 5-year-old son, I would assume games rated with General Audiences, Kids to Adults, or Everyone would be a good place to start but those games are geared towards children 6 years of age or older. I know one year probably wouldn’t make a difference but it was the best way to convey my point. So, if the ESRB field was converted to a numeric age appropriate system, it would be helpful for people playing games in regions other than their local territory.

On a side note, it would be wise to add a disclaimer to the ESRB field indicating that only ratings for that particular platform should be utilized because game released on other systems or re-released later may have additional content added that was not in the original release. An example of this would be Monster World IV on the Sega Genesis which was never released outside of Japan and was not originally rated, however it was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in multiple territories all of which were rated. So, the original Genesis release should be listed as Not Rated since it was not rated on that system.

Also, here is a list of ESRB ratings (current & previous) that have been converted to a number age appropriate system to help visualize my explanation.

·         Not Rated            Not Rated / Homebrew / Port / Unlicensed

·         Rating Pending  RATING PENDING (RP)

·         3+                           EARLY CHILDHOOD (EC)

·         6+                           EVERYONE (E)

·         6+                           GENERAL AUDIENCES (GA)

·         6+                           KIDS TO ADULTS (K-A)

·         10+                         EVERYONE 10+ (E-10)

·         13+                         TEEN (T)

·         13+                         MATURE AUDIENCES (MA-13)

·         17+                         MATURE AUDIENCES (MA-17)

·         17+                         MATURE (M)

·         18+                         ADULTS ONLY (AO)

 

Incorporate a more flexible Genre system with examples:

Spoiler

It would be useful to have more flexibility on how to list or classify a game. With that flexibility it would also be useful to provide examples each genre and what games would fall in each category. I’ve included a list of Genre’s along with game examples that I use when classifying a game.

 

Action:

·         Adventure:

o    Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past      /      ToeJam & Earl

·         Fighting: One on one hand to hand / melee weapon combat in an arena

o    Marvel vs Capcom      /      Mortal Kombat      /      Street Fighter

·         Football:

o    Beastball      /      Mutant League Football

·         General:

o    Breakout      /      Pong

·         Group Combat:

o    Towerfall     /      Power Stone

·         Kart Racing:

o    BC Racers      /      Mario Kart

·         Platformer:

o    Earthworm Jim      /      Knuckles' Chaotix      /      Pitfall - The Mayan Adventure      /      Rick Dangerous

·         Racing:

o    Virtua Hamster

·         Roguelike:

o    Rogue Legacy

·         Role-Playing (RPG):

o    Beyond Oasis      /      King Colossus

·         Stealth: (Spy / Espionage)

o    Metal Gear      /      Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

·         Survival Horror:

o    Resident Evil      /      Silent Hill

 

·         Beat 'em Up: Fight a large number of enemies in (primarily) hand to hand

o    Streets of Rage      /      Final Fight      /      Double Dragon

·         Hack and Slash: Fight a large number of enemies in (primarily) melee weapon based combat

o    Golden Axe

 

·         Multi-directional Shooter: Avatar / character movement is handled by one joystick while the gun / bullet trajectory is handled by the other joystick

o    Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved

·         Rail Shooter: Avatar / character movement is handled by the game while the gun / bullet trajectory is handled by the player

o    House of Dead      /      Time Crisis      /      Virtua Cop

·         Scrolling Shooter: Fight a large number of enemies in (primarily) gun / projectile based combat with forced scrolling gameplay

o    Space Harrier      /      Trouble Shooter      /      Trouble Shooter Vintage      /      Undead Line

·         Shoot 'em Up: Fight a large number of enemies in (primarily) gun / projectile based combat

o    Alien Soldier      /      Gunstar Heroes      /      Twinkle Tale

·         Shooter:

o    Doom      /      Metal Head      /      T-Mek

 

 

Adventure:

·         General:

o    Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water

·         Point & Click:

o    Myst

·         Visual Novel:

o    Policenauts      /      Snatchers

 

 

Compilation: Multiple games included on one cart or disc

·         Action:

o    Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition

·         Multiple:

o    6-Pak

·         Platformer:

o    Mega Man Anniversary Collection      /      Sonic Mega Collection Plus

·         Sports:

o    Aquatic Games Starring James Pond and the Aquabats      /      Wii Sports

 

 

Flight:

·         Scrolling Shoot ‘em Up: Fight a large number of enemies with forced scrolling gameplay on a fixed plain

o    R-Type      /      Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000

·         Scrolling Shooter: Player maintains the ability to navigate the avatar in the game world with forced scrolling gameplay

o    After Burner Complete      /      Crimson Skies      /      Darxide

·         Shooter:

o    Kolibri

 

 

Massively Multiplayer Online:

·         Role-Playing (MMORPG):

o    Ever Quest      /      World of Warcraft

 

 

Pinball:

o    Pinbot

 

 

Role-Playing (RPG):

·         Game Creation:

o    RPG Maker

·         Turn-based:

o    Azures Dreams      /      Jade Cacoon      /      Phantasy Star      /      Pokemon      /      Shining Force      /      Super Mario RPG      /      Thousand Arms

·         Visual Novel:

o    Phantasy Star II Text Adventure

 

 

Rythm:

·         Dance:

o    Dance Dance Revolution

·         Instrument:

o    Guitar Hero      /      DJ Hero      /      Rockband

·         Vocal:

o    Sing It      /      Karaoke Revolution Glee: Volume 3 Bundle

 

 

Simulation:

·         Dating:

o    True Love

·         Tycoon:

o    Roller Coaster Tycoon 3D      /      SimCity

·         Virtual Life

o    The Sims      /      Tamagotchi

 

 

Sports:

·         Baseball:

o    RBI Baseball '95

·         Basketball:

o    NBA Jam Tournament Edition

·         Bowling:

o    10 Pin Bowling

·         Boxing:

o    Toughman Contest

·         Cricket:

o    Cricket 2005

·         Dodgeball:

o    Super Dodge Ball

·         Fishing:

o    Mark Davis' The Fishing Master

·         Football:

o    NFL Quarterback Club

·         Golf:

o    Golf Magazine 36 Great Holes Starring Fred Couples

·         Hockey:

o    NHL 95

·         Motocross:

o    Motocross Championship

·         Olympic:

o    Winter Challenge      /      Winter Olympic Games

·         Racing:

o    Destruction: Burnout

o    Formula One : Virtua Racing Deluxe

o    NASCAR : Daytona USA

o    Rally: World Rally Championship

·         Rugby:

o    Rugby 08

·         Skateboarding:

o    Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

·         Snowboarding:

o    Cool Boarders

·         Soccer:

o    FIFA Soccer'96

·         Tennis:

o    Grand Slam Tennis 2

·         Wakeboarding:

o    Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray

·         Wrestling:

o    WWF Raw

 

 

Strategy:

·         Board Game:

o    Chessmaster      /      Checkers      /      Connect Four      /      Monopoly

·         Card Game:

o    Pokémon Trading Card Game      /      Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters

·         Education:

o    Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego      /      Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego

·         General:

o    Pirates Gold!      /      Lemmings      /      Galcon Fusion

·         Matching:

o    Mahjong

·         Puzzle:

o    Dr. Mario      /      Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo      /      Tetris

·         Real Time Strategy (RTS):

o    Starcraft      /      Warcraft

·         Role-Playing (RPG):

o    Fire Emblem      /      Langrisser      /      Shining Force / Shadowrun Dragonfall - Director's Cut

·         Tower Defense:

o    Plants vs. Zombies

·         Trivia:

o    Smarty Pants      /      Wheel of Fortune

·         Turn-based:

o    Worms

 

Fields to add that aren’t currently present:

Spoiler

   Development Status:

o   Homebrew - A game that was not licensed by the hardware manufacturer & is freely available to everyone

• Classic Kong - Super Nintendo

o   Port - A game that has been unofficially ported from one platform to another

• Wolfenstein 3D - Sega 32X

o   Prototype - An unreleased or canceled game that is released through unofficial channels

•  Cheetahmen 2 – Nintendo Entertainment System

o   Released - Any game that has been published including unlicensed & pirate carts

•  Phantasy Star IV – Sega Genesis
• Pier Solar – Sega Genesis
• Final Fantasy VII – Nintendo Entertainment System

·         Dimension: This refers to the environment and does not take character / background models into consideration.

o   2D is 'flat', using the X & Y (horizontal and vertical) axis, the image has only two dimensions and if turned to the side becomes a line.

• Contra – Nintendo Entertainment System
• Legend of Zelda - Super Nintendo

o   2.5D uses the X & Y (horizontal and vertical) axis and may add a limited implementation of the 'Z' dimension.

• Super Mario RPG - Super Nintendo
• Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000 - Super Nintendo

o   3D adds the 'Z' dimension. This third dimension allows for rotation and depth. It's essentially the difference between a painting and a sculpture.

• Super Mario 64 – Nintendo 64

·         Perspective: Can be one or a combination of views depending on the game i.e. Phantasy Star IV is mostly Top-Down but combat is 3rd person

o   1st-Person: Game viewed through the character's eyes

• Shining in the Darkness – Sega Genesis

o   3rd-Person: Game viewed over the shoulder of the character

• Shining Force II (while in combat) – Sega Genesis
• Super Mario Kart - Super Nintendo
• Space Harrier – Sega 32X

o   Isometric: Arial view of character on a skewed plane

• Super Mario RPG - Super Nintendo
• Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000 - Super Nintendo

o   Side-Scrolling: Left to right or right to left movement utilizing single or multiple planes of movement

• Contra – Nintendo Entertainment System
• Guardian Heroes – Sega Saturn

o   Top-Down: Arial view of character on a flat plane

• Shining Force II (while moving in battle or town) – Sega Genesis
• Legend of Zelda - Super Nintendo

 

Allow inclusion of the source to reference when submitting a new game or changing an existing entry:

Spoiler

Add an optional field to each category labeled “Source” where you can enter information from conflicting sources, for example, Phantasy Star IV for the Sega Genesis was released in 1994 (GameFAQs), 1994 (MobyGames), Jan 1995 (Sega Retro), & Feb 1995 (Wikipedia). I wouldn’t want to hassle contributors by making them do extra work so this field would only be required if conflicting information is found. This would also help moderators validate the information if needed.

 

Benefit within LaunchBox: If this idea gets implement, I assume it would be within Jason ability to incorporate a hierarchy system where in the user would select their preferred site for metadata when scraping the database if a source is listed i.e. GameFAQ’s  >  MobyGames  >  Wikipedia  >  etc.

 

Merge or link similar developers together:

Spoiler

Examples of companies that have been renamed and gone through mergers would be

·         Eidansha Boshu Service Center

·         Enix Corporation

·         Square Co., Ltd.

·         Square Enix Co., Ltd.

 

Benefit within LaunchBox: Include option when filtering by developer to include titles released under current or prior company names as well as games released by a subsidiary or another company acquired through a merger.

 

Create a reward system that encourages contributions:

Spoiler

Devise a point based system that would encourage people to contribute to the database. The point system could track

·         New game submissions

·         Corrections made to existing entries already in the database

·         Images uploaded (box art, screen shot, logo’s, etc.)

·         Number of entries approved or declined to encourage moderation and quick turnaround times

 

The system could also be weighted differently based on the platform or content submitted. For example, if an obscure Japanese console doesn’t have any entries in the database maybe offering double points for any activity on that platform would increase contributions or just in general give more points for particular types of contributions i.e. adding a new game or submitting high resolution box art.

 

A few suggested rewards for this type of system when certain achievements are reached could be

·         Custom title on the forums

·         Either a free one-year license to BigBox or a percentage off the lifetime price of BigBox

·         Additional votes on BitBucket for feature requests

·         A special thank you page featured somewhere on the Game Database or in LaunchBox acknowledging everyone that has attained a certain number of points

 

A point based system would be useful to encourage users to continue to add games up update existing ones.

 

 For anyone that actually read through this post, thank you and feel free to post your thoughts or feedback.

Edited September 4, 2016 by Special T

[Cebion]

Kudos Special T.

I'm with you 100%

Well done.

[CliveBarker]

I don't know if it's just my browser and my bad eyesight but I found pretty hard to read the spoilers content. For me the font appears greyed out over a white background, is it the same for everyone?

Anyway I read through it all and I agree with basically everything

I hope Jason and Brad take some time to read and discuss this, although Jason is pretty busy right now fixing the LB voice commands implementation

 

Edit: I figured out the problem. Do not try to read this while using the forums dark theme.

[DOS76]

Yeah but that is the only theme I want to use Jason may be able to tweek some settings that would make this look much nicer in the dark theme.

Edited September 4, 2016 by DOS76