07-28-2021, 01:13 AM
It's been a while since there has been any response, so I'm bringing this back up to see if lumaSMS has gotten any further. I'm pinging @Hypernova and @Mors since last time I heard about it, they're in control of the project.
I've been thinking lately: What is the purpose of the upgrade? We should think about how the upgrade will be done. As far I know, it's going to be more reliable, easier to work with, and more stable than the Taloncrossing system that's currently used, which sounds like a nightmare to mess with. If that's all there is, then is there anything wrong with making it look just like the Taloncrossing site, only more robust under the surface? New designs have been brought up, but what advantages do they have over the old design? If the old site design is fine the way it is, then it's probably not worth the trouble to come up with a brand new design. You could make a new system that looks the same in the surface, but now that it's easier to work with, you can easily add some new features, like forum account integration.
I know there's been discussion about making it mobile-friendly, but to be honest, do we really need that? Almost all the games and how-tos are PC-only and I doubt sprites and sounds will have much use if all you have is a smartphone, at least not for game development. I don't know if hacks can really be played on mobile either and much of the misc stuff might be useless. However, the only thing I can see being usable in a smartphone is commenting and reviewing, which are important things. Maybe you should open up a poll to see what devices our users use to explore MFGG and only bother with a mobile-friendly design if the majority prefers to use smartphones.
Will the new system be written from scratch or will it be based off of an existing CMS, like WordPress as @Mario mentioned? If you constantly have to start from scratch, then maybe it's worth taking a look at an existing framework. That, or if you're getting too fancy with the new system, then maybe you should do something simpler but still functional and usable. Whatever you do, I just hope it's usable and not filled with useless garbage. I don't think we need any fancy scripts that just eat up bandwidth and stretch out loading times -- some people might think they'll make the site look pretty, but I think they're unnecessary. I'd also prefer a site that doesn't spy on users to make money -- we don't need that either.
What new features do we need? I know forum account integration has been talked about for a very long time. @GeneralGuy has brought up the SMM2 level database idea many times, but is that game still popular? I do like the idea, since I don't know if any site has something like that. How hard is it to implement into Taloncrossing? A new section was added a while ago (the hacks), so it should be possible to do it again. I think what we could really use is some changes to make the tag system better for resources. You should be able to view the tags in a submission so it's easier to find any incorrect ones. We should also decide on what the "Game" tag means. I always thought it meant the style, but I've been seeing sprites that use a game tag just because it's a character that appeared in the game. Let's take the Super Mario Bros. 1 (16-bit) tag for instance. I always thought that tag was meant for sprites that either came from the game or use the style. However, I see some sprites that are only related to the game through the characters, such as this and that.
If all a new system does is add some bells and whistles, then is it really worth the trouble to make it? I know people have said that Taloncrossing is rough to work with behind the scenes, but as long as you can make sense of it, then it's fine. I think it still serves its purpose very well and isn't very clunky to work with in the surface. Sometimes you just need to be happy with what you have! If the new system is a lot more effective, then that's great, but it's not the end of the world if it never gets made.
I've been thinking lately: What is the purpose of the upgrade? We should think about how the upgrade will be done. As far I know, it's going to be more reliable, easier to work with, and more stable than the Taloncrossing system that's currently used, which sounds like a nightmare to mess with. If that's all there is, then is there anything wrong with making it look just like the Taloncrossing site, only more robust under the surface? New designs have been brought up, but what advantages do they have over the old design? If the old site design is fine the way it is, then it's probably not worth the trouble to come up with a brand new design. You could make a new system that looks the same in the surface, but now that it's easier to work with, you can easily add some new features, like forum account integration.
I know there's been discussion about making it mobile-friendly, but to be honest, do we really need that? Almost all the games and how-tos are PC-only and I doubt sprites and sounds will have much use if all you have is a smartphone, at least not for game development. I don't know if hacks can really be played on mobile either and much of the misc stuff might be useless. However, the only thing I can see being usable in a smartphone is commenting and reviewing, which are important things. Maybe you should open up a poll to see what devices our users use to explore MFGG and only bother with a mobile-friendly design if the majority prefers to use smartphones.
Will the new system be written from scratch or will it be based off of an existing CMS, like WordPress as @Mario mentioned? If you constantly have to start from scratch, then maybe it's worth taking a look at an existing framework. That, or if you're getting too fancy with the new system, then maybe you should do something simpler but still functional and usable. Whatever you do, I just hope it's usable and not filled with useless garbage. I don't think we need any fancy scripts that just eat up bandwidth and stretch out loading times -- some people might think they'll make the site look pretty, but I think they're unnecessary. I'd also prefer a site that doesn't spy on users to make money -- we don't need that either.
What new features do we need? I know forum account integration has been talked about for a very long time. @GeneralGuy has brought up the SMM2 level database idea many times, but is that game still popular? I do like the idea, since I don't know if any site has something like that. How hard is it to implement into Taloncrossing? A new section was added a while ago (the hacks), so it should be possible to do it again. I think what we could really use is some changes to make the tag system better for resources. You should be able to view the tags in a submission so it's easier to find any incorrect ones. We should also decide on what the "Game" tag means. I always thought it meant the style, but I've been seeing sprites that use a game tag just because it's a character that appeared in the game. Let's take the Super Mario Bros. 1 (16-bit) tag for instance. I always thought that tag was meant for sprites that either came from the game or use the style. However, I see some sprites that are only related to the game through the characters, such as this and that.
If all a new system does is add some bells and whistles, then is it really worth the trouble to make it? I know people have said that Taloncrossing is rough to work with behind the scenes, but as long as you can make sense of it, then it's fine. I think it still serves its purpose very well and isn't very clunky to work with in the surface. Sometimes you just need to be happy with what you have! If the new system is a lot more effective, then that's great, but it's not the end of the world if it never gets made.
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