At 04:41 PM 9/24/2000 -0700, you wrote:
Gosh Glenn, I know this is your list and all but I thought this was a 2600
list. Don't you think this might be a little off topic?
Stellalist was created as a forum or community for aspiring 2600
programmers, in order to pool resources and (hopefully) get more, better
stuff done than we could do independently. If you read the charter, it's
not so different from what I'd like to see at GameDevelopers.Net. It's all
about teamwork.
When Stellalist was created, Omar Thameen graciously offered his Biglist to
host the mailing list. But it's been over 4 years since then.
Times have changed. It might be a good time to think about the future, now.
I think that a database-driven web site (or portal) could offer a great
deal more to everyone here than just the mailing list alone. And as for
the mailing list, I'd be lying if I were not thinking about some of the
great features that eGroups has to offer vs. Omar's software. eGroups
lists have a files section, simple databases, polls, and so on.
So I'm trying to map out what the hobby/shareware game programming scene
might be like 3-5 years down to the road to determine how ambitious to be
with GameDevelopers.Net. It could be just a consolidation of content
covering similar ground to The Dig, Atari2600Nexus, and this mailing list,
or it could expand into something broader, or if nobody here wants to get
too high-profile with their projects, I'll limit GameDevelopers.Net to
service those writing for modern platforms and nobody will hear about it
again ;)
But I do want at least a part of GameDevelopers.Net to serve everyone here
on the list. And it is all free, of course. Anyone who's finished a game
for the 2600 here could have their own page with articles, reviews,
screenshots, profiles, and so on. I think it would be really neat to move
beyond the mailing list with something a bit more expansive, browsable,
searchable, and personal. I do think that it could grow and produce a lot
more visibility (and press mentions) for this whole scene, if that's
something any of you might want.
As I've discussed, I do currently work as a Cold Fusion guy for eUniverse,
which owns many of the web's largest game news sites. So there is a
possibility of even integrating the site into the eUniverse family of sites
which could increase traffic enormously. Right now it's a totally separate
side project that they aren't even aware of, though.
I know all of you don't make much money from your games, so the reward has
to be in large part the recognition that comes from those who play your
games. So the more exposure, the better, right?
That's why I'm opening up the debate to see what the consensus opinion
might be...
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