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Nandrew
02-10-2007, 04:11 PM
Hey guys,

This thread is basically a checkup on the mag and where it's going. We've been running for nearly two years now and I'm very happy to say that we've come a long way in that time. In general, each released issue is a marked improvement on the one before and we're starting to get a nice reliable base of content and a sense of purpose.

Most importantly, I believe that we have an e-zine which we can MAINTAIN. This has been proven by the enthusiasm of the community and the wide base of writers and other staff who have been providing their talent for all this time.

Of course, now that we've passed that critical "survival" phase, I believe that it's important to look at content sophistication. We're filling the pages, but now I want to critically look at *how* those pages are being filled. Dev.Mag, over the course of its existence, has run a surprising amount of articles which just haven't worked out. Either they're series which have abruptly died because the authors couldn't maintain them, or they're articles which have simply been poorly thought out and wound up being mediocre at best. This is always going to happen, but from now on I want to minimise that and ensure that we have a mag that improves now in quality rather than quantity. I'm very happy with Issue 17's 40 pages ... but at the same time, I'm quite fine with dropping the next issue down to 30 pages (we seem to sustain that quite well) as long as we have sufficient focus on high-quality content.

On that same note, we get a lot of fly-by-night writers, or people who only put stuff into the mag on rare occasion. I'm asking that we change this, and have contributors writing smaller, sustainable amounts of stuff -- don't explode onto the scene, write 5000 words and then disappear because you can't manage any more. It's great for one edition but it means we only have a few larger articles per issue in the long run and not enough smaller, bite-sized pieces to reflect various perspectives. I want people writing for every edition. Even if it's just that magical 300 words.

Anyways, enough blabber for one post. I have many things to discuss about the mag, but I think the floor should be opened up first. As a guidance point, here's a quick questionnaire:

(1) Name the one thing you would like to keep in Dev.Mag.
(2) What new content would you like put into Dev.Mag?
(3) What would you like to remove from Dev.Mag?
(4) What is your opinion of the tutorials?
(5) Is there too much focus on continuing series as opposed to once-off articles?
(6) Does the news section need to be adjusted / removed?
(7) What would make management in the magazine better?
(8) What role does the tailpiece play for you?
(9) Do you want profile pics of the authors with the articles? (could be fun, suggested before)

Tr00jg
02-10-2007, 06:36 PM
(1) Name the one thing you would like to keep in Dev.Mag.

The local touch. Currently Dev.Mag sets itself apart from other game dev resources because it is distinctively local.

(2) What new content would you like put into Dev.Mag?

More interviews. :P

(3) What would you like to remove from Dev.Mag?

Nothing really...

(4) What is your opinion of the tutorials?

It is a good thing, but I dont think it reaches its audience quite that well. Like I previously said, make a database or something on the site detailing what tutorials is in what mag. This way, Google will pick it up, and newbies can easily get to the specified tut.

(5) Is there too much focus on continuing series as opposed to once-off articles?

Both has its merits... See above post.

(6) Does the news section need to be adjusted / removed?

I'd say add more... I dont usually get that "news".

(7) What would make management in the magazine better?

Sub-editors possibly? ie, one person is responsible for getting opinion pieces. This could work, I dunno.

(8) What role does the tailpiece play for you?

Most tailpieces are quite enjoyable... Its a personal flair.

(9) Do you want profile pics of the authors with the articles? (could be fun, suggested before)

Yes.

(10) Do you want fries with that?

Yes.

P.S. I am curious to know how the numbers are for Dev.Mag. Hasn't it grown to the point where we could perhaps add ads? Say perhaps just above the download link, we put some Ad-Sense or something.

cairnswm
02-10-2007, 07:14 PM
(1) Name the one thing you would like to keep in Dev.Mag.

Beginners Series

(2) What new content would you like put into Dev.Mag?

More technical articles. Possibly more language dependant articles showing how to do things. Maybe A beginners series for something other than GM. (OK my Delphi preferences coming out again!)

(3) What would you like to remove from Dev.Mag?

Nothing specific.

(4) What is your opinion of the tutorials?

Tutorials are the life blood of anything like this. Game Dev sites that grow are typically thaose that make it easy for people to learn.

(5) Is there too much focus on continuing series as opposed to once-off articles?

I believe we need More series. Once off articles are of interest only, they dont teach.

(6) Does the news section need to be adjusted / removed?

I'm not sure the news section adds a lot of value. The internet moves too quickly for a news section. However I think its a cool filler and should be maintained.

(7) What would make management in the magazine better?

A search site linking to the articles (that Google can index).

(8) What role does the tailpiece play for you?

Same as the rest. Of interest. I do like the fact that its usually lighter in content than the rest. The two key articles I read in detail are typically the feature and tail piece.

(9) Do you want profile pics of the authors with the articles? (could be fun, suggested before)

Sounds like fun!

(10) Do you want fries with that?

I agree with the need more regular peices. However I want to stress that I dont want the ezine to become exclusive. To me the open nature of having anyone that wants to contribute able to contribute helps make it a success.

I will still try contribute to every issue. But I am not sure that I can continue doing the three per issue that I have been doing. Even if I only contribute a opinion piece I will try :) [Or once off articles - even though I think series are more important!]

Chippit
02-10-2007, 07:35 PM
@Tr00jg:
Well, let's see...

During September, Issue 16's link was hit 860 times. Just in the past two days, we picked up another 290 for Issue 17.

17% of our site traffic originates from the US. :O

Last month, the site registered just under 1.5GB of outgoing traffic, clocking a little under 5000 page views.

We were just recently mentioned in a rather large international game development forum. (http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=114493&b=2)

As for paying ads like Ad-Sense, they only pay for every time someone clicks on them. And people very rarely click on ads. They're honestly usually more of a nuisance than anything else. I guess an obscure little banner somewhere couldn't hurt, but it's not likely to do much good either.

Gazza_N
02-10-2007, 07:36 PM
(1) Name the one thing you would like to keep in Dev.Mag.
Stuff for the newbies. Articles that cover essential basics that we take for granted, like trig, that people new to programming need to know.

(2) What new content would you like put into Dev.Mag?
Articles that overview the more technical theory and show how to apply it. Things like collision detection, or how to draw basic 3D graphics. Not overly technical, but enough so that people can have a solid idea of how things work, both for interest's sake and as a guide should they want to implement it themselves.

(3) What would you like to remove from Dev.Mag?
There's nothing that really grates on me enough to want it gone.

(4) What is your opinion of the tutorials?
The focus on newbies is essential and needs to be kept. However, see question 2.

(5) Is there too much focus on continuing series as opposed to once-off articles?
Perhaps. I do feel that we need more once-offs, but having running series' for more detailed topics makes sense.

(6) Does the news section need to be adjusted / removed?
No. I likes the news section the way it is. If it could be expanded, even better!

(7) What would make management in the magazine better?
More advance planning. Like 2 months in advance for major topics, but still giving enough play for any coolness that may appear during that time. It works for NAG, why not us?

(8) What role does the tailpiece play for you?
Sometimes you need to have something off-the-wall or of special interest, and the Tailpiece satisfies that requirement admirably.

(9) Do you want profile pics of the authors with the articles? (could be fun, suggested before)
Pretty ambivalent about this - I have no complaints about it, but I don't see any mind-shattering reason why we should, other than making writers more easily identifiable on forums and such.

CiNiMoDZA
02-10-2007, 10:11 PM
(1) Name the one thing you would like to keep in Dev.Mag.
Definitely the tuts for nOObs! Its where I started learning!!!

(2) What new content would you like put into Dev.Mag?
Nothing that hasn't already been said!

(3) What would you like to remove from Dev.Mag?
Nothing really :P

(4) What is your opinion of the tutorials?
Frikking awesome!!! Maybe do more on Java?!?

(5) Is there too much focus on continuing series as opposed to once-off articles?
In my personal opinion, no!! However, as Gazza said, it would be cool to have a few more once offs!

(6) Does the news section need to be adjusted / removed?
Maybe a little more?!?

(7) What would make management in the magazine better?
Hiring me ;) Kidding, maybe getting in some extra help! Give people individual tasks!

(8) What role does the tailpiece play for you?
Love it!!! Always different, always awesome!!

(9) Do you want profile pics of the authors with the articles? (could be fun, suggested before)
Most definitely!!!

Nandrew
02-10-2007, 11:18 PM
Awesome guys, the feedback is great, so keep it coming! I'm taking a note of general opinions and shall see about making a few adjustments as necessary.

Let me put in something here quickly, though. It has been suggested that the news section be expanded. It has also been stated that the nature of the Internet doesn't always allow for news to be relevant for long.

How about keeping the section, but not addressing it as "news" but rather have it focus on giving readers a bunch of cool links every month (for just about anything, mostly interesting articles)? Issue 17 calls the section "from the net", so maybe we focus on going with this concept?

I'll definitely try increase the quantity of interesting links if this is the case.

Cyberninja
03-10-2007, 01:14 AM
(1) Name the one thing you would like to keep in Dev.Mag.
The tutorials.

(2) What new content would you like put into Dev.Mag?
Tutorials for high-end 3D programs, like Maya, Max, XSI, Lightwave..etc. I think readers should start to get to know these programs. Seeing as they are the standard, as far as video game animation goes. I think it would be really useful to those that want to head towards the artistic side of game development. There are free Learning Editions available for these programs, so accessibility would not be a problem.

Java tutorials. Mr Flint, where art thou? Seriously, the Java series was made of win. We should start catering for non-GM users by having tutorials for other programming languages as well. It with really help expand Dev.Mag's user base imo.

(3) What would you like to remove from Dev.Mag?
Nothing that's (currently) in the mag, warrants a termination.


(4) What is your opinion of the tutorials?
They rock.

(5) Is there too much focus on continuing series as opposed to once-off articles?
Not really. But I feel that including more once-off articles wouldn't hurt. Maybe have more balance between the two?

(6) Does the news section need to be adjusted / removed?
It needs to be expanded. Maybe an extra page or two.

(7) What would make management in the magazine better?
Giving each person a certain area/section to focus on. And letting them worry about that area only. Having a single person juggling between different sections is not the way to go. Rather have a set number of people for certains tasks and sections. Getting everybodies cell/contact number. Sometimes pm's just dont work. Having deadline reminders, through the forum or through sms. Making sure all parties understand that deadlines are very important. A missed deadline, steals time from the third person. It also places added stress on them. Which really isn't fair.

(8) What role does the tailpiece play for you?
A "cool down" article. Something, fun, and informative. But not to heavy, leans towards lite reading.

(9) Do you want profile pics of the authors with the articles? (could be fun, suggested before) Sure, why not. Minus 1 ninja. lol

FuzzYspo0N
03-10-2007, 08:57 AM
(1) Name the one thing you would like to keep in Dev.Mag.

Tutorial Series

(2) What new content would you like put into Dev.Mag?

Techniques of certain things and how to achieve it. AS in, Principles of. For example, how animating a button based on an MIP map or sequence of images wud stay in time and be animated while your menu is "frozen". A series on physics, ie Ball game physics, racing physics,space physics,ragdoll physics(im looking into doing a physics series). So like, learning HOW something is achieved, not how it is done in application A using steps 1 -12, more principles of techniques in programming.

(3) What would you like to remove from Dev.Mag?

Nothing in specific

(4) What is your opinion of the tutorials?

They good so far, only thing is a lot of them focus on GM which isnt necessarily bad, it might seem we have guys who might look into other avenues. Like creating sound for games, how to integrate music into a gameplay time line, storyboarding and cinematic layouts, artwoprk tutorials about blender have been good, marketing strategies, how to create a site/blog for your game and how to learn stuff specific to your "trade" etc.

Otherwise, good so far.

(5) Is there too much focus on continuing series as opposed to once-off articles?

I think the more the merrier. I suggested to Nandrew a while back about doing a series but, its a look at the comment that he said is that ppl cant commit or pull out half way etc, its all good, but submitting a FULL series up front and the editors choose when and where is cool as well. keeping things relevant where a "Season" might change and move into say, learning 3D and you still have a 2d sprite article trailing its way into it, but thats just viewpoint..
I think there is a need for informative teachings through a series, but a longish once off article can be good as well, and picked up by anyone else to further that development of a series.(for example the optimization article in 16, it leaves a large gap for someone to write ONTO that, and add more value to the magazine and article "series" but not limiting to one writer "claiming" that series, making another guy think "aw, i cant submit my article on subject X, there is already a series by person X"

(6) Does the news section need to be adjusted / removed?

News sections isnt offensive, but i usually scan over it and most times dont read it really...

(7) What would make management in the magazine better?

I think its managed pretty well. Maybe at larger scale there wud need to be change but it seems its working well.

(8) What role does the tailpiece play for you?

After grunting through the leet learning and information it erlaxes my mind to finish reading and think, lol cool.

(9) Do you want profile pics of the authors with the articles? (could be fun, suggested before)

I dont think its THAT helpful or necessary. Perhaps a page on the site with all the writers / team profiles, and a link on the mag to each person like, at the end it says AUTHORSNAME [LINK]

Anyway enough rambling :)

IM sure ill give more feedback over time, as well as reading and taking ideas and submitting more

herman.tulleken
03-10-2007, 10:05 AM
(1) Tutorials

(2)

Interviews with experts, even if not directly in the gaming field. There must be some overlap with "normal" writers, musicians, artists, programmers, producers and these professions in the gaming world. Their insights on processes might be valuable, even for development on a small scale. It would also give some idea of how these industries work, and how one would go about working with the people in them.
Lots of short reviews on experimental games (for example, games on experimentalgameplay.com), focusing on unique design aspects.
Resources: more links to info (!!!), tools, technologies, maybe important books to read. Maybe this should be a compulsory section in every tutorial ;-)


(3) If I had to reduce the mag, I would start with the opinion pieces. Some (certainly not all) seem more like padding than considered thoughts of experts.

(4) Cool. More tutorials would be great. Also, it might be worth trying to better balance the tutorials by category and experience level assumed per issue. For example, every issue should cover something for beginners, and something for more experienced developers, and every issue should cover different aspects (art, programming, ....).

(5) I don't think it makes much difference either way. A series is just what you make of information that's too much for a single article, and should not be excluded for that reason only.

(6) Expand! Maybe by adding a section that just lists events with links to more info. (This will also be a great way for readers to find good 1st hand sources).

(7) Reducing the published content may aid long term planning. Holding back some pieces might give you something for a rainy day, and at the same time give you more control on what appears when, for more consistent coverage. For instance, if in one month you get two programming articles, you could publish them in separate issues. (Reducing the content is also a way to improve the quality. Not only can you choose just the best work, but making it harder to get published in you mag makes it more glamorous, making it more appealing, giving you better writers.)

(8) Excellent the way it is.

(9) Might be reserved for editor and "permanent" writing staff. Photo's are used to good effect if they aid in the credibility of the article (i.e. to "prove" that the writer is real, and looks the part), or for branding regular items or columns (in this case the personality of the writer also plays a role).

ht

DrDeth
04-10-2007, 09:35 AM
(1) Name the one thing you would like to keep in Dev.Mag.
Everything.

(2) What new content would you like put into Dev.Mag?
Ok, while reading everyone else's comments I came up with a large list to answer this, but now I've forgotten them all. :(
I would like to see more articles like "In Casual We Trust" (Issue #16 tailpiece) though.

(3) What would you like to remove from Dev.Mag?
I'd like to suck out all of the combined knowledge of all of the authors and inject it directly into my brain. Dont remove anything - you guys are doing a great job.

(4) What is your opinion of the tutorials?
They're good. There should be more. On a broader range of subjects.

(5) Is there too much focus on continuing series as opposed to once-off articles?
No. My only problem is that I'm impatient, so if I see article 1 of a series and the subject really interests me, I'll just go research the rest on the net. A month is a long time to wait.

(6) Does the news section need to be adjusted / removed?
Maybe just give some more local game dev news as well.

(7) What would make management in the magazine better?
Nothing that hasnt already been said.

(8) What role does the tailpiece play for you?
A lot of the tailpieces have really good articles in them.


(9) Do you want profile pics of the authors with the articles? (could be fun, suggested before)
Nope. To be honest, I'm interested in the articles. If the authors feel they need to add 'street cred' to back up their articles, then as someone already suggested a place on the webpage would be best but I'm not so sure its a good idea judging by issue #17's tailpiece. (To be fair there were a few good profiles - generally the older crowd that seem to take this more seriously...)

Nandrew
04-10-2007, 02:31 PM
Hi again, people.

There's some pretty valuable feedback in all of this, and I'm glad to see that you're all taking this seriously as opposed to simply showering "OMG awesome" onto every suggestion made.

Some points in particular are being noted carefully, as well as trends in opinion. For a start, I'm definitely going to redouble efforts to expand the news section (that seems to be a unanimous desire). This may require a slight alteration in scope, but I'll be experimenting with a great deal of things over the next few months.

Another major request is for game programming tutorials related to particular languages (Delphi, Java, etc). I like this idea, but then I'll need somebody to step up to adopt this series. We've already got the concept of the "Blue Pill" articles, but even that series doesn't have a reliable foothold, which makes me wonder about the viability of a continued series on any one topic. Unless somebody has a particular language which they're passionate about?

How about an XNA tutorial series?

I've said enough for now (I don't want to swamp you guys with blathering, there's a lot of points raised that could be addressed), but I'd like to ask one direct question to DrDeth: when you say you want more articles like "In Casual We Trust", what exactly do you mean? Which aspects of that articles were the hook that made you interested and which you'd like to see replicated in others? I'd like to know more, because if anybody shares your opinion it would be good to work on this.

Tr00jg
04-10-2007, 03:01 PM
"In Casual We Trust" was awesome because we got to see why people buy games and why not... Perhaps make it a series (say every 4 issues) with a host of games...

DrDeth
05-10-2007, 09:35 AM
"In Casual We Trust" was a much more 'mature' article, in my opinion. It wasnt focused on a particular product and was highly relevant to the game dev market, and particularly valuable to new/indie devs in South Africa. Sure, its great to read interviews and tutorials, but I think there needs to be more information from the business side of game dev, even though this seems to be a contentious issue at the moment.

I think a question that needs to be answered is "Who is Dev.Mag targeted at?" Hobbyists?, Indies?, Corporates? Reading through the entire series so far, this seems to vary based on the content. Another related question is "What do we aim to achieve?" I think that by answering these two questions, and then seeing if each article works towards the target and aims, you could get a lot more consistency in the mag. To be fair, this has been coming along nicely in the past few issues as things get more organised and categorised.

On another note, I've been thinking about the question of series'. You may not need a series but more of a regular column on specific topics. For instance, I could write articles on C# or XNA, each month focusing on a different aspect. The column doesnt necessarily follow on, but keeps to the same topic. C# Example: Month 1 - Generics, Month 2 - Data Structures, Month 3 - Lamda Expressions, etc. XNA Example: Month 1 - What is XNA?, Month 2 - Starter Kits, Month 3 - GameComponents, Month 4 - The Content Pipeline, etc.

This is me volunteering, btw. :)

Nandrew
05-10-2007, 11:37 AM
Heh, and on that note, two general questions should indeed be answered:

(1) Who is Dev.Mag targeted at?
(2) What do we aim to achieve?

Personally, I believe that we're targeted at indie and hobbyist developers, as well as the general populace who haven't quite gotten into the whole game development thing yet.

My own idea of our aim is to serve (a) as a mouthpiece for our parent organisation, Game.Dev and (b) as a means by which the group of game developers can expand and hopefully become more sophisticated.

It's an interesting pair of questions, and I agree that it helps if everybody knows what direction to go in.

As for you volunteering ... it's quite true that I'm interested in an XNA series, and I'm not going to object to your offer to write for us in general, but I'd rather not have too many new writers pouncing straight onto series at the moment. I'd prefer you to start with writing once-off pieces -- opinions, or project postmortems / similar ideas if they're good enough -- and we can consider series later. I've had a lot of article clusters which have died off after literally one instalment, and it becomes rather awkward when we pitch up the next month and act like the series never existed in the first place. If you write consistently and we like your stuff, we'll consider allowing a commitment.

I know Thaumaturge was also interested in writing, I reckon the same rules go for him.

The only recent exception to this edict is UntouchableOne's Photoshop series, and even then I have taken measures for the possible necessity of damage control. :P

Thaumaturge
06-10-2007, 04:10 AM
I know Thaumaturge was also interested in writing, I reckon the same rules go for him.

Fair enough. ^_^

I was, unfortunately, specifically interested in sporadic submission, since I already write for Adventure Lantern, and am not sure that I will find the time and inspiration to write for Dev.Mag on a monthly basis.

Nandrew
06-10-2007, 01:21 PM
Well, throw in a few opinion pieces when you have the time, then, and please avoid trying to make any series. :P

Thaumaturge
07-10-2007, 06:43 AM
Fair enough - should some topic for an opinion piece come to me, then, and should I find the time, I may well do that. ^_^

And don't worry, I doubt that I'll be inclined to a series - I'm well aware, I daresay, that they can be a lot of work. ;)

dislekcia
07-10-2007, 10:18 AM
I think that the idea of a feature on X or Y is getting a little lost here... Not all writing that follows a theme has to be part of a defined series. Propose features on a prep thread and if you get the go ahead, write it!

-D

DrDeth
09-10-2007, 08:28 AM
This is what I was saying - it doesnt need to be a series.
Also, if its focused on a specific theme (language/technology/theory/etc) -
a) it doesnt need to appear in EVERY concurrent issue.
b) it can be picked up by someone else familiar with the theme.

I'll be starting to submit ideas and articles next month only. Life wont be as hectic after my 'big day' at the end of the month.

FuzzYspo0N
11-10-2007, 10:48 AM
lol yea thats what i was saying in my post, that its a common "thread" anyone can run with..

Ok well. here is what i wanna suggest/try.

an easier language series

for example , visual basic. Its incredibly easy and there are plenty free (even full 3d) engines that take little to no skill to anything cool.

a web based game development series

it can be generic, or specific. or generic with a specific case study etc
For example give the theory but have a practical asp, php, perl, javascript example in each "episode" that at the end will create a working game.

a flash series on games in flash

i love flash to bits. its incredible, and incredibly powerful. i could do a series on how to make games and the actionscript language etc etc.

a series on the irrlicht engine

i love this engine cos its free, and its community is ridiculously active. as well as its powerful even more so for small indie games etc, its cross platform 9even on mobile) and it handles advanced stuff (shaders etc) as well, and it crosses MOST languages and systems. Iv used it for ages and i have "consent" to do an article series from their side as well as a few other guys will give their games as examples in the series.

The problem being which language/platform to target? if this is a highly requested idea we can decide which is best suited. the engine is incredible and i wud love to share some tricks and tutorials and a series on how to use it for small games even 3d games.

www.irrlicht3d.org

a gui artwork article(more once off,already almost complete and almost submitted)

this one shud be sent to nandrew and the guys soon. its just some hints and tricks to creating an effective gui and hud system for games



well as u can imagine iv got tons more ideas. i like the discussions here cos then i know whats relevant to where we at and where we going, so any ideas are cool, cos im keen to write where it helps.