Plan for Ben Garney
by Ben Garney · 10/08/2005 (1:36 am) · 82 comments
Hey guys,Just a quick plan from the IGC floor (more or less... sort of :P). First off -- IGC 2005 is in full swing. Just got back from it around midnight. Talking to people, playing crazy games, having a good time. I got to play almost a full course of Golf? with its creator. Very fun game. Got to try out the latest Tube Twist build. WOW. The level of quality of games compared to last year's IGC is much higher. Lots of near-complete or complete things out there. Just incredible.
I got to talk a bit on the traditional Friday night "GG Dog & Pony" show. The biggest news that I got to impart was that TDN is finally into beta for SDK owners (people who own TGE, TSE, T2D). Head on over to tdn.garagegames.com and check it out. Don't forget to read the introduction page, it'll give you a more detailed notion of where we are on this monumental, revolutionary project! Short summary - we're a lot closer to making it public than we were before. ;)
TDN pages are also going to start making their way into the Google search on the site, updated nightly of course.
Some of you have already found it on your own - testament to our fanbase and the desire for this product, I'm sure. Congrats, now you're in my database. ;)
This is going to be a cool IGC.I'd love to give a full report, go on and on, but I have a LOT of pictures and video to organize, and I also need to get some sleep, cuz I have to be at the conference hall in less than eight hours.... Crazy!
Let's just say this is going to be interesting. ;)
-- Ben
Notes added after reading comments - up here so everyone can see it! - follow:
Just to be clear, this is a case of "here's the container, let's start collaborating", not "all the docs are up right now." In response to those who asked, YES, absolutely start putting articles up. For now, just drop me or Adam deGrandis an e-mail if you've got an article posted, and we'll hook it into the hub pages... Don't forget to categorize it!
We'll be having interns, employees, and community members participate in official documentation projects (for instance, porting existing docs into TDN); meanwhile individuals should feel free to get involved. We'll have a page up announcing where we're doing heavy doc work so that you can be sure you're not going to get run over by a big doc dump or something. :)
(Once IGC is over) one of the most useful things you can do to help co-ordinate on TDN is get into the #tdn channel on the GG IRC server. That's where Adam and I hang out, and we also have all the changes to the site streaming into the channel via a bot. We'll also explore setting up a forum area or things like that.
I'll definitely be posting a lot more information on TDN once IGC is over; for now I'm just trying to stay on top of all the AWESOME stuff happening here!
If you do have any problems with TDN, please send me a copy of the source of the broken page, as well as the URL it happened at, and a description of what went wrong. You need a fairly recent browser or the site will look not-good. (ie, latest IE or Firefox is probably good though it should run on older browsers fine. IE5 is a known issue, some images won't work, we'll be addressing that.)
And... once again... Thanks guys, for checking this out and taking the time to use TDN! It's just going to get better from here on out - we've got at least one major surprise coming up in a week or so. (As always... when it's ready. :)
Oh yeah - multiple language support. We do support it; we'll be focusing on it once the site is a little bit more mature (and once we've identified people who can "own" each language - definitely don't want docs that are out of date!). Right now we need to get the basic structure put together, and pound out the bugs, so that we can have a solid platform for other languages to build from.
#62
10/12/2005 (4:47 pm)
Yes, there will be a lighting pack section. We'll work with Mr. Kabus on co-ordinating that.
#63
10/12/2005 (5:05 pm)
Good to hear... thanks Ben.
#64
Read you loud and clear, boss.
I read over the Meta and honestly, I'm totally lost on how to add content. Even if I figure out how to add something, I'm afraid of screwing up the site.
I tried to put something up, but found no way to do it except to edit pages that looked like they shouldn't be messed with.
And... clicking TGE home just gives me this:
You have to own the Torque Game Engine to view this article.
Retrieved from "http://tdn.garagegames.com/wiki/Torque_Game_Engine"
It's all just... too hard.
10/12/2005 (9:06 pm)
@Sam:Read you loud and clear, boss.
I read over the Meta and honestly, I'm totally lost on how to add content. Even if I figure out how to add something, I'm afraid of screwing up the site.
I tried to put something up, but found no way to do it except to edit pages that looked like they shouldn't be messed with.
And... clicking TGE home just gives me this:
You have to own the Torque Game Engine to view this article.
Retrieved from "http://tdn.garagegames.com/wiki/Torque_Game_Engine"
It's all just... too hard.
#65
Hey, don't worry. Right now the "how to" docs are a bit rough. And if you don't have anything you specifically want to add, well, then there's no need to just do something for the sake of doing it. :)
As far as making new content, just type in the URL you want it to be at, and go to town. The howtos in Meta will cover this as soon as I finish them.
Also, the login stuff as mentioned several times in this thread seems to be slightly broken. I'm going to be doing some serious troubleshooting and figuring out what the problem is in the immediate future, and hopefully tracking down the problem. The symptom of this is being logged into the site but not having permissions to access anything, ie, getting denied messages everywhere.
Don't worry - all this is normal for a beta. All the issues are going to get resolved soon, and meanwhile, a lot of people are already contributing some awesome docs to TDN.
10/12/2005 (11:19 pm)
@Mike:Hey, don't worry. Right now the "how to" docs are a bit rough. And if you don't have anything you specifically want to add, well, then there's no need to just do something for the sake of doing it. :)
As far as making new content, just type in the URL you want it to be at, and go to town. The howtos in Meta will cover this as soon as I finish them.
Also, the login stuff as mentioned several times in this thread seems to be slightly broken. I'm going to be doing some serious troubleshooting and figuring out what the problem is in the immediate future, and hopefully tracking down the problem. The symptom of this is being logged into the site but not having permissions to access anything, ie, getting denied messages everywhere.
Don't worry - all this is normal for a beta. All the issues are going to get resolved soon, and meanwhile, a lot of people are already contributing some awesome docs to TDN.
#66
I finally got to sit down and really look through TDN. In a word, impressive. I think this is going to be really great and in fact it already has some super content.
I really like the layout. You guys did a really good job of setting it up and picking a theme. Sweet.
Now, if I can just wring some free time to fill in some of those empty spots. Ha! Sure, in about a couple months....
Well, back and it.... tappa tappa...
Hall Of Worlds - For Gamers
EdM|EGTGE
10/12/2005 (11:50 pm)
Ben,I finally got to sit down and really look through TDN. In a word, impressive. I think this is going to be really great and in fact it already has some super content.
I really like the layout. You guys did a really good job of setting it up and picking a theme. Sweet.
Now, if I can just wring some free time to fill in some of those empty spots. Ha! Sure, in about a couple months....
Well, back and it.... tappa tappa...
Hall Of Worlds - For GamersEdM|EGTGE
#67
Found a potential bug in the code related to changing user names and names with funky characters in them. And even got an account that reproduced the issue to work again. All you guys with troubles... give it another try. :)
Thanks,
Ben
10/13/2005 (12:08 am)
Hey,Found a potential bug in the code related to changing user names and names with funky characters in them. And even got an account that reproduced the issue to work again. All you guys with troubles... give it another try. :)
Thanks,
Ben
#68
10/13/2005 (12:11 am)
Heh - whoops, used my test account there. Yes, should be more people with an ability to login now. :)
#69
I really want to see TDN take off and do well. And, yes, I do have some things to contribute. This is why I'm riding you a bit here. Just so you know, I've been on the other side of beta, so I know what it's like. Looking forward to your fix and how-to on writing articles.
Charlie Mike.
-MJL
10/13/2005 (1:53 am)
Fair enough, Ben.I really want to see TDN take off and do well. And, yes, I do have some things to contribute. This is why I'm riding you a bit here. Just so you know, I've been on the other side of beta, so I know what it's like. Looking forward to your fix and how-to on writing articles.
Charlie Mike.
-MJL
#70
@Mike: Don't know if you're in contact with Adam or I but shooting us an e-mail to help co-ordinate effort would be awesome!
10/13/2005 (2:43 am)
Fix should be up, would be great if people with problems can deny/confirm.@Mike: Don't know if you're in contact with Adam or I but shooting us an e-mail to help co-ordinate effort would be awesome!
#71
10/13/2005 (6:34 am)
Ben, I love you!!!!! Finally I could login and now I can see TDN. Thanks!
#72
I still get the login error.
10/13/2005 (7:34 am)
Quote:Fix should be up, would be great if people with problems can deny/confirm.
I still get the login error.
#73
10/13/2005 (7:57 am)
Yay.....it works for me.....thanks Ben!!!
#74
Well, I had the same problem again, BUT. I logged out (something I haven't done since first trying TDN) and logged back in and all is well.
I dunno if this would have fixed my problem in the first place, but there it is. Works now.
Editing help - apa.org? LOL. Was this intentional?
10/13/2005 (9:30 am)
Login:Well, I had the same problem again, BUT. I logged out (something I haven't done since first trying TDN) and logged back in and all is well.
I dunno if this would have fixed my problem in the first place, but there it is. Works now.
Editing help - apa.org? LOL. Was this intentional?
#75
10/13/2005 (1:53 pm)
Just had to add my $0.02... the TDN is looking phenomenal! Nice work!
#76
(http://tdn.garagegames.com/wiki/WorldBuilding/Making_Real_World_Terrain) [This is just a text article, but it's complete.]
Twice I've gone to preview and the page says that it's locked an I lose all the work I did since the last preview. This has happened to me twice and I've lost an hour or so of work each time.
If anybody else is having this problem, I can see this being a big deterrent to folks contributing.
Also, I don't see my article being linked anywhere. I'm sure this is due to my own ignorance on placing it. It shows up in search, but not in any of the directories. Gentle steerage in the right direction to ensure it shows up in the directory would be appreciated.
-MJL
10/13/2005 (5:34 pm)
Well, I'm running into a problem while writing an article. (http://tdn.garagegames.com/wiki/WorldBuilding/Making_Real_World_Terrain) [This is just a text article, but it's complete.]
Twice I've gone to preview and the page says that it's locked an I lose all the work I did since the last preview. This has happened to me twice and I've lost an hour or so of work each time.
If anybody else is having this problem, I can see this being a big deterrent to folks contributing.
Also, I don't see my article being linked anywhere. I'm sure this is due to my own ignorance on placing it. It shows up in search, but not in any of the directories. Gentle steerage in the right direction to ensure it shows up in the directory would be appreciated.
-MJL
#77
10/13/2005 (5:56 pm)
I am recently new to the TGE and TDN seems to be a big help. Awsome progress. Keep it up!
#78
I imagine that the locked problem may be related to the "log out to log in required" bug, which I know he's still researching. Hopefully he's gotten it fixed. I know that several people write their big articles in a word processor, and Spider has posted a macro for OpenOffice in the Meta pages that can convert some standard word processing formatting for you automatically.
It requires OpenOffice, but will read in MS Word files (OpenOffice will).
10/13/2005 (6:59 pm)
@Mike: since the main summary pages are managed by Ben, he will probably add in a link when he gets a chance.I imagine that the locked problem may be related to the "log out to log in required" bug, which I know he's still researching. Hopefully he's gotten it fixed. I know that several people write their big articles in a word processor, and Spider has posted a macro for OpenOffice in the Meta pages that can convert some standard word processing formatting for you automatically.
It requires OpenOffice, but will read in MS Word files (OpenOffice will).
#79
I have sent you an e-mail. Please get in contact with me ASAP so we can resolve your problems!
Everyone:
In general, one good piece of advice is to make sure that you can view TDN in another window before submitting more content. Previewing frequently can also help keep the session alive. And I always, always, always copy any large piece of text I'm submitting to any web page into the clipboard quickly before hitting the button. It helps guard against dropped connections, intermittent server errors, and all manner of other nasty situations.
Links are not automatically added anywhere. The hub pages are manually managed; if you have an article you want linked, please get in contact with Adam or I via e-mail so we can figure out where to link things from. Content will still show up on search and be linkable regardless of whether an admin is involved.
And, once again, if anyone runs into problems, PLEASE send me screenshots, source code from the pages, the URLs that caused the problem, steps to reproduce the probem (or a description of what you were doing, in as much detail as you can manage). That sort of information is CRUCIAL to resolving these issues. And please, send it via e-mail.
Thanks,
Ben
10/13/2005 (7:15 pm)
Mike,I have sent you an e-mail. Please get in contact with me ASAP so we can resolve your problems!
Everyone:
In general, one good piece of advice is to make sure that you can view TDN in another window before submitting more content. Previewing frequently can also help keep the session alive. And I always, always, always copy any large piece of text I'm submitting to any web page into the clipboard quickly before hitting the button. It helps guard against dropped connections, intermittent server errors, and all manner of other nasty situations.
Links are not automatically added anywhere. The hub pages are manually managed; if you have an article you want linked, please get in contact with Adam or I via e-mail so we can figure out where to link things from. Content will still show up on search and be linkable regardless of whether an admin is involved.
And, once again, if anyone runs into problems, PLEASE send me screenshots, source code from the pages, the URLs that caused the problem, steps to reproduce the probem (or a description of what you were doing, in as much detail as you can manage). That sort of information is CRUCIAL to resolving these issues. And please, send it via e-mail.
Thanks,
Ben
#80
Thanks Ben! I am very excited to see TDN and with the WIKI system I am sure everyone will benefit.
10/14/2005 (8:08 am)
Early at jumping into the TDN, Late at responding here.Thanks Ben! I am very excited to see TDN and with the WIKI system I am sure everyone will benefit.
Associate Joseph Euan