Great Games Experiment, Ya Digg?
by Dylan Romero · 03/02/2007 (11:57 am) · 6 comments
The Great Games Experiment has finally been released for public consumption today. Help us make GGE a success by Digging it, both literally and at digg.com.
The public beta release means that new users need not sign up to check out the site beyond the front page. So if you haven't joined GGE yet because you want to actually see the site before you join, you will no longer be stonewalled at the home page, in what may be the 2nd greatest barrier-breaking in recent memory.
GGE is nearing 3,000 games, and it's impossible not to get excited when those games include gems like Forces, Cave Story, and The Fancy Pants Adventure. Seeing great indie games get attention on GGE that they may not have otherwise received is one of the most satisfying aspects of creating the site. If you're currently strapped for time, you really might want to steer clear from the game playing aspect of GGE.
Of course, if you're a GG community member that has no time to play games, then you're probably making one. If that's the case, the Great Games Experiment contains both your audience and your peers. Features are being added to the site encouraging real networking with the idea that GGE is not just a place for users to "lol" at "newbs" for not innately perceiving the Contra button combo cheat at birth.
A "Portfolio" tab has recently been added to profiles, which not only shows off the games a dev has worked on, but provides a space for anecdotal info about the making of each game. The developer section itself has been split up into career sections, making it easier to find team members and devs with similar interests.
The features will keep being added and refined as the site is poked and prodded into shape. Right now, that shape is looking pretty good to us, which is why we're opening the site up to the public. Just stop adding so many cool games -- I need to get some work done.
The public beta release means that new users need not sign up to check out the site beyond the front page. So if you haven't joined GGE yet because you want to actually see the site before you join, you will no longer be stonewalled at the home page, in what may be the 2nd greatest barrier-breaking in recent memory.
GGE is nearing 3,000 games, and it's impossible not to get excited when those games include gems like Forces, Cave Story, and The Fancy Pants Adventure. Seeing great indie games get attention on GGE that they may not have otherwise received is one of the most satisfying aspects of creating the site. If you're currently strapped for time, you really might want to steer clear from the game playing aspect of GGE.
Of course, if you're a GG community member that has no time to play games, then you're probably making one. If that's the case, the Great Games Experiment contains both your audience and your peers. Features are being added to the site encouraging real networking with the idea that GGE is not just a place for users to "lol" at "newbs" for not innately perceiving the Contra button combo cheat at birth.
A "Portfolio" tab has recently been added to profiles, which not only shows off the games a dev has worked on, but provides a space for anecdotal info about the making of each game. The developer section itself has been split up into career sections, making it easier to find team members and devs with similar interests.
The features will keep being added and refined as the site is poked and prodded into shape. Right now, that shape is looking pretty good to us, which is why we're opening the site up to the public. Just stop adding so many cool games -- I need to get some work done.
#2
03/02/2007 (2:51 pm)
Not slow at all here. Are you in the US? 
#3
I know that "slow" is very relative, but it takes like 8 seconds to load up: 3 seconds to connect and 5 seconds to download, and that's on 3Mbs cable. My usual ping to Steam game servers is 30 ms. Before GGE site was much faster - I just noticed that... maybe database needs a tune up, or the web server is about to hit the limit, especially if you are using Apache.
03/02/2007 (4:12 pm)
Yes, Jeff, I'm in North Carolina right now.I know that "slow" is very relative, but it takes like 8 seconds to load up: 3 seconds to connect and 5 seconds to download, and that's on 3Mbs cable. My usual ping to Steam game servers is 30 ms. Before GGE site was much faster - I just noticed that... maybe database needs a tune up, or the web server is about to hit the limit, especially if you are using Apache.
#4
03/03/2007 (12:24 pm)
Took almost precisely the same for me, about 3s to connect and 5-6 to load the screen. Not terrible, but not great either. And I'm on a weak broadband, I get maybe 800kbps on a great day, and 3/4 that on avg.
#5
03/05/2007 (8:10 am)
800kbps is pretty good, even with that speed, GGE used to load in 2-3 seconds with full graphics. I believe that the popularity of GGE increases, thus server load increases as well...
#6
06/21/2007 (1:34 pm)
I just found this and posted at DIgg! Hope it helps some more! 
Torque Owner Funky Diver
If you need help to setup a high avail web cluster for GG, drop me a mail (it's in my profile), and we can discuss the matter.