Hosting a database of rpgs.

[Grauken]

I wish you the best of luck

 

[Twiglard]

Go through each thread's first post and look for Steam embeds such as this.

Then use the Steam API [1][2] to associate threads with games. Using (1) you can establish relationships between Steam store entries and your own game list which has to be a superset of Steam's list.

 

[Infinitron]

I would probably list to codex threads/reviews where applicable. I'd do it all in alphabetical order, and there a lot of games not on Steam, GOG, and so on. There would be no future games in the database. They would be added as they release. Links to popular mods, patches could be a thing.

Why not? Future games these days have Steam pages with all sorts of information already available. You could unite this and your upcoming RPGs thread into one project.

 

[Abu Antar]

I would probably list to codex threads/reviews where applicable. I'd do it all in alphabetical order, and there a lot of games not on Steam, GOG, and so on. There would be no future games in the database. They would be added as they release. Links to popular mods, patches could be a thing.

Why not? Future games these days have Steam pages with all sorts of information already available. You could unite this and your upcoming RPGs thread into one project.

I would like to keep them separate. As you said, who knows if one gets tired of one project, but not the other. Having them separated is better for the way I want to work on it. There are also cancellations, name changes, pushed release dates, Early Access, and so on.

As it seems that there seems to be a general leaning towards no interest in this, a propserium thread that I can edit would be good enough. I would bother no one, and no one would be able to interrupt the thread with postings of their own.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

Who's the target audience for this? New people/codexers/outsiders? All of the above? What does the group you're targeting get from this (with whatever you plan to add to the catalogue)? Or you just doing this for yourself and see if other people have a use for it/like it?

 

[Abu Antar]

Who's the target audience for this? New people/codexers/outsiders? All of the above? What does the group you're targeting get from this (with whatever you plan to add to the catalogue)? Or you just doing this for yourself and see if other people have a use for it/like it?

I'd like to have an alphabetical list of rpgs only gathered in one place.

As I said, if there is already a good database, I wouldn't mind getting directed to it. I want something that lists as much as possible from all storefronts, older games, and so on.

The target audience? I don't know. People interested in rpg history, I suppose?

Myself mostly, maybe? That's how the Upcoming list thread came to be.

 

[Theodora]

Wouldn’t alphabetical list be rather awkward for an historically minded resource?

I get not wanting to put in effort if you don’t feel like it would be adequately appreciated, just seems like there would be much better tools than a forum post if you want it to be useful.

A lot of people are more likely to take an interest in something started than theoretical, and something that they can query or otherwise sort than simply a list. Even a Google docs spreadsheet would be infinitely more “useful” than a forum post. (Though you could use a thread to manage / add people to a list of approved editors.) But yes, that’s obviously a lot more effort, and it’s up to you what you want to do assuming none of the staff have a particular interest in helping.

As Grauken said, good luck! I’m sure someone would value it if executed in a queryable manner, but you might need to show them that it’s useful before you get that kind of response or further interest.

 

[asfasdf]

Need to define what is an RPG first

 

[d1r]

Need to define what is an RPG first

Project's doomed from the start.

 

[Vic]

I'd like to have an alphabetical list of rpgs only gathered in one place.

As I said, if there is already a good database, I wouldn't mind getting directed to it. I want something that lists as much as possible from all storefronts, older games, and so on.

check:

https://www.igdb.com/advanced_search

you can select the RPG genre and sort by name, but, it will be filled with chinese games, and limited to like 100 results.

again, but, they do have an api with which apparently you can search and sort and filter etc. through all of their entries.

igdb isn't perfect, I have found at least one game that wasn't on there before, but it's probably better than a niche project maintained by like 3 people.

Here's the link to their api, I think it's pretty neat and might be just what you're looking for if you care to learn a bit of scripting:

https://www.igdb.com/api

One of the principles behind IGDB.com is accessibility of data. We wish to share the data with anyone who wants to build cool videogame oriented websites, apps and services. This means that the information you contribute to IGDB.com can be used by other projects as well.

Thus, you are not only contributing to the value of this site but to hundreds of other projects as well. We are looking forward to see what exciting game related projects you come up with. Happy coding!

Our video game database has loads of video game metadata. That includes release dates, descriptions, media, etc.

The API is really fast, has an amazing up-time, scaled images and it is very easy for users to add new games to their beautiful website. — Tommy Uytterhaegen from My Game Collection

I must say that your API is incredibly good and complete. Congratulations on that, as it is helping me a lot to get the work done! — Jorge from The Game Network

Sorry, sperging out a bit.

 

[whocares]

I will not eat the bugs. I will not live in a pod. I will not use 2FA.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

I don't see much point in just a long list of games that may or may not be RPGs.

However a curated but expansive list of titles with a screenshot or two for posterity and maybe a "neutral-positive" micro revio of just a paragraph for each - kind of like felipe's CRPG book, Codex edition, but more online and aimed at preservation of the more obscure but still worthwhile RPGs (no shovelware japashit, etc.) - that I can see having merit.

It will require a lot of work tho and is probably a pipe dream. But on the flipside it has the potential of eventually leading to juicy Rex-style moments when some fag would provide a revio, then inevitably get buttblasted by something and demand it taken down in a storm of autistic fury for everyone's amusement.

That's definitely dependent on the users, I know I have one for that if we're talking obscure, doesn't seem like a complete pipedream

 

[Don Peste]

Very exciting idea, Abu Antar.

Do you think it would be interesting to add scans of reviews, articles, etc. from magazines? Specially for older titles and from defunct mags. If they're hosted externally copyright shouldn't be an issue, right?

And I guess also links to other forums and gaming portals of relevance could be interesting. Using The Wayback Machine if necessary.
Quick example: If there's a 20-page thread for a 2006 RPG not on Steam found on the RPGWatch, that can be of historical relevance for that specific title.


PS: I ask because I would like to contribute.

 

[Abu Antar]

^That is not a bad idea. It would make entries more relevant. It would add more to the whole thing, and it wouldn't just be a list of games.

As it seems now, this will probably be something that I will test in a private Google doc, and make a preview public after 100 games are added.

 

[Infinitron]

If you just want to make a big-ass forum post then nobody's stopping you. Go right ahead. I thought you were talking about adding a new feature to the site's software.

 

[Abu Antar]

If you just want to make a big-ass forum post then nobody's stopping you. Go right ahead. I thought you were talking about adding a new feature to the site's software.

A new feature was my thinking, but I will start out with a google doc and see how it pans out, first.

 

[Vic]

I don't get why you don't use igdb? you can submit any games that it is lacking yourself and thus improve and build upon an already awesome project.

 

[Theodora]

A pseudo time capsule with scans from old magazines etc. is actually an amazing idea whocares ^^ one could go nuts on https://archive.org/details/UneditedPCGamer_marktrade to start with.

Spoiler

Lmao "the lingo".

 

[Taluntain]

*cough* https://rpgwatch.com/games.html *cough*

There's probably several others, like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_role-playing_video_games

 

[__scribbles__]

I'd like to have an alphabetical list of rpgs only gathered in one place.

As I said, if there is already a good database, I wouldn't mind getting directed to it. I want something that lists as much as possible from all storefronts, older games, and so on.

Perhaps this post would serve as a good base, at least for '80s-'90s RPGs - apart from some glaring exclusions, like Wizardry 1-5.

 

[LostHisMarbles]

I still prefer Abu's idea; it's a fuckload of work, but if he's willing to do it..

i) They may bitch and bitch about how horrible and pro-Nazi this forum is, but sooner or later, Google will bring them here for info.
ii) This.. megathreaded, post after post scrolling (posts at seemingly no order or reason if you haven't been here before, important this) may discourage further searching for newfags.

I propose you give him some room to start on this.
If he doesn't stop it midway through?
Have it perma-featured on the front page, let folks have something solid and all-encompassing, their basis for any and all future lookups (each game entry eventually ending with links to threads we have over it).

It could bring a lot of views, never hurts.
Also, since Twig mentioned that.. frankly, doesn't matter who has what, you never know what the future may bring.
We had similar discussions about 'sharing' mods in secondary sites and why should we bother. Fast forward it ten years later and that site was gone, forever. We all ended up on nexus, with not even a fraction of the mods we had to access to, no one around to reupload/bother. So, yeah; many eggs, but our basket preferably

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Is this something that this site would be interested in?

It's been discussed since the site was founded. It never happened because of the amount of work involved entering the data (IE: We have a mostly simple news system but only Infinitron ever posts news).

That and GameBanshee had a pretty decent one back on the day from what I recall, and there's Moby Games for everything else.

I checked the games section of the site, but that isn't exactly what I had in mind.

What did you have in mind and what do you need it to do? At the moment, the "games" section is a WIP that just links all tags we've entered. They're not even broken into whether they're a game or just a developer.

 

[anvi]

You will never keep up with all the modern shit.

 

[Vic]

There's no way a handful of people can maintain such an ambitious project. IGDB has hundreds (thousands?) of people adding games and it's still not enough to keep up with all releases.

 

[Abu Antar]

Is this something that this site would be interested in?

It's been discussed since the site was founded. It never happened because of the amount of work involved entering the data (IE: We have a mostly simple news system but only Infinitron ever posts news).

That and GameBanshee had a pretty decent one back on the day from what I recall, and there's Moby Games for everything else.

I checked the games section of the site, but that isn't exactly what I had in mind.

What did you have in mind and what do you need it to do? At the moment, the "games" section is a WIP that just links all tags we've entered. They're not even broken into whether they're a game or just a developer.

What I would want it to do is similar to what Taluntain posted from the rpg watch list.

But I would also (if possible) want to link threads, screens, patches, essential mods + conversion mods. These things (other than screens, maybe) would be linked to offsite stuff. Scans would be more of a bonus.