More Usergroups

[dizzcity]

Well, quite often when browsing through the forums, I'd like to know what other people's talents are. This could help in eventually forming development groups. The best way I can think of to let the users know who's who and what sort of talents they possess are free-entry into various usergroups. Currently, there's only one.

So, in addition to "The Secret Fellowship of Game-Makers", can we also have "The Esteemed Circle of Writers", "The Vibrant Spectrum of Artists", "The Methodical List of Programmers", "The Harmonious Symphony of Musicians", and maybe "The Omnipotent Montage of Directors"?

We can even have "The Fraternity of Shoujo-Ai Lovers", "The Sorority of Shounen-Ai Enthusiasts", and "The Ultimate Collection of Harem Romance Fans".

Plus maybe "The Coven of Rabid Llama Worshippers".

-Dizzy-

[mikey]

There is a word for it, but I don't know it - when things begin with the same letter - this is what the usergroups should be like...

The Guild of Gifted Graphicians, The Melancholic Musicians... The Pact of Programmers... and so on... of course the longer the better ^_^.

[DaFool]

Hmmm, I'm not too sure about differentiating people into groups according to talents, as the community is still small.

But it's a good idea to know of people's expertise, just in case you are looking for a particular 'something', kinda like deviantart (although that seems to be geared more towards graphic artists)

I'll start off...

My main strength is environmental / technical drawings. I personally don't think my backgrounds are that good, but they may be the one thing I don't suck at, due to my background in engineering design and the fact that my little corner in the office is right next to the Backgrounds department. So yeah, looking over people's shoulders has some benefit.

I can do some character art, although I've had less experience with them even though I started much earlier. I really don't have anything deviant-art-worth besides doodles though, although there are quite some I've saved over the years.

I like directing things. I've yet to determine if I have any talent here, but isn't it enough to like it? Over the years I've thought up screenplays for animations (shorts to OVA-length), though none have ever really materialized. Thank goodness for the Visual Novel medium, now I actually have the budget and some time and a good chance for some of the ideas to bear fruit.

Writing is probably one of my weaker points, especially creative writing. Though my mother is a literature major, she says she sucks at creative writing too -- I guess it's inherited It probably won't be too much of a handicap anyway, especially when ideas are way over-the-top to be effective in prose, and one can get by with screenplay-style writing. I could probably make a decent documentary, though.

Music is also a weak point, despite the background in piano. Up to this day I still can't read notes fast enough. Although I think I can determine what makes good music, regardless of the genre, due to the timing of the notes. I've only recently tried my hand at composing.

Sorry for the self-promotion...

Hope to get to know you all better

[mikey]

Alright, if I had to put myself into a group, it would be... musicians.

It's true, I love making music and even though I've given it up for writing and gamemaking, I still have the most attachment to it, and it's where I feel most comfortable in.

So if we make soccer teams, I'm on Team Melody

[PyTom]

The secret fellowship of game-makers was a joke I made a while back, one that I haven't updated in a long time. There's nothing there, it's not used to grant access to anything. I should probably delete it sometime.

mikey, we'll discuss this further on the hidden Illuminati sub-forum. Right after we get done playing Blind Love.

[DrakeNavarone]

There is a word for it, but I don't know it - when things begin with the same letter - this is what the usergroups should be like...

The word you're looking for is "alliteration." (Yeah, off topic...)

[DaFool]

offtopic: Whoa, Rio's done with Blind Love already?

[PyTom]

Working for the Illuminati can have its benefits.

That, and when I go to MangaNext tomorrow I'll get to cross the Hudson using the Jefferson tunnel, rather then waiting for the Lincoln tunnel.

[dizzcity]

There is a word for it, but I don't know it - when things begin with the same letter - this is what the usergroups should be like...

The Guild of Gifted Graphicians, The Melancholic Musicians... The Pact of Programmers... and so on... of course the longer the better ^_^.

The word is alliteration.

I knew the Secret Fellowship of Game-Makers was a joke, but still... I think usergroups are a useful tool to have nonetheless. And people can belong to several usergroups at once, IIRC, so no need to force people into choosing between one or the other. One person may be part of both the Artists and Writers, or Writers and Musicians groups, etc.


For me, I'm a Writer. I can analyse and critique art and music if I have to, but my strength has always been and will always be in the written word. Programming and directing skills are only so-so. I'm not against it, and am generally able to learn and understand code and visual syntax, but I usually prefer to concentrate on writing. I can write fiction and non-fiction, technical, journalistic, literary and academic styles. I work best in creative fiction and academic writing, though. Currently looking around for and experimenting with more ways to tell a story.

One of my strengths is being able to write around other people's works. I tend to "wrap" my stories around another thing, whether it be a piece of music, a picture, a manga series, or something else. Not that I can't write original fiction... it's just that I work on the principle of inspiration. And what inspires me usually is viewing something beautiful that someone else has made. (That includes God. ^_^)

I also design games. Made my first board game when I was 13, and never looked back since. Got involved in MMORPG development a couple of years back, and held tenure as Storylines and Quest Development Head for a year or so, but have since retired from that scene and concentrated on designing smaller independent games. Currently have a card game and a board game undergoing playtesting for conversion to PC games, and about 50 other game ideas waiting to be fleshed out.

-Dizzy-

[rioka]

offtopic: Whoa, Rio's done with Blind Love already?

No, not yet but you'll definitely know when it's completed. ;D

Hrmmm, I don't know what to class myself. The most experience I have would be in the art department but I don't mind programming, directing, or even developing a game. Well, one things for sure - music is my weakest link!

OT>> PyTom, which day will your program be? I'll see if I can make it.

[PyTom]

OT>> PyTom, which day will your program be? I'll see if I can make it.

Friday at 10PM. If you want to be part of the presentation, let me know... I can invite additional presenters, but there's no comping of admission.

(I put together 46 or so slides in the past night. It's a long 2-hour slot.)

[monele]

Hmm... I'm primarily a coder. That's my everyday job. Not saying I'm very good at it but when it comes to Ren'Py scripting, I at least have the level needed to explore things a bit further.

When it comes to passion, though, my main thing is design. Should it be characters or game concepts. I try to make things as original as possible. Not sure I'm good at it though, especially since I rarely make concrete results, but eh...

I also have skills in drawing characters and expressions, making 3D backgrounds, small animations (more tweening than frame by frame) and general 3D (very simple objects). All these skills are rather poor since I try to touch every domain @_@.

While I can get around with manipulating sound effects (though not *creating* them), I don't think I'm any good with music.

Oh and uh... writing ? Probably my worst skill, sadly ^^;

[mikey]

mikey, we'll discuss this further on the hidden Illuminati sub-forum. Right after we get done playing Blind Love.

Well, Blind Love was a really great game, and so was The Garden Society Kykuit 2 - in fact I thought it was better than Tales of Lemma 3, but then again who could forget the harem ending in that , it was so touching.

The secret fellowship of game-makers was a joke I made a while back, one that I haven't updated in a long time. There's nothing there, it's not used to grant access to anything. I should probably delete it sometime.

Well, if it serves no purpose, then it should be deleted. I thought it was some sort of a motivational boost for all those who participated in finished projects, but actually, why would one need such a form of acknowledgement... I like no groups... Besides, if people really want, it's not impossible to have the admin change your ranking text into something personal...

[Alessio]

Good thread! Well, assigning yourself to groups is difficult, because it's not just a black and white distinction. If someone is a coder, that can be anything from "monele on steroids" to "I managed to open the demo script in Notepad". ^_^


Music: My main strength probably, since that's been my hobby for ages. Mostly vocal pop though - I'd never done soundtracks/loops before discovering the VN community. It's been fun so far, and the advantage is that I've got the required equipment already.

Writing: Second strength. Always liked writing and can write on command (sitting down and doing it) as long as I know what to write about. Downsides: I'm not a native English speaker, and I have "filler text" allergy (i.e., I couldn't write the beginning of "At Summer's End" to save my life).

Drawing/colouring: I manage and am improving (Cyberlin vs. G!MB), but it takes an eternity. Something that another artist sketches in 5 minutes takes me five weeks and still looks sub-optimal. So, I like drawing but probably won't ever see it as a main skill.

Directing: If I understand the point correctly, this falls very much into the writing category, since a script is close to a screenplay, and there aren't any actors around to change it much. Or do you mean directing of the visuals?

Coding: Probably I'm not first choice in this department. To me coding is a means to an end, and while it's nice to experiment around, I tend to do things the simple way. Plus my knowledge of Python is very limited.


And people, don't tell me you haven't played "Hanafuda II: The Return" yet?

[mikey]

Directing: If I understand the point correctly, this falls very much into the writing category, since a script is close to a screenplay, and there aren't any actors around to change it much. Or do you mean directing of the visuals?

By directing I understand a global feel of the whole project, in games this is often synonymous with designing, although I don't feel that gameplay design in particular is directing - for instance the director may suggest a colored filter, a global theme (rename all the script's characters to begin with a certain letter), have hints for the artist in terms of scenes and settings, as well as clothing (if not defined in the script), choose the style of the music and insert it in appropriate places, a lot of direction will be given when one edits and fine-tunes the whole package with the amount and selection of special effects or other elements.

If I was to direct Tales Of Lemma, for instance, I'd make Miko wear glasses, turn the mushrooms into a deadly fungus, take out the fanservice and make the visuals in dominant orange tones. Technically, I wouldn't alter too much, but you'd see "my vision" of the story. So that's what I understand by directing.