SingSong

PaulSonny brings up some points worth looking into. If it is true that titles help get attention, then I think they're helpful for both those looking for services and those that are offering theirs. I also think the title removal idea after thirty days of not posting will help reduce the amount of outdated titles. Maybe people can reapply in a simple way when they are active again? The other thing I would suggest is having a standard for those with titles. You need to hit certain criteria to get the title (basically anyone could get a writer's title on that other forum, for example). I would ideally like to see a page built for these title holders that showed reviews from users and allowed me to easily look through all the programmers or artists. Would it be helpful to have two types of titles for each category (one that reflected that the user was open to work and one that showed they were not)? This way, users can know who to send a request or not, it would help give validity to users' posts in the forum if they had a title in the respective field, and users would not need to remove their titles if they were no longer interested in selling services.

Don't you bribe me to write a guide. Now I'm actually considering it. Is there a limit of one 10 point bonus per user even if they write more than one guide?

Glad to see that those features are doable. Here are a couple others. 1. Adoptable accessories. The best way to do this would be to keep the accessories simple such as a flower that stands upright and would be "planted" in the "ground" of the adoptable image, a bowler hat or a bow that can be put on the adoptable's head, or a dream catcher that hangs from the top of the adoptable square. The accessory system would allow members to purchase the item and then place it wherever they want on the image, so they would decide what looks best. Essentially, this means some people may have a flower floating in the air or a hat that cuts into their adoptable's ears in a way that doesn't look right, but I think this type of accessory system would be the best long-term, because items wouldn't need to be redrawn for each pet. For stretch goals, allowing the resizing of accessories or basic four directions of rotation would give more control to the users. This would also make it so bracelets or necklaces could be possible (because members could shrink them to fit smaller pets). I know I personally would use these in addition to the backgrounds to make my adoptables unique. 2. Adoptable stats. For those that want to have something to work toward without having to adopt many different pets. After reaching the final evolution of an adoptable, players tend to move to the next one, but this would extend the gameplay with each pet. After the final evolution is reached, a player is able to spend power points on stats for that pet. Stat types could be selected from an existing list with names like agility or firestorm. Players could purchase the ability to give their pets unique stat names (either at a high cost of power points or small amount of real cash) like heart breaker or pickpocket or whatever else they come up with. Pets can have three to five stat types total. These display under power. Each new stat type will either be moderately expensive to obtain (~30 power points) or you can make it so each stat type is more expensive to obtain as you earn them for individual pets with the first being 10 and the last being 70 points, for example. After purchasing a stat type for their pet ("teaching it an ability"), the player may allot power points obtained for that pet toward the stat amount. Players can divide points toward their stats in whichever way they see fit (so one stat may have 50 points, while another may have 5, if desired). As of now, I think this would work simply as a visual feature without stats impacting anything. It would give players something to do with excess points and allow a way to show off their personality and pet personality.

I'm not familiar with that game. Can you explain what the upgrade packs give you? I'm with Kami on this one. I have yet to spend money on any mobile games, and I've spent very little on free-to-play games elsewhere. But I think that's mainly because I'm really thrifty in real life and don't like spending money on things that I don't need or that don't give me that brief, but nice, moment of happiness. I'd probably be willing to spend more if games offered things I personally deemed worthwhile.

Thanks for sharing. I love seeing that an adoptable game was able to accomplish something like this.

Kami makes a good point. The number one thing this site needs is more members. Second would be more posting and discussions about game development. But I think the activity here is really good for the amount of members TGL currently has. When there are more members, I think contests or rewards of some sort for posting (like TGL has been offering) would be great in encouraging people to get involved. Any reason for people interested in games to choose this forum over others will help us grow. I think the adoptables and current contests are a step in the right direction.

I like watching documentary shows, stuff about animals (Planet Earth), competition shows (especially ones on human nature "Stranded with a Million Dollars" currently, or ones about creativity like Skin Wars, Face Off, and Steampunk'd), and shows about surviving (like Naked and Afraid and I Survived, I'm Alive, and I Shouldn't Be Alive which are three different shows with essentially the same topic). I also can get into documentary shows about real crime and sometimes reality TV if I really like the main people (such as My Big Fat Fabulous Life, which I didn't intend to like, but I found the main person, Whitney, to be pretty likable). I don't watch too many scripted shows, because I nitpick the writing too much. But I did love Malcolm in the Middle, and I currently watch reruns of Seventh Heaven, because the poor writing makes me crack up so much. One of my favorite episodes is the one in which the preacher father was basically going to disown his son for smoking weed. And then, even after he learns that his wife did the same thing in college, he proceeds to say, "How could you be so stupid?" and essentially insult his wife in the same room. And he only accepts his son again when he learns that his son did not, in fact, smoke weed. I find the parents in that show to be so unlikable, it's hilarious to me. Either the writing is really bad or really good, and they do a great job portraying flawed characters.

I think the first reason I wanted to be able to draw better was to be able to show people want I visualized in my head. For example, I remember having a dream about someone hanged in a barn and the whole farm set on fire. (Yes, a pretty dark dream for a teenager at the time.) But the colors were so vivid. I thought, I wish I could paint that. But I only got into drawing when I began playing Neopets. So many people there were artists, and that encouraged me to try. I wanted to win the Beauty Contest and put nice art on my pets' profiles. I only drew a few things (and completed them) until I was about twenty though. I never understood how to shade. Then a boyfriend at the time told me "shading is used to show depth", and I guess that was my "aha moment", because that helped in some way. I don't practice enough and have only done so many completed images in the past five years (I'm 25 now), but the way I learned to draw better was by studying other art and mentally taking notes. I looked at pixel art pieces and tried to imitate them, and I looked at the PSDs of artists and observed what techniques they used. Now I can look at digital art and generally know what an artist did to accomplish a specific look. That helps me when doing my own things. But I struggle A LOT to get things to look the way I want. Anatomy, perspective, and shading tend to still be issues for me. I know lack of practice is part of what makes those things harder for me. But I also look at old pieces of mine and am happy with how far I've come.

I like all of them, but the Daily Power Streak will probably be most helpful in encouraging activity and signing in each day on the forum.

Thank you! Looking forward to seeing the completed image.

Great idea. I will join in. Hopefully, I'll find time to be active around the forum this week.

Thank you. I forgot to say, can you please make sure all the layers are separate in the psd file (instead of, say, merging smaller layers like the ones for eyes)? I'm not sure how you typically set up layers, but I like for art pieces to be easy to edit just in case I change my mind about something later.

So I am loving the adoptable work you did for this site, and I really want to buy a finished piece from you. Would you be able to complete #10 Puffy Cat for $30 in the style of the black bunny with the red eyes on the right side of your example image? I also want Puffy Cat to be black. It doesn't necessarily have to be done with the same colors as the black bunny, though I do like that color palette. I want him to look evil and maybe a little deranged.

Let me know what kind of things you're looking for: Retro or relatively recent? Browser-based? Requires download? Story-driven adventure? Played with others online? Puzzle game or simple action game? The majority of the free games I know are small indie ones (like ones made from RPG MAKER) or games that are free now but outdated (though this is not necessarily a bad thing, because newer games just rehash features from old games with few changes). Personally, I think any game would be worth analyzing, But let me know what direction you want to go with this.

Great additions to the code. A report button is always useful (just in case).

Thank you Callum and Pepper-Head! I used to have the same pet peeve (but I guess I've just gotten so used to seeing big smileys that I hardly notice anymore). I do like when emoticons don't widen the gap between text lines.

I live in California, and no I'm not looking forward to it. I like to enjoy the rainy days (like the past few days) as much as I can.

I am borrowing some ideas I've seen on adoptable games in the past: 1. The ability to trade or transfer a pet to another user. This would be great for those that like collecting and possibly missed out on an "event" adoptable. Also, who wouldn't want to gift their friend a pet at some point in time? 2. Promo codes. This is something I remember from MyAdopts, and Mysidia also has this feature, I believe. Basically, when a pet reaches a certain level, you receive a code when you get to the final evolution. This code can be used for a variety of things: -You can give out the code for a giveaway, such as a steam key (for a Steam game) that can be used by the first person to evolve the creature all the way. -You can give out a password to a private board or section on the forum. -You can give out a code that will allow you to purchase an adoptable in the shop that is only available by inputting a code. For example, if you evolved "Pikachu into Raichu", you earn the code that is used to adopt Pichu. Or, you can set it up so you need to adopt and grow multiple adoptables in order to get the code for one adoptable. So if you leveled up "Pikachu A" you would get the code "abcde", if you leveled up "Pikachu B" you would get the code "fghij", if you leveled up "Pikachu C" you would get the code "klmno", and then you would use "abcdefghijklmno" as the code to get adoptable "Ash".

I like the premium options, because I can see those being features people may buy in the future when this forum gets bigger. I guess my only comment, really, is will there be a way to hide the rating feature? I know not everyone likes that. Oh, and by the way. Nice job, Hare. I like these eggs! And I'm curious to see what's inside them.

I like where this is going (especially with the way naming works and the ability to have pet descriptions). I love how fast you are making progress.

You say you're looking for cell-shaded, but those Bulbasaur examples you posted in your adoptables feature development thread are not cell-shaded. The shading is blended. Does that mean you're not looking for something like that Bulbasaur but instead something like a pet on Rescreatu: http://www.rescreatu.com/petinfo/Berrok/ (maybe with less realism but at least that style as far as the eggs go) I personally like the soft-shading of the Bulbasaur. I feel like it suits this forum. 256 by 256px may seem somewhat small, but to me that feels like a big size for adoptables, keeping in mind that most pet sites have their main pets at 200 by 200px. The larger the size, the more work and time it takes to complete them. I would consider going with a smaller size if you want a wide variety of adoptables, because they would be easier to produce (and if you are paying for art, less expensive). If I remember correctly, people price 200 by 200px pet art around $20 for each if you want one with a good amount of detail. But if you're looking for an "item size" pet around 100 by 100px, you can get an image for $5 or maybe even $3 per image as a bundle. I could potentially do some of these for you if I knew more about the style you're looking for. But I wouldn't want payment, because I don't know how quickly you'd see a return. I will PM you.

Sounds very cool. I've played a game that allowed this. I think that's the best way to go about it! For premium options, I think a reset option would be appealing, especially if you had adoptables that were only available through "events" on the forum. There could be ones released around times of the year to celebrate (like a TGL 1-year anniversary species for next year) or for example, a species could be awarded to people that create 10 game reviews. So for these ones, members can't just buy that species again from the standard shop, so editing the one they have would be a better option. Maybe these exclusive adoptables could even be placed in the premium shop later for those that miss out and still want them? I also like the idea of purchasable items that give points to the adoptables, though I'm not sure how many people would be interested in paying for that. Special adoptables would probably be the most desired thing in a premium shop, though there should be a wide variety of free ones as well.

Wow, some interesting stuff in there. Hare does the coding and art? I'm impressed, especially about the "it only took me about 3 months to get the hang of it" part. Almost makes me want to try to get into coding again, but I think I'll just stick to art. I actually haven't tried this game out yet, but I think I will now, because I want to look at that butchering feature and whatever else there is that I haven't seen before.

Thanks for the kind words! I noticed two things in your emoticon tags: The -_- and -.- faces should be the opposite. And you have two ones with the :D tag.

Oh, I don't mind if it's a manual system or automatic. If it could be automatic, I think that would be pretty neat (assuming the game owner wanted it that way, so as long as there are both options).