bGame - Blender Game Engine games for the masses - work in progress

Click here to visit bGame!
***Hey guys,

After having a hard time finding some good finished Blender games on multiple occasions I started to wonder why nobody has made a website dedicated to released Blender games.

Luckily I don’t have to be worry about that anymore thanks to bGame! :slight_smile:

http://i.imgur.com/5GXGRjYl.png

I coded most if it in a few hours but I’m going to try to actually turn this into a proper site and host it on a subdomain on anicator.com .

What is Done:

  • Pages are connected to the database
  • Database data retrieved from tables
  • Ratings can be calculated
  • Users/Devs can login
  • Custom 404
  • Game and Developer pages can be viewed
  • New developers can now register on the site
  • Developer ratings have been added to the database
  • CP: Add Game feature added. Still a bit buggy but it’s almost ready.
  • Convert ratings into star icons on pages
  • Setup the User/Developer Control Panel
  • Allow people to rate the games
  • Register amount of downloads per game
  • When a new user/developer registers they now get an e-mail sent to the e-mail entered in the form.
  • E-mail is sent to administrators when someone adds a new game.
  • Social sharing buttons on game and developer profiles.
  • Multi-platform download URL support. (Windows, Linux, Mac, Blender)
  • Games can be featured on the front page
  • Allow people to flag games.
  • Allow users and developers to change their password.
  • Allow users and developers to request a new password.
  • Improved URLs, they make a lot more sense now and the search engines will like it too.
  • You can now report bad download links. Both bGame and the developer will be informed about it.
  • Added RSS feeds. Currently just three feeds (Top rated, Most downloaded, Recently Added). You can access them by clicking the RSS icons on the front page.
  • Support comments on all profiles (supported on news, game and user/developer profiles)
  • Allow people (may be restricted to moderators) to host contests
  • User/Developer Avatars

On my List:

  • Allow people to review games (you can sort of do this right now by posting comments and rating games)
  • Sort games by OS on the game list

In the end the developers will have to provide a description, some screenshots and a download link for their games.

More screens:

You can access the website here!

Don’t worry about your passwords. They’re encrypted as soon as you press the ‘Register’ button.

If you encounter any bugs or issues or if you have any feature requests. Please let me know. All your opinions are welcome.

***More information
More detailed information about certain areas of bGame can be found below.

bGame Download Mirror
If you wish to benefit from this download mirror which allows users to directly download your game archives your game will have to meet a few requirments.

They’re quite simple though.

  • Your game has to be fun
  • Your game has to be kinda cool

Now these are subjective requirements which might become more defined over time but right now this is done for a reason. The quality of the games submitted to bGame differs quite a lot so it’s all flexible right now.

Most important requirement would have to be that you can actually play the game. (I’ve seen plenty of Blender games that are either unplayable or don’t instruct the player at all)

If you wish to have your game mirrored more quickly then you should use the contact form that you can find on the website to send a request.
Your game will then be reviewed. After it has been reviewed you will receive a message which will either tell you that your game is now mirrored or you will receive an e-mail that contains the sad news and some hopefully constructive feedback because you can always try again! :slight_smile:

I think, we need something like Desura, Steam or Origin.
A cross platform app that displays a list of games, some info, a download and maybe a donation link.

i’d go with the stream support too.

I think an application would be a little overkill considering people would then have to download a separate application just to download their Blender games. That would just be counter-productive.

Not if people want to sell their games.

Those people could register it on bGame and link it to their Steam product page for example.
The website is meant to be a registry of games with download/buy links and a rating system so you can have easy access to the games without having to search through the forums.

Also, how many Blender games have actually gone commercial? Those would be better of on more well established platforms like Steam and Desure than on bGame.

Feel free to discuss the topic though. :wink:

I agree with what you’re saying but…

“how many Blender games have actually gone commercial”
Well, it’s hard to sell a game if there is no easy way of selling it! (Thats where you come in? :))

Actually, after considering it, I think that a Steam-like app should only be considered if Steam isn’t an option for Blender games. I think that people don’t want to download or go through another layer of applications just to get to purchase a game. I think the web-site approach is better. I think we can handle selling our games manually.

What programming language and/or framework the web is using ?

PHP and MySQL.

I think it’s a great idea and will definitely submit my finished projects to it. Also would like to request a comment stream for titles so people can list bugs.

That’s a good idea. I’ll try to get some of the features working this evening so I can publish the first version of the site in a few weeks. Shouldn’t take too long since it’s you guys filling the pages with your games and projects. :wink:

I think this is a great idea. Thanks for working on it. I hope it will help give blender games some visibility. =)

P.S.: I also really like your signature.

Too bad i hate PHP, i cant help you; but its a nice idea, i wish you good luck!

I, on the other hand, love PHP, so if you’d like any help! :slight_smile:

Small update:

  • New developers can now register on the site
  • Developer ratings have been added to the database

Progress has been slowed down to a halt because of some other projects I’m running and a new school project that takes up a lot of my spare time.
I hope to continue working on bGame either this week or next week.

Finally got back to working on bGame.
Here’s a screenshot of the work-in-progress ‘Add New Game’ screen that you can access from the Developer Control Panel.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4618760/addGame.png

Done:

  • Convert ratings into star icons on pages
  • Setup the User/Developer Control Panel
  • Allow people to rate the games

Are you letting multiple people administer a game?