I thought i’d post this here intstead of the website and forum section becuase i’m just after you opinions really.
Although there are some useful resources in our (GE forum) current sticky set, i think we need a new READ THIS BEFORE ASKING ANY QUESTIONS one which would cover the common questions.
IMO it would cover (not in any particular order):
How to recalculate normals.
Why you should not use subsurf in the game engine.
Where to find a mouselook script.
Informing people that they should get to the level of being able to modify existing python scripts before attempting a game project.
How to create an alpha mask in the gimp/photoshop.
Using LinV instead of DLoc to get better collisions.
Some basic optimising stuff, texture sizes and a general guide on poly counts.
My main point is that although all this information can be found throught the forum people aren’t going to search for stuff they might not know about so it might be useful in that way.
So what do you think, what else would you add/remove or am i talking complete tosh?
I think also one or two of the current stickies are a little redundant (although can be still useful e.g the crystal space one).
Basicly you are creating FAQ. As myself just getting into this i would like to see good base stuff for GE. Also about exporting to common game models (.obj) and such.
Hmm that is not true the Blender Game/Demos/Tutorials list has 73,879 views.
I think one problem is that some people don’t understand that you have to put in your time and learn, but for myself many times I get information overload and forget where a command is or how to do something and some people find it easier to ask for help.
I think you’re right matro. People only ask questions becuase they want to know the answer. Which is why I think a consice and clear sticky covering the most common problems would be useful. Id put it in caps lock so people notice it when they enter the GE forum.
People want to get stuck into making something asap and the strength of BGE is that to some extent they can, so they are quite likley to come across these problems quickly.
Well, I like your idea, but the sticky would need to be well organized. I would say it should be set up differently than the current tutorials sticky.
Personally, I don’t like stickies and I don’t like wikis. I just want a book or a website that is very simply laid out, easy to navigate, and complete in its scope. I might be wrong, but I think most people learn best that way. Forums are great for questions and discussions, and wikis are great for keeping information as current as possible, but they’ll never beat a good old fashioned book.
Anyhow, I don’t mean to discourage. Contact z30r d (this board’s moderator) about it if you’re willing to take it on. Also, I agree with the “too many stickies already” thought, but I say why not just can some of them. I mean, CrystalBlend? I’m pretty sure that’s dead by now.
How about we make it a requirement, ex:
Give them this FAQ, make them answer a questionnare on this FAQ, and have them do a grammer test (i have something in mind). I know how to code something like this, so my idea would not be completely relying on the developers.
I would like to limit them to making only posts for the first few days, or first 50 or so posts.
this post will most likely be disregarded as an angry rant, because it kinda is, but i would sincerely like to see something like this.
Or how about the “I used to be stupid once, too” approach? We could patiently offer them gentle pointers toward the search function and drop subtle hints like “This question has been answered before. Here’s a link to a thread that can help you.”
Be honest with yourself: There is no good and easy to find document that will teach a person how to use the BGE, so “common knowledge” is not so common. I remember when I first started I was in over my head, so occasionally I posted something ignorant. I got flamed once on another board, and it was the horrible kind of exprience that I would not pass on to others.