I'm not sure whether the Click community is just going dormant or dead, but it doesn't look good. No use denying that it's not getting worse.. it'll end up looking like #k&p one day at this rate. For those of you who don't know what #k&p is, that's another sign that the community is deteriorating
I'm not going to propose another crazy ultimate group project, because making a group project with strangers is like trying to build a castle out of sand.. with several people arguing about what a good castle would be like. Instead I think we all should do a few little things to get more people into the community. It works like a mini-donation.. if one person gives $1, it's nothing, but 500 people do, it's a lot.
First, the easiest and most direct way is to advertise MMF. I mean looking at all those 'How do you learn about MMF' posts, it looks like everyone learned about MMF through a demo or word of mouth. So, just put a little "Made with Multimedia Fusion (www.clickteam.com)" thingy in your walkthrough or at the end of your games. That was how the klik community really went off.. heck, it's why it's called the klik community! Remember those splash screens at the end of those KNP games? Even if you do make a crappy game, it'll help the community just a little.
The best way would be to make a proper game with MMF and work outside the Click Community. There's some talk about games not being worth the effort anymore. The thing is that we've gotten a little in-bred after all these years of having a stable community. Our klik games are only klik games. When a newb posts a decent one, all of a sudden people start criticizing him for not using custom platform engines, etc even if people from outside the community would find it a little fun.
The problem is that we've been making games to make games, not to make games. It became a kind of geek hobby a few years back, like robot building, but somewhere along the line we've come to the conclusion that it's the effort, not the result that's important. That's nice in concept, but c'mon.. nobody will play your games if you do that!
Work on making them proper games. We started with this hobby because we saw a game and wanted to make something like it. Let's go back to doing that. Make things for the sake of making them fun. Look at the Knytt games.. they're technically not all that special, but the sheer fun of the game gets it into newspapers, websites, magazines, wins awards.
And if you really, really want to make a fan game, at least add a little originality to it. Instead of making a 'Megaman game', invent your own character, with his own unique name, but plays like Megaman. Instead of a 'Pokemon game', invent a bunch of your own unique creatures and run everything like Pokemon
Also, like I said, expand outside the klik community. If you stay only in the klik community, or specifically on TDC, you'll never get above 100 downloads for your game. If you look at people who want games, you'll find tens of thousands of them. Look at all those Yahoo games! Most of us can make something like that, but since people don't find our games, they're willing to pay a bundle for the Yahoo games.
So, even if you don't think the community is dying.. just do a little to help it. At worst, do it for the sake of fame and for the gratitude of those of us who think that it's dying
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
It's exam period - maybe that explains the lack of activity?
I've also no idea why people are doing the whole "community is dying" thing again - it's been in worse states before.
adam you need to rid a bit more. im guessing you only posted based on the title. the thread isn't exclusively about the community dying. its about why people should be making games simply for the sake of making a fun game.
yes its partly aimed at the whole "dying community" thing. mostly, but not entirely.
i havent released a game since...never . (well there was kkm but people didnt seem to like the movement to well.) simply based on what you have said muz. we need more "fun" games. and i never find mine that fun to play. the only reason im still here is because i learn a lot from the forums, and learn by helping out some of the noobs.
i also agree with flava that its partly because everyone has school. but flava, people have always had school and exams, yet it still seems to be slowing down more than usual.
People are clearly noticing something here, but what is it?
lack of content?
not as many members posting on the forums?
less click sites to choose from?
less well known members?
i'd like to think the community is still in a healthy state at the moment, and TDC itself is getting new members every now and then. Maybe people just wish things were like they were in 1996?
However it's best to enjoy things whilst they last instead of wishing for more. The community isn't going to disappear tomorrow, so lets make games for fun, like Muz says ^^
I don't have time to read the whole thing, but I do know that I've spent the last six years scheming how to remove TGF ads from my games... I'm not about to add them. Not that kliking is shrinking... but if it were, I'd be all the more happy! The tools are powerful enought to make awesome stuff, and we'd be set apart by being part of the few able to do it! I'm sure Clickteam hates my outlook... the smaller the community, the easier it is to know people and get stuff done. (To a point.) The larger it is, the harder it is to get wrapped up in using it because of the overwhelming size of people posting. Ever seen freewebs' community boards? Yep... ridiculous. And even if TDC were dying, that's no sign that klik is. I had TGF for years before I was finally able to sign up here. I had another thing to say, but I lost it...
In the past there were loads of community sites and more dedication towards maintaining them. Now there are two - Total Klik and TDC. TK is a shell with little content and updates are extremely rare, while TDC isn't doing too well in the motivational front either lol (I'm fired now, right Rikus?)
Things have changed, there's no denying it, but I think that we gamemakers have become too competitive with each other. I mean, 10 years ago there were never any majorly hyped up games. Eternal Daughter started the trend and everyone looked forward to it, and so many klikkers now feel compelled to make the best possible game they can. Nothing wrong with that in itself, but this takes time, and henceforth fewer games are released.
I agree with Chris. I've always tried for big games in the past. Now i have one big game in the works, but i took time out to create a small game for the 20 event contest. It's pretty simple: only 8 events, it doesn't take long to make that at all. The graphics are simply whipped up in Photoshop. The only tedius part was making masks for collisions and different friction levels. After that i just let people test it and made a pleasant menu system. Overall, the game didn't take long to make and i personally think it came out ok, even though it's a bit harsh on the player in terms of how easy it is to die.
Anyway, the way I see this site/clicking is like a secret club. It feels kinda special! But it's not the kind of secret club that doesn't let anyone in, it just takes some twist of fate to find.
We get some nice games coming in every so often, we have a number of active members, and I've seen a fair few new faces around here recently. I don't mind if there aren't as many games or members as there could be, things go at a nice pace here and there's not too much to keep track of. You'll rarely miss anything worthwhile here That's one thing I've come to enjoy.
Imho the problem is the MMO get the elite guild mentality. There are people around here with great skills, then there's others with great ideas. The community isn't dead just it's a pass time for many of us with adult responsibilities and who use other computer languages for school/work etc.
I myself use this site for inspiration, and I love it
For instance, I've enjoyed clicking an awful lot, but I'm 22, realistically thinking about getting married, I have a job (in accounts, lol, not exactly rivetting) and an extremely busy social life.
So realistically my clicking days are numbered, and I just don't have the imagination anymore. There's too much else going on, I don't get time to play games, so I don't have the fuel to make them.
But at the same time, I'm at my prime in terms of technical ability with MMF, even recently I've learned so much.
I think the point I'm ambling vaguely towards is that we need newbies. Clicking's like a conveyor, and let's face it - a lot of us who've been around since the 90's are now just about ready to drop off the end. For most of us, life does catch up eventually.
So yeah, I think advertising the click community, especially with any kids we personally know (children of friends, younger siblings, etc) is a good idea. Perhaps more emphasis on the spirit of a game than its technical prowess?
Or maybe I'm rambling. Anyways, I wanna make a game! Leave me alone!
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. (well there was kkm but people didnt seem to like the movement to well.) simply based on what you have said muz. we need more "fun" games. and i never find mine that fun to play. the only reason im still here is because i learn a lot from the forums, and learn by helping out some of the noobs.
Edited by the Author.
