Close your eyes, spin around until dizzy, point, and then open your eyes. Whatever language you are pointing to is fine.

Obviously it's not quite that easy, but it's not a big deal where you start. Start somewhere that looks like you can make something that you want. Progress in that environment until you can't make the things you want in the amount of time you want to make them.

Almost every programmer I know that has been programming for over 4 years doesn't use the programming language they started with.

It's probably best to start somewhere friendly (unless you reckon you're smart enough). Any of the game makers are good. Processing is fun to start with. Some of the game frameworks are friendly. What you'll find on this site is that everyone uses and swears by something different.

As long as you get on the road and start moving you'll be fine.

@Slylandro. This is actually a good way for new game entries to get some press. The truth is if a game shows up on the top at 5 stars it's going to be heavily scrutinized. People will either rate it down out of spite or they will play the game to discover if it is really a 5 star game (let's hope it's the later).

It's a tough draw but if the system stayed as it is nobody would be hurt. I think progrium's suggestion of three review minimum is quite reasonable, it would fix the "problem" instantly.

Thank you guys for caring so much about TIGdb.

I truly believe TIGdb is the future. I think it is already a great asset to the indie community and the more love that is fed into it (from its developers and it's users) the more it will propel indie games and the community. I'm trying to do my part in providing it love.

Re comments... I don't know if I like that idea yet. Comments without purpose turn into weird discussion crap, which seems better suited in the forums or something.

I also think comments are a bad idea. There are games I see that have been reviewed and I also want to say something cool about it, but the previous review already does a pretty good job. It will just get cluttered quickly with "This game rocks!" or "You won't find a better shooter." Any comments outside of a full review won't add enough value to game's page.

Also, I can't find my own review useful anymore. DAMN YOU!!!  :D

If you have more suggestions, you should submit them to http://tigdb.uservoice.com

These are all great, but it's easier to track them there instead in forums. Discussion is fine, but they're more likely to be implemented on the UserVoice page.

So that's what that feedback tab is for. I edited the thread title based on your suggestion.

We already show all your reviews on your profile page.

Maybe there is absolutely nothing wrong with the db. Maybe there is something absolutely wrong with me. The absent minded professor(not really) at your service.

I think a good feature would be: "See this user's reviews." Sometimes if a user writes a review and you think they really have similar preferences you'd like to see what other games they've reviewed so you can find games that would interest you.

A solution to this is a member's profile page, but it doesn't need to be this involved.

2. It would be cool if in our user profiles could be listed the games we submitted which were accepted.  On a purely selfish note. 

This is actually a good thing from a non-selfish point of view as well. Rewarding people for their efforts helps to keep them coming back for more.

I'm sure someone has already mentioned this, but in case no one has: Add a new option to specify minimum # of ratings for the games being searched for.  I hate it when there are so many 5's and 4's just because only 1 person has rated the game.  Also, consider enforcing a minimum # of ratings (maybe 5?) before letting a game appear on the "top games" list.  Or let people choose somehow.

I'll second this. They do this in the NBA when they list the top players in scoring, rebounding, etc. For top 5 in points per game players must have a minimum amount total points and games played to be listed.

[Non-runners of]

At the risk of doing something I shouldn't I've created this thread so that there is a one stop shop for suggestions. Feel free to destroy this, or ban me, or sticky this, or eat some chips.

Non-runners of tigdb stop reading here.

I will start things off. I just submitted a game for review and then... I realized that somehow I completely disregarded the submission guidelines. Maybe I'm an idiot (possible) or maybe my brain was still reeling from playing Virtual Silence (more possible) but once I submitted my entry and was taken back to the top of a fresh submission page I was flabbergasted (yes, that's right) to see the guidelines suddenly appear. There was flabber and gast everywhere!

Ho this is taking long. My suggestion is to make the text for the submission guidelines BIGGER and possibly with some color so peoples eyes are attracted to it. This didn't screw me up much (just the homepage thing) but others may not be so fortunate.

Fellow suggestioners post down there. (points below)

I can't draw well. But I wonder if making a real robot counts? She ain't much, but she graduated me from university.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4140919156752291105&hl=en

Blah. Shitty list.

Shitty post. Perhaps you could suggest some more.

I have only a little experience on working on fairly large (4 and 5 months development) solo and team projects. But I understand a lot of what PaulMorel is saying and I think you are misunderstanding him joshg. He is not promoting a particular model.

What he is promoting is thorough well thought out planning. He goes on to say how it is not entirely important to follow your plan. In my mind the objective here is to fully solidify your goal. In my experience developing system this is absolutely the most important step. Once you identify where you are and what you want only then can you start filling in how to get there. A thorough plan on how to get there (using whatever method of development you're comfortable with) puts the project in perspective.

As for your original post, sorry but I can't help you there. But I implore you to be ambitious and try it, after you've gone through the planning process of course. 

At the very least, the entertainment value of that site is off the charts.

[t]

@idiotmeat, Jill's good name will forever be associated with her blue top and miniskirt, regardless of how well dressed she was in RE1. I mean who wears club clothes to go fighting zombies...

I only ever picture her in her badass RE1 original outfit actually...maybe i'm just weird?

Man you are weird, every time I picture her she's not wearing anything... well just the boots.

@idiotmeat, Jill's good name will forever be associated with her blue top and miniskirt, regardless of how well dressed she was in RE1. I mean who wears club clothes to go fighting zombies...

^ Well make sure to keep us in the loop here. At the very least what you are doing sounds very interesting, that alone should generate interest.

The issue at hand is that men like breasts (it is instinctual) . The bigger they are the more men seem to like them (within reason, though I can't say I have a problem with the new Ivy).

It's a lot less instinctual than you might think.  Men's obsession with women's breasts is largely a cultural phenomenon.  Sure, they are involved globally in sexual acts due to how sensitive they are, but not all cultures attach so much erotic fascination with breasts and their size.  If you grew up in a culture that allowed women the same right to toplessness that men have, you'd probably be a lot less aroused by the sight of them. 

So yes, men like boobs, but I won't have you attributing it to biology, and I most certainly will not respect trying to justify that the-bigger-the-better mentality by saying that's just how it is.

A quick read through of the wikipedia page for "breast" does in fact paint the picture out to be more complicated than I stated. Biology and culture play large roles.

I would say I'm trying to justify acceptance of the the-bigger-the-better method in video games. It, as a method, has existed in video games for some time and has proven to be effective in generating interest amongst the male demographic. More accurately I'm against people being against the method. I go on to support my position with anecdotal evidence. Society keeps things in check for the most part, which is what much of this discussion is about. Moreover, aren't many video games about fantasies anyway? How much of a problem is it that sexual fantasies get mixed in once in a while?

@gnawingonfoot, king is a beast! I used her in Capcom vs. SNK 2 

I found it amazing how The Longest Journey series didn't show up in this thread (if it did I apologize, I scanned 9 pages). April Ryan is one of the least sexualized female leads I've played in my career as a gamer. And yet I was more attracted to her than probably any female character in a video game.

On the other hand Zoe (from dreamfall) was clearly hot... clearly... hot. But did that stop her from having a strong personality to match April's? No it did not.

The issue at hand is that men like breasts (it is instinctual) . The bigger they are the more men seem to like them (within reason, though I can't say I have a problem with the new Ivy). If your demographic is male then why not pump things up to generate more interest.

This whole sexualization thing is taken too seriously. If a character is sexual they are sexual, if they aren't they aren't. Does a highschool boy have trouble being attracted to flat highschool girls because he spends all day watching Ivy's breasts jump up and down? The answer is no (in as many languages as you can think of).

www.bubblemark.com

(though their silverlight 2 demo is broken)

Anyhow Silverlight 2 has access to hardware so in the case of that demo was getting 500 fps while everything else was around 60 fps. Same as Flash 10 stuff. Also, I enjoy the feeling of breaking newish ground instead of treading in the footsteps of others. (there are some game apis for silverlight out there but they are mostly shite)

If Silverlight has the raw power you say it does then it will only be a matter of time before people begin supporting it. I've personally already seen a lot of interest in Silverlight I think it's going to take off. You see Moonlight being developed by Novell which is a good sign of its future. This guy has written a really nice physics library that works for Silverlight ( http://www.codeplex.com/FarseerPhysics ).

So I think that something that you are making to help game developers use Silverlight would be appreciated. Perhaps you should be a bit more formal and post it in a blog with updates and whatnot. You're probably not going to generate much interest in the deep bowels of forums.

If there are friendly APIs then people will use it.