Got it, thanks.

isn't me being the developer a solid source? i don't know what would be proof more than the developer's word when it was released, but what other kind of evidence would work? the earliest review on a website?

Sure, it's just that I don't find any trace of a correction you submitted at MG, not at your developer entry, not at the game entry, not as a new release info item. I'll happily correct anything, just pass on what needs to be done.

A reply is long due... but usually every single release date needs to be accompanied by proof before it is listed on MobyGames and it is verified by someone. If there are inaccuracies, just submit a correction with a solid source. If needed I can always dig up the proof that was initially provided, granted that the source hasn't vanished in the meantime.

By all means, move along! I'm already typing this out of a hole in my backyard where I have been hiding since yesterday. 

Sure, it's been revised 

I think I rediscovered the reason why nothing of mine ever gets released: the ratings cut deeper than I am willing to admit  .

Aw, come on, why would you be bothered by the ratings of a random internet idiot. Played it, liked it, wrote about it! And as you say to develop it further, there is room for re-rating 

MMORPG Tycoon is GPLv3.

Thanks for the comprehensive reply. I'm a bit less angry now. I was quite pleased to see the MobyGames entry initially, and the screenshots and description were very well done.

However, I would certainly appreciate it being delisted for now, at least until the first update. I guess I could have been clearer about it not being considered a properly finished game, but I was hoping the rough title screen might drop a subtle hint in that direction.

Obviously everything uploaded becomes public domain, but it does seem pretty out of order to jump in before the competition is really over (as Corpus has just said).

Jeez, I'm such a whiner.

No sweat! I've removed the game. I guess I misinterpreted the competition's deadline as how the projects are considered finished.

Whoops, missed this thread.

I'm from Belgium and I've been playing games pretty much all my life. I made a Space Invaders clone using The Games Factory once but that was about it for design. I've been writing for magazines for almost ten years, stopped two years when I grew completely bored with all the generic commercial titles, and regained interest into gaming through indie games. It brings back the warm feeling of the mid-nineties adventures I loved so much - small and with passion. I now spent most of my money on buying indie games, with the odd retail game here and there. Since September 2007, I write a monthly indie games section for a paper press magazine distributed in Belgium and The Netherlands, and I've mentioned many of the games covered here. I'm also an administrator at the electronic games documentation project MobyGames, which accidentally stirred up some controversy in regards to the PG competition, so this was not the best of entries

I registered to clear up some stuff in the entry (and bump my score aggressively, of course  )

I dunno. I don't mind it being there, but it's presented like it's a final game or something. Who expects a prototype to get reviewed in the same breath as a final game? Feels a bit unfair, really.

Hey, I should clear up some things I believe. MobyGames attempts to document all electronic games known in history. This means, next to commercial releases, I also add a lot of hobby projects and independently developed games to the site, mostly to balance out the many commercial releases. This is done on a voluntary basis, contributors do not get paid in any way - it is a collaborative project of game fans. I've done the same for the VGNG compo and most indie games in general. The site has a huge amount of daily traffic with many known developers contributing, and not being a designer, it is my way of giving exposure to titles that I feel passionate about.

The descriptions are not in any way meant to be a review of the game. There is an option to add user reviews, but I simply can't devote time to reviews and descriptions are not supposed to have subjective elements. You'll notice they are written objectively and in the third person. Generally, we do not add beta versions or demos to the site, but a lot of the titles in the compo appear to be considered "prototypes" of which the finished state is somewhat unclear. A lot of indie games are constantly being reworked, so it is somewhat hard to tell when the game is "finished" and meant for public viewing. I would not add Gesundheit for instance because the developer clearly only has released a demo of the game. If you believe your game should be considered a demo/beta and not a finished product meant for public viewing - just message me and I'll have it removed. It's just that there are so many new games every day, and some things are eventually forgotten, MobyGames can be one of places where history is preserved, even if a game was released but eventually not tuned to perfection.

As for the ratings, these are personal ratings of the visitors of the site. In addition to user ratings, the MobyRanks are used as "official" ratings by magazines and major internet review outlets. I rated the games in the state I played them, but also based on the potential. I'm not going to punish a game ratings-wise because of the time constraints in development time for the compo, but rather focus on the general game mechanics and potential. This is an individual choice of each user of course. Games can be re-rated, and I actually liked all the games I added, otherwise I wouldn't have done the effort to add them in the first place (next to playing it takes about an hour to add an entry).

I'm glad you found out how to revise the description. By all means do, the site is meant as a collaborative effort of volunteers, and taking a look at entries such as http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/100-in-one-klik-play-pirate-kart or http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/aquaria, you'll see games are added in the best intentions, with a custom description not using "official" or "copyrighted" blurbs, as a way to give as much exposure to them as possible. Keep in mind the description can be revised at any time and additional/replacements screenshots can be submitted - this is actually quite common.

Also, on a personal note, I edit a monthly indie section in a European paper press magazine. I've written a feature about VGNG in the past (mailed a scan to Derek once, don't know if he ever got it), and I intend to do the same for the PG competition in the next issue, so in no way do I intend to tick off anyone involved, instead I applaud your collaborative creativity.

I enjoyed it a lot, especially because of the pace. Nifty!

Edit:  looking outside the Ogre forums, it seems as though it's a problem specific to Visual C.

I believe you need the 'Visual C Redistirbutable' - I'm gonna put a link to it in the first post.

That solved it, thanks!

I didn't and there no new entries in the log file except for the ones included by default/your original release. Using DirectX 9.0c. You'll probably need to see if other people encounter this as well, but usually I never have technical difficulties. I have run Ogre games before.

Different system, now Vista: same error. I do get the notice here that the error may be recorded in the event logbook, but when I enable the service Microsoft declares my pre-installed OEM version illegal and refuses to start the service. Sigh...

Bravo, such an excellent entry. I just keep marveling over how brilliant it looks and plays. Many explosions/enemies affects the performance in high-graphics mode a lot, though, but the lower style looks very pretty too.

I was looking forward to playing it, but I can't get it to run. Using both the link and the executable in the bin directory, I receive this default error message (localized in Dutch in my case):



It basically says: "The application cannot be run because it has not been configured correctly. Reinstalling this application may solve the issue."

I'm using Windows XP SP2 - default things installed such as XNA 2.0 (probably not needed), DirectX 9.0, using a decent graphics card and plenty of RAM/CPU etc.