We're Back Up

The site was down for a couple of days (I wonder if anyone even noticed) but it's back up now. Unfortunately, I still don't know why the site went down, and currently I don't have manual access to the database so unless I make a form-based script I'm not going to be able to add/modify things on the directory.

I did what I could though. I rearranged the items in the features list so that they make more logical sense. I've also added "(each with their own clickable icon)" to the line about tag types to make it more clear that those little icons can be clicked on to go to the associated page. I've also updated the RSS feed so that it better complies with accepted standards, although I couldn't go all the way with that because I can't manually access the DB right now.

New Genre: "Puzzle"

The "Puzzle" genre has been added, its page can be found here.

Alias tags include:

• puzzle
• puz
  

This new theme has been attached to the following games:

• Enter the Cave
  

I've updated the question "Why does there have to be a webpage about the game? Don't you host games?" in the FAQ so that it has the following information as well:

"We require that a non-forum webpage or website exist because we have to link to your game somehow. Giving us only a link to the download is unacceptable. It's perfectly fine if the webpage you submit with your registration is merely a description page on some other site, but there has to be a sufficient amount of information on that page about your game. Webpages that are not descriptive enough and/or merely link to the download are unacceptable."

Fixed the title tag on the error pages and cleaned up the code in the featured_block include.

I figured out what was making the join us page not validate. I had left a couple of DIVs that were part of a code fragment of an attempt to make the "Default Button?" question on the Game Registration form stretch to fill its allotted space. Removing those old DIVs made it validate. Also, I've fixed all pages on the site so that they use the updated stylesheets include so that it doesn't display "PTv4 (preference)" for the stylesheet name whenever you pick a style, but instead the real name of the stylesheet, such as "PTv4 Blue". Additionally, I've added label tags to all the appropriate fields on public pages that have forms so that they're more accessible to the disabled.

I've altered the stylesheets include so that it displays the same name for the Classic color scheme as it would if there was no cookie at all. Also, I fixed a link in the FAQ so it's the pointing to the correct page.

I've added a blue stylesheet to the site and a style chooser. Yayness!

SO STOP WHINING ABOUT THE COLOR SCHEME BEING TOO DARK!

After the update yesterday, I decided to just completely rearrange the order and placement of some of the questions in the FAQ as well as add/remove some questions. Likewise, that meant the join us page and the gamejoin script had to be updated as well.

I've added the following questions to the FAQ:

Site Membership

• What if my site supports an engine/method which is not currently on the directory?

Game Registration

• What's the difference between genres and themes?
• What if my game is of a genre, theme, or engine/method which is not currently on the directory?

I've also updated the homepage so that genre and theme categories are displayed in alphabetical order.

New Theme: "Parody"

The "Parody" theme has been added, its page can be found here.

Alias tags include:

• parody
• satire
• joke
• humor
• parodic
• satiric
• humour

This new theme has been attached to the following games:

• The Worst RPG Ever
  

Updated the RPG Maker 2000, RPG Maker 2003, and RPG Maker XP icons so that they match accepted standards.

I've altered the Google custom search engine so that the search results are shown inside a IGDD.org page.

The previous site that dynamically created the site's PR image went down a while back, and is still recovering. When that happened, I switched out who our PR image provider was, but accidentally picked the button that determines PR independently for every page it's on instead of the homepage only. That's since been fixed.

Fixed the featured_block script so that it correctly displays the update time in CDT. (the time on the server)

I've upgraded the search bar. It now searches the IGDD only rather than IGDD and the entire web. Additionally, I've added a "Add to Google" button to the search bar so people can add the IGDD search engine right to their iGoogle.

I'm thinking of allowing members to request that their games sections be added into the search engine. (Although why they'd bother considering all their games are already on the IGDD is beyond me) Have someone on your staff contact me if you want to take part in this feature.

Fixed the caption tag on the results table in the Game Directory so that it displays more correct English when there are multiple search terms.

I think I may of just removed the last kink from the news injector. I forgot to tell it to escape characters unsafe for a mySQL query. It should work perfectly now.

New Policy + "Perforate"

I'm making it a policy from now on that if a site on the directory goes completely down and someone on staff doesn't notify me or post a downtime post to the feed within 24 hours of me noticing, the site's account will be temporarily deactivated until their site is back up again. You can of course choose to have your account temporarily deactivated anyways while your site is down, but it's your responsibility to notify me either way.

Personally, I think it's far better to not have a link in the directory at all then to have a broken link.

On the upside, I've added a "perforate" function to the directory scripts. If a person puts two or more search terms into a directory URL which evaluate to the same term, the extra terms will automatically be truncated during processing.

Additionally, I've fixed the links on tag icons so that they always link to the one-term search for that icon's term.

Fixed up the News Injector page and script so that they use drop menus for the "Date and Time" field instead of a blank. Additionally, unless it's requested explicitly in the future, I've disabled the permalink blank. I also fixed the color on visited links on subcategories so that they aren't OMG so dark scary yar ... yeah.

News Injector error fixed

The news injector was suffering from a logic error that caused the script to error out unnecessarily. I've since fixed that... at least... I think I did. If it errors out on you and you're certain you typed everything correctly, let me know ASAP via email. At the very least, I'll be able to inject your news manually.

New Member: Township Games

We at Pax Tsukuru are proud to announce a new member, Township Games !!!

They can be found at:
http://TownshipGames.com

They support the following engines/methods:

• Game Maker
• RPG Maker 2000
• RPG Maker 2003
• RPG Maker XP
• Sphere

Their chosen representative is "BlindMind".

With the membership of Township Games, the IGDD finally expands its scope beyond the RPG Maker community.

Updated the chatroom page so that it no longer allows access to the #AG room (which is never used) and instead now allows access to #UI (which is at least used minorly)

I noticed that games have a "synopsis" field in the DB, but I didn't actually have a field on the join us page that allowed a person to fill in that field for himself, so I added one.

IGDD.org (PTv4) Released!

I am very proud to finally release (after over 2 weeks of practically non-stop coding) Pax Tsukuru version 4, a.k.a. IGDD.org!

The complete list of features includes the following:

• Directory of its members and games.
  
  • Flexible search term system : Search terms can be added onto the end of the homepage URL to narrow results.
    
    • Games : igdd.org/write/search/terms/here
    • Members : igdd.org/members/write/search/terms/here
    
    
  • Every member is listed by what engines/methods it supports.
  • Every game is listed using various "tags"
    
    • Genres : Strictly referring to interface aspects
    • Themes : Strictly referring to environment aspects
    • Engine/Method : The medium the game was made in.
    • Condition : The game's stage of development.
    
    
  • NOTE: Only these tags have valid search terms. Using anything other than the tags listed here will generate an error.
  • Every
    day, a random member and game are "featured" on practically every page
    in the IGDD. (The only time this isn't true is when someone searches
    with only one search term.)
  • The member and game with the latest news are displayed on the homepage.
    
    • Generated from the RSS feed.
    
    
  
  
• A dynamically-generated RSS news feed!
  
  • 
    
  • Members and Creators can post to the feed at any time.
    
  • You can point your RSS reader to this URL or to simply http://www.IGDD.org
    
  
  
• Java "anytime anywhere" Chatroom
  
  • Rights within the "lobby" room
    
    • "Representatives" from the various member sites get "operator" status
      
      • If more than one category of engine/method is supported, "half-operator" status may be given at Invisionary's discretion
      
      
    • General staff get "voice" status
    • Creators of registered games also get "voice" status
    
    
  • Member staff and registered creators can choose to get a "nameplate" which replaces their name in the chat.
  • Members can opt for their own room and have the IGDD Javachat allow access to it.
  
  
• Google Custom Search bar can be used to search all content related to IGDD.org
  
  • Began crawling recent content as of 7-7-07 (PTv4's release date)
  
  
• Publically-available web statistics.

PTv3.1.1 Released

Version 3.1.1 included the following changes:

• A dynamically-generated RSS feed!
• RSS 2.0 valid!
• You can find it at http://www.Pax-Tsukuru.com/rss.xml
• You can point your RSS reader to that URL or to simply http://www.Pax-Tsukuru.com
• This news feed is intended to eventually become a staple among ultra-independent game developers.
• An RSS news injector and login system!
• The latest member news and latest game news one-liners on the homepage are now dynamically-generated from the RSS feed.

PTv3.1 Released

Version 3.1 included the following changes:

• mySQL databases are now being used to store and display member and game data as opposed to just flat HTML code.
• The members.html and games.html page have been converted to PHP pages that utilize mySQL databases to display the member/game info. ^o^
• Members/Games determined to be 'Inactive' are not shown on their directory pages.
• The featured member / game function is now fully automated! Once a day it'll randomly pick an active member and game and display them on the homepage as well as in the directories!
• Certain pages have been aliased using .htaccess
• Custom error pages have been made for errors 400, 401, 403, 404, and 500, as well as for the application, registration, and news submission forms. (Try 'em out, I think they're pretty neat!)
• Both of the forms both on the /news page and the /join page have been altered to help prevent spam
• The width of the content areas on pages has been increased from 600px to 700px
• 76 known bad bots and site rippers have been permanently blocked

PTv3 Released

It's been exactly one year since PT was made. As an early birthday present, we got a ORG domain.

http://www.Pax-Tsukuru.org

Also along with that is the release of a new look for the site!

Version 3 introduces the usage of a non-shitty globe image, a kickass main logo, (see the flash?) plain rollover animated gifs without reload-on-hover for the navigation moons on the homepage, and several other cosmetic changes.

...I really need to just learn flash, then there won't be an image-loading issue. :/