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Logging playtest as a Blog, is it a good thing?

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Tue, 04/30/2024 - 01:35
larienna
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It's the second time I have been logging what is happening, or taking notes digitally when playing. The second play tests, was really observation, ideas and comments on the game play.

Now, an idea occurred to me that I could publish those notes, even if pretty raw, to give an idea of the design process and the game's design's progress.

I thought, I could create a blog for each game, then when I run a test, I copy paste my log there. (or add a link to it). I could post a picture of the prototype at the same time. Board Game geek also seem to have a blog system, I could put it there too.

It would get more visibility than simply putting it on my website, which is the third place where I can place the information.

I wonder if it's really worth the effort to blog my play test session?

The biggest benefit I could get is user comments.

Anybody else did this in the past?

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Tue, 04/30/2024 - 06:18
#1
X3M
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Shart answer: yes

I often wrote my results of playtests within my posts.
Sometimes someone reacted. Giving pointers etc.

However, you need to keep reminding the reader which game it is. Perhaps (years too late for me) create a description somewhere of the game itself. And post the link to it above the playtest blog.

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Tue, 04/30/2024 - 22:25
#2
larienna
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In my case, I would create 1

In my case, I would create 1 blog per game idea. So there will be less confusion.

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Fri, 05/03/2024 - 21:52
#3
questccg
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That can work too!

larienna wrote:
In my case, I would create 1 blog per game idea. So there will be less confusion.

I agree that could be nice way to keep progress. I find that when I BLOG about any of my designs, the more RECENT stuff is "up-to-date" whereas the older content is more stale. Still there may be some good IDEAS that were suggested or presented that may work in other contexts.

Like I might have made prototype and figured that the combat mechanic doesn't work well with the design. That doesn't mean that the combat mechanic is bad, just inappropriate for that game. It could maybe work in a different context.

So I don't keep one (1) Blog per design... I mostly just BLOG about whatever I am currently working on. Lots of designs and time (12+ years). So I don't hold on to the various threads in terms of recollection. I mostly write it to share whatever it is that I am currently working on and some of the challenges that am facing at that time.

But yeah one (1) Blog per design could work IF you can stick to keeping them short... Maybe like a dozen or so updates per game (sounds reasonable to me)!

Worthwhile a TRY!

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Tue, 05/07/2024 - 10:21
#4
larienna
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Sure, I'll keep a log on my

Sure, I'll keep a log on my computer including notes on my tablet and paper. But it is worth sharing it during the process of game design? Do I spend time doing this, or is my time better invested elsewhere?

2 benefits I could see so far:

* Get comments from other users
* Teach how I design

Still, teach how I design could be made after the game is complete by releasing design notes. It does not have to be done at the same time than the design process.

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Fri, 05/10/2024 - 23:01
#5
questccg
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There is a THIRD benefit which you may not know about...

Benefit #3: Reduce Mental Clutter.

Google wrote:
Mental clutter refers to the excessive or overwhelming thoughts, worries, or concerns that can fill our minds and make it difficult to focus, make decisions, or feel at peace. Mental clutter can take many forms, including excessive worrying, rumination, obsessive thinking, and over-analyzing situations.

By this definition in the context of Designing Games, mental clutter is ruminations and over-analyzing the design at hand. I find that once I take a few minutes to write a BLOG about a design, where it is at, what challenges I am currently facing, some uncertainties with the design... I can move on to other topics and HONESTLY feel like by EXPRESSING my issues, it's a sort of way to "feel at peace" with the issues surrounding the design in question.

This is a GREAT benefit. I do it all the time, and aside from being very verbose about what I am working on... It dramatically allows me to focus my thoughts on a particular topic or challenge and most of the time by doing this I get a fresh new set of eyes on the issues at hand.

This 3rd Benefit is 1000% better than just normal feedback and you don't really need to teach anything. You're just expressing in an HONEST fashion what are your problems, what are some of the solutions you want to explore and sometimes ask for feedback and responses from "other" users of the forum.

While OFTEN in those types of threads, I don't get much FEEDBACK it still allows me to share my pain points and allows my mind to switch gears from THINKING about a problem, to coming up with various solutions to that problem or any other issues that a design has been facing.

I honestly can't express how GREAT it is to "clean a slate" and say:

+ I have this and this and that as problems.

+ I have been thinking that I could do this or that to solve them.

+ What does anyone else think? Feedback, questions, comments, etc.

Although #3 happens not very often, #1 which I do ... Leads me to #2 and a way of channeling and focusing my mind on the entire project allowing me to CONTINUE the design process WITHOUT having a Mental Block.

I know you said you get a lot of ideas. Most of my ideas I put in a Text-File and that's it. But in many cases, when a project dies down (HEAT), I usually try to find another one to work on. I also am taking ONLINE Classes for Web-Oriented Development (Because I want to LEARN some new technologies and I want to see how proficient I can become using them for my Corporate Website). At the same time, I'm managing an Overseas Project which is about 40% done and will require more effort in the coming months.

So maybe you should TRY and SEE if #3 Benefit also applies to you. I guess taking NOTES on Larienna's Library is one way. But a BLOG is more dynamic and quicker/more easy to get your THOUGHTS OUT-THERE. You can even host pictures and show progress in terms of prototypes, sample cards, custom components, etc.

Anyhow let me know if Benefit #3 works for you! That is if you feel like it is as compelling of a benefit to have...

Cheers @larienna!

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Sat, 05/11/2024 - 12:37
#6
larienna
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So forcing yourself to make

So forcing yourself to make some kind of summary of your thoughts helps reorganizing them. Possibly opening up new solutions or better identifying the problems.

I somewhat agree with that.

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Tue, 05/14/2024 - 01:17
#7
larienna
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For those interested, I

For those interested, I posted my log on the net with a prototype picture:

https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8204123/larienna

http://bgd.lariennalibrary.com/uploads/Mainsite/GameIdea/GameIdea-Eldrit...

Not sure if there is a way to activate the markdown formatting in the browser. I would need to make some tests.

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Tue, 05/14/2024 - 16:33
#8
questccg
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You could use Neo Cities to HOST images

Instead of BGG where you CANNOT EMBED images using the < img > HTML tag using the Markup Input Format, you can use Neo Cities to HOST your images and EMBED them directly into the message!

https://neocities.org

Here's a SAMPLE of a hosted image:

You can embed images this way using a < img > HTML tag (without the spaces) and link to the Neo Cities website where you host the images...

Works for me!

Here's a SAMPLE of a hosted image:

< a href="https://questccg.neocities.org/shared_info/04 - Gnomes.png" target="_blank">< img src="https://questccg.neocities.org/shared_info/04 - Gnomes.png" width="200px">< /img >< /a >

Same exact source... Without the SPACES around the Anchor and Image Tags (HTML source). All you need to do is create a Neo Cities Account and then create a folder to HOST all your images and then upload the images you want to SHARE or DISPLAY on BGDF.com and then use the "Input format" MARKUP and use the source I have provided to EMBED the images DIRECTLY into your messages.

Cheers!

Note #1: You get 1 GB of space for your website/files/images. that's pretty good for a FREE service. Anyhow @let-off studios uses it and I sometimes use it too (to show it can be used easier than BGG and sites which cannot allow embed images), etc.

Note #2: There are a few HTML tricks you can use depending on your specific needs like:

Instead of "width=200px" you can do "width="100%"

This will scale your image to FIT the displayable area (100%). That's one HTML trick. The other was the Anchor tag Target:

By using "target="_blank" you allow a new window to open to view the full screen image.

That's another trick that I use to ensure that you don't lose your comment that you are on in BGDF.com instead it opens a new TAB (or window) with the image at full resolution...

Stuff like that... I can help if you have questions. You may be already familiar with HTML 5.0 and CSS 3.0... You of course know that I am learning Bootstrap for my own website needs.

Anyhow... Just let me know if you need any help.

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Tue, 05/14/2024 - 17:02
#9
questccg
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I think ...

larienna wrote:
...Not sure if there is a way to activate the markdown formatting in the browser. I would need to make some tests.

Yes you can use the HTML file extension (I believe) and then use SIMPLE formatting like H1 to H6 (for Headings) and < i >, < b > for Italics or Bold Text... < p > for Paragraphs too...

And you can use < ul > and < ol > for Unordered lists (bullet points) and Ordered lists (numbers 1 to ...) also.

But you would need to test. I will TRY myself too. Just to see if I can HELP or not... I will HOST the file and see what happens when you OPEN it...

Here is my SAMPLE HTML 5.0 File and will it load FORMATTED:

https://questccg.neocities.org/shared_info/testhtml.html

Basically you need to encode the TXT file as HTML source. With some formatting and you can get decent page to look esthetically pleasing.

Cheers @larienna.

Note #1: I am going to try something BROKEN to see if it works with LESS formatting...

https://questccg.neocities.org/shared_info/brokenhtml.html

You don't need full HTML file. Just click on the Link/URL and then do Right-Click and choose "View page source" and you'll see all I added was the STANDARD formatting. Sure the FONT looks not as good... But you don't NEED FULL HTML to be able to do some BASIC formatting (except know that the FONT will be bad...) Times New Roman I think...

Note #2: In your browser, you can SET the DEFAULT FONT to be Arial 16 versus Times New Roman 16... This will improve the overall READABILITY of the "broken" HTML file that I've showed up above! So I'm not sure if all Browsers allow you to CUSTOMIZE this setting ... But I know that Chrome and probably Edge DO!

If you want more info about that, just let me know and I can show you where to go to customize the DEFAULT FONT!

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Tue, 05/14/2024 - 18:18
#10
questccg
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A markdown file is my NEXT test!

https://questccg.neocities.org/shared_info/testmark.txt

It DOES NOT WORK... Too bad. I thought CHROME might understand the EXTENSION and interpret the file... Could be neat for sure. I could not locate a browser EXTENSION that would AUTOMATICALLY transform a .MD file to a .HTML file with the rendering of the MARKDOWN file.

Let me know if you find anything of interest!

Best.

Note #1: I tried: "Markdown Preview Plus" extension and it works for LOCAL FILES ... But doesn't work for me when I TRY to link to an URL which points to a remotely hosted file (HTTPS). I e-mailed the author of the Extension and see what he has to say. I tried and could not get it to render a .MD file as a Markdown File in the Chrome Browser...

Note #2: IT WORKS!!! I used a file extension of .TXT and the interpreter WORKS! AMAZINGLY!!!

Here is the Link/URL to the extension:

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/markdown-preview-plus/febilkbfc...

Feel free to download and INSTALL and then configure ... It works with .TXT files that contain MARKDOWN! Really neat!

It even worked with your SAMPLE .TXT file... Although only a few HEADINGS and a bunch of Bullet Points... So you would need to improve the overall format of your .TXT Document ... But the MARKDOWN syntax WORKS!!!

Kind regards!

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Tue, 05/14/2024 - 23:02
#11
questccg
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The ONLY DOWNSIDE to this extension is...

It doesn't allow you to SAVE .TXT files ... It handles them also and renders them to make them more visible. But you can always Right-Click on "View page source" and see the .TXT document AS-IS.

That's the one caveat I've found. The other one is that the Extension SCANS all "text/plain" and "text/markdown" Content Types which means every time you OPEN a .TXT file from a website, that file will parse through the Extension as the interpreter of .TXT files.

Without this Content Type ("text/plain") the Markdown conversion will NOT WORK!

So it's a bit of a TRADE-OFF. It's cool if you have very detailed markdown files you work with LOCALLY... And upload as PLAIN TEXT FILES... I think I may use this format too. As it is easy to ignore when viewing the TEXT FILE in a program such as Notepad++ which does NOT render files.

But it's cool you can OPEN a LOCAL Text file with CHROME and it will RENDER the .TXT file and any Markdown you may have in it...

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Wed, 05/15/2024 - 08:49
#12
larienna
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Normally, I upload the

Normally, I upload the pictures on my website, but I was lazy and uploaded only on BGG. I never really understood how to link them in BGDF especially when using the markdown formatting.

As for markdown in browser, no there is no native support. I could use a converter MD to HTML when posting it online. Not sure it is worth the effort.

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Wed, 05/15/2024 - 15:33
#13
questccg
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You still need a HOST for the images

larienna wrote:
...I never really understood how to link them in BGDF especially when using the markdown formatting.

You need to use a HOST to serve the images and than you use STANDARD HTML. Anchor and Image tags.

larienna wrote:
As for markdown in browser, no there is no native support. I could use a converter MD to HTML when posting it online. Not sure it is worth the effort.

For this you need to use an Extension. It automatically converts "text/plain" content type to a formatted version (which includes parsing of Markdown content). If you really want to be able to VIEW a Markdown page in Chrome... You can use the extension I provided above.

If you are using another browser... Like Edge or Firefox, you'd need to search their extensions to see what is supported. But on Chrome it works nicely once you get all the information straight.

I even customized the CSS it uses to FORMAT the Markdown. Basically it reads a text file, looks for markdown and filters it to a HTML page with CSS formatting.

Anyhow, it's technical... But I mean you've been coding in Kotlin so you know what HTML and CSS are all about. Not major news for you. You're probably more advanced than I am in Java, since I have never used Kotlin or pure Java for that matter. I've use Java for "coding" services (web services) which are hosted on a Platform (Integration Server) but I don't have much experience with classes and so forth. I was taught procedural languages and not object oriented ones.

So HTML 5.0 and CSS 3.0 are in my wheel-house.

Anyhow... The bottom line is that I use Chrome and don't know what is available for Edge or Firefox. But I'm sure there are extensions too that allow for Markdown to be interpreted and rendered as a final output.

Cheers!

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