Small idea that *maybe* could help Monkey...

Monkey Forums/Monkey Programming/Small idea that *maybe* could help Monkey...

ziggy(Posted 2012) [#1]
Fellow developers, some of you make nice youtube videos showing your wonderful creations... Why don't we create a BRL youtube channel and show our creations also there? Videos there could also be shown here somewhere in this site (shouldn't be too complicated now that we have embedable youtubes). If it works, maybe BRL could also put some of those videos in the frontpage.
I'm saying this becouse I see some major drawbacks for not-yet newcomers:

1.- The provided samples do not exist unless you have the curiosity to see whatever should be stored on this "bannas foder" (not very intuitive).

2.- The samples provided are great to understand how monkey works once you have decided you want it, but they're not makig Monkey look as cool as it is, so I think there's a hole to be filled here. Something that makes the language appealing, and this has a lot more to do with how the samples look, than what they actually do.

3.- The Apps section here is a great plus, really, but the fact that it is working on HTML5 makesit very inconsitent accross browsers and it is the less performant Monkey target right now, so it does not cause exactly the best impression of the world.

Just some thoughts, I hope this is constructive and helpful in some way.It seems BRL is making some small steps regarding Marketing, we could maybe help push the whole thing up a little bit, as Monkey is one the most wonderful dev tools I've used in the last years, but it's hard to make "the world" kwnow how good it is.


Paul - Taiphoz(Posted 2012) [#2]
I have been thinking about making a show reel of all my work for a while now in video form which I was going to put on my own channel, but as ALL** my stuff is made and written in one BRL product or another it would fit perfectly here as well.

I would suggest letting B3D, MAX and Monkey games be showen, with the stipulation that when a game is in view , a little Icon should be in overlay showing what platforms its on, and what it was written in.

This channel would need to be created by BRL, and then it's account details would need to be shared to those who wanted to take part, sadly I dont think there is any other way to do it, so the details would need to be given out to people that can show they have work to present, and not just given out to anyone that asks.

The only other way would be for someone, BRL or some one else to actually manage the channel fully, take links to videos to be included and then that person would need to download them and then re-upload them to the channel, that way keeps the details in the hands of a single person.

its a shame that Youtube does not have a better way to handle stuff like this, it's something people have been asking them for , for a long time now.

either way .... +1 from me.


Paul - Taiphoz(Posted 2012) [#3]
Something like this..



Did this with Windows Movie Maker Live, those Blitz Overlay's at the bottom, if people want those I can shove them up for download, some install required tho , but its not that hard to get them in.

I second my previous +1 (+2) I think a video show reel of blitz/monkey made games would be a stunning addition to the site, if it was made a regular once a month highlight type thing , with a youtube channel to post them it could be a real draw in for BRL. and US!.


c.k.(Posted 2012) [#4]
I can be an editor.

Should read, "What tools they're made in..."


ziggy(Posted 2012) [#5]
Looked good, something like this but much more condensated would be a bit better, it's hard to seeit all (too large, but this is just my impression). If it could be condensated to one minute or two, it would be perfect.


Paul - Taiphoz(Posted 2012) [#6]
Yeah I only had a few videos of my own stuff at hand so stretched some of out to show some gameplay, but with lots of peoples work flung in that would be like you said cut down , possibly each game getting 60 seconds or so worth of air time before jumping to the next one.

would be really cool if this was done periodically, regular videos being posted to a BRL youtube channel would be amazing, I would subscribe and I know tons of other indies would.

The more popular it got the more people would be feed to BRL as potential customers, not to mention it would help the dev's as well with a bit of free publicity.


Paul - Taiphoz(Posted 2012) [#7]
I'm getting a little over excited here, but if Mark did this, or got some one on board to do it, the channel would or could become a youtube partner and it would be a new revinew stream for brl. meaning more updates, more monkey, more blitzmax, more what ever is round the corner.


Shinkiro1(Posted 2012) [#8]
You got me thinking ...
What about a teaser/trailer of monkey?
Should be really short I think (30-45 secs) and get the viewer a feeling of what monkey can do (but also should be exciting with a kickass music in the background)

So .. a kind of promo/ad/whatever, which could be shown on the Store page which also needs a redesign I guess.

PS:
Maybe I took this too far here, my post suddenly transformed into a brainstorm session.


ziggy(Posted 2012) [#9]
@Shinkiro1: That's sort-of my idea. Also a couple or more demos of actual small games with properly done (artist done) graphics as part of the demo package would be great too.


Neuro(Posted 2012) [#10]
Should be really short I think (30-45 secs) and get the viewer a feeling of what monkey can do (but also should be exciting with a kickass music in the background)

This is what i was thinking also. Considering the main selling point of monkey is its ability to export to many relevant platforms, i think that it should also be showcased too in the video clip.


Mikau Schekzen(Posted 2012) [#11]
If I'll ever get to the point where I have something decent, I'd gladly release the source code for it.

By the way, every year a community member from the Game Maker forums(I think) releases a video of all the decent and good games that have been made with Game Maker from the past year in a 10 minute video(with about 150 different games in that time).

Maybe if Monkey ever gets so many games made, someone could make a similar video?

Just my thoughts, though.


Paul - Taiphoz(Posted 2012) [#12]
thats kinda what were talking about here mikau, the frequency could be as long as once a year or as short as once a month, if it was done once a month then each month it could be a say 5 minute video with 4 games, if more games are ready that month they can be pulled over into the following months video.

or it could be done once every two or three months.

before we get ahead of ourselves tho we need to find out a few things, who will do it, who will manage it, who will be willing to submit their own gameplay etc etc.


Mikau Schekzen(Posted 2012) [#13]
Alright, sorry. I thought you were talking about a YouTube channel where everyone submits their own videos about their game, rather than having a long video about a bunch of games. I should have read further than my nose is deep :P


Raz(Posted 2012) [#14]
I think the more videos that make it very clear it's Monkey, the better. Maybe some one smart enough could make something similar to http://ninite.com/ which would help get people started with the different targets (So they would pick for example, HTML5, Flash, Android and "PC" (GLFW)) and the installer would do all of the required work.

Even if the above installer isn't doable. If someone was confident enough, I think a series of "Hello World" video examples for each platform would be useful. Now personally I am aware these would basically be the same except for the installation of the SDK's but it would provide a presence for each individual target should someone search for "easy iphone game development"

Also, maybe some one could come up with a "Made with Monkey" kind of logo to help promote the tools for those interested. I was happy to mention I made Ninjah with Monkey, and I can't imagine too many people would mind adding it too.


Paul - Taiphoz(Posted 2012) [#15]
@Cris , like I said the overlay in the bottom of my video above, is actually a windows movie maker overlay, which I can provide to anyone interested, it just means when they compose their video in WMML they can click the overlay and it will well, Overlay lol.


Neuro(Posted 2012) [#16]
Also, maybe some one could come up with a "Made with Monkey" kind of logo to help promote the tools for those interested.

Likes this idea.


Paul - Taiphoz(Posted 2012) [#17]
I don't think we should exclude Blitz3D or BlitzMax, if they gain more reputation and income, then it all benefits monkey, in the long run, it's all going to the same place.

The wider the audience we can create the bigger the impact!.