Prelim Outline for GG Magazine
by Chip Lambert · 02/08/2006 (7:42 am) · 3 comments
I haven't came up with cool little names for all the sections, except one. So feel free to once again post ideas here. Also this is a first draft of the outline and could change. I've said it before but I want more suggestions, and even stuff you'd like to see covered that I may have missed.
Editorial:
The editorial will be your traditional Editorial. Me or someone will make a statement about something in the industry and give a little rant about it. Standard stuff.
News:
This section will be a recap of the news that's happened around GG and other areas that indies will find informational. Could be a little redundant and maybe even old to some people, but you never know someone may have missed a news bit and say "Cool I didn't know that."
The Toolbox:
This will be a review of tools be it from GG or something else that indies will use. Don't expect something like 3D Studio Max 8 review or along those lines. Those are covered in great detail in other areas. (Examples: Constructor, PHP Overlord, Codeweaver, etc those that might not get coverage somewhere else)
Articles:
These will kinda be tutorials. I just don't want to label them that. Also I don't want this to just be code, but some art articles as well. I'm still debating on how to do the code ones. Probably just be ones that are done via script. It'd be quite difficult to guarantee that all readers have the Torque SDK License, when that would alienate some readers that are just artists or level designers. May have a special forum set up for source code articles and in order to get access, you must be a license holder. I'll figure out something for that.
Standard Reviews:
Think magazines like GamePro, Game Informer, etc. These reviews will cover games from the community, indie scene, and even content packs that get released. (Examples: MoM, Todd Picken's RTS Environment Packs, etc)
Spotlight:
This will section will contain an interview with someone from the community. Not just anyone who's made a game, but someone that's currently rocking the community.
Postmortem:
Those who's made a game and released or I guess even to tools that's benefited the community can submit Postmortems to us to put in the magazine; this way other teams can see what went wrong and learn from those mistakes as well or even find out what went right.
Advertising:
I do not want to charge for the magazine. I don't believe in requiring the community to pay for information that could better them. GarageGames doesn't do it and I won't either. If we all start charging for information, the community won't better itself as a whole. There will however be costs that will incur from the magazine, ie: server bandwidth, licenses to the products and games for us to review (unless the makers are willing to donate to us that way we can let the community know how awesome their product is :)), advertising the magazine itself and so forth. To cover these expenses, I'm going to try to get advertisers. These advertisements will appear in both the magazine and the website. I haven't quite worked out a pricing scheme yet for them, but I have a couple ideas in mind. I'm even willing to give advertisements in exchange for products, kind of a barter system. They get their product advertised and reviewed without paying a dime. I may also post a PayPal "donate" link in case some people in the community wish to further the cause of the magazine and make a monetary donation. Once again all revenue brought in will go back into the magazine.
Anyone interested in helping me, please email me. I've gotten a few people who have (and I will be emailing you all tonight) but I'm looking for more. I would like article writers, technical editors, graphic design. Web development is covered by me and my team, we just don't have time to make pretty little graphics :)
Thanks guys!
Editorial:
The editorial will be your traditional Editorial. Me or someone will make a statement about something in the industry and give a little rant about it. Standard stuff.
News:
This section will be a recap of the news that's happened around GG and other areas that indies will find informational. Could be a little redundant and maybe even old to some people, but you never know someone may have missed a news bit and say "Cool I didn't know that."
The Toolbox:
This will be a review of tools be it from GG or something else that indies will use. Don't expect something like 3D Studio Max 8 review or along those lines. Those are covered in great detail in other areas. (Examples: Constructor, PHP Overlord, Codeweaver, etc those that might not get coverage somewhere else)
Articles:
These will kinda be tutorials. I just don't want to label them that. Also I don't want this to just be code, but some art articles as well. I'm still debating on how to do the code ones. Probably just be ones that are done via script. It'd be quite difficult to guarantee that all readers have the Torque SDK License, when that would alienate some readers that are just artists or level designers. May have a special forum set up for source code articles and in order to get access, you must be a license holder. I'll figure out something for that.
Standard Reviews:
Think magazines like GamePro, Game Informer, etc. These reviews will cover games from the community, indie scene, and even content packs that get released. (Examples: MoM, Todd Picken's RTS Environment Packs, etc)
Spotlight:
This will section will contain an interview with someone from the community. Not just anyone who's made a game, but someone that's currently rocking the community.
Postmortem:
Those who's made a game and released or I guess even to tools that's benefited the community can submit Postmortems to us to put in the magazine; this way other teams can see what went wrong and learn from those mistakes as well or even find out what went right.
Advertising:
I do not want to charge for the magazine. I don't believe in requiring the community to pay for information that could better them. GarageGames doesn't do it and I won't either. If we all start charging for information, the community won't better itself as a whole. There will however be costs that will incur from the magazine, ie: server bandwidth, licenses to the products and games for us to review (unless the makers are willing to donate to us that way we can let the community know how awesome their product is :)), advertising the magazine itself and so forth. To cover these expenses, I'm going to try to get advertisers. These advertisements will appear in both the magazine and the website. I haven't quite worked out a pricing scheme yet for them, but I have a couple ideas in mind. I'm even willing to give advertisements in exchange for products, kind of a barter system. They get their product advertised and reviewed without paying a dime. I may also post a PayPal "donate" link in case some people in the community wish to further the cause of the magazine and make a monetary donation. Once again all revenue brought in will go back into the magazine.
Anyone interested in helping me, please email me. I've gotten a few people who have (and I will be emailing you all tonight) but I'm looking for more. I would like article writers, technical editors, graphic design. Web development is covered by me and my team, we just don't have time to make pretty little graphics :)
Thanks guys!
About the author
#2
Developers generally give their games to reviewers. Reviews are worth a lot to devs.
02/08/2006 (9:28 am)
Quote:unless the makers are willing to donate to us that way we can let the community know how awesome their product is
Developers generally give their games to reviewers. Reviews are worth a lot to devs.
#3
I like those ideas. I may have to see about incorporating them into the magazine. All should be feasible, just have to make sure each month a new developer is willing to step up to the plate.
@Chris
Thats exactly what I believe.
02/08/2006 (10:05 am)
@AaronI like those ideas. I may have to see about incorporating them into the magazine. All should be feasible, just have to make sure each month a new developer is willing to step up to the plate.
@Chris
Thats exactly what I believe.

Torque Owner Aaron E
Default Studio Name
I don't know what other suggestions you've received already, but here are some possible ideas off the top of my head:
One thing that might work is a "Parting Shot" kind of image page. Something that looks cool, has a very short description, and nothing else. It might not even be game related -- just something to get our neurons fired up.
An industry or community themed cartoon might be nice.
A "Dear Dev" column where readers send in questions and a well-known developer answers a few of them. Maybe announce a different developer each month (Jeff T., Melv M., Phil C., etc.).
A GG staff profile of a different employee or intern each month. It could include lots of fun stuff and weird trivia, in addition to game-dev info.
Monthly GID-styled design-on-a-theme activities. Issue a small challenge every month for mini-games, cutscenes, art, GUIs, or any other game-dev chore. It would be great if people stepped out of their comfort zones on some of the challenges -- a programmer tries his hand at doing a concept sketch, for example. You could showcase the top three in the magazine and host web links to the other entries. Maybe you could have a different panel of "celebrity" judges each month.
Basically, anything that can get your audience involved would be really cool. Participation opportunities can keep people coming back for more.
That's all for now.
Aaron E.
[Edit: fixed a thinkogrphical error]