So we've thrown a few ideas about about the conceptual boundaries of a
potential GOLD distro, and some of the tech it would need, or could include.
The question is, does anyone have time to put into helping get this off the
ground? I'd be happy to set up a mailing list or a Loomio group if there are
a handful of people who would be willing to join it, even if only to continue
contributing to more detailed scoping and planning discussions.
Perhaps the lowest hanging fruit is the game library app, which could
initially be developed as an app for Trisquel. One of the things I find
frustrating about trying to use Trisquel as a gaming platform (on a 2nd hand
gaming rig I bought), is that although I can install plenty of games from
'Add/Remove Applications', that tool provides very little information about
the games, other than some tiny screenshots (where available).
The sort of game library #UX I envision for GOLD would include:
* screenshots: a number of large, high-quality screenshots for each game,
illustrating a number of aspects of gameplay and graphics, clickable to
expand to full screen
* data import: each game entry would have information like genre, game engine
used, and so on, using data pulled in from LibreGameWiki and any other
relevant sources.
* search: the ability to do easy searches using these categories, eg searches
for all side-scrolling platform games, or all games using the Pyrogenesis
engine
* reviews: each game entry would have links to reviews from prominent libre
gaming review sites, as well as from other GOLD users, and any other relevant
sources
* rating: various kinds of rating systems could be used, based on rating from
GOLD users, ratings pulled in from other data source (wherever the Add/Remove
Applications app gets its star ratings from), review sites etc. For example,
I might want a rating of a first-person shooter (FPS) from everyone who's
played it, or just from users who play FPS a lot (using FPS review sites,
users who share their game time data etc)
* hardware detection: some ability to match minimum hardware requirements for
each game against the hardware GOLD is installed on, so by default, the
library won't offer games the user's PC can't properly support.
* links: To the project homepages and LibreGameWiki entries for the game and
for the engine (and any other components), to game servers where users can
play that game, to source code repo for the game etc
* payment: ability to buy/ donate/ contribute to crowdfunding/ pay membership
to producer coop (or whatever) with one-click, using as wide a range of
payments methods as possible. Not sure if it's possible to do this in a
desktop app, it might require a website or server aspect.
One important goal is to make it easy for players to find the games that will
interest them right away. Installing a bunch of half-made hobby games, arcade
clone joke games like Defendguin, and games that need more hardware power
than they have, and getting frustrated, has been my #UX trying to play games
on Trisquel. GOLD needs to improve on this.
BTW I was trying to think of a name for the gaming library app that riffs off
GOLD, and the name GOAL (Game Opening Application on Linux) just occurred to
me. It's probably a bit too twee, but it'll do as a working title ;)
