New version of stepmania.com

[lurker]

Originally Posted by shakesoda

how much integration are we talking

i'm guessing he means "will stepmania.com and smo combine forces to create a unified online rhythm gaming experience a la osu" or some bullshit

also, are there any plans to go further with the in-game download feature i thought was mentioned a while ago (which i guess you could rephrase as: are you prepared to give less of a fuck about copyright laws than osu)

[Arntonach]

I know this might be asking a bit much, but how many people are on the programming team?

And can there be another theme to go along with sm5? Perhaps one that's less computer intensive?

[Wafles]

Bundling ultralight could be cool, as that theme is hella popular anyway.

[shakesoda]

Originally Posted by lurker

i'm guessing he means "will stepmania.com and smo combine forces to create a unified online rhythm gaming experience a la osu" or some bullshit

I haven't got time for it but I'd welcome contributions for that (and it'd be pretty awesome)

also, are there any plans to go further with the in-game download feature i thought was mentioned a while ago (which i guess you could rephrase as: are you prepared to give less of a fuck about copyright laws than osu)

stepmania can actually already do the installation part and it wouldn't be outlandish to make every other part needed possible, and I did start putting together a replacement for the old song database... it could happen. as long as we respect DMCA notices and don't outright encourage piracy we're legally pretty much clear.

[shakesoda]

Originally Posted by Arntonach

I know this might be asking a bit much, but how many people are on the programming team?

And can there be another theme to go along with sm5? Perhaps one that's less computer intensive?

programming team is mostly myself, djpohly, roothorick, wolfman with a lot of recent help from mad matt and kyzentun. other people pop in occasionally.

mad matt and kyzentun have been the most active recently, everyone else is super busy.

default isn't very intensive and the couple things that are can be disabled/reduced... are you running on a toaster.

Originally Posted by Wafles

Bundling ultralight could be cool, as that theme is hella popular anyway.

totally not gonna happen. there will probably not be any new theme before SM5 is done, too many regressions pop up when doing new themes and we're already like years late.


edit: double post whatevs

[kommisar]

in-game downloads would be HUGE. also a centralized database on stepmania.com would help people know where to get a larger amount of files instead of branching off to 38490328 different (and most likely dead) stepmania based websites.


also integrated irc

[shakesoda]

integrated irc would be just too much lol

[i love you]

Random question: Was your forum built from scratch or did you download some kind of forum software and completely changed up the design and such?

[shakesoda]

Originally Posted by i love you

Random question: Was your forum built from scratch or did you download some kind of forum software and completely changed up the design and such?

it's based on the silverstripe forum module with whatever modifications I need to make for it to work out/be secure/etc. the whole site is open source -> https://github.com/stepmania/stepmania-site

[ddr_f4n]

Originally Posted by kommisar

in-game downloads would be HUGE. also a centralized database on stepmania.com would help people know where to get a larger amount of files instead of branching off to 38490328 different (and most likely dead) stepmania based websites.

Yes

Yes please.

(wasn't there a packs upload database planned as well or something)

[dAnceguy117]

hey shakeysoda

Originally Posted by Wafles

One thing I'd recommend is having a "Getting Started" page or something to that degree. Some kind of basic introduction as to what StepMania actually is. Having the tiny little box at the top of the home page really isnt sufficient and the list of blog posts doesn't really need to be shown to new players going to the site to download it for the first time. Consider the audience a little better maybe because I don't think your home page is really working as well as it could.

I'd like to second this. looking at the site update thread, there are (within 2 days of the update) two posts from new users who are confused about the changes. more specifically, they seem to be at a loss due to an assumption that simfiles will be available at the main site.

until access to a simfile database is integrated into SM5, I think there needs to be a clear explanation as to what a download of StepMania actually entails. maybe a link to the simfile packs hosted by stepmaniaonline.net on a page accessible from the homepage would help as well.

[kommisar]

if I can get a bunch of files and songs from creative commons people who are ok with it can I submit a pack to be included in the sm5 download? I could make it a community project here on FFR.

[Wafles]

including a pack by default is good and all but the problem with stepmania is currently ease of use and availability of information. Stepmania also currently does not make any distinction between playstyle of 4 arrow charts (keyboard vs pad for example) so anything included by default could potentially be confusing.

including the ability to download songs in game, as well as having a useful and informative home page for stepmania would be the best things that could be done.
for comparison sake - osu does not do a good job of designing its home page either.

Designing the home page should take into account the use cases of what you expect people coming to the site are doing:

People completely new to Stepmania - Come to the site to see what stepmania is: this should be the primary focus in designing the home page because these are the people who are most likely to instantly leave if the information they want isn't right upfront and available. This is being severely underdone at the moment with that little black box at the top and nothing else.
Newer players - Already downloaded Stepmania but need information on how to play, information on how to get songs, etc. This should be the secondary focus of the home page and easy to see navigation should be provided for this. This isn't being done at all currently.
Experienced players - These are the people who are going to be willing to dig for the information they want, such as the news updates and the like. This should be the last focus of the home page. One small section containing the most recent update to the client would be appropriate with a link to the updates forum or something along those lines would suffice.

Now you just need a graphic designer to mock it up, few hours of work there probably since the site already has a good look and feel to go off of. Not sure if you're waiting for stepmania 5 to be completely done before tackling this sort of redesign though.

[shakesoda]

I poked some people to help with designing the main page and I've started writing the getting started page.

The song database is a huge work in progress that I haven't had time for, it's gonna take a while.