Bringing creative and technical together

[+MarsOnEarth]

I have been working on building a cartridge for some time now and have (after nine months of tinkering) built one that works. I started off on a great idea but it was complex and due to no technical or programming knowledge whatsoever I had to abandon it and start small. This progressed slowly at first, which was a bit frustrating, but once it clicked and I could start playing with some more complex stuff it has become very enjoyable and I will hopefully publish one soon. Is there a topic out there that I have missed or would it be a good idea to create a space where people with creative ideas can for cartridges can post them for use by people with programming skills so that the resulting cartridge could be co-authored. I have seen some very Wherigo saavy people say that their biggest problem is coming up with ideas and some very creative folks say that they just can't get the Wherigo builder figured out. Seems that we need to get these people together. It may result in some seriously good cartridges coming out on a much more frequent basis. Once a creative/technical duo match up and find they work well together the two may really help each other and the rest of us to put some life into Wherigo. Thanks to all of you who have answered my past questions and those who have also asked questions. I have learned a ton just reading through all of the postings. Thanks, MOE

[Ranger Fox]

As a community member, I'd like to say this:

I've always said I'll help people with cartridges. While I'm interested in coming up with an ultra-creative cartridge, I wouldn't mind partnering with someone if it meant we could take turns creating cartridges for our respective areas. That's pretty difficult for the creative side to do: create a cartridge tailored for an area the person knows little about.

 

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As the forum moderator, I'd like to ask this of the community:

Does everyone feel we need a forum dedicated to just pure cartridge ideas and connecting people in this fashion? I view the "Building Wherigo Cartridges" forum (the one in you're viewing this thread) as more a technical than creative place. Separating the technical from the creative side does have its merits: you can find things easier, it's more inviting to new people, it fosters a new side to the community, it would be easier for the creative/artsy people to participate without the technical side, and we won't have to mix creative ideas amongst technical ideas.

 

I'd like to know the interest for creating a new forum for this, perhaps called "Wherigo Cartridge Ideas". If the community feels this would be beneficial, I will need a lot of strong feedback to make a solid case to Groundspeak. Do you feel this is a good idea? Would this forum be used? Would you use it? Do you feel the contributions to that forum will continue a year or two from now? Personally, I want to have some assurance it wouldn't die out a month or two from now. That would look bad.

[a_snail]

It sounds like an interesting idea. I guess it would be a case of the people with ideas writting an idea for people to see, and then someone who thinks they could help write the Wherigo could volunteer to help out.

 

I think stage one would be the general concept

Stage 2 would be a detailed description of what happend where and when

and finally when all that is sorted, write the Wherigo (changing ideas in Stage 2 is far easier than changing code in stage 3)

 

The only problem is that people could see how to solve the Wherigo by reading these forums, but I suspect there are more people out there doing wherigos than reading these forums, so it should be ok.

Edited November 20, 2009 by a_snail

[+sTeamTraen]

Interesting question. See http://whoswho.coe.int/cgi-bin/trombi.cgi?...4&ID=172688, starting at 49:50 or so, where Jeremy answers a question about Wherigo which is extremely closely related. (He does pretty well to keep going at 50:55 when his interviewer decides not to listen, too. )

 

I'd like to know the interest for creating a new forum for this, perhaps called "Wherigo Cartridge Ideas". If the community feels this would be beneficial, I will need a lot of strong feedback to make a solid case to Groundspeak. Do you feel this is a good idea? Would this forum be used? Would you use it? Do you feel the contributions to that forum will continue a year or two from now? Personally, I want to have some assurance it wouldn't die out a month or two from now. That would look bad.

I'd like to see this as part of a rollout of the "facelifted" Wherigo platform, whenever that is.

 

Edit to add: I could easily modify Earwigo to allow multiple people to work on a cartridge, simply by sharing the edit URL. In fact, if one was drawing zones while the other was uploading media, the operations could even be done simultaneously. Hmmm...

Edited November 20, 2009 by sTeamTraen

[delta123]

Interesting question. See http://whoswho.coe.int/cgi-bin/trombi.cgi?...4&ID=172688, starting at 49:50 or so, where Jeremy answers a question about Wherigo which is extremely closely related. (He does pretty well to keep going at 50:55 when his interviewer decides not to listen, too. )

 

Is there a way to listen to this interview? i cant seem to open it.

[+MarsOnEarth]

I agree that it could be difficult to create area specific ideas for cartridges that will only be played in specific areas. We do have the option of creating them as playable anywhere or simply coming up with great ideas, plots etc (really like RF's idea of creating serials for periodic release). I have already seen this type of idea sharing come out in answers to coding questions. In figurig out the limitations of the builder vs. what people are envisioning for a cartridge, new creative ideas evolve out of necessity. But mainly I, and I think others, have some really creative ideas but just don't have the ability (yet) to get them into playable form. I would love to publish. I don't care if people want to read the code and cheat (they are only cheating themselves) or whether loads of people rave about the cartridge (with experience, they will get better and better). I would love to see anybody with a great mind for storytelling get connected with someone who can construct skillfully so that we all have something fun to play and I believe something that will help both parties learn from each other. I have learned so much by coming on the forums and learning from others and from taking the time to download the tutorials and look at how they were constructed. RF and every other moderator has been very generous and patient with their time and advise. I just thought that a separate place for folks to post ideas and then work with others might speed the process of publishing for many out there who are "stuck" and result in good, thoughtful and fun cartridges.

[+sTeamTraen]

Is there a way to listen to this interview? i cant seem to open it.

Aargh. Totally wrong link. Try this:

http://www.livestream.com/mcdm/ondemand/pl...itthumburl=http