Fixing the terrible Blockland Wikipedia article

[Demian]

I support this.  I could probably write/re-write some stuff and provide graphics.
You can also find this in your main Blockland folder; it's in base/client/ui.

That would be 195 pixels tall and 1065 pixels wide. Wedge requested one that is 180 pixels tall. Resizing the logo that comes with the game would have degraded the quality too much in my eyes so I found it easier to recreate it in the size needed.

Or at least a sentence that briefly talks about the gamemodes.

"There are many unique game mode modifications produced by the Blockland community, ranging from store simulators[1] to zombie survival[2]"

Sounds good to me.

[Ad Bot]

[Flush535]

Awesome, I'll be sure to pop over there every once and a while to add stuff and remove spam.

[Manty]

That would be 195 pixels tall and 1065 pixels wide. Wedge requested one that is 180 pixels tall. Resizing the logo that comes with the game would have degraded the quality too much in my eyes so I found it easier to recreate it in the

I didn't try resizing it, but I'd imagine it wouldn't look too bad.  But I'm a perfectionist with that sort of stuff, too, and I probably would've just re-made it.  Either way, it's a simple thing to recreate and it looks good.

[Wedge]

Here you go. I recreated the Blockland logo, the difference to the original is a few measly pixels. Nobody is going to notice unless they really poke around with this and the original. Height 180 pixels, width 983 pixels.

http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/177/blocklandlogo180px.png

I can recreate the logo in any size if needed.

I went ahead and took a look at the Aquaria article, their logo is 250px wide, so let's go with that. It's actually the width that's important, not so much the height, I probably should have mentioned that.

There should be a history section where it talks about v0002 and the first retail versions.

Sure, that can go under Development. Just keep in mind that we don't need a version by version changelog here, just highlight some of the important details.

So here's my thoughts on what to replace the gameplay section with:

Blockland is a multiplayer sandbox game where players construct things out of interconnecting blocks. Blocks are locked onto a fixed grid and positioned using the keyboard. Once placed, players can add various effects to bricks, such as lights, sound, or other special effects. In addition to construction, the game also features a variety of vehicles and weapons and a minigame system that can be used to run small deathmatches or other similar game modes independent of the server itself. This allows more than one deathmatch to run at the same time, and only those who want to participate are required to do so. Further updates to Blockland added a simple trigger and event based programming system that allows users to create interactive effects like light switches, and basic physics to destroyed blocks.

Blockland is modifiable through an add-on system. User made add-ons are written in the Torque scripting language and packaged in self contained zip files. Modifications include content such as new weapons, vehicles, maps, and game modes.

This is in place of the existing gameplay, eventing, game mode, and the modification section.

Here's an outline of some stuff I think we should mention in the development:

- initial public release of v0002 (check news archive, might need to use archive.org)
- screenshot of the original game
- Badspot's announcement that the game was going to go retail and there would be no further public releases (check news archive, might need to use archive.org)
- Public announcement of the retail version of the game (check news archive, may need to reference a forum post)
- note changes in the game - square pegs instead of round pegs, changing from a character type very similar to the LEGO minifigure into something considerably different (possibly include a screenshot of the old minifig?)
- Release of the retail version (reference news archive or forum post, probably both would be better)
- GDC - note that the game was demoed at GDC before it was released here (reference a forum post) it was a semifinalist in the Indie Game Showcase at the 2007 GDC ( reference this pdf http://www.ecdsystems.com/media/pdf/2ndAnnualIGSSemifinalistPR081607.pdf )
- demoed at IGF 2009 (reference http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2009.php )
- addition of events and water (cite changelog)
- addition of physics and keys (cite changelog)


Any comments or suggestions for additional content? Anything else I forgot to mention?

[Caution]

Oh god I'm reading the Wiki and its a mess indeed. So many things are left out of poorly explained and some things sound like a kid wrote them, point and case being the "City Build" definition - "A very good way to get famous is to make a successful one."

[Demian]

I went ahead and took a look at the Aquaria article, their logo is 250px wide, so let's go with that. It's actually the width that's important, not so much the height, I probably should have mentioned that.

250 pixels wide and 42 pixels tall as requested.

- addition of events and water (cite changelog)
- addition of physics and keys (cite changelog)

Adding of water? You mean the bricks? I don't see how that is significant. Same with the keys. Events and physics on the other hand are very significant.

[SeventhSandwich]

The entire gamemode paragraph should be removed.

Mind if I do it?

[SeventhSandwich]

I edited the eventing section because it sucked.

Here's how it is now:

A large part of Blockland's building features is the event system, in which players may apply certain input/output operators that can accomplish different things in-game.

Here's how it was

A large part of Blockland's features is the event system. Using the wrench tool, players can add events to certain bricks, adding many possibilities to Blockland. Eventing can be used to simply change colors or play sounds, set up traps, or even create entire gamemodes and computers.

Listing the features yet not explaining anything about what it is, is loving stupid.

[Demian]

In my opinion we would actually get something done by just editing the article then discussing the changes over there. This topic would be great for voting and screenies though.

[Blastdown]

I edited the eventing section because it sucked.

I personally don't see why it should exist.
It's something that is explainable in Gameplay.

Considering this block of information exists in Gameplay:

Blockland uses a trigger and event-based system to create basic interactive objects such as light switches, missile launchers, collapsing brick structures, or arcade-like games such as Pong.

Why not just merge the two?

[Blastdown]

Let's give this the ol' college bump to the front.

[Space Guy]

Whether if its cars, planes, or air crafts you just need to know the scripting language and simple instructions to create the ZIP Files and you're on your way to showing off your latest creations and playing them with friends.

This is for information, not an advertisement.

a player can add various effects (and other tools) to bricks, such as ... although these are not the only effects available

This is saying the same thing three times. "Such as" and "various" already mean there's more effects than are listed.

[dUMBELLS]

I'll be working on this.

[dUMBELLS]

The article is way better than it was, but I wouldn't consider it complete. It still needs some in-game pictures and probably some minor editing.

[Blaze0]

Bump