Atari 8-bit Sub-Forums?

[JonnyBritish]

Perhaps like the Atari 2600 forum we could have one under the Atari 8-bit for

BASIC

FORTH

ASSEMBLER

ACTION!

 

There seems to be so much activity around coders building new games on the 2600, 5200 and now 7800. Would be great to encourage more actviity with BASIC, ASSEMBLER and ACTION! and get some new titles written. Personally I would like to get a complete dump of all the usenet articles that google gorups has for comp.sys.atari.8bit and extract all the ACTION! tips and archive into the proposed group.

 

One question. If a group does not see much activity can you roll up all the messages into the main group. Also if you created a sub group could you easily move related messages from the top group down to the newly created sub group.?

 

As steve says people are not going to the programming forum at least it does not appear so

 

Okay a forum for FORTH is stretching it a bit..BASIC, Assembler and ACTION! would be my vote.

[potatohead]

If there are to be forums, these are what I would pick.

 

Software

Atari in the media

projects

programming

events

 

-Seems to me, the software area is for all the game related chat

-In the media could be a fun one, as in a running topic, "where did you spot Atari?

-projects can be where people do cool hardware stuff, maybe break out a few, and just create one when a new project makes it doable.

-events is for get togethers, special contests, etc...

Edited February 24, 2010 by potatohead

[jaybird3rd]

As steve says people are not going to the programming forum at least it does not appear so

Perhaps more people would be aware of the programming subforum if it was moved (or at least linked) underneath the main 8-Bit Computers forum, instead of being off on its own. I didn't notice it until it came up in this thread.

[Albert]

Perhaps more people would be aware of the programming subforum if it was moved (or at least linked) underneath the main 8-Bit Computers forum, instead of being off on its own. I didn't notice it until it came up in this thread.

I'm definitely going to do that at a minimum, as everyone seems to agree about that. There are quite a few people here interested (and actively involved) in 8-bit programming, so that is a natural.

 

..Al

[Kjmann]

I like the idea of breaking up the 8-Bit Computers forum. Some major categories I can think of are:

 

• Music/Chiptunes/Demos: I'm not too interested in these projects personally, but those who are would probably enjoy having their own space. This could be considered a subset of the "Programming" subforum (see below), but these projects have a different focus and are a large enough category to merit their own subforum.
  
• Hardware: New peripherals and other projects, upgrades, repair questions and advice, etc. are a big part of life on this forum. I often find myself searching for information on specific products and upgrades, and it would be nice to consolidate those conversations.
  
• Games: Tips/tricks, game-related questions ("how do you land in Blue Max" and so forth), high score contests, compatibility lists, etc. This is another major category which would certainly make an active subforum.
  
• Programming: New software development (games, applications, etc), programming resources, etc; this might even be broken down further for specific projects (such as Last Word or RealDOS) if needed.
  

 

The main forum could then be used for more general discussions about using the 400/800 machines as computers, Q&A, etc.

 

I like this Idea, But I would remove "New Software development" from the programming area and add this one as a separate Category.

 

• New Game/Program Announcements: ( A Place to announce new games and other Programs being developed and follow their Progress )
  

The Programing Category should be left for discussing Programming Techniques and for People to seek help and Advice.

Edited February 24, 2010 by kjmann

[rdhays82604]

Adding the sub-forums would make it easier to find threads on specific topics such as the software, hardware, gaming ect.

The search feature sometimes leaves me scratching my head.

[Rybags]

I don't necessarily subscribe to the idea of "Build it and they will come".

 

About all I could suggest is rename the High Score forum and just call it "8-bit gaming"

[+wood_jl]

If there are to be forums, these are what I would pick.

 

Software

Atari in the media

projects

programming

events

 

-Seems to me, the software area is for all the game related chat

-In the media could be a fun one, as in a running topic, "where did you spot Atari?

-projects can be where people do cool hardware stuff, maybe break out a few, and just create one when a new project makes it doable.

-events is for get togethers, special contests, etc...

 

I think events are just so few (aren't they?) that people would routinely quit checking the "events" subforum and either miss the event, or a pointer to it would have to be placed in the "regular" forum anyway. Wouldn't it?

 

Of course, this would be a potential problem (slow subforums resulting in missed threads) for any too-fine-a-division of the forums.

Edited February 24, 2010 by wood_jl

[Kjmann]

Well, One Thing none of us have thought of is how difficult it would be for Albert to "Relocate" all of the Threads into their proper Sub Forums if he added all these new ones. It would be no small task to say the least.

 

With that in mind, just moving the Programming Forum into the 8-bit area is really the only practical plan there can be.

 

=)

Edited February 24, 2010 by kjmann

[andym00]

I agree that the programming forums are a bit disjointed at the moment. What I probably should do is move them into their respective "System" forums, and then the "Programming" forum itself can have soft-links to the system-specific forums. This is how the various High Score forums are setup and that seems to work well.

 

That solution gets my vote for getting more traffic through the 8bit programming forums..

[Rybags]

Typically, with a new sub-forum, you just move a couple of weeks/months worth of relevant traffic there to seed it. Then, if you feel so inclined, continue moving bumped threads for a while.

 

Events - that's one area where you could probably just have a single forum covering all systems rather than one per system.

 

Sure, it might look/feel disorganised having some forums platform based and others based on activity, but it's probably the best way to go.

[Tickled_Pink]

I haven't really given it much thought. Because there are so many sections on AA, I forget most of them even exist. The same might happen if the A8 forum is split.

[Marius]

Adding and re-arranging the forums is a great idea.

 

But not too many subforums indeed.

 

The problem with subforums is that people don't know where to start a new topic. they 'always' pick the wrong subforum. I know that from a dutch Apple forum I'm active.

 

I'd say

 

Atari 8bit:

Hardware

Software (which is also games and discussing Operating Systems; everything about software)

Programming

A Lounge (in where people can discuss 'stupid' issues)

High Score Club

 

And that's it.

 

But ok, that's my opinion.

 

Remember: the forum is cool already. So I does not need a complete different setup. Just a small amount of sub forums will do.

 

Thanks

Marius

[Heaven/TQA]

I know there is a programming forum here, but for some reason it seems that most people don't know it exists. Maybe if it was moved inside this one it would get more traffic. There are a ton of hugely talented coders here. It would be great some programming threads got as much traffic as the pissing contests of late.

I agree that the programming forums are a bit disjointed at the moment. What I probably should do is move them into their respective "System" forums, and then the "Programming" forum itself can have soft-links to the system-specific forums. This is how the various High Score forums are setup and that seems to work well.

 

..Al

 

Moving Programming into their "main" forum would be best imho...

 

A8 guys do not look much into the programming 5200/a8 section while the 2600 guys look frequently there as well into the Homebrew section... but I am most into A8 forum and here is where we discuss even programming stuff... as most members are looking here first...

 

and most knowledge is here, too.

[pepax]

I think events are just so few (aren't they?) that people would routinely quit checking the "events" subforum and either miss the event, or a pointer to it would have to be placed in the "regular" forum anyway. Wouldn't it?

Of course, this would be a potential problem (slow subforums resulting in missed threads) for any too-fine-a-division of the forums.

Not here in Europe. And there are still quite a few events missing.

[Mclaneinc]

If and I say If people want to go down the sub forum route then make them few and as diverse as possible. Over the years (and I'm old trust me, TMR can confirm) I've seen many forums, done admin on some, moderated 1 or 2 but the biggest headache after you stamp out the spammers and trouble makers has been overflow from sub forums.

 

Personally I don't like the idea but others will.

 

Trust me, it won't take long before you have parallel content in all the sub forums.

Edited February 24, 2010 by Mclaneinc

[+bf2k+]

I prefer one-stop shopping! I hate having to jump all over the place to get my Atari fix. I don't want to see more sub-forums.

[Mirage]

I prefer one-stop shopping! I hate having to jump all over the place to get my Atari fix. I don't want to see more sub-forums.

 

In that case, why not just use the "view new content" option? That's your one stop, never look at any individual forums or sub-forums at all. Just use the link Al gave above to block any specific forums or sub-forums you're not interested in seeing. The number of sub-forums won't change your board use at all then.

 

I never look at individual forums, just use "view new content" 100% of the time.

[R4ngerM4n]

I would like to see three subforums

 

Hardware / Software / Emulation

 

plus softlink to the respective programming subforum.

[flashjazzcat]

Even moving the 8-bit programming subforum into the 8-bit forum would be an improvement. It's lost way down the list on the main forum index. All that scrolling... frankly it's too much trouble to go all that way sometimes! Could set up a shortcut, of course...

 

If we wanted to go further:

 

Hardware: including case mods and restoration

Programming: General programming queries and projects

Software: for non-programming related stuff, applications, anything to do with games, etc.

Projects: Stuff like peripheral and general emulation, Programming IDEs (anything more on the PC side).

 

I think we already have off-topic areas elsewhere, and of course there's the high-score club.

Edited February 24, 2010 by flashjazzcat

[NuY]

One sub-forum I'd love to see is one containing all the new, final(ish) versions of all the 8-bit games/utils done, as a repository for all the great stuff all the coders are writing. Once a game has been released for a couple of months, it tends to get buried never to be seen again, so it'd be great to have a permanent resource for all the new stuff produced. And yes, I know about Atarimania, but it seems that not every single thing seems to make it on there.

[potatohead]

I was referring to the European events. There are more of them, but I'm not married to an events forum at all.

 

Emulation is deffo sub-forum

 

There have been mentions of projects by more than me, so maybe?

 

programming

projects

emulation?

 

Seems to me, that's a good minimum for subs, leaving all else in the main forum. And I'm just participating in the discussion and would be completely happy the way it is. I read the 8 bit stuff, and usually find it with "new content", but not always. A few times per month, I'll full on browse the 8 bit stuff, and usually find something I missed. That Wolfenstein like project was one of those things.

[Bryan]

Judging by some of the latest A8 threads I think it needs a religion category.

If I was going to that for the 8-bit section, I would have created one in the Jaguar forum first..

 

..Al

All we need are:

 

Atari 8-bit Computers > Knows what they're talking about

 

and

 

Atari 8-bit Computers > Doesn't know what they're talking about

 

I won't say who should have privileges in each category.

 

[Wrathchild]

I'd say the single section is OK as it is now, a single point for the majority of A8 discussion (e.g. I can't recall the last time I read comp.sys.atari.8bit). Over the last year or so a greater amount of the 'programming' chat has come over here too from its dedicated section but that's not such a bad thing as it is opening up that avenue for others too.

 

More sub-sections here I feel would still end up with postings to the encompasing A8 section (in the same way programming sometimes does) as you may be uncertain over which category to put the thread in and so, rather than checking each sub-forum for new posts, I'd prefer the lazy approach of just looking in the one place.

 

Mark

[+wood_jl]

How about a "reminiscing" subforum? It's really cool to read about other people's experiences with the Ataris from back in they heyday. These are great stories, particularly those from other parts of the world. Such a subforum that was outside the A8 forum would quickly get jammed up with "my first Colecovision/NES" stories - blah! But it's great to hear about how someone in Europe (or wherever) got into Atari-8, and what "the scene" was like back then in the 80s.