3DGC:Design

3D Game Comparison - Game vs. game. No hype; just facts.™

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Revision as of 11:33, 31 July 2007 (edit)
Eep² (t|c)
Classification - subpages, intro, DPL/SMW note
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Revision as of 12:32, 4 August 2007 (edit) (undo)
Eep² (t|c)
table, reword comparison table
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===Subpages=== ===Subpages===
Less obvious is using subpages (''games/Tomb Raider'') but they may be easier to manage than namespaces, although I'm not sure how DPL (see next section) can handle them. Additionally, subpages are automatically transcludable via template calls (''<nowiki>{{/Tomb Raider}}</nowiki>''). Less obvious is using subpages (''games/Tomb Raider'') but they may be easier to manage than namespaces, although I'm not sure how DPL (see next section) can handle them. Additionally, subpages are automatically transcludable via template calls (''<nowiki>{{/Tomb Raider}}</nowiki>'').
 +
 +'''Wiki markup comparison'''
 +<table border cellspacing=0 class=sortable>
 +<tr valign=top>
 +<th>System
 +<th>Markup
 +<th>Adavantages
 +<th>Disadavantages
 +
 +<tr valign=top>
 +<th>Category
 +<td>
 +* [[:Category:Games]]
 +** [[Tomb Raider]] (or [[:Category:Tomb Raider]])
 +
 +* [[:Category:Years]]
 +* [[:Category:Genres]]
 +
 +* [[:Category:Companies]]
 +* [[:Category:Engines]]
 +** [[:Category:Camera]]
 +*** [[pan]], [[zoom]]
 +** [[:Category:Lighting]]
 +** [[:Category:Physics]]
 +*** [[:Category:Collision detection]]
 +* [[:Category:Sound]]
 +
 +* [[:Category:Characters]]
 +** [[:Category:Actions]]
 +*** [[climb]], [[crawl]], [[crouch]], [[drink]], [[duck]], [[eat]], [[drop]], [[hit]], [[hop]], [[jump]], [[kick]], [[lean]], [[punch]], [[run]], [[sit]]. [[skip]], [[stab]], [[stand]], [[shoot]], [[strafe]], [[swim]], [[swing]], [[vault]], [[walk]]
 +** [[:Category:Player characters]]
 +** [[:Category:Non-player characters]]
 +
 +* [[:Category:Environment]]
 +** [[:Category:Puzzles]]
 +** [[:Category:Traps/hazards]]
 +
 +* [[:Category:Effects]] (see also [[:Category:Physics]])
 +** [[:Category:Lighting effects]]
 +** [[:Category:Particle effects]]
 +** [[:Category:Water effects]]
 +** [[:Category:Weather effects]]
 +*** [[:Category:Wind effects]]
 +
 +*[[:Category:Objects]]
 +** [[:Category:Books]]
 +** [[:Category:Weapons]]
 +*** [[:Category:Guns]]
 +*** [[:Category:Swords]]
 +
 +* [[:Category:Surfaces]]
 +** [[dirt]], [[grass]], [[gravel]], [[metal]], [[mud]], [[plastic]], [[sand]], [[snow]], [[stone]], [[water]], [[wood]]
 +<!--** [[:Category:Dirt]]
 +** [[:Category:Grass]]
 +** [[:Category:Sand]]
 +** [[:Category:Stone]]
 +** [[:Category:Water]]-->
 +
 +<td>Default classification system with auto-generated lists
 +<td>
 +* Games with simple names (like ''Rune'', ''Dirt'', etc) can conflict with object names (like a "rune") or surface types (like "dirt").
 +* Camera [[pan]] ([[view pan]], [[camera pan]]?)-> object [[pan]] ([[pans]]?)
 +* Allowing lowercase names can help alleviate most of these conflicts.
 +
 +<tr valign=top><th>Namespace
 +<td>
 +[[Game:Games]]
 +* [[Game:Tomb Raider]]
 +
 +[[Effect:Effects]]
 +* [[Effect:weather]]
 +* [[Effect:wind]]
 +
 +<td>
 +<td>Must use extension to generate lists
 +
 +<tr valign=top><th>Subpage
 +<td>
 +[[game]]
 +* [[game/Tomb Raider]]
 +
 +[[effect]]
 +* [[effect/skid mark]]
 +
 +<td>
 +<td>Must use extension to generate lists
 +</table>
===Extensions=== ===Extensions===
Line 25: Line 112:
==Comparison table== ==Comparison table==
-So far I've tried 2 extensions for the [[comparison table]] but one is easy-to-use but very limited and the other is more difficult to use and more customizable (but still not enough for my needs).+So far I've tried 2 extensions for the [[comparison table]]. One (''TemplateTable'') is easy-to-use but very limited and the other (DPL) is more difficult to use but more customizable (yet still not enough for my needs).

Revision as of 12:32, 4 August 2007

Originally designed for a database, conversion to MediaWiki presents some problems:

This page is MediaWiki-specific but see http://tnlc.com/eep/compare/database.html for general design ideas.

Contents

Classification

There are different ways of designing this "database"'s classification system using MediaWiki.

Categories

The most obvious is with categories. Unfortunately, these can quickly clutter up the bottom of pages if there are too many. Categories could be named like namespaces (i.e. Game:Tomb Raider) but why not just use namespaces then to reduce having to type the link (:Category:Game:Tomb Raider vs. Game:Tomb Raider)?

Namespaces

Perhaps the next most obvious is with namespaces for games (game:), companies (company:), engines (engine:), characters (character:), effects (effect:), etc.

Subpages

Less obvious is using subpages (games/Tomb Raider) but they may be easier to manage than namespaces, although I'm not sure how DPL (see next section) can handle them. Additionally, subpages are automatically transcludable via template calls ({{/Tomb Raider}}).

Wiki markup comparison

System Markup Adavantages Disadavantages
Category Default classification system with auto-generated lists
  • Games with simple names (like Rune, Dirt, etc) can conflict with object names (like a "rune") or surface types (like "dirt").
  • Camera pan (view pan, camera pan?)-> object pan (pans?)
  • Allowing lowercase names can help alleviate most of these conflicts.
Namespace

Game:Games

Effect:Effects

Must use extension to generate lists
Subpage

game

effect

Must use extension to generate lists

Extensions

Note: DPL and SMW appear to cause pages to load slower (lots of server calls, flashing the web browser statusbar like mad most of the time).

Dynamic Page List (DPL)

Using DPL, lists of pages linking to other pages (as well as pages in categories and namespaces) are possible. This may be the best option that will allow all classification schemes to be included/used.

Semantic MediaWiki (SMW)

This extension is similar to DPL in outputting lists of pages in categories and namespaces, but also allows more complex relationships between things. Unfortunatley, it's a lot more complicated to use (even moreso than DPL), which makes it a last resort. Programmers still code for programmers, apparently...even if they claim to be "semantic"--try being "intuitive" and "user-friendly" instead.

Comparison table

So far I've tried 2 extensions for the comparison table. One (TemplateTable) is easy-to-use but very limited and the other (DPL) is more difficult to use but more customizable (yet still not enough for my needs).

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