CRPG Database

[Jahmis]

I'm working on project right now that some folks here might find interesting, especially since some of the impetus for it came from this thread.

It's still early days and I've got a lot to do, but I'm trying to create something useful for all the cRPG fans out there. I'm constantly working on it, slowly but surely, and am open to suggestions. There are a lot of good ideas in the thread above around what the database should include and whatnot. Anyway, I know I've got a long way to go, but check it out and let me know what you think.

http://www.crpgdb.com/

Thanks.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Just from the top of my head, these folks could probably most appreciate this and add comments:

Crooked Bee
crpgaddict
felipepepe

Also, if I could make a suggestion, it would be great if there were hyperlinks for the developers, publishers, platforms, etc in the columns. That way I could click on one and get a simple filtered list without my having to go back to the homepage and type in the filter I want. Other than that, great job. It's amazing to realize your list numbers at nearly 5,000 games!

 

[No Great Name]

I've noticed some console games in the database. I'm curious as to why include them if the website and database are named for cRPGs.

 

[Jaesun]

And here.....we.....go......

 

[Watser]

Well there are also RTS games, scrolling through I noticed DoW, Warcraft and AI Wars just to name a couple

 

[:Flash:]

It seems to be CRPGAddict's Master Game List (I think you should give him credit) with added RTS games.

 

[Jahmis]

Right, here we go. To be totally clear, I didn't hand pick the games in the database. It started as (you guessed it) CRPGAddict's game list and then grew to include everything GiantBomb categorizes as a role-playing game. These are publicly available lists and I plan to put up a credits page to list all of the free resources I've used to put this site together (the internets are awesome that way). Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I personally don't have a strong opinion either way as to what constitutes a "CRPG". I care more about the other aspects of the definition, like character development and whatnot, than which platform it's on. Especially with today's game development where a developer/publisher will target many different platforms, it gets fuzzy real fast. But my ultimate intention with the site isn't to be the CRPG overlord. It's to give you all a tool to track your favorites, share what you love, and decide for yourselves what goes in and what comes out. I should have mentioned this in my first post, but you can sign up right now and start editing some of the details of the games currently in the database to keep it accurate and up to date. My plan is to make this super robust and to let people add new games too. When it comes to removing ones that shouldn't be in there, I'll create some kind of voting system so that we can decide as a group what doesn't belong. I just don't want one dude going in there and mass deleting games they don't like. I want this to be a team effort.

Anyway, keep the suggestions coming. I'm constantly working on this in what little free time I have (which is even a little less right now because, you know, Pillars). But I take everything seriously and want this to be awesome.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Site is down.

dragonbait HiddenX this seems relevant to your interests.

Also

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/is-there-any-crpgs-database.91015/

 

[tindrli]

ITS UP NOW.. BUT IS like slooooooooooooooow response.
and one more thing.. i would be very nice to have some kind of filter on database section....
i was like scrolling for 2 minutes looking at play station 2 titles that i dont give a fuck

 

[Jahmis]

Also, if I could make a suggestion, it would be great if there were hyperlinks for the developers, publishers, platforms, etc in the columns. That way I could click on one and get a simple filtered list without my having to go back to the homepage and type in the filter I want.

That's a good idea. I'm going to work on that next.

ITS UP NOW.. BUT IS like slooooooooooooooow response.
and one more thing.. i would be very nice to have some kind of filter on database section...

Performance isn't a top priority right now, but it's something I'll definitely work on after I get all the main features in that I want. #1 rule of programming: first get it working, then get it working fast. That being said though, it shouldn't be too bad after the first load. Since I'm using free hosting, it gets spun down if no one has gone to the site after a certain amount of time, and then it takes a bit to spin back up on the first visit after that.

And about the filtering, see Deuce Traveler's suggestion above.

It seems to be CRPGAddict's Master Game List (I think you should give him credit)...

Done.

 

[Jahmis]

I'm working on filtering now. If you're comfortable messing with the url directly, you can try out my newest update. For example, this will give you a list of all the PC Master Race games...

http://www.crpgdb.com/#datatable/platform=pc

I'll update the UI next to make that easier. But really what I wanted to talk about were categories. I want people to be able to filter on a certain type of CRPG, but need some help coming up with the exact list. Here's what I have so far: Rougelike, Action, Turn-based, MMO. What am I missing? Does it make sense for each game to only belong to one category, or is it more of multiple choice option?

 

[No Great Name]

It depends on how broad/specific you want the categories to be. For example, rougelike is a much more specific category than action, which is very broad. Turn-based can include jRPGs, tactical RPGs, dungeon crawlers, etc.

As for the last part, a game should belong to more than one category if necessary. Going off what you have now, there are MMORPGs that are action-based and some that are turn-based. It wouldn't make much sense to put those games only in the MMO category.

 

[tuluse]

The best thing to do would be to let users add their own tags and use them after a minimum number of people have suggested it.

 

[Niektory]

Perhaps a simple tag system would work. So you'd have various tags, some broad (sub-genres), some not (specific features), and a game could be tagged with any number of them.

 

[Alchemist]

Yeah I think a tag system is best - let games have multiple tags and then let users search for a combination of tags (1st-person, turn-based, dungeon crawler, isometric, open world, tactical, party-based, etc...)

So in search for example I could enter "1st-person, dungeon crawler, turn-based" tags and the site would return only those games that had those tags (Wizardry, Bard's Tale, Might & Magic, etc).

One other suggestion - would it be possible to have a small thumbnail of the box cover to the left of each title in the database list? Sort of like how Mobygames does it:

Spoiler

Also you will probably have some confusion (and possibly ire) from people when they see some console-only games in a "computer RPG" database. Typically with the term CRPG it is assumed that consoles are excluded because they aren't considered computers in the traditional sense. You could alleviate this somewhat by only including console titles that also have a release on a computer platform. Personally, I don't mind seeing the console titles because there are occasionally interesting console RPG releases (like 1st-person dungeon-crawlers on the 3DS, and Demon's Souls). Maybe it's not something to worry about but you will likely get some people who will complain.

Anyway, best wishes with the project - I'm glad to see something like this take shape! I will probably sign up at some point.

 

[Jahmis]

Yeah, I think you're all right. Tags are the way to go. I'll start work on that after the filtering.

And thumbnails in the database are definitely possible. I didn't do it at first because I didn't want that list to get too cluttered, and the way I'm loading it right now the images would add a lot of memory and may take longer to load. But I'll put it on the TODO list.

 

[CryptRat]

Playing all this list in alphabetical order is a good start for someone who wants to discover RPGs.

 

[Urbanolo]

I've discovered that Dying Light is an RPG thanks to that site. You learn something new every day.

 

[Jahmis]

I've discovered that Dying Light is an RPG thanks to that site. You learn something new every day.

To be fair, according to their site, "Dying Light features RPG elements that let you develop the protagonist and adjust him to your play style. It’s a long and difficult journey from rookie to badass." I blame Giant Bomb.

 

[octavius]

I blame Giant Bomb.

Fucking Giant Bomb with their fucking empty place holder pages that turn up on Google searches.

 

[Jahmis]

I updated the database page with lots of ways to navigate and filter it. And pictures! At some point I'll probably move the search stuff on the front page to an "advanced" section on the database page to free up space there. I'm going to start working on tags now. That'll be fun.

 

[Alchemist]

Nice! It's looking good with the pictures and filter navigation.

 

[Jahmis]

Tags are almost in. I'm working out a couple kinks but should get it all in and working in a day or so.

But now I'm thinking about what to work on next. What's going to get more people to use the site, besides more people using the site? Here are the things I'm thinking about:

• More support for editing the database, mainly adding and deleting games and adding missing box art to existing games.
• Game ratings. More stuff with favorites. This would eventually lead to a recommendation system.
• Game tracking. Keep track of which games you're currently playing, upload screenshots, keep notes, etc.

Any other ideas? What do you all want to see?

 

[tuluse]

Sounds good, have you seen http://backloggery.com/?

It seems to do a lot of what you're thinking about.

If you really just want to mess around and have fun, do two different rating system. One is 1-10 IMDB style. The other the system picks two random games and you pick which one is better. Then you use those results to make an ELO rating of RPGs.

 

[Alchemist]

How about a user reviews section for each game? Or is that already included with the plans for ratings?