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TKAzA Blog

FEATURED ARTICLES - NEWS - TUTORIALS - EDITORIAL CONTENT



These links are essential reading for you to maximize your use of moddb, indiedb and slidedb.
These articles are written before indiedb and slidedb launched but still apply to all DBolical sites.

Indie DB Mod DB - Change the Game

<-- News and Features a Guide -->

This guide is designed to drive maximum use of our sites features for the promotion and publication of your hard work.


Other great articles about Marketing & Indie PR from other indies!
How not to market your game
When kickstarters fail by Fishing Cactus


Get involved in the future of the DBolical network by contributing to our GitHub.

Github.com

Submit site issues or feedback here.

Github.com


News and Features a Guide

TKAzA Blog 10 comments

Hello and welcome to my news guide, the purpose of this guide is to help you get the most out of your site experience, when promoting your mods and games on ModDB and IndieDB.

Our number one goal at DBolical is ensuring fair and even exposure for all developers and to create the ultimate platform, to get that exposure without having to rely solely on sales, store pages or editorial content.

This article is unfortunately long, please bare with me as this will be broken up into a FAQ style page.

This is a small part of a much larger update to the how to articles, and one of a few blogs / news ill be posting with thoughts on how to make the most of your profiles.

Please ensure you read the full HOW TO on our Official Blog
This Guide is based on personal opinion and understanding how the news system is moderated, and should be considered a "Guide" and not a How To.

Why has my news been archived?

If your news hasn't hit the front page its probably for these reasons!

  • To short...Your news should be substantial, if its only a few lines of information and you cant add more, hold off and post a larger update that is more likely to be accepted.
  • Upcoming Announcements (E.g Releases or Patches) that have no fresh media.
  • A big chunk of fresh images and or a fresh video (own media; let's play's don't count towards the feature) the more media the better!
  • 3-4 medium passages of text
  • Special backgrounds as well as social buttons help but are not considered as the main content of the article (and are not decisive)
  • If the news isn't directly relevant to your games development (eg podcasts, interviews, lets plays, blogs, discounts or bundle deals)
    If you include these with a patch or big media update, they are more likely to be allowed.
  • The news isn't properly presented and formatted (eg A single video(without text), no text, no images)

So when filling out your news article follow these steps.
1st Add 6-8+ images (you can use the embed code if they are hosted in your profiles /images)
2nd Add video if possible (you can use the embed code if they are hosted in your profiles /video )
3rd Add your relevant news (3-4 medium passages of text)
4th Include your social media feeds
5th Add downloads if applicable (you can use the embed code here also /downloads)

If you have questions on how to present your news, look no further than the front page, if you news doesn't look the same, revise it and contact our content manager feillyne to have it re assessed.


UPDATED: ->> Example Presentation Articles ((pimp your news!) = Lots of views!))


Great looking news posts take time and effort to publish, they may contain custom html that you can use for your own news posts, Here are some of my own examples and thoughts on what makes these news items stand out.

When creating the news its important to always make it look the best you can, we want to show it off as much as you do! Your first revision is generally not the best, so give it a few goes these presented below were generally drafted, then revised later for publishing.

'Editor' tip: Using notepad (notepad ++) to prepare your news, then working with the WYSIWYG editor to polish the layout, and the html editor to refine the elements can be a rewarding endeavor and you always have the html backed up on notepad if any issues were to occur during the submission process.

Heroes of Newerth News.
Only If News Release.
DOTA2 Workshop Tools Release.
NEOTOKYO on Steam Release.
Mount & Blade on more platforms.
Unreal Tournament Announcement.
War Thunder SDK Release
.
CRYENGINE Subscription
Unreal Engine 4 Released


(NEW) NEWS PUBLISHING IDEAS

We are here to showcase the best work you have to offer (and you want to show it!), whats selling your mod or game? Is it that awesome new effect or the feature rich update you just released!

Did you know? Each month we reach over 6 million readers!

Show it off! When posting your news first impressions matter, so pack it full of fun and interesting media, use the image gallery and embed some images and video to spice up your news!

Get gifCam and make some awesome news promo images!

GifCam

Then use the animated gifs in your news, Lights camera action!

Rope Swing

Embed your videos for all to see, better yet host them here and get your fans thoughts!


We now support sketchfab iframes, you can add them to your profiles, news or blogs.
To help your news standout.




the Headlines, our headline act!




Headlines are a big deal, Getting headlined is great for publicity and activity!
Your news will be in front of thousands of members and site visitors, its shown on the homepage in the rotator. (see image above) for days.
Your news also gets featured on our social media sites.
Like Facebook, twitter, google+ and tumblr. Getting on these sites is exclusive and only headlines get listed. Its really worth it! (See stats below)

So how do I get headlined?
The newspost needs to follow the standard rules set above but also MUST be one of the following.

  • A Release Post - Your game just been released, get it headlined?
  • A Patch or Update - Got a killer patch that everyone needs to get, we will help you.
  • Look Great and have hosted download links.

We may also feature (headline) from time to time.
Competitions, Bundles and Feature Downloads, depending on the site your visiting.

We do not headline, day to day news, upcoming or pre release news, headlines are strictly managed and hand picked to make sure your news stands out!

If your unsure of if your news is headline worthy, please check the headlines here for examples.

IndieDB Headlines

ModDB Headlines


IndieDB is a news resource, we publicize your news for free, your job is the sales pitch.


We headline your updates so keep your profile updated Release alphas, betas via indieDB, then get these featured on our RSS feeds aswell as social media sites.

Make use of custom css (it must work and not break the site) on your profile page to give your page a unique look.
When you come to do the custom css, supply us the code and we can put it in place.

You can see examples of what people have done here.

Indiedb.com
Moddb.com
Moddb.com

Or a basic blank canvas can be seen here.
Note we do not support issues with custom css, we can also not create it for you.



Here are some other things to consider when creating your news, we consider these when authorizing your news.

When to release and why.
We are not here to tell you when you should announce your news, or how often to release a patch however, balance is needed between content and context, if your submitting alpha updates daily for minor fixes, you might find a lack of attention to these small details.

So the question needs to be asked, is this the best news for my game or mod, is it a big chunky update that will sell my hard work and gain the support needed to complete the project?

If the answer is no, the news should be kept for a more significant update, that is less likely to be missed in the mass of other news that is submitted daily!, Your news space is precious get the most from it!

Be the best!
If you don't get showcased one month, try again the next including your news from your last "missed" news-post in your updated, polished front page article!

Maximize your online presence.
It may sound like cheap marketing but, eyes can be clicks and clicks can be downloads, or purchases, depending on what DBolical site you choose, we use social media to not only bring players to your profiles and downloads, but to your social media presence also.

If you have a twitter account and get a release headlined, your news will also be linkbacked via Twitter and Facebook meaning more visits for you, so more attention for your hard work, more attention, more players, more is good!

So when posting your pimped out news posts, showcasing all your latest and greatest work, help us get you more attention and include your social media feeds into the news, this ensures we get you all the visits you possibly can, your only job is your sales pitch!

Game Modders this information is great for you also, if you're trying to grow communities, invest in social media feeds to hype up your releases and get attention and feedback when needed.

If you have any ideas for how we can improve the way we showcase your work or have any feedback, please leave it in the comments or send me a message.

Make use of all Our Sites:
IndieDB (Indie Game Database)
Indie DBFan us on Facebook Join us on Steam Follow us on Twitter
ModDB (Game and Modification Database)
Mod DBFan us on Facebook Watch us on Youtube Join us on Steam Follow us on Twitter


This article is under update, please check back...
Last Updated Nov 20th 2015

3D Coat and Babble.

TKAzA Blog

So since working on MOTY i have been increasingly testing the power of a new style modelling package
called 3D coat.


I don't often watch tutorials, I like to push my self to mess with the program and learn by doing, however when you have ran out of ideas and want to learn new things and don't know what else to try, they are well worth your time.

I watched the first 2 Quick start tutorials, i was hesitant as i thought i knew most of the basics, turns out not, the move tool, oh how have i worked without you, and clone tool, i owe you some beer.

If your looking at trying 3D coat and your a goose if you dont, check out the tutorials.

3d-coat.com

So with my newly gained knowledge and inspiration, from watching this guy, I set to work, you can see a horrible WIP of the head in the bottom right.

Even though i have modelled for a long time, this is my first fully sculpted head, its not anatomically correct, but i think it has character and for a first attempt im pretty happy with it.

Voxel Art

Hempie V4?
This model i showed before but i got bored so made him some rough clothing, this was all revamped today but lost in a crash.
If i become happy with this, ill try and export it into unity and test it out.

Similar to max and all modelling and graphics applications nowadays, i found with layers and the toothpaste tool, i could very quickly make basic clothes, that could be layered and used in different orders.

Voxel Art

The mesh was automatically created by 3D Coat.

Hempie V4
Here you can see how the clothes are each separate model's, useless for games but not for 3D printing characters or getting a fast high poly mesh ready for normal mapping.

Hempie V4

Scythe
Just a something i made when i was bored, thought it was interesting enough to post.
I learnt how to use the clone tool in this, you can tell by the holes in the head and the fact its dual sided, This was modelled mainly by the toothpaste tool, and scrape.

Voxel Art
Thanks for reading, please check out my Youtube for old tutorials, and other gaming nonsense.

MOTY ModDB Characture Development Process Breakdown.

TKAzA Blog 3 comments

MOTY ModDB Characture Development Process Breakdown.

Production timeframe.3 Days

Actual Timeframe.5 Days

Note: This description will only be understood by those familiar with 3dsMax and may not translate to maya, blender or xsi users, although similar features exist in these applications, the use and layering of things like modifiers and polygon groups will no doubtly be different. All the characters body and eyes were created first to ensure scale and positioning were correct.


Mobie (SlideDB)


Mobie's body was made with a simple rectangle, that was then turned into an editable poly then smoothed and shaped with a 3x free-form deformer. His face is simple cubes added separately to allow easy modification.


His boots were made from two cone primitives, welded to a single mesh, then rigged and turbo smoothed. His hands are a modified version of Wally's gloves, re rigged and posed.


Connie (IndieDB)


Connie's body was sculpted with voxels in 3D Coat, as the shape was hard to extrapolate from the concept , The mesh was then exported to zbrush to allow q remesher to reduce the poly count to a workable level, the mesh was then imported into 3DsMax, the final base mesh was slimmed down and hollowed out with a shell modifier to save printing costs.


Connie's hands are a heavily modified version of wallie's gloves again re rigged and posed. Her hair cable is a hose constraint with a bone at each end to allow easy editing and posing. Connie's eyes and mouth are layered planes each was modeled based directly off the concept artwork, this gives the model the same feeling of character and personality that Conley archived in her concept sheet. The layering of the eye details, also brings a unique 2.5D look to a model that would normalay use spheres or a multitude of modifiers to archive.


Each eye has nine meshes layed and then assigned a multi layer material with each mesh having a assigned ID, there are seven material layers just for the eyes alone.Note: Connie's body and handel's were sculpted based of the shape of womans thighs, creepy but informative.


Wally (ModDB)


Wally's body is made of two layers, the white outerlayer was scaled and duplicated to produce the red central body of wally, this mesh was then mirrored on the x and y axis to save production time.


The backpack is a simple L shape primitive mesh that it then shaped with three bend modifiers and three symmetry modifiers to save production time, it also allows fast editing and greater control of the final look, the hose connecting the tank to the flamethrower is a hose primitive with bones to speed production and editing ease.


Wallies Gloves were modeled with box primitives, then made into a complete mesh using zBrushe's new DynaMesh function and the poly count reduced with qReMesher, they were then re imported into max for a final mesh reduction, rigging and posing. Wallies boots were made from extrusion off a single plane, nurms and smoothing groups played a large part in creating the sharp lines, two bend modifiers were used to style the final shape of the boots.
Wallie's eyes and mouth were produced in the same way as Connies, with each colored section containing a diffrent shaped and colored plane, overlapped and layered to produce the result, these eyes can easily be baked onto a sphere or a simpler primitive to reduce poly count and allow editing in a image editing suit.


Overall, all the models were modelled using edge based extrusion in some shape or form, this gives great control and combined with the use of nurms and smoothing groups allowed me to archive a smooth finished result, however the actual poly count of each base mesh is well within use for games or animation, I found this technique very useful in the production of the more organic shapes like the boots and gloves.
As you can see there is never a set way of doing things, with the first versions of Wally, I used spheres for the eyes with diff rent material ID's set to the model and the results were average to say the least, the same method was used on early versions of Connie, however pulling off the character and personality were impossible. The arms and legs, at first they were a basic cylinder mesh, rigged and then posed to form arms, however wanting to edit the mesh after it was posed, caused the rigging to corrupt, the solution i found best was use a hose or a spline and have it connected to a start and end point, this meant less bones to rig and less chance of corrupting the weight maps on editing the base mesh.


My final thoughts on this project and a look forward, if I was to do this again, I would evaluate the concept in more detail prior to starting work, a eye for detail is needed in modelling and rushing ahead archives nothing but lots of editing and many versions of the same model.The use of planes for detailed areas like the eyes and mouth I would have never thought of if it wasn't for close collaboration with the moddb staff, the results speak for themselves and I have learnt something new in the process.

The arms could do with a full revision, not only the process used to create them but the way they were originally extrapolated from the concept, the end result is ok but pre planning the position of arms saves allot of time and you can work around the arms to ensure they look part of the model and not something attached for detail.
For my first contract, its been a great learning experience, communication with the DesuraNet team was paramount to the completion of this project on time and i feel the results show.

Change the Game!

MOTY2012 Awards - From concept to reality.MOTY2012 Awards - From concept to reality.MOTY2012 Awards - From concept to reality.


Aaron "TKAzA" Baker
www.tk-3d.com

Copyright and you!

TKAzA Blog 2 comments

A recent influx of stolen content in mods has forced my hand to post this, im duplicating it here as news drops fast on the home page.


Copyright and you! ModDB as you may not be aware does have a strong copyright stance, we need to protect you the members from possibly having a legal bat hit across your head and same for ourselves. Staff are always on the lookout for people stealing others work and claiming its there own as well as other shady happenings, as a point we are asking for your help to keep the site clean of thieves.

Examples of copyright violation are:

  • De-compiling/Disassembling content for use in another games engine.
  • Use of another games art assets in a mod without the consent of the artist.
  • Claiming work is yours when it was made by some one else.
  • Taking work from a mod or game and using it in another without consent.

As a important note even if you credit the author of the content used, permission is still needed to use it. Crediting will only cover you if you have permission in the first place.

If users are found to have uploaded content with stolen assets, they will have their account suspended aswell as all their mods, addons and downloads removed, this is a minor slap on the wrist in comparison to large companies reactions that can include legal costs and fines in the hundred of thousands.

If you see a mod with stolen content, please contact us with a link to the content claimed to be stolen for investigation.

Regards
ModDB Content Management Staff