Alright, lets open the floodgates and hope some others want to join in. We'll stay in this thread for now since the database is only focussed on these games anyway. Eventually, I might change this over to its own dedicated thread though after a bit more testing. I am not a professional programmer, so expect bugs and the occasional weirdness. Also, if you havent been contacted by me personally about it, please read this post carefully:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| What is it? |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Currently, a database for Indie Games in this thread in which you can rate and write impressions. These ratings and impressions are then calculated to an overall average and can be checked by other users of the program. The database is technically not limited to them however, and we will eventually add more games past the ones in this thread, starting with other Indies and possibly also consoles and PC releases. This will depend on how well the program can deal with bigger numbers of contributors. If that doesnt work out, we'll still be able to use it as GAF Indie game and impressions Database.
This means that the data you put in can be accessed by other program users. However, you can use the program and use all the functions without posting your own scores as well if you have any privacy concerns about not wanting to post your own scores (but then they wont be included in the rating either).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| How to Install |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Parts of the installer may be in German because I have no clue how to change it. Sorry about that.
- Download and install Microsoft Visual Basic Power Packs: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=145727&clcid=0x804
- Download and run the setup exe in this rar file: http://goo.gl/jZ9fk, which installs the latest .net framework. You can skip that if you already have the latest .net framework installed. If you get any German buttons/instructions, click "Ich stimme zu" (I agree)
- Once the previous download updated your .net framework and it finished, you can close everything and download this file: http://goo.gl/MPKSf, create a folder for it(on C:, your desktop or wherever you want) and put the .exe file in that folder. This folder will then be filled up with the program files.
- Any future update, will only require you to download the newest .exe file from a dl link I provide and replace the old one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| First time starting it up |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Click Database - Redownload UserGameDatabase to download the most recent GameDatabase (containing the information about the games you see in the program) and the most recent ForumReadout (which is downloaded from ME and contains the most recent readout for any GAF impressions posted with the program tags in this thread)
- Click Mode - Player Ratings to start the actual program with the new databases. Every time you start up the program, you'll choose this mode to start the actual database.
- Click Database - Download Pictures for Player Ratings to download pictures for the database entries. If you have a GameDataBase update, you'll need to run this again to download pictures for new entries. It will only download pictures for games you dont have pictures yet. First time doing this will take a while and seemingly "lock up" the program. Be patient and wait until it finished (see the genre box for an approximate progress).
- Program is good to go! (If you still miss some data, restart the program)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| How to use the program |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Main Window: Database window
This shows all the games available in the database currently. The number shows how many games are currently visible with the selected filters. Click on an entry to select it and enter some letters in the box above if you are searching for a specific game. The "Sort by Indie thread" option allows you to filter for games of a specific month, in case you only want an overview for the games of the current month to vote on (and later to allow for month specific game rankings).
2. Main Window: General Filter Options
This, currently, allows you to filter for PC, Mac and Linux games (Consoles currently not supported in that mode) and genres. "Filter inactive" shows all games rated 0-5 and unrated games. "Filter active" shows all games that are rated between X and Y, where X and Y are the numbers you entered in the small boxes. And the last mode "Unrated Games" only shows games that no one has yet rated on, if you feel like checking out some games not many people have yet noticed.
3. Main Window: Specific Rating Filter
This has 3 modes, which you can switch through by clicking the button.
4. Main Window: Lower Information window
The upper textboxes are purely informational and cant be edited. If you find a mistake here, let me know in the thread. The lower textbox contains "Niy." (No impression yet) as long as you havent written any impressions for a game. If you decide to write something, make sure to hit "SAVE" and it will show up for others in the next forumreadout version if you updated your forum post accordingly.
5. Main Window: Top Information window
This shows a picture of the game (if you downloaded them via Database - Download Pictures), your own rating if you rated the game and the average ranking of everyone else rating the game. Your ratings will only be included in the average if you posted them on GAF with the upper right button. The +, - and X buttons allow you to raise,lower or delete the score you gave to a game, which saves automatically. The ratings/impressions button shows how many people rated a game or gave impressions for it. Clicking that button, opens the analysis window.
6. Analysis Window: Ratings
This shows how many people using the database did not rate the game you are currently at and the amount of 0-5 votes. The bar fills to 100% for the highest rating number and then accordingly changes for the other rating categories.
7. Analysis Window: Impressions
This, currently, shows random impressions from users who wrote something about the game. I might add some more options here later, like options to only show positive/negative comments etc.
8. Analysis Window: Analysis lists
The left list is the complete list of people who rated the current game and shows the rating they gave. If you click on a name in that list, you can see the impression he wrote for that game in the box below. If that user didnt write anything yet, it will show "Niy." (No impressions yet."). The right box is the recommendations list for that game, going by what users liked who liked the current active game. If you like the current active game, and you havent tried some of those recommended games, give them a whirl! We need more guys posting their ratings, so that we can balance this recommendation list.
9. Main Window: Post Content on GAF
The left link is a link to my free music blog, feel free to grab and listen to some music while you play and rate games

The right button gives you a box with your ratings that you need to post on GAF in THIS thread (without changing anything) for it to appear in the next version of the ForumReadout. Additionally, you can use the button to your Gaf post (so you dont need to bookmark it) if you entered that information in the settings (see arrows on the right picture) Please remember to replace the content of your initial post and DO NOT post more than once with your impressions. Simply replace the same post when you updated your impressions. Bookmark that post, so you can easily update it! At startup the program will inform you if there is a new version of that file available.
And again, the dl for the current version (
READ THE STUFF UP THERE IF ITS YOUR FIRST TIME DOWNLOADING IT):
http://goo.gl/MPKSf Feel free to report any problems or suggestions here.