The Hamster Burrow - a call for content

TheCube · Post by **TheCube** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 6:21 pm

Hello everyone! I've set up a Wordpress blog for the OHR community called The Hamster Burrow! The idea is to have a community space with articles, reviews, sprite sheets, and pretty much anything that used to go in the pages of HamsterSpeak. I'd like it to end up being a showcase of the best, most interesting, most strange content that comes out of this community. I'd also like to be able to host resources and guides for OHR designers.

Obviously, there's not really any content yet. I'm writing a 5 part introduction to the OHR, but I'd like to get people to contribute some of their own work as well. Here's a quick list of possible things that anyone could send in:

-Reviews (old games, new games, don't care. I'm hoping to avoid numerical scores but anything else goes)
-User Tips (Advanced use of OHR, plotscripting, design tips, etc.)
-Guide to the Heart of the OHR contest (I don't know this bit very well so I'd be very happy if someone could do a writeup of some sort)
-Free Content (sprite sheets, music, plotscripts, etc.)
-Anything you can think of! Go crazy.

If you plan on submitting something, let everyone know so we don't end up working on two of the same articles. Here's the submission page. It has some guidelines on it and my email address is at the bottom. If you have any questions, send me an email or a PM, and I'll be more than happy to help out!

I'd really like to get 4-5 high quality articles before announcing the blog to everyone I know via Twitter, Facebook, etc. If you have something written, please submit it! I'll need all the help I can get.

I think Jack is working on a banner, FYI, so hopefully we'll have something a bit shinier soon.

Thanks to all of you for all your help and enthusiasm before I even got this started! Let's make it something we can all be proud of

Greenwado · Post by **Greenwado** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 7:28 pm

Could we do reviews of external software that can help with content for OHR games? Such as music creation software etc?

TheCube · Post by **TheCube** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 7:40 pm

That's an excellent idea! I say go for it. Maybe even include tips or links to new user's guide, stuff like that.

The Wobbler · Post by **The Wobbler** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 7:41 pm

I don't know how well Wordpress works for creating nice, easy to browse archives or if you'll have to do that manually, but I like what you've got so far. Also, be sure to post this on Castle Paradox too because some users don't use both sites.

Minnek · Post by **Minnek** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 7:52 pm

Do you have any formats or templates in mind for different areas such as reviews, articles, editorials, etc? If not, it may be worth thinking about to help provide consistency throughout the archives and to raise the submission standards.

TheCube · Post by **TheCube** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 7:58 pm

The Wobbler wrote:I don't know how well Wordpress works for creating nice, easy to browse archives or if you'll have to do that manually, but I like what you've got so far. Also, be sure to post this on Castle Paradox too because some users don't use both sites.

Thanks for reminding me about Castle Paradox! I posted it on the front page there. Huzzah.

As far as archives, I plan on rigorously categorizing everything, so that way people can look at all the reviews at once, or all the articles for a specific game, etc.

Minnek wrote:Do you have any formats or templates in mind for different areas such as reviews, articles, editorials, etc?

Hmm...not so much yet, no. This is a good idea, but I'm not sure how to implement it yet. Mostly I'd be happy if the format was the same as articles in HamsterSpeak. I think once we have some content, I'll link to existing articles that show the formats I'm looking for.

Post by **Mogri** » Sun Nov 25, 2012 8:15 pm

Let's front page this sucker.

TheCube · Post by **TheCube** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:29 am

Yay, first article posted! It's an overview for new users, part 1 of (probably) 5. It goes over history and the general idea of what the OHR is. Check it out.

Of course, I kind of pieced this together using the wiki and various random pages therein, so if anybody notices any errors, let me know and I'll fix it up right away. I'll also be working on part 2, which will have the 'canon' OHR games that everyone needs to play. Plus Bloodlust, because I love that game.

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:34 am

I'm thinking of writing an article, how do you want the html file formatted? Plain vanilla html with no fancy CSS?

TheCube · Post by **TheCube** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:38 am

Why don't you send it with any fancy CSS you want to put in and I'll see what happens? I can always edit it down to something that Wordpress would like, and then we'll know for the future!

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:57 am

Righto then!

Post by **TMC** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 3:20 pm

Comments on the first article:

Could you include the author of each piece even if you wrote it yourself? Will Wordpress allow multiple people (coeditors) to post to the same blog, once you have some?

Perhaps spruce things up with a screenshot or two!

There's actually no limit on number of maps.

TheCube · Post by **TheCube** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 7:32 pm

TMC wrote:Comments on the first article:

Could you include the author of each piece even if you wrote it yourself? Will Wordpress allow multiple people (coeditors) to post to the same blog, once you have some?

Perhaps spruce things up with a screenshot or two!

There's actually no limit on number of maps.

Oh gosh, I can't believe I forgot to add images. I love pictures, can;t focus without them, hahaha...

I changed my bad info on maps, and added my name at the top. In the future, if people let me know how they want to be credited and if they want their name to link to any page, then I'll add that at the top. And yeah, wordpress allows multiple editors. I'll have to explore the feature set - if it allows me to moderate what comes through the pipe, then I'll just add anyone who asks with the caveat that I have to approve everything.

yay! I'm so excited

Greenwado · Post by **Greenwado** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 4:01 am

Just some suggestions after viewing the blog, maybe try a different color scheme, I'm not opposed to blue but, it's no the first color i think of when I hear "The Hamster Burrow". Maybe try darker-ish colors, maybe brown(?) Another thing, someone with some art skills might want to make a favicon if wordpress allows for custom favicons.

Post by **Mogri** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 5:34 am

I was hoping that the default Wordpress theme was just temporary.