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Socoder -> Off Topic -> OUYA Bastards

Sat, 15 Aug 2015, 11:17
9572AD
(This post is mostly for Jay, though other input is not entirely unwelcome - although there probably aren't many with any interest)

Things have been occurring to me regarding the OUYA situation. Things such as:

When the servers go down any game that was purchased is unlikely to work. Sure, many are supposed to, but I own several of them and need to log back in quite often to get them working again. I don't trust that any of them will reliably continue working after the server goes. The OUYA itself essentially becomes a brick as far as the community is concerned. Even the free games will stagnate.

We need a place for the OUYA community to go where developers can put new and updated .apks for sideloading. I like the name "OUYA Bastards" - the abandoned children of the OUYA.

It further occurs to me that you, Jay, are the most likely to be the most active participant in such an endeavor. And you already have a website with a showcase. And you've already taken in abandoned communities before.

So, I was wondering what you think about being a driving force in furthering this idea.

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All the raw, animal magnetism of a rutabaga.
Sat, 15 Aug 2015, 12:43
spinal
So the idea would be that Jay pretty much takes over the ouya store? Gets my vote

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Check out my excellent homepage!
Sat, 15 Aug 2015, 13:02
Jayenkai
The current OUYA situation is complex, as most "prufeshional" things tend to be. I expect server outages to be frequent until such a time that everything's been Razer'i'fied.
But that could takes months, if not years.
The plan is to setup a new version of OUYA Everywhere on the Razer devices, then "transition" that into a Razer branded edition, which IIRC is called Cortex or something to that effect.
During this transition, expect fucktons of server crap, but once Cortex (IF that was it's name!) is up and running, expect it to be completely frickin' stable.
At this side of the transition, that might look like a long wait.
But on the other end is support from Razer, who.. AFAIK, tend to have pretty stable servers. .. But don't quote me on that, 'cos I've never been one to pay a bazillion pounds for a mouse!!!

Once we hit the other side, all should be good, all should be stable, and all should be working.
It's just this middle bit that gets me worried.

As far as "taking the reigns" is concerned, I literally have nothing to gain from all of this.
I might have "the most games, period", but they're all freeware. They all "just work", there's no IAP, no DRM.. Nothing.. My games are just .. There...

If I took over hosting a bunch of .apks, I'd be ending up having an old argument that I once had on this very site.
I have access to the BlitzCoder database. But just because this site is the spiritual successor to BC, does that give me the right to essentially republish all that content, without each and every author's consent.
And do I have the right to republish all those OUYA games, too?
I don't think that I do, and I firmly believe that Team OUYA (who are still up and running!) have enough profeshionalism left to sort all of that stuff out, themselves.

The best you can do, is try to (somehow) backup what games you currently have on your device, and if necessary, let the developers know when things are breaking. Any decent developer should be glad of feedback, and knowing that somewhere out there, their game is still being played, even if the device isn't quite what it oughta be.

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''Load, Next List!''
Sat, 15 Aug 2015, 13:26
9572AD
Nah, I wasn't suggesting taking it upon yourself to re-create the store. Just a "centralized" place for those interested in still supporting the OUYA box to put their .apks.

As I've heard it, the OUYA contents will transfer to the Cortex store and all...but that does nothing for the OUYA box. You'll need to buy a Cortex-compatible device to get at your prior purchases. The OUYA box itself will not access the Cortex store.

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All the raw, animal magnetism of a rutabaga.
Sat, 15 Aug 2015, 13:50
Jayenkai
So, essentially then, this but with the word OUYA on the box.
Possible, I guess. I'd have to up the upload-size limit, first, and that'd require extremely strict controls on what can and can't be uploaded.
I'd also need to verify each and every "Developer" that signs up, somehow.
In addition to all that, again, the only games that would tend to work in that manner are the 100% free games, and for the most part you can already grab those via alternative methods. (Although, OUYAlytics is a long time gone, now..)

I'd also need a quick and easy way to get the game to your console. Sure, you can click an APK on the OUYABrowser to download it, but first you'd need to FIND the .apk, and doing that with only a controller in your hand...?
*shrugs*

Would it be worth it?
Would it get used?
Wouldn't it be better just to have a fresher "not hastily cobbled together by me" website to handle all this?!!

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Sat, 15 Aug 2015, 13:53
9572AD
I dunno.
I dunno.
I dunno.

Just seems a shame to have the box become a doorstop.

I would assume most anyone left wanting to continue making use of the box would be savvy enough to download the .apk, put it on a USB stick, and sideload it.
And, yes, the store being no more, there would be no store checks, so anything put out there would be essentially "free." A link to the dev's site in the showcase entry should be enough to allow any dev that wishes to to set up a contribution collection point for themselves.

I dunno what your hosting space situation is. I have a fair amount of space, but no site built. Technically, to contribute space, the file would need to be linked from a page also hosted by me. No remote serving is in my TOS.

-=-=-
All the raw, animal magnetism of a rutabaga.
Sat, 15 Aug 2015, 14:29
Jayenkai
The more I think about this, the more compelling it becomes.
.. But the more troublesome the entire idea gets.

Essentially you're looking to start another (yet another!) Android marketplace. The USP of this marketplace is "Works primarily with a controller"
Each game will need to be checked by the admin/review team. First and foremost to ensure the game is the work of the registered user. You're well aware of the insanity I recently experienced with Android. That should NOT be allowed to occur. Extensive checks should be done to verify the author of the game.
Secondly, only 100% controller working games should be allowed. Basically OUYA Review rules. If it doesn't work with a controller, out it goes.

Next, if the dev does both, a "OUYA Compatible" edition should be available alongside a "Standard Android" edition. In my games, at least, the two versions do not work the same. The controller code is different enough that it breaks. An OUYA compiled game does not work with my Archos Gamepad controller, and a standard Android compilation similarly doesn't work on OUYA.
Whether this is the same with other games... I've no idea!!

You should also have a "basket" of sorts. Let the user find games on their PC/iPhing, and store the .apks into a quick-access basket, then they can use the OUYA browser, log in, and have easy access to all the saved .apk files.


Basically this COULD be a fairly substantial site, assuming you let it grow that way.
But I don't think SoCoder is the right framework for the job. It should be a simpler interface. Something like GameJolt was until their recent "overhaul".. (Ugly as fuck, now!!)
And, as for being the head guy to organise all of this... I've got enough on my plate, as it is, I'm afraid!

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Sat, 15 Aug 2015, 14:41
cyangames
I think the cost of server alone would be fairly prohibitive in terms of bandwidth.

It only takes a few spam bots to attempt to download every game and boom!

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Web / Game Dev, occasionally finishes off coding games also!
Sun, 16 Aug 2015, 00:18
Dabz
Sounds like a perfect kickstarter project in my eyes... Lots of work, quite a bit of pull out on the pocket front... Raise enough money, rent the required servers with adequate bandwidth, and, subcontract some of the work out.

Dabz

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