suggestions and questions

[Mache]

hi!

first, i want to say that i love your HOL project! therefore i want to contribute to it. and since i have lots of boxes that aren't on hol yet, i will scan them.
which resolution?
uploading then to abime.net ftp, right?
how does your contributor point system work?

i found some errors in your database. when listing all
actionware games http://hol.abime.net/get.list?N_ref_publisher=18 you won't see capone http://hol.abime.net/?id=2923 but it is an actionware game. i own it and even without owning the game, you can see it clearly on the screenshot! same goes for spinworld http://hol.abime.net/?id=2065 the screen shows reline, but the disk micro-partner and the cover axxiom! you should include all publishers and developers. another problem are game names. e.g. power styx is actually powerstyx http://hol.abime.net/?id=1121 perhaps you can list games with "uncertain" names under various names, e.g. tie break, tiebreak and tie-break!

ok, enough for now, keep up your good work! =)

Originally posted by Mache
uploading then to abime.net ftp, right?

Correct

how does your contributor point system work?

For every scan/screenshot/etc. which is used on HOL, you'll get a point...

Of course, the HOL guys didn't add up all the stuff I submitted, so my tally is a little low (but it's probably because I submit under different names )

i found some errors in your database.

Even though HOL is a great source for info, there will be errors. It's with the users help that this info can be corrected.
Thanks for pointing these errors out. I'm sure that when a HOL member drops by, they'll make the corrections (provided the info needs correcting of course)

[Twistin'Ghost]

Originally posted by Mache
and since i have lots of boxes that aren't on hol yet, i will scan them.
which resolution?

We prefer 300dpi scans which we will process to the smaller 640* screen resolution for HOL (we archive the higher resolutions for future usage should standards increase, which is likely).

Originally posted by Mache
i found some errors in your database. when listing all
actionware games http://hol.abime.net/get.list?N_ref_publisher=18 you won't see capone http://hol.abime.net/?id=2923 but it is an actionware game. i own it and even without owning the game, you can see it clearly on the screenshot! same goes for spinworld http://hol.abime.net/?id=2065 the screen shows reline, but the disk micro-partner and the cover axxiom! you should include all publishers and developers. another problem are game names. e.g. power styx is actually powerstyx http://hol.abime.net/?id=1121 perhaps you can list games with "uncertain" names under various names, e.g. tie break, tiebreak and tie-break!

OK, one at a time:
Actionware
It seems Walker has already updated this entry. HOL is the combination of a couple of different databases of Amiga games. The core of the database was implemented first and everything has been building from that, which includes some information that may be incorrect or simply missing. In most cases, we have the correct and/or complete information, it's just a matter of time updating the 4000 some-odd entries. This sometimes happens when it's stumbled upon, other times when entries are sytematically updated, ie., alphabetically. I have an original of Capone, as well (in fact, I have all Actionware originals), I just wasn't aware the publisher info was missing on that entry. Other times, an entry will be completely missing from HOL and we simply notice its omission and enter it from there. It's a fairly massive job that is updated every day by the entire team. We scrutinize every detail, but it's more about how many hours are in a day, as opposed to not having the info. One day it will be very close to completion, however.

SpinWorld
Same thing with Axxiom. In some cases, a bulk load of contributed scans (sometimes as many as 50 or more at a time) will be added to the database. This is an independent process from updating the games info pages, so you may run into entries that are missing data found on title screens, boxscans, etc. It is already our objective to include all publishers and developers, but in some cases we need more information. I updated the entry with Axxiom, but Micro-Partner I waited on, as we have not confirmed yet what part they played in the game (distributor, manufacturer, publisher, development?) We leave such info blank until we can confirm the details.

PowerStyx
This is an issue we have been haggling with for some time and a new implementation has been added which allows us to host hidden alternate names for games, yet will retrieve a game if the name is searched incorrectly. This should include dashes, spaces, etc. As with all things HOL, it's a matter of getting them all entered into the database, so it will require some time entering alternate names that may be searched on. As a general rule, we use the title as found on the titlescreen itself. If more than one name is used throughout a game, both will be visible in HOL.

Thanks for your interest and for the suggestions you have offered (as well as any future contributions to the cause). Oh, and welcome to EAB!

[Mache]

thank you for your reply!
ok, if i have more information on a certain game, i will send it to you.

[CodyJarrett]

In my original Excel spreadsheet, from which the core of the HOL was extracted, I had a field which listed all the companies involved with a game. This was a terrible way to do it, because it wasn't atomic or normalised, so I started to split the companies into Developer and Publisher. I didn't get this finished and only the information put into its proper field was input by Walker when he did the data entry bit - e.g. the other info was unchecked and not ready to go in.

So, to cut a long story short, Actionware should have been listed for Capone, but I never got around to putting it in its right place. I should check my spreadsheet for these remaining unchecked companies and input them. If you see an entry with no publisher or developer, this might be the reason for it.

[Mache]

ok, i see that there is still a lot to do. and i am happy to help you

but i have another suggestion (oops):
have a look at spinworld http://hol.abime.net/?id=2065 and gunshoot http://hol.abime.net/?id=2813
both are from axxiom/micro-partner (it doesn't matter which one is the developer/publisher now). but axxiom is developer in gunshoot and publisher in spinworld. so, when listing all games from axxiom or micro-partner, you won't see both.
my suggestion: what about expanding the search function? when listing the games where xyz is developer, you should also see all games where xyz is publisher (and vice versa). perhaps seperated in a different table below?

[Twistin'Ghost]

Originally posted by Mache
have a look at spinworld http://hol.abime.net/?id=2065 and gunshoot http://hol.abime.net/?id=2813
both are from axxiom/micro-partner (it doesn't matter which one is the developer/publisher now). but axxiom is developer in gunshoot and publisher in spinworld. so, when listing all games from axxiom or micro-partner, you won't see both.
my suggestion: what about expanding the search function? when listing the games where xyz is developer, you should also see all games where xyz is publisher (and vice versa). perhaps seperated in a different table below?

I believe this is being worked on (and may even be implemented to a degree). For the moment, since I am pretty certain that release (Gunshoot) was published by Axxiom, I swapped the two fields around. The only part I am unsure of is micro-partner, but it is likely that they developed it since they hold the copyright. I will attempt to research this further when I get home (I have originals of both it and SpinWorld); perhaps there are clues in the (excuse for) manuals. Ultimately, thanks for bringing this to our attention. Eventually, we'd have bumped into it, but who knows when that may have occured, so any displacements are welcome anytime.

[Walker]

I updated Capone, then suddenly remembered that I had a bus to catch and no time to complete the changes or post about it here..

Time is our enemy!