Our forums can be found here. The forums are where our day to day discussions take place.
Getting Started
1. First, read up on the design documents and get familiar with the project as a whole. You’ll find it helps a lot to get the overview before you start participating.
2. Go to the New Members forum and make a post. Let people know you have just joined the project, what your areas of interest and experience are, and that you want to contribute. You will have lots of instant friends!
3. If you want more help, ask any member, or read the sticky about our Mentors.
4. Finally, dive in and get started.
How the Design Process works
You'll see that the entire project is split into Milestones, just like any design project.
Each Milestone is split into Tasks, which are open for any member to join and make contributions. Tasks can be anything from research on the internet, playing games to learn about systems, taking part in discussion groups, online surveys, and even drawing and modeling concept art for items, characters, creatures, tracks, etc.
Anyone can take part in these Tasks, and those who contribute to the discussion and design will receive credit in the final game for their participation and contributions.
Each Task has a set of criteria and conditions for completion, so you will want to read and understand the Task Assignment posting found in the first subforum of each Task section.
For instance, to find the Task Assignments for the Milestone - Character Concept Design section, look for the "Sticky" posts at the top of the Character Tasks thread. Tasks often entail several steps, so look for the most current "phase" of the task. You are also encouraged to browse previous tasks, as you may find a lot of inspiration there.
Tasks have deadlines, and the final work is submitted by the TaskGroup Rep. (Anyone can apply to be a TaskGroup Rep, but you do need to have demonstrated an understanding of the project.) Once the Task submissions are complete, the Advisory Board, which is a group made up of members of the community. The AB will review the results to be sure they meet the goals of the project and that they fulfill the requirements of the Task. (Any active member of the Top Secret community is welcome to apply for the Advisory Board, which occasionally adds new members.)
The Advisory Board oversees the project on behalf of the community, sets and defines Tasks, and selects the best ideas and designs, with the full help of the whole community. They also work directly with Director David Perry and Assistant Director Rusel DeMaria to keep the vision clear and the project on track. Once final ideas are chosen, these become part of the Design Document, ready for the development teams to read, and use to build the game.
The forums have many sections to help you take part, including the New Members forum, General Discussion, Latest News, Development forums, and sections for Artists and Writers. Here you can meet your co-designers, discuss the project and get to know everyone.
Although this project is community run, it is important to remember that it is a real design project and we approach it as a serious game design project. We will Moderate threads that are way off target or are abusive to others, and those causing trouble will be removed.
There are a number of competitions running throughout all this creativity… but try not to focus on them too much. The main goal is to make a kickass game, and the prizes will take care of themselves.
For information about the Developer competition, click here.
For Information about the Director competition, click here.
The modelling and Logo competition are now over. To see the Winning entries, and some of the other entries click here.
