Flowlab has been around since 2012, and I’ve been here since 2013. We have never really had an official rules thread, but eventually it may serve useful. @grazer is the admin and creator of flowlab, and is in charge of what rules matter or not, but I’ll post some base forum rules and see where it goes.
Basic forum rules
Don’t spam. Spam includes the following:
. * Making too many topics for no reason.
. * Posting too many times in a row.
. * Posting too fast.
. * Posting anything that doesn’t benefit the topic.
. * Posting less than 5 words.
. * Posting ads for something that has nothing to do with flowlab.
. * Excessive shitposting.
You don’t have to be nice, but if you want people to like you and help you, you should be as mature as you feel you should be.
We don’t really have a rule on swearing, but this isn’t the place to do it in a negative manner. Most forums I’ve been a part of allow minor swearing, but since a lot of new users are young students, it would be best to not swear, unless you have a good reason for it, like if you made an 18+ game like GTA, Duke Nukem, or something of that sort. In that case, add 18+ to the thread title. Don’t use swearing to insult anyone or criticize their games.
Again, try not to post too much, so the community, grazer and I don’t have to read every single post, if the posts didn’t help the topic.
Asking for help
If we can help you, we will try, but keep your questions reasonable, and use as much detail as possible.
Try to use the search bar to find your question, before making a new topic or post. If you want to search for “How do I make an enemy chase me?”, don’t do that. Type “enemy chase” with the “” quotation marks. Quotation marks are for exact word searches. If you just want a tutorial on coins, “coin” “make coins” “make a coin”, and similar searches should bring results.
If you really can’t find your question, make a new help topic, and use as much detail and use the best grammar that you can, so we can understand the problem better in order to help you. Try to make a paragraph, post a link to your game, and if possible, a picture/video/example of another game might help us understand what you’re trying to do.
Don’t have too many topics. If you’re talking about your game, you only need one topic for one game. This topic can be used for questions and game updates.
Don’t harass other members for help. We all are very busy with outside life and our own games. If we help you, it’s because we wanted to. If you make people not want to help you, they won’t.
If you don’t get any replies on your topic, don’t keep posting, especially if the topic has been seen or read a lot. Not all questions can be answered, or some questions have been answered many times and you can find your answer by searching.
Legal
Do not upload any sounds, images, or music to the forums or into your games, if you do not have permission to do so. If you do have permission, please credit the creators of that media you uploaded.
Do not try to sell or upload copyrighted material to the App store or Google play store. Sega might like their fans, but Nintendo doesn’t. Either way, flowlab is not responsible for any copyright infringement of any IP, as you are provided with the tools to code, but what you do with those tools is completely on you. Any lawsuit received for your copyright infringement is on you. Your game (and account if necessary) will be removed if a cease and desist or any copyright lawsuit demands so. Make sure you own the rights to use or have permissions for all your uploaded content.
Do not use flowlab to violate the law. This goes for local and international laws that may apply. You can and will be held responsible for any violations.
Welcome to flowlab.io
Have fun, make friends, and we hope you stay a long time and learn a lot about game development. We would love to see your ideas hit the app store one day.
If you believe there should be any rules added or removed, comment below with a good reason or two why. Otherwise, try to keep this thread empty, so I don’t have to lock it.