Games Outbreak Project

Setup

# Run migrations and seeders
php artisan migrate --seed

# Create the admin user id 1, required for the system lists
php artisan user:create-admin --email=admin@example.com --password=secure_password --force

# Create monthly game lists for the current year
php artisan games:lists:create-monthly --year=2026

# Populate db with games
php artisan igdb:upcoming:update --start-date=2026-01-06 --days=10 

DB

# dump prod db
mysqldump -h xxx.db.laravel.cloud -P 3306 -u <user> -p --single-transaction main > dump-go-main.sql

# import DB
mysql -u root -p games_outbreak < /usr/dumps/dump-go-main.sql

Create Admin User

After initial setup, create an admin user to access admin features:

Interactive Mode (Recommended):

php artisan user:create-admin

The command will prompt for:

• Email address
• Password (hidden input)
• Password confirmation (hidden input)

Non-Interactive Mode:

php artisan user:create-admin --email=admin@example.com --password=secure_password --force

Security Notes:

• Use strong passwords (minimum 8 characters enforced)
• Never commit admin credentials to git
• Run command directly on server via SSH for production
• Password is automatically hashed using Laravel's bcrypt

Goal

This project is a web application for managing game lists and tracking game statuses.

Features

• Track your game collection and statuses (Playing, Beaten, Completed, etc.)
• Organize games into custom lists
• Backlog: a dedicated list for games you plan to play
• Wishlist: a dedicated list for games you want to buy
• Quickly add/remove games to/from Backlog and Wishlist with one-click icons on each game card
• Admin panel for managing users, games, and lists

Game Lists

Each user can have:

• Multiple regular lists (custom named lists)
• One backlog list (automatically created if missing)
• One wishlist list (automatically created if missing)

List Types

Type	Description	Unique per user
regular	User-created custom lists	No
backlog	Games the user plans to play	Yes
wishlist	Games the user wants to buy	Yes

Backlog

• The backlog is a special list with type = 'backlog'.
• It is created automatically when the user visits My Games.
• Users can add/remove games to/from their backlog.
• Displayed under the Backlog tab on /my-games.

Wishlist

• The wishlist is a special list with type = 'wishlist'.
• It is created automatically when the user visits My Games.
• Users can add/remove games to/from their wishlist.
• Displayed under the Wishlist tab on /my-games.
• Useful for tracking games you want to buy or try in the future.

Monthly Game Lists

Monthly game lists are system lists that showcase games releasing in a specific month. These lists are automatically created and managed by administrators.

Characteristics

• Type: System lists (is_system = true)
• Visibility: Public (is_public = true)
• Active Status: Controlled by is_active flag and date ranges (start_at, end_at)
• Slug: Auto-generated from month name (e.g., january-2026)
• Access: Viewable by all users via /list/{slug} route

Creation

Create monthly lists for a specific year using the Artisan command:

php artisan games:lists:create-monthly --year=2026

This creates 12 lists (one for each month) with:

• Start date: First day of the month
• End date: Last day of the month
• Auto-generated unique slugs
• Public and active flags set

Display

• Homepage: The active monthly list (within current date range) is displayed as "Featured Games"
• Monthly Releases Page: Full list view at /monthly-releases
• Public Slug View: Accessible at /list/{slug} for any active/public list

Management

• Lists are created by admin user (user_id = 1)
• Games are added manually by admin or via seeders
• Lists can be activated/deactivated via is_active flag
• Date ranges control when lists appear on the homepage

Seasonal Banners

The homepage features seasonal event banners displayed at the top of the page, above the Featured Games section.

Image Specifications

Location: Place banner images in public/images/ directory

Recommended Sizes:

• Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (rectangular)
• Two Banners Side-by-Side:
  • Minimum: 1200px × 675px
  • Optimal: 1600px × 900px
  • Maximum: 1920px × 1080px (Full HD)
• Single Banner (Full Width):
  • Optimal: 1920px × 1080px (Full HD)

File Format: JPG or WebP (optimized for web, < 500KB per image recommended)

Usage: Update banner data in resources/views/homepage/index.blade.php:

<x-seasonal-banners :banners="[
    [
        'image' => '/images/seasonal-event-1.jpg',
        'link' => route('monthly-releases'),
        'title' => 'January Releases',
        'description' => 'Discover the best games releasing this month',
        'alt' => 'January Releases Banner'
    ],
    [
        'image' => '/images/seasonal-event-2.jpg',
        'link' => route('upcoming'),
        'title' => 'Upcoming Games',
        'description' => 'See what\'s coming soon',
        'alt' => 'Upcoming Games Banner'
    ]
]" />

Layout Behavior:

• 2 Banners: Displayed side-by-side on desktop, stacked on mobile
• 1 Banner: Spans full width on all screen sizes
• Responsive: Automatically adapts to screen size

Note: For retina/high-DPI displays, use 2x resolution (e.g., 1920px × 1080px for standard, 3840px × 2160px for retina).

Release Dates & Statuses

Games can have multiple release dates per platform, each with a different status (e.g., Early Access, Full Release, Advanced Access).

Features

• Detailed Release Information: See all release dates for each platform, not just the earliest
• Status Badges: Color-coded status indicators show the type of release:
  • 🟢 Full Release - The official 1.0 release
  • 🟣 Advanced Access - Early access for pre-orders or special editions
  • 🔵 Early Access - Public testing/beta release
  • 🟡 Alpha / 🟠 Beta - Development builds
  • 🔴 Cancelled - Cancelled releases
  • 📱 Digital Comp. - Backward compatible digital releases
  • ⚡ Next-Gen Patch - Performance optimization updates
• Platform Colors: Each platform group has its own color (PlayStation = Blue, Xbox = Green, Nintendo = Red, PC = Gray)
• Expandable View: Click a platform to see all its release dates when there are multiple

Sync Release Statuses

Release date statuses are fetched from IGDB and stored locally for better performance:

php artisan igdb:sync-release-date-statuses

This command:

• Fetches all release date status types from IGDB
• Stores them in the release_date_statuses table with abbreviations
• Caches the data for fast lookups
• Should be run once during setup (statuses rarely change)

Display

On the game details page, release dates are grouped by platform and show:

• Platform name with colored border
• Earliest release date prominently displayed
• Badge showing count of additional releases (if any)
• Expandable list showing all releases with dates and status badges

Example:

PC 15/10/2025 [+2] 
• 15/10/2025 [Adv. Access] 
• 30/10/2025 [Full Release] 
• 15/11/2025 [Next-Gen Patch]