I've actually never seen any forums dedicated to game programming. So yours is the first. Looking good

Exposure is pretty important. Find some suitable sites to advertise your forum on and most important, get some active posters.

I didnt get to see the old style, but the current one is looking alright .

Font colors are fitting your theme good and navigation is pretty easy straight forward

I dont think that the red is so bad at all .. I would probably change the black font to something brigther, but besides that, im liking what I see .. Easy and quick navigation