New Splash Page

[Stealth]

Not sure who designed that splash page, but it's quite.. ugly as hell is the phrase I'm looking for.

Get someone good, and change it.

[General Martok]

You design something better then?

[Stealth]

Originally Posted by General Martok

You design something better then?

I would, but I'm quite lazy. I don't do many things without being asked. No point in designing something that might not be used.

[alch]

I would, but I'm quite lazy. I don't do many things without being asked. No point in designing something that might not be used.

then shush.
If guys like you (the one who blame all the time and claim thing go wrong) would help instead of b*tching, i am sure Planetarion would have decent GFX by now.
And tbh, people are designing PA GFX for free, and they dont have to, and i am sure some of them have no time to do complexe GFX and put into it so much time while the outcome of it would be 0.
at least these guys actually do something for the community.

so shush :P

[Leshy]

So if I have a spasm in MS Paint, write "PALETNARION" over it and PA uses it as their front graphic, everyone should say it's good because at least I did something?

As for the graphic, it's a tad bland. Would look better if it was vertically centered too

[alch]

No, Leshy. i say i dont think that coming to the boards and yelling "Booo the GFX are ugly" and then signing off is the best solution, if you idd do that, give some constructive Remarks then i am sure you will be forgiven for your lack of tact.

[Leshy]

I'll grant you that going "Boo hiss!" and disappearing is hardly the best solution, however the "Can you do better?" response is equally useless.

[alch]

it was more like, if you dont have nothing usefull to say shut up.
i didnt intend to say "do better" as i dont expect him to do GFX at all, i dont know if he is any good and i dont expect him to help at all. i just expect people to take thing in proportions and give decent remarks in order to help and not flaming.

apology if i mistaken you (and other) with my vague answer.

[pablissimo]

The font is ugly, and not very readable for the 'A Legend Reborn' part
The link font for the five buttons at the top is totally different to the font for the buttons on the portal ruining any attempt at flow
The colours look washed out in comparison to the main portal page
My eye isn't drawn to anything in particular in the image, it's just all over the place
The buttons at the top look flat, cheap and nasty

On the portal itself:
Everything is going on at the very extremes of the page but where your eye actually is appears bland and flat
Nearly half a screen of space is wasted before there's any actual 'content'
The buttons on the right, though having pretty pictures, have utterly awful text that's fuzzy and in the case of the Forums link doesn't even make the button fit properly into the bar
There's not even a consistent colour scheme; yellow links? Why?
The grey banners upon which news item titles appear are flat and dull
Why in god's name is there some plain-text saying 'Planetarion portal' at the top right?
Why exactly do I need to be informed of the date and time? I hear computers have clocks now



Ok apparently I hate the portal more than the splash.

[alch]

oh. this is what i think constructive.

[mist]

on the plus side, it means i don't have to load the news in order to get to the forums

-mist

[The Real Arfy]

I still think the best portal ever was the blue and black one from r4... vital stats and links down the side, news that was actually updated, not very graphics-heavy yet it still looked good

[alch]

yes!
real arfy is right - totally right - was the best portal i have seen for PA :/

[Tactitus]

Yeah, the portal pretty much peaked in R4.

[alch]

that was awesome - the community looked good theses times, competition and do you remember the T-shirt top model competition? that we had to find out who was the girl with the Tshirt of planetarion - what actress it was ?

[The Real Arfy]

wooo!!! bring back the portal!!!

maybe they kept it, unlike the game code

[Stealth]

Well perhaps if I made a splash screen that I knew would be used, I would make it, but until then I have more important projects to get done.

Don't expect the community to do everything.

[Blixxard]

Originally Posted by Stealth

Not sure who designed that splash page, but it's quite.. ugly as hell is the phrase I'm looking for.

Get someone good, and change it.

I did the GFX. If you can do better please try. Considering I did the gfx for next to free, I think the splash page isn't too bad. If you know any gfx designers who would do the gfx for free I would love to know.

[The Real Arfy]

Get every player to do one graphic each and then make a coolage

[The Real Arfy]

sorry thats, collage, but it would be pretty cool

[thaeter]

i think it looks pretty good. Its more for functionallity than anything else and it does a good job. Everything is layed out clearly and its got a pretty cool blend.

[Stealth]

It's 5 am, and I'm bored, so I took around 15 minute to make my own splash:



Not that I expect it to be used.

[thaeter]

Originally Posted by Stealth

.... it's quite.. ugly as hell is the phrase I'm looking for...

that about sums it up.

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by Stealth

It's 5 am, and I'm bored, so I took around 15 minute to make my own splash:

Not that I expect it to be used.

If that ship image in the background hasn't been ripped from somewhere, then I'd say implement it straight away. Looks fairly excellent

Although in my humble opinion, the list of text on the right-hand side could use a bit less opacity

[thaeter]

no man that looks like chit, just a ship image with a bunch of text. our current own owns.

[Stealth]

Originally Posted by thaeter

no man that looks like chit, just a ship image with a bunch of text. our current own owns.

Owns? It looks like someone just threw that crap together with no sense of style. The text is ugly, the borders on the button are way to big. The entire images' resolution looks crappy, the wind effect is ugly on the gray swirl crap. And I have no idea what's up with the planets.

Not to sound offensive here, but you have no tast in graphics.

[Blixxard]

It's your opinion. I got asked to do the gfx by Pateam so they must have seen something. I do gfx for other people as well and they seem to be more than happy. I do gfx for other games which I would not be allowed to post on the forums.
Your a very hard person to please.

[Stealth]

Originally Posted by Blixxard

It's your opinion. I got asked to do the gfx by Pateam so they must have seen something. I do gfx for other people as well and they seem to be more than happy. I do gfx for other games which I would not be allowed to post on the forums.
Your a very hard person to please.

I concur, but I've also been making graphics for 3 years. Even so, I'm still not great at it, but I know a good graphic when I see it.

[Qdeathstar]

I think the front page l00ks purty, asside from the Jolt stamp... I mean, there arnt a lot of graphics to work with.. and it simply takes too long to make something from scratch to use 1 round and then disgard and come up with something new... it looks nice, if you dont like it make another one... and then we can tell you why yours sucks ass.

And people bagging on paint.. sure its not the Best graphics creation program.. but ive seen some of the most unique and funny material come out of paint.. its the creator thats most important, not how it is created.

[Makhil]

The problem with the current page is not it's graphic. Its the usefulness of such a page. Most of the players have bookmarked the pages they visit the most. This splash page should be intended to new players, then it's the content that as to be developed.
About Stealth proposal,i'd say this is a very nice background image congrats for designing it in 15 mins.
Apart from that spectacular picture, the rest is an insult made to any designer. Webpage design is not about putting some fancy lines here and there, it is about usability (how fast to download), ergonomy (where do I click ?), layout (isthe info readable ?). Would make a nice gal banner though.

[Stealth]

Originally Posted by Makhil

The problem with the current page is not it's graphic. Its the usefulness of such a page. Most of the players have bookmarked the pages they visit the most. This splash page should be intended to new players, then it's the content that as to be developed.
About Stealth proposal,i'd say this is a very nice background image congrats for designing it in 15 mins.
Apart from that spectacular picture, the rest is an insult made to any designer. Webpage design is not about putting some fancy lines here and there, it is about usability (how fast to download), ergonomy (where do I click ?), layout (isthe info readable ?). Would make a nice gal banner though.

It's called an image map, and could easily be sliced into pieces. Besides, I only made that so people could stop with the "why don't you make your own comments".

Maybe you should know a little more about how I design before you start dishing out insults. I think I know what webdesigning is about.

Also, what you said is ALSO an insult. I could put together a crappy website with horribly crappy tables in about 10 minutes and have it be the most organized thing in the world, but it's absolutely worthless if the design makes you puke.

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by Makhil

Apart from that spectacular picture, the rest is an insult made to any designer. Webpage design is not about putting some fancy lines here and there, it is about usability (how fast to download), ergonomy (where do I click ?), layout (isthe info readable ?). Would make a nice gal banner though.

Why exactly is Stealth's design worse than the current splash page then? It has the links in a more logical place than the current one and next to each other in a straight line which makes them easier readable than the current ones arching the graphic.

Also, if he can get the total image under the 60kB mark, it's not bigger to download.

[Kal]

Originally Posted by Blixxard

It's your opinion. I got asked to do the gfx by Pateam so they must have seen something. I do gfx for other people as well and they seem to be more than happy. I do gfx for other games which I would not be allowed to post on the forums.
Your a very hard person to please.

i for one think the splase screen is very clear and easy to read and the the graphics are good.

The portal looks a bit balnd at resolutions over 1024*768, but still looks ok.

As to the menus on the right all that is needed is a change to the "stretchy" bit at the bottom do it blaneds into the forums link a bit better.

Also the portal is not just about graphics, its about the passport and how everything will work from round 12 onwards.

[Makhil]

Originally Posted by Stealth

Not sure who designed that splash page, but it's quite.. ugly as hell is the phrase I'm looking for.

Get someone good, and change it.

^^^^
You started the thread with the insult, and it was really unfair, as a webdesigner you should know better.
your proposal is far to heavy in kb (with the added weight of mapping... argh), the navigation menu should be somewhere at the top as it is the most important thing, the reason why people come there, the text on the picture will not be easy to read, not impossible, but not easy.
Apart from your nice pic, i think the current page is way better than yours.

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by Makhil

your proposal is far to heavy in kb (with the added weight of mapping... argh)

*cough* utter bollocks *cough*

the navigation menu should be somewhere at the top as it is the most important thing

There is no navigation, so that theory doesn't work. It's a splash page containing several links; as long as they are not in the bottom left corner in 8pt Verdana, it's ok.

the text on the picture will not be easy to read, not impossible, but not easy.

The text is very clearly legible, even on what I presume is a smaller version of the full-size graphic he posted above.

[Stealth]

Again, my splash wasn't to be taken too seriously. But I can always modify it and make it smaller if it's a problem. But of course I doubt PA would use it.

[Makhil]

Originally Posted by Leshy

*cough* utter bollocks *cough*
There is no navigation, so that theory doesn't work. It's a splash page containing several links; as long as they are not in the bottom left corner in 8pt Verdana, it's ok.
The text is very clearly legible, even on what I presume is a smaller version of the full-size graphic he posted above.

your bollocks are bigger than mine,not sure if I should be glad or sad though

[Leshy]

You speak bollocks, because I see little reason why his graphic should be substantially bigger in size than the current one. Additionally, the code for an image map will be smaller than the amount of code required to fit all images slices into a table.

Furthermore, a splash page does not contain navigation, as there's nothing to navigate. It's simply a page which links to several off-site pages. You pass through it and don't return there. That means you are pretty much free to place the links wherever on the page, provided they are visible at first glance, legible and not spread out all over the page. Stealth's page actually has better link placement than the current splash page.

And as said, the text is perfectly legible.

[Makhil]

Originally Posted by Leshy

You speak bollocks, because I see little reason why his graphic should be substantially bigger in size than the current one. Additionally, the code for an image map will be smaller than the amount of code required to fit all images slices into a table.

Furthermore, a splash page does not contain navigation, as there's nothing to navigate. It's simply a page which links to several off-site pages. You pass through it and don't return there. That means you are pretty much free to place the links wherever on the page, provided they are visible at first glance, legible and not spread out all over the page. Stealth's page actually has better link placement than the current splash page.

And as said, the text is perfectly legible.

1. the main graphic in the current portal is less than 40 kb while the 'small version' of Stealth page (670x320) is over 120 kb (only the image).

2. By navigation i meant a link you'll click on that will bring you to another place. I think they should be prioritized coz they're the reason for making the page in the 1st place.

3. the text being perfectly legible, could you please read me the 5th line ? thx (let's forget for now one of the typography basic rules stating than in order to be easy to read, a text should limit the width of each line... ).

[Blixxard]

Originally Posted by Makhil

The problem with the current page is not it's graphic. Its the usefulness of such a page. Most of the players have bookmarked the pages they visit the most. This splash page should be intended to new players, then it's the content that as to be developed.
About Stealth proposal,i'd say this is a very nice background image congrats for designing it in 15 mins.
Apart from that spectacular picture, the rest is an insult made to any designer. Webpage design is not about putting some fancy lines here and there, it is about usability (how fast to download), ergonomy (where do I click ?), layout (isthe info readable ?). Would make a nice gal banner though.

Yes. Once again thanks to Makhil for posting a very constructive argument on how it could be improved.

You either like it or hate it. I am not personally too bothered it seems enough ppl like it for me to do the gfx for RD12. So quit moaning, it up now nothing much you can do.

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by Makhil

1. the main graphic in the current portal is less than 40 kb while the 'small version' of Stealth page (670x320) is over 120 kb (only the image).

As he said, it's something he quickly threw together, and not by any means a final version. By your logic, Doom 3 will require a nuclear fusion reactor powering it, because the Alpha ran below 30fps on the most powerful machines.

2. By navigation i meant a link you'll click on that will bring you to another place.

Navigation is a menu system that you use to navigate a page. A splash page can't be navigated, it is simply a single page of links. Where they appear on the page is of no importance whatsoever. In fact, this is the first splash page where the links are actually at the top end of the page; frankly a splash page consisting of an image with links below is far more common and familiar.

3. the text being perfectly legible, could you please read me the 5th line ? thx (let's forget for now one of the typography basic rules stating than in order to be easy to read, a text should limit the width of each line... ).

Somehow, I figure the textual lines on the right are there for decorative purposes. If they're not, then it remains to be seen how legible they are on a full-size screen, instead of a scaled down image.

[Makhil]

you just can't let down,you want to have the final word even if you have to use a ridiculous argumentation, no matter how much you insist it won't make you right.
1. i just said the current page is lighter in kb and thats an advantage
2. you have your definition of navigation, i have mine.
3. again, i never said it would be unreadable, but that it won't make it easy.

Thus i think that a proposal heavier, not focussed on the main information and harder to read is not worth considering. Again the main image is great in Stealth proposal, but that alone can't fool a real webdesigner.

[Leshy]

Originally Posted by Makhil

1. i just said the current page is lighter in kb and thats an advantage

The current page is lighter in kB than a quick draft that likely has not been optimized in any way. That makes any comparison useless.

2. you have your definition of navigation, i have mine.

The argument "Well, my definition of a well-defined definition is different" never really holds.

3. again, i never said it would be unreadable, but that it won't make it easy.

If it's decorative, it's not meant to be read.

but that alone can't fool a real webdesigner.

Maybe you should ask one for an opinion then.

Pro's of Stealth's design:
+ Links are closely together making for a much easier overview of which ones there are
+ Looks way better than the current greytone image
+ Looks more consistent with many other splash pages around the internet
+ Gives a much more accurate rendition of what Planetarion is - a war game with spaceships


+ Oh, look, now it's smaller than the current splash page

[Stealth]

Now to bad the creators won't actually do something about it.

And thanks Leshy.

[Hicks]

You guys just got served big style, that's 20000 time better than the current page.

Pld Stealth.

[Razorback]

Stealth page looks like for a wargame with combat and ships, the current one looks like the cover for sim planet IV.
No customer transfer of images and certainly not appealing or eye catching.
Plus with the text section it could transfer much more informations or some slogans to the future players, something which is totally missing on the current page. Where is the "fight others realtime and struggle to be the best etc etc"

[Kal]

Originally Posted by Razorback

Stealth page looks like for a wargame with combat and ships, the current one looks like the cover for sim planet IV.
No customer transfer of images and certainly not appealing or eye catching.
Plus with the text section it could transfer much more informations or some slogans to the future players, something which is totally missing on the current page. Where is the "fight others realtime and struggle to be the best etc etc"

at last a good point - not enough marketting potential is being made out of the www.planetarion.com site

[Blixxard]

I would go with that Kal. Taken Razorback's comment to do something about it - well gfx wise.

[alch]

i have allready said it like 100000 times to everyone involved in the PA running, your marketing suck suck suck suck big time.
nothing has been done to make PA grow bigger, not even a single action marketing-wise to bring users back to PA or bring new players to PA. to bring them is one thing but make them stay and play and pay is another thing, until you will find the right marketing solution and use the right tools and know how to market PA, and adapt the portal and much more, i dont think you can expect PA to grow back to what it was.

[Dragon]

Intresting, I think that would be a very good splash page. But I dont think that is the main atraction, like alch said that dosent make people KEEP playing and paying. Its the game that mtters the most.