Round XIII Production Page

[Blixxard]

Production! Production! Production!

I would like the community to give their input on the retro-image look of the round 13-production page.

You can have a look at the Terran: HERE
You can have a look at the Xandathrii: HERE

As you can see, it looks pre round 10, but added ship images. You can still change the skins, but the ship renders will stay.

I put it to the community to ask questions on the designs and thoughts on it. Would you like to see the images/description hide able option, disable images, or keep on permanently? Please if you are going to criticize the make over give valid reasons. Also could you keep the posts relevant to the thread.

Many Thanks

-----------------------
General consensus so far seems to be the idea of having a “Disable Images” option on preferences.

[mist]

looks pretty

tho, the harpy looks a lil dodgy, and the [edit]xan[/edit] definatly like green :/

-mist

[Kal]

/me wants one of thoose hysperian lancers

[Lunar_Lamp]

Well, there has never been a terran skin I didn't think ugly, but apart from that it looks pretty good (though are the xan ships a little too green?).

Only issue I would have is are the images going to take a long time to load, especially for those users on dial-up. Whilst I think it's a nice touch, I'm not sure if I were using dial-up I'd feel that it was worth those extra seconds each time I loaded the production page. Maybe therefore an option for "graphics light" in the preferences menu would be an idea?

Don't want to appear to be puttin a downer on this though, I like it!

[Blixxard]

Originally Posted by Lunar_Lamp

Well, there has never been a terran skin I didn't think ugly, but apart from that it looks pretty good (though are the xan ships a little too green?).

Only issue I would have is are the images going to take a long time to load, especially for those users on dial-up. Whilst I think it's a nice touch, I'm not sure if I were using dial-up I'd feel that it was worth those extra seconds each time I loaded the production page. Maybe therefore an option for "graphics light" in the preferences menu would be an idea?

Don't want to appear to be puttin a downer on this though, I like it!

Yeah. Would need to see how long a full set takes to load on a 56K. I don't have the information to know how many PA players use dial up to faster connections. Worth looking into

[Lockhead]

Get the Xand a bit less green...

Ter looks pretty.

I wonder if there's any need to add pictures to the production screen. To be honest, i do not look more then a minute or so at that screen. Adding pictures would only slow down the page, waste bandwidth on yur servers, and hardly be looked at, imo.

An option to at least turn those pic's off would be prefferable for me. I guess you need to know if (a certain group of) ppl would want them, to decide if you put in the on/off option or totally lose the pictures.

Also on the ship description i think it's vital to keep a clear understanding of the ship class, what it targets and specials (when available). A story written around the ship is nice, but try to keep it clear towards those 3 items. In case of the Phoenix in the Ter example it doesn't state what class the ships itself is, as you can read in the following:

"The phoenix was commisioned shortly after a terran outpost on Tau Ceti 4 was attacked by a fleet of cathaar Roaches, while the Chimeras were on patrol elsewhere. Designed to destroy enemy Destroyers."

From a designers point of view, i hope that you won't keep those pictures with the background half ereased like at the Xan pic's or pic's with complete different backgrounds like at the Ter pictures, since that would look very unproffesional tbh.

Hopefully some usefull info for ya! ;-)

Greetings,

BSE
Insomnia pe0n

Whilst the images do look pretty cool, I must say that I prefer the current layout where I can view a simple table of all ships and the "calculate bar" all on one screen so that I can adjust the order if it costs too much etc. Similarly, it's handy having the costs all in one column for quick comparison.

Maybe you could have the images and descriptions at the top, then the current table below? (obviously the table wouldn't need the ship descriptions when you click on the name)

[LordBrem]

Images are cool.

[KarnivOre]

if u use dial up then ur screwed! dodgy connection and slow loadin = u get pwned

god knows how much it sucked when i cudnt log on for hours cos i cudnt connect!!!!!!!

[fizzyxl]

Originally Posted by Blixxard

Yeah. Would need to see how long a full set takes to load on a 56K. I don't have the information to know how many PA players use dial up to faster connections. Worth looking into

Why not have an option to turn it off (start with off as default) that way us speedy peeps can have nice rendering, whilst the slow "beepedy beep" peeps can have it off and not loose gameplay

just a thought (dunno if thats possible.... not a great fountain of wisdom when it comes to that stuff)

[Blixxard]

(( In regards to BSE post.
I am sure the brightness on my monitor is playing up, or my eyes. The background is supposed to be black.

Bandwidth on our servers does not matter; again I think tests in beta to see how much is exported from the production page will help. ))

News Players to the game don’t want to see pages of statistics, it looks unappealing and boring. I think it adds that bit of extra sci-fi in.
Also appealing to those players who don’t want to see images – 56kers. Going down that route of disabling in game graphics.

[Dr_Zaius]

Looks sweet

However it does need to have the option to be deactivated for us uber slow ppl

Btw, is this the dream 1:1 universe? 280k score and ranked 6th on tick 5477?

[mist]

there's definatly an off black background around some of the ships. i assumed it was supposed to be arty

-mist

[Blixxard]

Originally Posted by Dr_Zaius

Btw, is this the dream 1:1 universe? 280k score and ranked 6th on tick 5477?

Can Dream.

Originally Posted by mist

there's definatly an off black background around some of the ships. i assumed it was supposed to be arty

Sorry. That will be my eyes or monitor. Brightness is on full. hummmm.

That would be the brightness of your monitor, though it would be your eyes at the last Ter picture. ;-)

I vote for the on/off button, since i see so many ppl getting all exciting when they see the pictures. And since server bandwith isn't an issue, the button would be the best option imo.

As for the nice overview as described by Benson. He has a point there. Keep it practical as much as you would make it "pretty" with those pics and stories. A.k.a the art of webdesign.

Good luck!

BSE
Insomnia pe0n

[MAdnRisKy]

Hope someone has spoken to Petru already.... some of those images look mighty familiar....

[barney]

LEAVE THE XAN SKIN ALONE!!!

no matter how bad xan race is next round im gonna be them cos that green skin is cool!!!

[Ferretus]

I like the skins and even the layout is not as bad as I was expecting it to be (ever the pessimist). However the pictures for example is perhaps something that is better placed in the manual as once you are in game do we really care? I agree with an earlier post that the costs are better in an organised table so we can easily compare costs in order to better spend our cash. Not a big isue as the game progresses but useful nonetheless.

[cypher]

hmmm more importantly... that chick in your avatar.. is that you or someone else? and gimme phone number?:/

[Cochese]

As long as there is a preference to not show them, I'm all for it.

BTW, the "Harpy" looks dodgy because it's actually the old Phoenix design...I think the two images were swapped.

[S3S]

It's a nice addition, however i would like some kind of disable option. Images are too big and i know for sure i will get tired of them after 3 or 4 days and then scroll the page down to build ships will be just a pain.

PS: Xan ships are too green yup, kind of radar image but.. ugly :S

Originally Posted by Blixxard

News Players to the game don’t want to see pages of statistics, it looks unappealing and boring. I think it adds that bit of extra sci-fi in.
Also appealing to those players who don’t want to see images – 56kers. Going down that route of disabling in game graphics.

I can see where you're coming from. Attracting new players is a very important thing to keep in mind. Focusing on current players will only see diminishing trends over time unless the game is still appealing to outside viewers.

I suggest an on/off option for the graphics, as I am a fan of the table layout (I'm new to this round by the way). However, in the interest of adding that sci-fi touch, it would be wise to set the default to 'on'.

But it's important to give the option to turn them off for those in favour of load times. Many people choose their skins according to load times as well, so having these pictures would be diadvantageous...

I love the touch of grafix for the game. But I think they may be more efficient outside of everyday gameplay. I think grafix could be used to beef up the manual, more than the interface. Ship pics and other grafix would touch up the stats page (and other help pages) nicely.

,,,...>~~~***===:Blind0ptik (0ptikanus) <ZearthX> from PA:===***~~~<...,,,

In addition to what I wrote ^^^^^^^^^^^here^^^^^^^^^^^^

on the issue of using on/off buttons. I think that upon signing up, (If you guys go with it being part of the gameplay) users should be asked their connection. Then the switch should be automaticly set to keep grafix off of lagged connects. (this option could be a settings/preferences modification) cheers to the grafix tho. looks good. (maybe some touchups )

,,,...>~~~***===:Blind0ptik (0ptikanus) <ZearthX> from PA:===***~~~<...,,,

[Banned]

Originally Posted by Blixxard

Yeah. Would need to see how long a full set takes to load on a 56K. I don't have the information to know how many PA players use dial up to faster connections. Worth looking into

I think you should consider for a moment that the overview alone takes over a full minute to load on a slow connection. I think the prod screen looks cool, but a low bandwidth intensity skin really is needed.

Edit: Also, don't use JPGs for screenshots, silly.

[Blixxard]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

That would be the brightness of your monitor, though it would be your eyes at the last Ter picture. ;-)

BSE
Insomnia pe0n

It's a Daewoo monitor. What can I say.

Originally Posted by Jinx

I can see where you're coming from. Attracting new players is a very important thing to keep in mind. Focusing on current players will only see diminishing trends over time unless the game is still appealing to outside viewers.

Agreed. Appeasing the new players with pretty images yet having the option to disable them for the current players.

Originally Posted by Banned

Edit: Also, don't use JPGs for screenshots, silly.

Q100 Progressive, True Colour. Or would one prefere .dib

[Banned]

Originally Posted by Blixxard

Q100 Progressive, True Colour. Or would one prefere .dib

PNG or GIF would be prefered. I want to know if the dithering is on the ingame pics or the screenshot.

[Eol]

They do look nice. But the Xand ships are too green - they "really" aren't that green ;-) Think Babylon 5 Vorlon ships - organic greens, browns, yellows.

While we're talking about the "option" to remove the pics ingame for ppl with low bandwidth, how about having the option to see the stats instead of those descriptions, or the descriptions being possible to override (should a player choose to do so) by ones provided by the alliance. For example it would be an obvious and nice place to write "Please don't build Tarantulas, they are the donkey piss."

[Eol]

Originally Posted by Blixxard

Q100 Progressive, True Colour. Or would one prefere .dib

Still lossy. Use PNG please.

Originally Posted by Eol

Still lossy. Use PNG please.

Yikes.. Arrowhead 10k metal, 4k crystal, 6k enonium??

some playing with the stats going on too? hehe

nice ships. look just like Brakiri scum ships from Babylon 5. Boy were they nice ships. Loads of firepower but no damn structure!

[Kal]

Originally Posted by Ferretus

I like the skins and even the layout is not as bad as I was expecting it to be (ever the pessimist). However the pictures for example is perhaps something that is better placed in the manual as once you are in game do we really care? I agree with an earlier post that the costs are better in an organised table so we can easily compare costs in order to better spend our cash. Not a big isue as the game progresses but useful nonetheless.

do people read the manual?

[Eol]

Originally Posted by Kal

do people read the manual?

If all else fails, read the manual.

(or in the case of PA, go to #support)

So, no.

[Kattepis]

There should be an option that it can be turned off.

[mist]

would using css, so that there's versions of the skin with/without the extra graphics be a simple way to turn them on/off?

-mist

[Kal]

its not a skin btw, we are using the same skin system as this round. Its simply the layout of the produciton page, I assume it would be easy enough to offer a choice betwene page layout e.g. current layout and new layout

[mist]

i realised that, but if you add some divs for the pictures, and then in one skin background them + size them, and in another don't, then you can control whether the pictures are shown via the skin, rather than havig extra db lookups.

at least, given my hugely limited css knowledge, i think you could :P

-mist

[Gate]

WINNER!!!!

Have it as an option you can enable when signing up IMO. that way people will notice it. 'Do you want ship graphics on? These can also be turned on/off in game on the preferences screen' etc.

I like it, and it should appeal to newbies... don't like the extra cost though, I prefer HUGE fleets

[Kal]

Originally Posted by Gate

WINNER!!!!
I like it, and it should appeal to newbies... don't like the extra cost though, I prefer HUGE fleets

work has not started on next round stats yet

[Random]

Images of the ships would be nice but not necessarily on the Production Page... I'd prefer to see the pics/ship description used in the manual instead..

[Banned]

Originally Posted by Kal

do people read the manual?

Apparantly not, as those pictures were in the manual a few rounds ago.

i like idea of little thumbnails so that you can see the whole screen without scrolling but then you can click no them too see more detailed pic,

[Ferretus]

Originally Posted by Kal

do people read the manual?

Perhaps if the manual was kept up to date and didn't assume you had played before then maybe players would. To new players reading the manual is what gets you interested and decides whether you are going to sign up. The recent manuals have not done a good job with this (last round for example not having ship stats in it, or was it round before?). Pwetty pictures, no matter how nice they may be are for the manual and not really for the game. Unless of course we can control our fleets with the cursor keys and raid our enemies...YAY

To existing players, we would need to be informed in the manual ALL the changes from the previous rounds, ie ship class changes, init changes as well as the more obvious ones. This allows playrs who have missed a round to see them. Anyways, I'm going off topic...piccies are for manual.

[macros69]

Firstly i like the pictures and the stories behind the ships and would use it for the first time just to read the little bits . But i love the way production is at the moment and is so useful. So i was wondering if you do decide to use graphics and you do have the ability to disable them will the disabled graphics window be the same as it is now and the answer im looking for is a resounding yes

When is round 13 going to start??

[macros69]

Oh and also i know this hasnt got anything to do about production and because of that 1000s of you are going to slaughter me savagely but i think you should have graphics in the battle reports and stories of how your men died tragically in aid of your cause . hell i''d even write the stories if you wanted but yeh thats what i think

[Kileman]

Have it on by default - but definetly have an option to turn it off.

On a side note - I would really love/appreciate black and white plain text "boss" screen skin - one which wouldnt seem "gameish" at work/school etc with no fonts, no graphics, just text.

ta

[Veil05]

Originally Posted by Kileman

Have it on by default - but definetly have an option to turn it off.

On a side note - I would really love/appreciate black and white plain text "boss" screen skin - one which wouldnt seem "gameish" at work/school etc with no fonts, no graphics, just text.

ta

AGREED.
---
and did you render those 3d images yourself? there pretty neat, look a lil tacky thou

[Blixxard]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

When is round 13 going to start??

Keep on topic. fs. No idea.

Originally Posted by Veil05

and did you render those 3d images yourself? there pretty neat, look a lil tacky thou

No. I have my handyman

[noah02]

is kinda cute
Like the idea
And I am sure there will be a lot of galaxy pics with lil pictures of shippies from production screen