The "Review my Campaign" thread

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  • SkidAce
    SkidAce
    Posts: 830
    Thats a nice interactive map. So nice I want to rip mine to shreds and start over..../grin.

    Well done.
  • NinjaFlashX
    NinjaFlashX
    Posts: 94
    Ugh! Robertkety.... I'm with SkidAce... looks AWESOME! /hatechyoonowjustkidding

    Flash
    "Heroes Unchained":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/heroesunchained - _Where Slaves Become Legends_

    Heroes Unchained: CotM 2013

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    @robertkety- Yes, you should do a separate thread completely.
    That being said- holy crap man! Code please, share code please!!
    killervp
    "A God...Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/a-god-rebuilt
    "Duskreign's First Ever COTM":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/wyrmshadow/wiki_pages/112011
    "OP's COTM April 2012":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/a-god-rebuilt-aprils-cotm/

    Just trying to help out.

  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006
    Yikes!!!!!
    That interactive map is WAY COOL.
    And sets a new BENCHMARK I believe.

    twiggyleaf
    "Shimring - The Faces of Divinity":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shimring
    "Campaign of the Month - August 2012":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shimring-augusts-cotm/
    Campaign in Planning: "Mysteria":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/mysteria - set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • Sorceress
    Sorceress
    Posts: 25
    Hey all,

    So this is my first attempt at making a wiki for one of my games. I have/had little to no knowledge or experience with CSS or HTML(or textile honestly). So
    everything you see has been done through trial & error and the slow process of learning. "Kettle":http://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/kettle & "Kathea":http://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/Kathea
    have been a great help to me so far, and I think it's time I start expanding the input from outside my group of friends/players.

    Admittedly, I've found myself leaning on making tables A LOT. If you could have a look around, I'd appreciate. Keep in mind it's not really totally done.
    I don't have any information on my PCs as of yet, so most of it is geared around using some of my NPCs as placeholders. There are a lot of links that
    simply go nowhere, and a lot of things that look like links that aren't yet. I am making it a point to draw almost all of my own artwork (the exception
    being Maps).

    I'm trying to make something unique and fun, for myself, my players and hopefully anyone who browses the wiki. I don't think I'd call it traditional in any sense
    of the word, but maybe I'm just a little nervous. Anyways, it's public and I am looking forward to seeing what you think, and how I can make things better.

    Be advised - I've created it at 1920x1080 (so I dunno if that's bad or not) also it's mostly optimized for Firefox & Chrome. I do imagine some of the formatting
    is off for other programs. I know it's completely broken in Internet Explorer.

    Thanks in advance,
    Sorceress

    The Wiki
    "The Hero Academy":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/the-hero-academy
  • gaaran
    gaaran
    Posts: 740
    I've only had a couple of minutes to check out the site, but I really like the old school, webcomic-y feel of the site. Just a couple of nitpick-y things about the design. The background ends up tiling, depending on the shape and size of the window (which might be just fine with you), and the nav tabs carry over to a second line (I'm viewing it in chrome). If you just slide them slightly to the left, it looks like they would all fit. Lastly, and I don't blame you if you don't want to mess with it, is the black backgrounded OP logo in the top left looks funny over the blue background. On Dark Queen of the West, I copied their logo and made it transparent. I understand if you don't want to mess with the stuff in the "red" areas of the site though.

    Other than that, you're off to a very good start. I like the use of the mouseovers for the links, and everything has the _feel_ I think you're trying to go for, which can sometimes be hard to do.

    I intend to revisit the site later when I have more time, just wanted to say that it's off to a great start.

    Gaaran
    GM - "The Melekar Chronicles":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/melekar
    Player/Co-Designer - "The Dark Queen of the West":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/the-dark-queen-of-the-west
  • Sorceress
    Sorceress
    Posts: 25
    Hmm, strange.. it's fine on my chrome.. can you think of a reason why it would be wrapping on yours? It had originally done so on mine but I fixed it..

    Sorceress
    GM: "The Hero Academy":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/the-hero-academy
  • gaaran
    gaaran
    Posts: 740
    Hmmm.... no, I'm not sure. i can see what you're trying to go for, having the characters on the background, on either side of the main content, but for me, the background is set pinned to the left, so if I make it full screen (1920x1080) there are the characters on the left, a large black space, and then on the right the characters are partially hidden behind the content, before tiling again (sorry, I used the word wrap when I meant to use the word tile in my previous post).
  • Sorceress
    Sorceress
    Posts: 25
    Yeah... I'm still trying to work out how I get my background to work properly. I've got it looking good for me, but I can't really tell how it's going to look on others. It's posed a problem for me
    that haven't been able to remedy. Is there someway to make so the background doesn't tile...?

    You mentioned that the Nav Bar wrapped, which is what I was talking about before. I don't understand why it wraps in your chrome and not in mine. I did notice that on the comments
    tab that the nav bar seems to bleed into the sidebar, but only on that particular tab and none of the others.

    Thanks for checking out my wiki.
  • gaaran
    gaaran
    Posts: 740
    Ah... right right, sorry, I'm a little distracted with work at all :P. I'm not sure why the NavBar looks different then, but mine could be a fringe case if it works for you (I'm also on OSX if that could possibly matter). For the background, you can use (the four different includes cover all the different web rendering engines):

    -webkit-background-size: cover;
    -moz-background-size: cover;
    -o-background-size: cover;
    background-size: cover;

    This will make the background scale with the window size, which isn't exactly what you're looking for with your particular image. (That's what I used "here":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/the-dark-queen-of-the-west) Otherwise, what you can do is set the background to black, and have two separate backgrounds at fixed positions. One on the left and one on the right. That will require a little work to figure out the exact positioning.
  • Sorceress
    Sorceress
    Posts: 25
    Alright, I put the 4 lines of code into my style sheet. I dunno if that will help matters or not, but the second idea with the 2 fixed images might be good considering I am going to have 4 PCs and I plan to
    put them in the background 2 on either side but if this looks good then I won't have to worry about trying to code that. Note: I had to tweak the image once I made the code changes because it wasn't completely
    visible. It is now, to me anyways. Lemme know.

    I also made the OP Logo transparent which was easy enough.
  • gaaran
    gaaran
    Posts: 740
    That looks pretty solid when I'm at full resolution, but when you scale the window down it starts to not look as great (the background size shrinks based on the upper left corner as the point of reference, so eventually the images start getting covered up and the space on both sides doesn't remain symmetrical). I think your best bet will be two fixed images to cover all resolutions. With the two images, you can also have your characters aligned right along the sides of the content, instead of along the outer borders of the page. Definitely looking good though :)
  • Kallak
    Kallak
    Posts: 1,090 edited June 2013
    @Sorceress, site is looking pretty nice (as was said before, the web-comic style is great), though i will caution you to not go TOO crazy on it until we see what damage the changes from the OP reforge will do.
    Post edited by Kallak on
    All the best,
    - Kallak
  • Sorceress
    Sorceress
    Posts: 25
    @Kallak

    Thanks, and yes.. Kettle has been saying the same things. I suppose I'll deal with those problems when they arise. I really don't consider myself much of an artist which made the whole
    web-comic type theme somewhat difficult but I'm resolved to make it work and I think my players enjoy the concept as well.
  • gaaran
    gaaran
    Posts: 740
    Hey, if you've been doing the art, I really like the style of it.
  • Sorceress
    Sorceress
    Posts: 25
    Thank you, Gaaran. Yeah, it's almost all me - except the maps. I really look forward to see what kind of characters my PCs come up with. I am very much looking forward to getting their artwork done
    so I can remove all my place holders and make it more about them and less about my NPCs. I've been focusing on my Bestiary to a degree trying to finalize what the wiki pages will look like. So far I have
    "Monster Page":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/the-hero-academy/wikis/hold2 which is a basic entry for a monster. I don't know if I want to do art for them or not, but it feels kind of barren.

    Also I have a "Magic Items Page":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/the-hero-academy/wikis/hold1 which is a recent addition.

    Thanks again for your insights
  • gaaran
    gaaran
    Posts: 740
    Ah, I noticed something else interesting. On the two pages you linked me the NavBar was working fine, so I thought maybe I had missed something. But on those pages, the NavBar titles haven't been changed. If those are just placeholders, I understand why you didn't bother, but otherwise, thought I'd point it out.

    I really like the "anatomy of a hero", that's a pretty great idea. :)
  • ReverseG
    ReverseG
    Posts: 17
    I guess I'm going to take the plunge here and ask for advice regarding our campaign:

    "Central City Adventures":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/descha-central-city-adventures

    As I am located an equator away from an entire party of players the site (and OP) has become critical for discussions and the sharing of information. Additionally, the world this campaign is built on hails all the way back from 2000 (my first and longest-running campaign) and we're trying to remember/codify our knowledge, and retcon where necessary.

    It'd be nice to hear somebody else's opinion on the site and how it looks from outside, as my team of editor-monkeys is currently much too polite to tell me otherwise.

    Thanks in advance!
  • j4yj4y
    j4yj4y
    Posts: 11
    Hey there! So I've been working over the past few weeks to get all the data and meta data from my campaign (D&D4e) extracted from Google Docs and loaded into the site. I think I'm about 80% complete but I think it's complete enough to share. Feel free to take a look and let me know what you think or if there's anything that's confusing or could use revision. Thanks so much!

    http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/feywin
  • Sir_David
    Posts: 1
    I am starting a new character for a pathfinder society game. I want to make a gnome bard with possibly multiclassing sorcerer. anyone have any advice for my build? archetypes? spells? feats? I would like to start him off as best I can. any advice would be greatly appreciated.
  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    ReverseG and j4yj4y- If no one else has gotten to you I will give reviews this weekend...
    killervp
    "A God...Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/a-god-rebuilt
    "Duskreign's First Ever COTM":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/wyrmshadow/wiki_pages/112011
    "OP's COTM April 2012":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/a-god-rebuilt-aprils-cotm/

    Just trying to help out.

  • ReverseG
    ReverseG
    Posts: 17
    @killervp - thanks muchly!
  • j4yj4y
    j4yj4y
    Posts: 11
    Thanks Killervp! Looking forward to it! =)
  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    That doesn't mean wait for me, reviewers- anyone else want to step in?...

    Just trying to help out.

  • Kallak
    Kallak
    Posts: 1,090 edited June 2013
    *Campaign:* "Feywin":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/feywin
    *GM:* "j4yj4y":http://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/j4yj4y

    *Theme/Layout:* The biggest issue with this campaign in terms of theme is white/dead space. There is a LOT of it on many tabs/pages. From the character and item boxes not extending the full available width to certain adventure log entries where text could be floated beside an image that takes up half or less of the page. This issue is compounded by the fact that the banner is just the campaign name on a blank white field. The banner desperately needs to be expanded upon to fix this issue. Even if only some manner of stylized flourish is added in the background, or a colored 'plate' for the name to be kinda stamped onto. Anything really, just kill that huge block of white space. Myself, I would be tempted to incorporate the wrought iron looking dividers you have into a banner frame, or the like, as this would help tie the theme together in a subtle way.

    Outside of that, I think it's an excellent start. The artwork is awesome, and the font that is used on the site is very nice - it sort of adds a flavor all on its own. There are a few small things you could do to improve on what you have. Firstly, the divider and footer graphics that you have should be carried over to the rest of the wiki, for the sake of theme if not completeness. Second, I'd consider implementing some manner of reverse navigation to make browsing easier.

    *Wiki:* The wiki is straightforward enough, and easy to follow. Again, reverse navigation would be an improvement, but otherwise no major issues here.

    *Characters/Items:* I'm a bit confused as to why icons are used instead of the portraits on the characters, when many of them obviously have pictures (most of these are great by the way. /love Madam Dupuax). Associations and the like are already established in the tags section, so I think using the icons is a loss in comparison to the fantastic artwork. Other than this issue, the usual gripes abound, missing images or backstories on characters, etc.. the stuff that is on every campaign ever.

    *Forums/Maps:* These tabs should be given the display:none treatment if they aren't going to be used. Just adds to the dead space problem.

    *Logs:* The logs are probably the best out of everything on the site, minus the minor white space issues spoken of earlier. Keep it up.
    Post edited by Kallak on
    All the best,
    - Kallak
  • j4yj4y
    j4yj4y
    Posts: 11
    Thanks for the notes Kallak!

    I can see what you're saying about the white space and I'll work on reducing that. I'll play with left justifying the media as well so that the logs wrap along the side of the entry artwork as well. The banner is kind of a place holder as I felt it important to get the actual content into the site first. Now that it's pretty much current, I'll see what I can do to get the banner a bit more engaging and a nice background added. To be honest, I lifted a bunch of the CSS Script for various sites as I've never really worked with CSS before so you make great points about how the items aren't using the width of the site etc. I'll look into those as well and see what I can do about it! =)

    I'll get the header and footer spread throughout the site as well and I think your absolutely right about reverse navigation. I found it a bit cumbersome for me to navigate so I'm sure the players might as well!

    Character: I haven't fleshed this out 100% yet but the idea behind the icons was to define the organization or group the character belonged too. Skulls showed characters that were dead, coins showed merchants, diamonds with circles are members of the underworld or shadow markets, tree were druidic orders or members of the fae wild and the tri-moon's were lords of a realm. I was going to possibly tie those into meta tags so that they could be sorted as I expect my NPC list to get pretty long. Your confusion shows that I need to build a legend to explain that better if I keep with the idea. I might change that around and go the standard way of showing a thumbnail of the art on the character page instead.

    Forums/Maps: I plan on using these when we go live with the site. I actually hope to sketch the known world out on my battle mat, take a picture of it and then load it in. I can get those tabs disabled until that's ready though. =)

    Logs: Glad you enjoyed them!

    Thanks for the thorough review! =)
  • Kallak
    Kallak
    Posts: 1,090 edited June 2013
    @j4yj4y, the characters idea is actually a nice one now that it's been laid out. I think a better way to pull it off would be to have a nice (subtle) background for the long box that is tailored based on those things. Then you can have the image AND the setup that you'd like.
    Post edited by Kallak on
    All the best,
    - Kallak
  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    Thanks Kallak! Great review!

    Just trying to help out.

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998 edited July 2013
    Review of ReverseG's "DesCha-Central City Adventures":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/feywin
    *Start Page-* Good banner, but not great. Standard background of modern city. No background for type- just black on white. Nothing here grabs me except that you are using 1 page for 2 campaigns....

    *Adventure Logs-* Interesting that it is called Central City, but all the logs are Forward Vision- very dis-congruent. The logs are more like forum posts, very, very, short, and I have no idea what a, b, or c means, or any idea who the author is. The few longer entries tell of a school, and there seems to be powers, sports are a big deal... but we really don't know much if you go by the logs. Remember, many people check out the logs first, to see if it is an interesting story. This is especially true on campaigns that do not put a lot of fancy visuals up.

    *Wiki-* Basic set up. You obviously have a detailed world, but it does not shine through. There are some good pages hidden in the wiki- my favorite was Deimos.

    *Characters-* By far the best work! Some good bios, like the setup (using the "Dangerous Kalamar 4":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/dangerous-kalamar-4 character template). Get those PC's that have not added bios to do so!

    *Overall-* A solid start. Your character page is by far the best. The rest needs color and pictures. Get your players to write bios that have not, and ask them to write the logs! Have them sign the logs with character name.

    As always, just my 2 cents. Feel free to pm me with any questions!
    killervp
    "A God...Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/a-god-rebuilt
    "OP's COTM April 2012":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/a-god-rebuilt-aprils-cotm/
    Post edited by GamingMegaverse on

    Just trying to help out.

  • Kallak
    Kallak
    Posts: 1,090
    @Killervp, more like DK4 template! :D
    All the best,
    - Kallak
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