I spend my life trying to forget that MOVIE exists :)
Oh, and if I can get a once over on the new version of Shadows, critique, criticism, compliments, etc, I'd appreciate it :)
Keelah Se'lai,
Keryth
"Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york
"2013 Campaign of The Year":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/2013-coty-shadows-over-new-york/
"Campaign of the Month July 2013":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shadows-over-new-york-julys-campaign-of-the-month/
Keryth, I love the Shadow's page. If I were to look at anything, I would say it has to be the way the images are distorted - its almost like the were resized in a single axis but not the other. I'm not sure of the proper term for this... aspect ratio? I find it mildly.... discomfiting? The depth of world and wiki is excellent!
Keelah Se'lai,
Keryth
"Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york
"2013 Campaign of The Year":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/2013-coty-shadows-over-new-york/
"Campaign of the Month July 2013":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shadows-over-new-york-julys-campaign-of-the-month/
I'm guessing he was referring to the background border around the OP Campaign of the Year / Month section on the front page. You shrank/skewed it to fit, and it appears to be the only time you did this on the main page.
"Please pay attention very carefully, because this is the truest thing a stranger will ever say to you: In the face of such hopelessness as our eventual, unavoidable death, there is little sense in not at least TRYING to accomplish all your wildest dreams in life." - - Kevin Smith
the play button is a short oval, not a circle. This means when resizing the image, only the vertical distance was changed, and the horizontal wasn't (aspect ratio not preserved). This is a common problem with editing images: the difference between crop/maintain ratio and independant resizing.
The above example is rather minor, and frankly, they don't really catch my eye, unless I'm looking for it. And as I am linking to the source of the image, that means the issue is in the problem of graphics editing.
So those minor issues aside, here is what I was specifically referring to.
!https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/campaigns/43870/assets/535379/Telloria_Stormrage.jpg!
This is the source of the image displayed at "https://shadows-over-new-york.obsidianportal.com/wikis/characters":https://shadows-over-new-york.obsidianportal.com/wikis/characters
However, when displayed, it is drastically horizontally stretched. With pictures of people, it catches the eye, even if we aren't sure, as it is somewhat uncomfortable. So, again, look at your source image above, and how the female in the black top looks. Now look how she looks on your page:
Actually, the oval is from the oval itself. I put that image together, including the 'play button' and so the one I used I didn't make a circle but left it ovalish. So the rest of the image is actually not stretched, only the 'play button'
As for the Character images, I did exactly what you stated. Stretched the existing images. I'll look into getting the images done.
The COTM and COTY is purposefully shrunk so it fits in the provided space. :)
Keelah Se'lai,
Keryth
"Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york
"2013 Campaign of The Year":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/2013-coty-shadows-over-new-york/
"Campaign of the Month July 2013":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shadows-over-new-york-julys-campaign-of-the-month/
With regards to the COTM/COTY, if you only specify the width resize, it should automatically resize the height to maintain aspect ratio. This is true in both image editors and in html/css coding.
Fixed the character stuff Bortas. Flew your comments b y my groups resident GA and he was happy to help me get new images that aren;t streteched.
However, this graphics layman is still having trouble following exactly what you mean about the COTY/COTM images
Keelah Se'lai,
Keryth
"Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york
"2013 Campaign of The Year":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/2013-coty-shadows-over-new-york/
"Campaign of the Month July 2013":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shadows-over-new-york-julys-campaign-of-the-month/
I've set up a new campaign on https://oath-of-crows.obsidianportal.com/ and I'd love some feedback.
My old campaign (
https://a-tale-of-blood-and-honour.obsidianportal.com/) has shut down, because I moved. If anyone is interested, the new one will have much more activity.
its a very polished site already, you have clearly applied a lot of what you learnt in the blood and honor site. If you can maintain the inputs and enthusiasm of the players it should become great!
i assume you have already thought of and dismissed audio/video links? on "my own page":https://the-great-pendragon.obsidianportal.com/ i have about 6 links in a cruciform shape to try and entice visitors deeper into the site, and i have roll over buttons to provide a little action/reward stimuli to the primitive monkey part of our brains. any of those ideas seem useful?
@ikabodo, regarding your front page and the desire to make it "more interesting", the two glaring issues I see are:
[1] The stone graphic is oddly shaped and just floating in the center of the page. This obviously differs from your otherwise clearly defined image format of inside the gold flourish. It also creates a great deal of dead space around the shape. My suggestion to repair this would be to use your standardized image format multiple times and instead of showing the whole stone, show a passage or line in each one, sort of like viewing excerpts or fragments. It might not present the idea of a solid one piece stone as well as a full image, but it will look better and fit in on your site better.
[2] The link boxes can be fixed simply by following your convention used elsewhere. Make the heading underlined titles and the links into click graphics as seen on other pages.
I feel like that stone graphic was so wonky it made you give up on following your format, or perhaps was done before that was established? Anyway, those are my thoughts/suggestions, hope they help.
NikMak:
Thank you! Supportive as always. :) I've thought about audio or video, but I'm not sure. It would be interesting, but only the first time. After that annoying? Regarding interactivity... yes. I think I might need something like that?
Kallak:
A lot of good feedback here. I think I'll get to work right away. The stone was actually done later, but I agree it does not follow the rest of the pattern. It was actually an attempt to make the page more interesting. I think I lost track.
Looks pretty good. Very informative read and well put together site design.
My only criticism, and this is a very minor one, is on your Codex Britannia page, going from graphics, suddenly to text, is a little, odd.
Other than that, awesome setup
Keelah Se'lai,
Keryth
"Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york
"2013 Campaign of The Year":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/2013-coty-shadows-over-new-york/
"Campaign of the Month July 2013":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shadows-over-new-york-julys-campaign-of-the-month/
Keryth987: Thank you! The end of the Codex Britannia page is actually just me not done with the graphics. I'll get it done! Still not entirely sure how to keep the page optimal.
Do you have any thoughts on the main page (first page you get to)?.
Landing page looks pretty good. The grayed out members of your group are a tad confusing as to why. I assume those are inactive PC's?
Keelah Se'lai,
Keryth
"Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york
"2013 Campaign of The Year":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/2013-coty-shadows-over-new-york/
"Campaign of the Month July 2013":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shadows-over-new-york-julys-campaign-of-the-month/
Comments
"It must pop! Pop! POP!"
!http://fashionablygeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/ruby-e1453331139609.jpg!
I often look to Ruby Rhod for guidance in life...
Oh, and if I can get a once over on the new version of Shadows, critique, criticism, compliments, etc, I'd appreciate it :)
Keelah Se'lai,
Keryth
"Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york
"2013 Campaign of The Year":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/2013-coty-shadows-over-new-york/
"Campaign of the Month July 2013":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shadows-over-new-york-julys-campaign-of-the-month/
Every. Single. Piece.
~Mae
CotM Selection Committee
Keryth, I love the Shadow's page. If I were to look at anything, I would say it has to be the way the images are distorted - its almost like the were resized in a single axis but not the other. I'm not sure of the proper term for this... aspect ratio? I find it mildly.... discomfiting? The depth of world and wiki is excellent!
-bort
"Morwindl":https://morwindl.obsidianportal.com
Campaign of the Year - 2018
November 2012 CotM: Dresden Files RPG: The Emerald City
June 2016 CotM: Star Wars: Rise of the Infinite Empire
JUNE 2020 CotM & 2020 CotY: Mass Effect Accelerated
FEBRUARY 2022 CotM & 2022 CotY: Dresden Files Accelerated: Emerald City-Requiem
Current Campaigns: Traveller Osmium Buccaneers: Pirates of Drinax, Cyberpunk 2077 Accelerated
Keelah Se'lai,
Keryth
"Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york
"2013 Campaign of The Year":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/2013-coty-shadows-over-new-york/
"Campaign of the Month July 2013":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shadows-over-new-york-julys-campaign-of-the-month/
Ptolus, City by the Spire - 2016 Campaign of the Year
"Please pay attention very carefully, because this is the truest thing a stranger will ever say to you: In the face of such hopelessness as our eventual, unavoidable death, there is little sense in not at least TRYING to accomplish all your wildest dreams in life." - - Kevin Smith
the play button is a short oval, not a circle. This means when resizing the image, only the vertical distance was changed, and the horizontal wasn't (aspect ratio not preserved). This is a common problem with editing images: the difference between crop/maintain ratio and independant resizing.
The above example is rather minor, and frankly, they don't really catch my eye, unless I'm looking for it. And as I am linking to the source of the image, that means the issue is in the problem of graphics editing.
So those minor issues aside, here is what I was specifically referring to.
!https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/campaigns/43870/assets/535379/Telloria_Stormrage.jpg!
This is the source of the image displayed at "https://shadows-over-new-york.obsidianportal.com/wikis/characters":https://shadows-over-new-york.obsidianportal.com/wikis/characters
However, when displayed, it is drastically horizontally stretched. With pictures of people, it catches the eye, even if we aren't sure, as it is somewhat uncomfortable. So, again, look at your source image above, and how the female in the black top looks. Now look how she looks on your page:
!https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/campaigns/67984/assets/569664/SONY.jpg?1458230131!
See what I mean about aspect ratio issues? This is an issue with code (the source image aspect ratio is correct, what is displayed on the site isn't).
UTM was talking about !https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/assets/293208/coty.gif?1391705853!
This image source is correct, but in code, it is shrunk horizontally, making a tall oval
Please, don't hear harsh criticism: I've spent hours on your SONY site, it is top notch. I'm just trying to help you polish :)
-bort
"Morwindl":https://morwindl.obsidianportal.com
Campaign of the Year - 2018
As for the Character images, I did exactly what you stated. Stretched the existing images. I'll look into getting the images done.
The COTM and COTY is purposefully shrunk so it fits in the provided space. :)
Keelah Se'lai,
Keryth
"Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york
"2013 Campaign of The Year":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/2013-coty-shadows-over-new-york/
"Campaign of the Month July 2013":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shadows-over-new-york-julys-campaign-of-the-month/
-bort
"Morwindl":https://morwindl.obsidianportal.com
Campaign of the Year - 2018
"Unconquered Kingdoms":https://unconquered-kingdoms.obsidianportal.com/
Unconquered Kingdoms, July 2016 CotM
However, this graphics layman is still having trouble following exactly what you mean about the COTY/COTM images
Keelah Se'lai,
Keryth
"Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york
"2013 Campaign of The Year":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/2013-coty-shadows-over-new-york/
"Campaign of the Month July 2013":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shadows-over-new-york-julys-campaign-of-the-month/
* Vertical - They're stretched.
* Horizontal - It's squished in a bit.
Either way, the dragons ought to be circles, not the tall ovals that they are.
~Weasel0
A Parade of Black | ShadowRunHack |
Where I play with CSS code
My old campaign (
https://a-tale-of-blood-and-honour.obsidianportal.com/) has shut down, because I moved. If anyone is interested, the new one will have much more activity.
its a very polished site already, you have clearly applied a lot of what you learnt in the blood and honor site. If you can maintain the inputs and enthusiasm of the players it should become great!
i assume you have already thought of and dismissed audio/video links? on "my own page":https://the-great-pendragon.obsidianportal.com/ i have about 6 links in a cruciform shape to try and entice visitors deeper into the site, and i have roll over buttons to provide a little action/reward stimuli to the primitive monkey part of our brains. any of those ideas seem useful?
[1] The stone graphic is oddly shaped and just floating in the center of the page. This obviously differs from your otherwise clearly defined image format of inside the gold flourish. It also creates a great deal of dead space around the shape. My suggestion to repair this would be to use your standardized image format multiple times and instead of showing the whole stone, show a passage or line in each one, sort of like viewing excerpts or fragments. It might not present the idea of a solid one piece stone as well as a full image, but it will look better and fit in on your site better.
[2] The link boxes can be fixed simply by following your convention used elsewhere. Make the heading underlined titles and the links into click graphics as seen on other pages.
I feel like that stone graphic was so wonky it made you give up on following your format, or perhaps was done before that was established? Anyway, those are my thoughts/suggestions, hope they help.
- Kallak
Thank you! Supportive as always. :) I've thought about audio or video, but I'm not sure. It would be interesting, but only the first time. After that annoying? Regarding interactivity... yes. I think I might need something like that?
Kallak:
A lot of good feedback here. I think I'll get to work right away. The stone was actually done later, but I agree it does not follow the rest of the pattern. It was actually an attempt to make the page more interesting. I think I lost track.
Also, I'll fix the links. :)
I tried making some simple updates.
Right not the page is not very sexy, but at least it shows the latest updates on the page. So it's easier to know where to start.
Feedback?
Looks pretty good. Very informative read and well put together site design.
My only criticism, and this is a very minor one, is on your Codex Britannia page, going from graphics, suddenly to text, is a little, odd.
Other than that, awesome setup
Keelah Se'lai,
Keryth
"Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york
"2013 Campaign of The Year":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/2013-coty-shadows-over-new-york/
"Campaign of the Month July 2013":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shadows-over-new-york-julys-campaign-of-the-month/
Do you have any thoughts on the main page (first page you get to)?.
Keelah Se'lai,
Keryth
"Shadows Over New York":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shadows-over-new-york
"2013 Campaign of The Year":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/2013-coty-shadows-over-new-york/
"Campaign of the Month July 2013":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/shadows-over-new-york-julys-campaign-of-the-month/
Still need to add descriptions for all the NPCs, but I've put a ton of time into it so far, and I'm pretty happy with it's current state
Perhaps finding a picture with better resolution for the background?
I took your advice, and found another version of the background photo which (although hardly HD) does look a lot better.
https://age-of-serpents.obsidianportal.com/