Smashing Magazine: Game Sites Design Survey: Examples and Current Practices
This should be useful for those designing websites for the various games here, or planning to. ( And remember, this is a game engine site not a game site =p )
As always, those projects that don't have the manpower time or knowledge to make their own website, please advertise for new members!
Smashing Magazine Game Websites
Moderator: Moderators
Re: Smashing Magazine Game Websites
Ok.
Im posting an add.
SA needs its own website.
Iv put a page on Forb's website but its only edecuate as an introduction not a full fledged project website.
For those of you,not familar with SA,it's a TA based Rebalanced of OTA units and gameplay with the focus of creating the most edecuate platform for competetive play through perfection of unit and game balance.
That goal has been practicly achieved through the endless tweaking of many OTA mods that came before SA and Tired's and Noize's efforts.
The future plans are to expand gameplay so it is not limited by small map sizes,help the player be in control even when he is asked to cover large areas on the battlefield and wrap the mod with a polished stylish visual theme that will draw from TA visual design and atmosphere.
To achieve those goals a new ui will be made,unit behaviours fixed with the help of lua,more ways to control units on the battlefield will be added and new unit models will be used as tey are created by the spring comunity.
Even if all these objectives are met SA is nothing without players and this is where the website comes in,to ease players into the game providing them with resources to better understand the dynamics and balance.
SA would appreciate any enthusiast that wants the TA legacy presented in the most appealing and effecient way and would help in the creation of a standalone website.
Im posting an add.
SA needs its own website.
Iv put a page on Forb's website but its only edecuate as an introduction not a full fledged project website.
For those of you,not familar with SA,it's a TA based Rebalanced of OTA units and gameplay with the focus of creating the most edecuate platform for competetive play through perfection of unit and game balance.
That goal has been practicly achieved through the endless tweaking of many OTA mods that came before SA and Tired's and Noize's efforts.
The future plans are to expand gameplay so it is not limited by small map sizes,help the player be in control even when he is asked to cover large areas on the battlefield and wrap the mod with a polished stylish visual theme that will draw from TA visual design and atmosphere.
To achieve those goals a new ui will be made,unit behaviours fixed with the help of lua,more ways to control units on the battlefield will be added and new unit models will be used as tey are created by the spring comunity.
Even if all these objectives are met SA is nothing without players and this is where the website comes in,to ease players into the game providing them with resources to better understand the dynamics and balance.
SA would appreciate any enthusiast that wants the TA legacy presented in the most appealing and effecient way and would help in the creation of a standalone website.
Last edited by Gota on 23 Aug 2008, 23:54, edited 1 time in total.
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[Krogoth86]
- Posts: 1176
- Joined: 23 Aug 2007, 19:46
Re: Smashing Magazine Game Websites
Maybe you should give it a wiki entry first...Gota wrote:SA needs its own website.
You really should change this statement. SA isn't a rebalanced OTA but BA with a few added units and a different balance...Gota wrote:For those of you,not familar with SA,it's a TA based Rebalanced of OTA units and gameplay with the focus of creating the most edecuate platform for competetive play through perfection of unit and game balance.
When talking about the legacy you at least should speak of Caydr and maybe BSR too - it's not that much work to get those enlisted...Gota wrote:That goal has been practicly achieved through the endless tweaking of many OTA mods that came before SA and Tired's and Noize's efforts.
Re: Smashing Magazine Game Websites
Criminy. Like we have time to execute stuff like those 'sites.
AF, whether or not somebody like me goes shopping for an appropriate coder... to do anything even roughly in the ballpark of, say, the Fallout 'site or the Blizzard 'sites (note, btw, that the bigger the budget and the more anticipation for the game... the less fancy-ass animation code and better loading times, btw)...
I'd still require at least one or two classically-trained artists to execute a "lightweight" version, and they'd all have to work to my spec, and not argue with me about what I wanted, and get things done on a very tight schedule, etc.
In short, it'd be a massive headache, and I'd probably see terrible results in the end, to boot. I don't want to "hire" people who are likely to see a no-budget game project as an opportunity to show the world how "creative" they are, and develop a 'site that looks awful and doesn't convey the mood and atmosphere of my game, while ignoring my specific instructions about layout, art style and direction, etc.
So... you really want a gig doing this? Show people that you can accurately capture the mood and central visual ideas of a game. Not another techno-nerd 'site that isn't appealing to the hardcore gamer.
No pastels, unless the game itself features soft coloring- for example, a Super Mario 'site could have sky blues... but for a game like P.U.R.E., I'd want to see dirty technology, using the right color ranges and feel.
Hard contrasts. Classical artistic rendering. And a simple interface that is appropriate to the art direction of the game itself, and strongly references the game.
And no goofing around, period. Get to the meat, and use the code to keep would-be gamers focused on the game... not on how cool the 'site is, what technology you're using, etc., etc. A good game 'site is a marketing tool. Emphasis on "tool".
AF, whether or not somebody like me goes shopping for an appropriate coder... to do anything even roughly in the ballpark of, say, the Fallout 'site or the Blizzard 'sites (note, btw, that the bigger the budget and the more anticipation for the game... the less fancy-ass animation code and better loading times, btw)...
I'd still require at least one or two classically-trained artists to execute a "lightweight" version, and they'd all have to work to my spec, and not argue with me about what I wanted, and get things done on a very tight schedule, etc.
In short, it'd be a massive headache, and I'd probably see terrible results in the end, to boot. I don't want to "hire" people who are likely to see a no-budget game project as an opportunity to show the world how "creative" they are, and develop a 'site that looks awful and doesn't convey the mood and atmosphere of my game, while ignoring my specific instructions about layout, art style and direction, etc.
So... you really want a gig doing this? Show people that you can accurately capture the mood and central visual ideas of a game. Not another techno-nerd 'site that isn't appealing to the hardcore gamer.
No pastels, unless the game itself features soft coloring- for example, a Super Mario 'site could have sky blues... but for a game like P.U.R.E., I'd want to see dirty technology, using the right color ranges and feel.
Hard contrasts. Classical artistic rendering. And a simple interface that is appropriate to the art direction of the game itself, and strongly references the game.
And no goofing around, period. Get to the meat, and use the code to keep would-be gamers focused on the game... not on how cool the 'site is, what technology you're using, etc., etc. A good game 'site is a marketing tool. Emphasis on "tool".
Re: Smashing Magazine Game Websites
Argh nobody asked you to make your own site, and tbh you ahve already built your own site then conveniently forgot about it. Remember those screenshots for the spring site where you plastered them with P.U.R.E stuff as an example because you couldn't be arsed scouting the forums for other content? Infact IIRC you built that in html too!
Either way I did not suggest people go out and pay for designers and professional studios. I've made plenty of pretty sites on my own and I've never worked in a web design company, and there are plenty of people far more talented at it than me who haven't either, people who do not currently participate in any spring projects and ahve ample free time.
Infact there are entire websites dedicated to finding people like you web designers for free
Either way I did not suggest people go out and pay for designers and professional studios. I've made plenty of pretty sites on my own and I've never worked in a web design company, and there are plenty of people far more talented at it than me who haven't either, people who do not currently participate in any spring projects and ahve ample free time.
Infact there are entire websites dedicated to finding people like you web designers for free
Re: Smashing Magazine Game Websites
lulz no you've never made any pretty site you've just set up some ugly and poor blogsAF wrote:I've made plenty of pretty sites on my own and I've never worked in a web design company
Re: Smashing Magazine Game Websites
Heh,some constructive Critique.
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Warlord Zsinj
- Imperial Winter Developer
- Posts: 3742
- Joined: 24 Aug 2004, 08:59
Re: Smashing Magazine Game Websites
interesting article, thanks for the link.