Adventure Game Studio

Alright folks, it's time to 're-vamp' the AGS website!  What better way than to have a competition?

Here's the rules:
- Designs must 'fit' with the forums look and feel so they'll mesh together nicely (doesn't have to be identical).
- Needs to be compatable with most browswers (IE, Netscape, Mozilla)
- Must contain all the elements of the site as it is now (games, downloads, docs, etc.)
- You can create just a mockup, like mine, but make sure you have the ability to convert it into HTML.

The site functions as it is now so we just need to give it a new look!

You can form a team, or tackle it by yourself.  Whatever you want!

Example:

Be creative people!

This is the public face of AGS.

Represent!!!

That's a really good idea Darth! I hope people come up with wonderful sites.

Oh, and just to make clear - this is an official competition and the winning entry will be used as the new AGS website.

:)

(http://people.freenet.de/lucasfangames/agsdesign.jpg)  
;)

Ooh, Sylpher's page.

I'd like to see a tie-in to the blue cup theme of the editor, something like this:

(http://www.strazer.net/ags/bctheme.gif)

Strazer, the text above Jake's head in your image is backwards...  :-\

I know, I've just mirrored Darth's pic. It's for demonstration purposes only.

Hmm.. interesting. If I have time, I will take part in this..

Extra points if Apprentice is one of the games in the top banner on the website. Oh, how I hype about the game so much.  :P

If I'm into this aswell, I don't have time to do anything... well, I'll scrap up something with PHP at some point.....

I dont have time to enter, but whatever you do, make sure that Robert Redford aves the Day, and 5 days a Stranger is in the banner
Those games rule

Of course, O Master of AGS. We shall not dare to defy you.

All your websites suck!

Mine kicks all yours in the balls: http://www.sylpher.com/DGMacphee/MyAGSSite/

DG, your site really rules! Whahaha... MSPAINT MANIAC!

Whoa DG! That site totally made me wail on my axe!
http://www.abo.fi/~andslott/ninja.mp3

DG and LucasFan: Your sites look vaguely familiar... but I can't quite place them  ;D

Quote from: Ghormak on Tue 10/02/2004 16:37:37
Whoa DG! That site totally made me wail on my axe!
http://www.abo.fi/~andslott/ninja.mp3

I liked the little touch of LeChuck.  Very tasteful.

Dragonrose, LucasFans was the original AGS website at spaceports. And DG's is yet another parody of the REAL ULTIMATE POWER website. the one about ninjas...

Quote from: Pirate Jack on Wed 11/02/2004 11:33:38
Dragonrose, LucasFans was the original AGS website at spaceports. And DG's is yet another parody of the REAL ULTIMATE POWER website. the one about ninjas...

Once again proving that sarcasm is not transimitted well over the internet. I did recognize them, and was just playing silly buggers. Hence the big smiley.

Unless you're just being sarcastic back at me. Then I look like quite the fool.

I tend to ignore all smilies due to my immense hatred for all of them!

:D

This is alone a simple sample of a design using the beginning page About. The navbar is null at the moment.
;D
http://adventuregamestudio.web1000.com
(http://adventuregamestudio.web1000.com)

All I see is a web100 page....weird...

Well, web1000 hosted pages never shown for me, so I got exactly the same thing as squinky did.

Quote from: DGMacphee on Tue 10/02/2004 15:59:58
All your websites suck!

Mine kicks all yours in the balls: http://www.sylpher.com/DGMacphee/MyAGSSite/

This site made me nearly laugh my pants off. No, not literally. Excellent job, and remember, I'm voting for this one!

Heh I suggest keeping TWO OR MORE page designs at the same time (like some sites did) so the users can switch to whichever they prefer, and of course DG's design must be one of them.

Okay now here's my thoughts about a re-vamp of the AGS website:

I don't think it's very useful to simply only change the looks of the website. The structure has changed a lot from the beginning and so why not better also taking this into account? Some links are really hidden or too difficult to find in the current navigation. For example I changed the "forums" to "community" as this could also contain things like the users world map or other personal stuff.

My entry ("general" area) is available here (http://mags.klaus-schlichter.info/ags/) for everyone who's interested :)
Of course some enchantment still needs to be done...

Klaus that is excellent!  It's nice to see another serious entry.

I wanted to change more than the looks as well, but after talking around it was determined that CJ didn't want to change too much, other than the look, because there was too much work involved and he didn't have the time.

So he wanted us to design something that could just be put 'over' what's already in place.  As far as functionality goes.

Your design is outstanding!

~ d

Mine is basically this:
(http://invis.free.anonymizer.com/http://www.freewebs.com/agstrial/Untitled.jpg)


Grab the source from this
http://www.freewebs.com/agstrial/agsnew.zip

I vote Klaus!

I vote Darth!

I vote DG!

My vote for Klaus, if the "What is Adventure Game Studio?" was big enough to fit in without scrolling ;)

I like the Klaus design, but I have a suggestion: The selected tab (information,features...) could be higlighted in order to let the user know where he is.

I'd have to say I like Darth's best

i vote klaus  ;D great professional design!

-nath

I'm voting for Mr. Klaus.  That design is awesome, and I really like the news section, and navigation seems quite simple.  Also, having a "community" link at the bottom instead of a "forum" link makes a much more convenient place to put things like the AGSers map.

Two things I'd change:

1) Instead of "Games Database," maybe have "Download Database," because then there's a spot to download Plug-ins.

2) That picture of CJ along the top... it' just a little creepy.  Someone just finding the site for the first time would be pretty confused. I'd recommend a banner made up of various popular games, sort of like we have now.

I really like Klaus'design, but I'm not very happy about some of the icons... I mean, Chris appears with a funny face, and that is cool, but Chris never wanted to have such a "predominant" place in the AGS community...

He's the creator and all that, but sometimes I really think that he wants to be just one more member most thant "THE MAN" who appears in the main page of the website, at the same level of the bluecup and the name of the Engine... We may ask him about that...

About the "community" icon, dunno, but a mittens photo doesn't seems to be fair IMHO. There are very important people who haven't had the chance to come to Europe for a mittens (I.E. Mr. Colossal, Dave Gilbert, DG, Las Naranjas... and many many others...) So... I remeber that there was a cooool collage with a bluecup made with all the pics of the AGSers.

I know that this can be excessive, and even unfair because we should show pics of one-post peope and not photos of important people who has never posted pics (I.E. Annie) but this is most close to a fair sollution.

But the best is not to post photos or personalize the "community" in just 7 or 8 faces.

(P.S: This criticism comes because I think that the page is soooo coool... ^_^, that I wanted to help... it is not pretending to be harsh)

(P.S.S: I don't like the bluecup shape at the toop... too convex, the real bluecup is totally cilindrical, I think...)

I think, that instead of pics of some games, the site could show a box of screens from the 5 most downloaded games, 1 box with the best rated game and 1 box for the newest game!

It's just an idea

Does anybody else want to enter?  Should we extend the dead-line a little?

I actually think I would vote Klaus' design too ... but maybe loosen it up a little!  It's very clean, clear, and sharp.  But is it a little too ... stiff?  for AGS?  I don't get the impression it's about video games, but more like financial services?  

Don't get me wrong, it looks great, but it gives me a different sort of feeling than what I would expect from AGS?

(I'm not saying that to pimp my own!!) - seriously.

Anyway ... I think CJ should, obviously, have final say so why don't we extend the deadline until he responds to this thread again?

Does that sound good to everybody?

~ d

Klaus...is great.

Many thanks for you all your nice comments. Here's a bunch of replies:

Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Fri 20/02/2004 18:47:38
... because there was too much work involved and he didn't have the time.

Well, who sais that he needs to do that work :) Isn't it the designer who should do this? I also don't think it's that much more work, because every page needs to be touched in both cases...

Quote from: Privateer Puddin' on Sat 21/02/2004 11:16:43
My vote for Klaus, if the "What is Adventure Game Studio?" was big enough to fit in without scrolling ;)

There's a solution: Change your screen resolution to a bigger size an it works :)

Quote from: Pau on Sat 21/02/2004 11:42:27
The selected tab (information,features...) could be higlighted in order to let the user know where he is.

Yes, that's actually something that I meant by "some enchantment still needs to be done...".

Quote from: Dragonrose on Sat 21/02/2004 13:48:53
1) Instead of "Games Database," maybe have "Download Database," because then there's a spot to download Plug-ins.

Oh yes. A good point. But "Download Database" would also include the engine itself. So perhaps we find yet another expression that fits.

Quote from: Dragonrose on Sat 21/02/2004 13:48:53
2) That picture of CJ along the top...

Quote from: Farlander on Sat 21/02/2004 13:54:54
... but I'm not very happy about some of the icons...

To be true the icons and header graphics are also not that perfect for me. I wanted to do some pixeled stuff (like we know it from zoomed ags game screenshots or from some avatars) that fits the topic but I had not the time to do it. Sorry. I hope you can imagine what I am thinking of..?

Quote from: Farlander on Sat 21/02/2004 13:54:54
(P.S.S: I don't like the bluecup shape at the toop... too convex, the real bluecup is totally cilindrical, I think...)

Eeeeh, okay. This can be changed :) Sorry for that big mistake.  :-\

Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Sun 22/02/2004 21:48:42
... But is it a little too ... stiff?  for AGS?  I don't get the impression it's about video games, but more like financial services?

I see. But I think it can be brushed up a little with what I called "enchantment" :)

Quote from: AlexisVale on Sun 22/02/2004 23:20:40
Klaus...is great.

Many thanks. I'll print this out and stick it above my bed  :-*

i vote Darth, the blue theme needs to stay, klaus' i think is too unofficial looking, it dosn't look as true to AGS as darths ect.
EDIT: just realised you said CJ would decide

SLaMgRInDeR - well, CJ might well say whoever gets the most votes wins!  I just thought we should wait to see, since this is after all his baby we're changing here! (and thanks ;))

Klaus - I certainly wouldn't mind a complete over-haul to modernize the site!  When I started This Thread (http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=11351) that's what I had in mind.  Through the course of that thread I got the impression that it should just be a 'shell' rather than a remake.  

Maybe I got the wrong impression though.

I'd love to see some enchantment done to your design (with the pixel stuff and games pix) because it's an awesome foundation!  I didn't mean to imply otherwise ;)

~ d

Now I read the "original" thread too and I think you're probably right with the "shell" thingy. So for the moment I won't do any further work on this layout. As you know pixeling is time intensive and so I'll better wait until it is clear what Chris decides: If he prefers another design that keeps the current structure or if he gives a chance to my layout. Whatever - it was nice to think of another way to present the AGS site so far :)

Quote from: Klaus on Mon 23/02/2004 18:22:59

Quote from: Privateer Puddin' on Sat 21/02/2004 11:16:43
My vote for Klaus, if the "What is Adventure Game Studio?" was big enough to fit in without scrolling ;)

There's a solution: Change your screen resolution to a bigger size an it works :)

Are you saying that 1280 1024 is not big enough? :P

Quote from: Privateer Puddin' on Tue 24/02/2004 17:53:13
Are you saying that 1280 1024 is not big enough? :P

Not really... I checked it with a screen resolution of 1024x768 pixels and it already fits perfect with this in a standard Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox - if the windows taskbar goes invisible.   :-\

Just checked in IE and its fine, Opera doesn't want to display it properly, oh well, still love you Opera  :-*

I m aware of the date, but is it too late to submit an entry?

(I don t actually have it ready but it would take me a day or two max)

I vote for Klaus definatley! Splended design.

Quote from: loominous on Wed 25/02/2004 03:28:53
I m aware of the date, but is it too late to submit an entry?

(I don t actually have it ready but it would take me a day or two max)

I say go for it, no sign of the return of CJ yet so

Thanks for the entries guys - they all look great!

Quotewell, CJ might well say whoever gets the most votes wins

Sounds like a plan to me! So loominous, if you want to submit an entry, could I ask that it's submitted by tomorrow, then we can start properly voting on which design to go through with.

Oh, and DG, Best AGS Website Ever  ;D  

Em, where did my post go?

(submitted an entry yesterday)

Quote from: loominous on Sat 28/02/2004 17:59:32
Em, where did my post go?

(submitted an entry yesterday)

The server of this forum, was replaced for 5 hours, so any post in between, got lost! You have to post it again ;)

loominous, your entry:

QuoteHere re two versions:

(http://w1.872.telia.com/~u87210460/AGS/layout1_v1_thumb.gif)

Version 1(59 kb) (http://w1.872.telia.com/~u87210460/AGS/layout1_v1.png)

(http://w1.872.telia.com/~u87210460/AGS/layout1_v2_thumb.gif)

Version 2 (59 kb) (http://w1.872.telia.com/~u87210460/AGS/layout1_v2.png)

I ll probably make modifications/other ones until Chris judges.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.  

Ah, I see. I ve got some modified versions in the owen, so if we could hold until tomorrow I d appreciate it.

REPOST (summary):

loominous - I like the clean look and how it ties in with the current forums design.

The top bar could be condensed (not so tall) a little.

I would go with number 2 (the games on the right).

Good job!

~ d

I love loominus's second entry, but I'll wait untill he posts his modified version before I vote.

It could really benefit from the bluecup somewhere though, perhaps in the banner if you ditch the games there. They're not really needed anyway since good ags games are showcased in the bar to the right.

Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Sun 22/02/2004 21:48:42
I actually think I would vote Klaus' design too ... but maybe loosen it up a little!  It's very clean, clear, and sharp.  But is it a little too ... stiff?  for AGS?  I don't get the impression it's about video games, but more like financial services?  

I agree. If I first saw that design when i discovered AGS, I would leave at once, seeing it looks too pro and, as you said, stiff(Don't get me wrong, i think it's a great design, just not for AGS). I think the AGS theme should be cartoony and NO REAL PICTURES. :P

Anyway, I vote Darth.

(By the way: Isn't it soon about time we update the games on the right side of the main page?)

I decided to throw another one together.  It's not too different but ...

(http://www.twin-design.com/AGS/graphics/mockup02.gif)
This new look could easily be incorporated into the forums (which I wouldn't mind seeing a face-lift on anyway!)  Forgive some of the color banding (GIF compression).

I have another design in mind ... I'm brainstorming it.

~ d

I think somwhere should read "Free" where it can be seen. But then again if you aren't really interested you wouldn't come to the site in th first place... Feel free to ignore this.
* Measures bad and good

I think the games page should have a menu bar on it so you could explore the entire site and not just games

Guess this ll be my final entry:

(http://w1.872.telia.com/~u87210460/AGS/layout1_v4_2.png)

Edit: had linked to a previous version

Definitely loominus's entry. Good job.

Edit: *loominous

Wow, Chrille must have done a Pleurghburg update!

And I don't remember that scene in 6 Day Assassin -- Eric musta put in an Easter Egg.

I really like Darth's most recent one. However, I think we are getting to serious. It should be silly and weird (but not too weird). DarkArcangel I think has a good example of what I mean. It should be high-tech and wild, because thats what AGS is. Its high-tech man! Jesus Christ, if we put this thing on the market, it would make more money then Gigli. Its an amazing program. The members are crazy. Anybody that is here, even if it is only once a week, knows that "DG is a crazy bastard" is a true statement. Hell, look at his entry! I just think you all are getting to serious! So fex your 3xampl35 becux tehy are teh s0x0rs1~!2

Hehe, ok the entries are in - let's do this voting properly. I'll start a clean thread with the entries in it and put out a note for people to come and choose their favourite.

Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry, they're all superb. :)

New thread is here: http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=12072;start=0

in the AGS Chat forum just to make sure people see it.