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Refinements Website


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#1 khay

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Posted 18 March 2004 - 03:11 PM

Website up and running -- maybe too many threads are already pinned but this wouldn`t hurt, I guess. Any questions/suggestions related to the website should be directed to me, the authors of the mod are already busy enough. :)

EDIT by TGM: dead link removed, see the end of this thread for the working ones! ;)

Edited by T.G.Maestro, 28 October 2004 - 04:14 AM.


#2 T.G.Maestro

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Posted 18 March 2004 - 03:24 PM

*Pinned* ^_^
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Refinements v2 has been released!
Go and visit the website or the forum for more info!

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#3 jester

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Posted 18 March 2004 - 03:26 PM

Hooray, I might say. :)
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#4 Galactygon

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Posted 18 March 2004 - 04:37 PM

Site is well done, I say. I have some critiques though:

There should be more sections in it:

- High Level abilities (a detailed explanation on what each does, as in the thread)
- Screenshots (with thumbnails and enlargements)

I reccomend you simplify the 1st page though, in the favor of K.I.S.S.-policy (stands for keep it Simple, Stupid). Although I can navigate these easily, not all people can.

Also, keep in mind that when making a website, aim for the maximum compatiblity rather than making it perfect for one browser. While the majority use Internet Explorer (that includes me), there are people who prefer different browsers. But when it gets to more than 3-year old browsers (namely NS 4.7), it doesn't matter.

BTW: Just as a curiosity question, I see LC in the links sections. Not that I am complaining; I am just curious.

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#5 CamDawg

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Posted 18 March 2004 - 04:57 PM

It's beautiful!

Unfortunately, like most beautiful websites, it's unusable--108K worth of data for a home page is questionable at best. Not everyone has broadband. ;)

Why is this Hypnotoad video so popu... ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD.
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#6 Caedwyr

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Posted 18 March 2004 - 05:23 PM

I have broadband, and I noticed a significant wait for the page to load. The graphics are very nice, but I'd prefer something that worked a bit quicker. One of the reasons I don't frequent the TeamBG forums is the long load time for most forums there. (Galc, your website is beautiful, but pretty intense on the modem. It takes forever for me to load and I have ADSL.)

Great work, though. Don't take the criticism too hard.
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#7 Galactygon

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Posted 18 March 2004 - 05:30 PM

Galc, your website is beautiful, but pretty intense on the modem. It takes forever for me to load and I have ADSL.

I tested it one at least 20 computers (includes ones w. slower connections). I didn't notice anything that loaded for more than 5 secs.

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#8 Caedwyr

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Posted 18 March 2004 - 05:37 PM

Hmm, I must be just hitting it when Geocities is under heavy traffic. It normally takes me 30s + to load.

That said, the Refinments website took me a bit longer because of all the graphics. Then again, I do like the minimalist/functional look, so I'm not exactly the best person to judge a graphics intensive website.
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#9 CamDawg

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Posted 18 March 2004 - 07:02 PM

Galc, your main page is 145K with graphics included. Given that most browsers top out around 5K/second on dialup, you're likely getting a significant speed boost from either local or network file caching.

Why is this Hypnotoad video so popu... ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD.
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#10 khay

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Posted 19 March 2004 - 02:19 AM

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

There should be more sections in it:

- High Level abilities (a detailed explanation on what each does, as in the thread)
- Screenshots (with thumbnails and enlargements)

These will appear in the FAQ section soon, nothing to worry about. ^_^

I reccomend you simplify the 1st page though, in the favor of K.I.S.S.-policy (stands for keep it Simple, Stupid). Although I can navigate these easily, not all people can.

I didn`t really understand this one, something like a text 'click the skull to enter'?

Also, keep in mind that when making a website, aim for the maximum compatiblity rather than making it perfect for one browser. While the majority use Internet Explorer (that includes me), there are people who prefer different browsers. But when it gets to more than 3-year old browsers (namely NS 4.7), it doesn't matter.

It was tested and works mighty fine in: Internet Explorer, Opera, Netscape, Konqueror and Mozilla.

BTW: Just as a curiosity question, I see LC in the links sections. Not that I am complaining; I am just curious.

What was the question actually? :P Why not? The links page was entirely compiled by me, anyone can suggest more links, I`ll add them if need be.

Unfortunately, like most beautiful websites, it's unusable--108K worth of data for a home page is questionable at best. Not everyone has broadband.

I don`t have broadband either, I have Romanian cable. That`s worse than American dial-up. :P I don`t really think it`s unusable, it loads acceptably here. That`s exactly why I included a preloader, to make it appear faster. After the first visit, while it`s loading you can click the 'Click here to skip preloading' text at the bottom of the page and the site will appear at once because the images were already loaded in the cache during the previous visit.

Then again, I do like the minimalist/functional look, so I'm not exactly the best person to judge a graphics intensive website.

Me too! I`m crazy about minimalistic websites! That was my first intention, but Maestro kindly requested something more similar to Galactygon`s page.

All in all I will optimize it for faster functionality today, I will post when I release the newer version. Many thanks for the comments and keep the criticism coming. ;)

#11 khay

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Posted 19 March 2004 - 03:02 AM

Alright, website updated with new images. It looks basically the same, but the total size of the images have been reduced with 150kb, which is a most significant improvement, I must say. :)

#12 Seifer

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Posted 19 March 2004 - 03:47 AM

You used XML in that, didn't you?

Not bad at all.

how come you always look so damn cool in every photo I see you in?!?


Speaking of modding, I listened to IER 3 yesterday, so you can have another quote for your signature: how come you sound so damn cool, as well as look it? It's unfair. Seriously.


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#13 khay

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Posted 19 March 2004 - 03:51 AM

Thank you.

No, not at all. If you wish I could sent you the full source, plain html and css done in Dreamweaver. The preloader was a javascipt I sniffed from www.mortiis.com and that`s about it.

#14 Seifer

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Posted 19 March 2004 - 03:58 AM

Send the code over, I'd be interested in taking a look at it.

Cheers

Seif

how come you always look so damn cool in every photo I see you in?!?


Speaking of modding, I listened to IER 3 yesterday, so you can have another quote for your signature: how come you sound so damn cool, as well as look it? It's unfair. Seriously.


Still a cyberjock, still hacking the matrix, still unsure of what that means.

TeamBG member - http://www.teambg.eu

#15 khay

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Posted 19 March 2004 - 06:32 AM

Sent a PM with the location. ^_^

#16 Caedwyr

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Posted 19 March 2004 - 08:56 AM

Very nice, I've tried it again and it runs a fair bit faster on my com now (Yes, I did clear my cache too). Hopefully, there will be some more material to be posted in the near future.
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#17 T.G.Maestro

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Posted 19 March 2004 - 09:13 AM

For now we could post the actual screenshots, plus a few extra ones. ;)
Could you do it khayman? If you are ready to work on it, I can provide 3-4 new screens as well. ;)
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Refinements v2 has been released!
Go and visit the website or the forum for more info!

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#18 khay

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Posted 19 March 2004 - 12:44 PM

Sure thing, I`ll post them in a few minutes.

#19 khay

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Posted 20 March 2004 - 03:20 PM

Ermm few minutes turned into a longer time, sorry about that -- but good news ahead: new screenshots have been posted and also a FAQ has been added.

#20 Caedwyr

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Posted 20 March 2004 - 03:57 PM

The link for the screenshot of shatter magic takes the viewer to the Energy Storm Screenshot instead.

I'd also recommend having a Screenshot heading instead of burying them in the FAQ section.
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