New Main TH Page?

[Corrupt Shadow]

Logged on around 5:00PM CST on July 13, 2009, and the main page was different.



Trying something new, Ryme?

[Harry Dresden]

Heh...I thought my browser was screwed up for the first 10 seconds or so.

And the inclusion of that green....thing is just rubbing salt in my wound of curiousity.

[neocamp22]

I like it, mostly. It needs a little bit of work making the entire thing more uniform, IMO, but it's a nice look.

[MagiNinjA]

Hmm. It is more interesting, for sure. But it's also much wider and not as...smooth as the last one. Wider isn't necessarily bad, but not everyone has a widescreen computer. Or is it just the fact that I do have one make it seem a little weird?

[Ryme]

Why dont' you try shrinking your browser window and find out?

[TheK3vin]

Looks great when your window isn't maximized- Looks... good when it is on a widescreen monitor. I certainly won't be starting any petitions.

[MagiNinjA]

Yeah, it's definitely better on a normal (non-widescreen) monitor, but it's not bad by any means.

It still looks a little too sharp and boxy compared to the old one though, IMO.

[Cristiona]

It looks... a little cluttered. Certainly got my attention when I loaded the site.

[Corrupt Shadow]

Well, "I like it, like it, yes, I do."

[Strlikecrazy]

It's cool. But, the green thing

[MagiNinjA]

Agreed. Looks interesting. And shiny.

It'd be interesting if it pulled up random images though, instead of just static.

[Muhandes]

My first reaction was that it doesn't look good on a wide screen, too cluttered.
But on a second look it might not be so bad, and my first reaction was just me being used to the old clean look.

[Satan]

It's so ugly. I thought I'd gone to the wrong site. Upon realizing I didn't, my first reaction was OH GOD THE UGLY. Perhaps this was exaggerated because I'd only been awake for like a minute. But still >.> If you could somehow line up the item lines, it'd probably look better :/

[Muhandes]

On my laptop things look better, but on my home machine I get this (click thumbnail for full version):



As you can see there are some alignment problems.

[Ryme]

So, some of you love it, some of you hate it, some are weirded out because it's different. Sounds pretty typical of any change.

I had two main goals with the update:
1) Let the page expand/flex to fit different browser sizes, instead of being a fixed width.
2) Work in some actual game art.
3) Get rid of the borders on the tables that nobody else has used since 1997.

I'm pretty sure those three things have been accomplished. Maybe not exactly elegantly, but close enough.

@awaj: Rounded corners? Do you have any idea how difficult those are?

@jazztap: obviously not going to constrain the width, because that's counter to one of my goals. I'm sticking with the principle that every user can set their browser however they like, but if I fix the width then I'm forcing a lot of people to be stuck with a width they don't want.

@ magi: I can't do a series of random images as a background image in a table. I have to do a background to let it scale with changing page sizes. At least, that's how I understand it; someone may know tricks that I don't. There might be other ways to fudge it, and I can give it some thought.

[Ryme]

Not really. Like I said, it was using the old border tag that nobody has used since 1997. Wasn't really rounded, just fake beveling.

[Carygon Nijax]

I thught my browser was broken too.. because I never saw the little images of the items.. and.. what the hell is that green thing??

[TheK3vin]

I thught my browser was broken too.. because I never saw the little images of the items.. and.. what the hell is that green thing??

I could be wrong, but I think it's in the slots, too. Ryme's just teasing us with it.

[Corrupt Shadow]

Yes, it's in the slots. If it's elsewhere in the game, no one has found it yet.

[Strlikecrazy]

Ryme, want to dispense some info on the green item?

[Harry Dresden]

There's already an ultra rare in the garbage. So I doubt there would be a second.

[Cristiona]

I already gave a hint about that item in chat

[Satan]

I'd have to agree. My desktop monitor is 22 inches, so maximized it makes it a pain to read. And it's an inconvenience to place upon us large monitors to have to re-size every time we switch over to the TH main page >.> But granted, since it's just one page, it can be lived with.

[Ryme]

-The picture of the CD is cut off on my resolution, and that looks reeeaaaalllllyyyy goofy. You need to make sure the last image in a row doesn't get cut off like that. Likewise, the left and top edges of the gasmask cut off naturally - I would use images that fit within the frame instead.

It scales. That's the whole point. I can't design for 100 different screens, and the choice is either not scale at all (and thus be too big or too small) or scale and thus risk being cut off. There's nothing magical about your monitor that I should use it as a guide -- hundreds of others see hundreds of different things.

[MagiNinjA]

Er, but that's the thing. There WAS nothing wrong with the previous one. It wasn't too big OR too small. It was always just right.

[Carygon Nijax]

I don't want to be rude or anything.. but.. I actually liked the old one more than this new one

[Cristiona]

Honestly? It's a page I look at for 10 seconds. It's different, but it's not bad. It's certainly not something that would drive away potential players.

[Carygon Nijax]

Maybe not.. but it won't attract them either

[Cristiona]

By the time they see the page, they've already been attracted.

[Carygon Nijax]

well.. If they mind that much about the main page. then they should never play!

go play some wii game you freaks!

[Corrupt Shadow]

I agree with Cris, it's a log in page that I look at for 10 seconds. I just made the thread because it was different.

I like different. It's fine, Ryme. Either way works, and I understand why you did it. Can't please 'em all.

[Satan]

The point we're making Cris is that it is bad for monitors which are too small or too large, where the original page was just fine for even my large monitor. Also, Ryme, you certainly could design it for 100 or 1000 or /all/ screens... You've got the power of JS and PHP, afterall, which is /made/ for dynamic programming of web pages >.>