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Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:24 am
by blast
I've been working the last few weeks on replacing the BZFlag homepage with a more polished and modern looking site. I'm planning to get some more screenshots/videos of gameplay posted soon.

http://bzflag.org/

Let me know what you think.

Also, if anyone wants to check out the source code, it's posted on my Bitbucket account, and licensed under the MIT License (the graphics/Javascript have various licenses, and are documented on the Credits page).

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:10 am
by ahs3
Looks Great! Nice work blast.

Thanks!

ahs3

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:09 am
by Mopar Madness
The new website looks great, really love the new look! The old site was the same one that was there when I started 6 years ago and was pretty nice, but definitely needed an update. Is the forums also going to receive a theme update to tie in with the new color scheme of the main site?

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:13 am
by blast
Mopar Madness wrote:Is the forums also going to receive a theme update to tie in with the new color scheme of the main site?
Possibly. I'll look into what that requires. I'll probably focus next on getting the Debian package updated, however.

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:26 am
by slime
Looks awesome blast. I love the banner at the top highlighting the game's top features. Maybe add a highlight about the community too? Either way, it makes me want to go download the game. If I didn't already have it downloaded I would :-p.

I'm probably just suggesting this due to my affiliation with league play, but it would be nice to have a link up at the top for 'Leagues'. I don't know if you'd have it just linking to the GU League though or a page listing the few different ones. That's just my personal preference though; if I were new to the game and went to the site I would most likely be most intrigued by a 'League' or a 'Statistics' link. Neither would be needed, but if you wanted a couple suggestions those would be the ones I would make. Overall it looks fantastic and a much needed overhaul. Thanks for working on it.

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:13 pm
by Pizzahead
The site looks awesome, blast. I also agree with slime's suggestions. I think a video of game play might be in order as well, because with a great game such as BZFlag, screenshots just don't cut it. Just my two cents.

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 4:26 pm
by JeffM
I like the idea of linking to stats, we have a new stats site we can use for that, a sample is at http://quol.bzflag.net

I am not sold on linking to specific leagues from the project main page. Leagues are nice and all, but not really maintained by the project, and it could be unfair to link to some leagues and not others. Linking a league on the main page could give the impression that it's play and behavior is "Sanctioned" by the project when like all servers they are independent.

It would be acceptable to have the various league sites mentioned on the getting started wiki page that the main site links to for that information. It would be easier to maintain that page as leagues come and go as well. This could also be a good place to put information telling people how to join the various leagues.

As for screenshots and videos blast any I have talked about fixing them up later. This is just a set that was picked for the site launch. We will get some better ones at a later date. The goal was to replace the old screenshots on the old page. Our stats showed that a vast majority of people hitting the site left as soon as they saw the screenshots.

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 7:27 pm
by Pizzahead
I know this is nitpicking, but the graph on http://quol.bzflag.net/bzstats/players has a typo. Then again, you said its a sample, so never mind that I said that. In any case, the new stats site is much less cluttered and easier to navigate than some of the others (like Strayer's, for example). It's also nice to see my name on there :wink:

The screenshots are much better than the old set, which didn't make the game look like the most appealing in this age of good graphic obsessed gamers. Its less about the game play and more about which game looks the best. Hopefully the site will capture some of those gamers and get some new blood into the game, because we certainly need some. Once again, the new site looks great.

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 6:26 pm
by Yrogirg
A clean retro feel
:-)

It would be nice to have here information for players too, not just for newcomers. Server list, or a link to strayer's.

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 12:40 am
by JeffM
If you had read the other posts you would have seen mention that we are working on having the page link to our new stats site.

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 6:19 pm
by JeffM
Just FYI, the new stats site is up at http://stats.bzflag.org and is linked from the mainpage.

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 3:05 pm
by gnu-sense
I like the "turret machine" on the stats site. Maybe it's not new, but it's the first I've noticed it. Is that an infinite tape?

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 4:25 pm
by JeffM
huh?

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 10:46 pm
by ducktape
Looks great, thanks for all your guys' work!

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:28 am
by optic delusion
Absolutely Awesome.
/me Thanks Blast007!

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 5:33 pm
by hutty
quite impressive ...
... i don't recognize all the maps in the screen shots ... iv'e been out of the loop for a while ... must have missed something ...
:D

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 7:15 pm
by Mopar Madness
huttymuncher wrote:... i don't recognize all the maps in the screen shots ... iv'e been out of the loop for a while ... must have missed something ...
In order: Apocalypse in Action, HiX, random generated ducati style map, PurplePanzer's city map (I think), Apocalypse in Action(again).

Then it repeats.

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 9:19 pm
by blast
If you look at the filenames of the images, it says the map name and the author.

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 2:10 am
by Iskskskks
Looks Great Blast! Thanks for all the hard work!

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 5:31 pm
by mochawarrior
I do like it but I have one suggestion about it. It is that the bar at the top I cant really see it when I go there (you can keep it idc it maybee me idk). But in general I like it good job!! Oh and for new commers they should see what servers are out there and stuff (so the strayer's stats), and too see what players are on.

Re: Shiny New BZFlag.org Site

Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 5:52 pm
by blast
mochawarrior wrote:I do like it but I have one suggestion about it. It is that the bar at the top I cant really see it when I go there (you can keep it idc it maybee me idk). But in general I like it good job!! Oh and for new commers they should see what servers are out there and stuff (so the strayer's stats), and too see what players are on.
I don't know why you can't really see it. It's pretty obvious to me.