i agree with rockstar and daz because the they are good artists and if i appear to think like them i might come across as one.
but seriously i do really like what cg channel has going on. i also like the way deathfall is set up http://www.deathfall.com/article.php?op=click&sid=6175
tons of thumbnails and they have sections for the most poplular topics even if they are not the most recent, as well as links to last commented on topics. the over all asthetics of the design is nothing to scream about but i really how its set up, just click on the cool pictures!!
That reminds me of cgtalk.
What is the purpose of polycount now?
I hate the logo as is. Why not make it a 'window' to show something cool like the newest super cool model and make it link directly to the topic it's from?
hey you're right about the cgtalk thing. doh! what's the opposite of reference?
what is the purpose of polycount? it was useful before as model resource, now it's just a duplicate of the news forum. a lot of these mockups are reflecting that actually...
yeah, a huge honking window to the newest super cool art is a great idea.
Scoobz design = WIN!
Its very soft and nice to look at.
IMO the old designs have always been little rough and harsh on the eye, i even use some pastel blue forum design because the default is very hard on my eyes.
But then again maybe im not hard core enough.
To further Pior's point, I'd love to see a section, it could even be extremely small, or in a bonus column. The section would essentially be the latest five document updates. A document being any of the official training stuff. New tutorial made by a polycounter? Wiki update? (OOPS, SHHH) UDN posted a new exporter for ut2k7? Basically anything that is a "how-to" of any sort.
Also, I know it's kind of cheesy, but on some sites, I like it when they have a column, again could be a bonus column, that shows the latest updated threads. So anyone browsing the home page could see a link that says, "help wanted: extreme toilet productions, Job forum".
Just kind of throwing those out there in case anyone working on a design needs ideas for added info. Like Rockstar, and Arshlevon (cause he's cool too) I like the sites that are mostly images. I'd like to see them easily broken into distinct sections, so that it's painfully obvious which are articles, versus which are forum updates, etc. CGchannel and Deathfall remind me of Yahoo in their extreme confusion. Yes there are a lot of images, but the only clue they provide is the thumbnail content itself. Their proximity, placement, and text, give no immediate evidence of how to "use" them. Only someone who's visited a couple tens of times will know what's what. A more obvious, "this is art, this is tutorials, this is interviews, this is polycandy" layout/proximity/contrast/columns/etc would do wonders for n00bnavigation and would set the site apart.
erm, i dunno about you other guys, but i used the tutorials and information on polycount/skindom/etc/etc sites when figuring out what this whole 'skinning' business was about.
Saying that no one needs help, when this is a community where people come to learn and show off... tutorials and resources are an amazing asset to make the site valuable.
Just curious... How and Why did the Ads come back? I thought GameSpy and Polycount parted ways after the shitty way they treated the last round of server maintenance?
As to the designs, I[ve hears a lot about large fonts on my Portfolio Page, so yeah no large fonts, but I do think that all the nave buttons should be on the same place, and probably vertical so we can add them. I am not a fan of horizontally arrainged link buttons. I agree with Pior that we do need to emphasize the game art resources and the Tutorials and tools, as this, at least to me is still what this place is all about, answering questions and learning how to add your custom content to a game. That to me is primary, even over the forums, which is second, and then the model collections (under a single buttom Model collection, leading to different types of models), and then the rest. If we focus towards Noobs, then arrainge this to be a bit more educational, perhaps?
The reason the horizontal navigation works better is that you limit the choices in to the main categories.
However, the reason the vertical works better is that so much more information is instantly available.
My personal thought on this is that the vertical huge link list isn't needed - people will either click on "Resources", and on the resources page go to "Quake 3 exporting" or whatever, or else they will use the search function.
I imagine that everything will be drive by some php/mysql system and there will be no static pages.
By ditching the sidebar you free up quite a lot of real estate - just about enough to drop in the skyscraper banner.
I have a solution! Do both - have the sidebar as an option, and a style sheet to show it. By changing the stylesheet the navigation panel can be shown.
i actually tried to do one for some reason. i forgot that i actually don't know how to make good websites, lucky i remembered right when i got tired of trying to make a good layout. i'll be damned if i don't post it. even if it's not done.
I agree mostly with rockstar, though with probably some restraint in the layout, to be necessary. As long as the site doesn't end up like the mess that Deviant Art is, as that site is unnavigable, especially if you are a "free" user as opposed to a paid subscriber. Simple, neat and with pictures, rather than large fonts.
I still want to know why the ads came back though, and who's ad package they are.
Replies
but seriously i do really like what cg channel has going on. i also like the way deathfall is set up http://www.deathfall.com/article.php?op=click&sid=6175
tons of thumbnails and they have sections for the most poplular topics even if they are not the most recent, as well as links to last commented on topics. the over all asthetics of the design is nothing to scream about but i really how its set up, just click on the cool pictures!!
trendy glass-looking menu bar!
not much in the way of layout here yet, just thought i'd take a stab at the color scheme.
What is the purpose of polycount now?
I hate the logo as is. Why not make it a 'window' to show something cool like the newest super cool model and make it link directly to the topic it's from?
what is the purpose of polycount? it was useful before as model resource, now it's just a duplicate of the news forum. a lot of these mockups are reflecting that actually...
yeah, a huge honking window to the newest super cool art is a great idea.
Its very soft and nice to look at.
IMO the old designs have always been little rough and harsh on the eye, i even use some pastel blue forum design because the default is very hard on my eyes.
But then again maybe im not hard core enough.
Also, I know it's kind of cheesy, but on some sites, I like it when they have a column, again could be a bonus column, that shows the latest updated threads. So anyone browsing the home page could see a link that says, "help wanted: extreme toilet productions, Job forum".
Just kind of throwing those out there in case anyone working on a design needs ideas for added info. Like Rockstar, and Arshlevon (cause he's cool too) I like the sites that are mostly images. I'd like to see them easily broken into distinct sections, so that it's painfully obvious which are articles, versus which are forum updates, etc. CGchannel and Deathfall remind me of Yahoo in their extreme confusion. Yes there are a lot of images, but the only clue they provide is the thumbnail content itself. Their proximity, placement, and text, give no immediate evidence of how to "use" them. Only someone who's visited a couple tens of times will know what's what. A more obvious, "this is art, this is tutorials, this is interviews, this is polycandy" layout/proximity/contrast/columns/etc would do wonders for n00bnavigation and would set the site apart.
Saying that no one needs help, when this is a community where people come to learn and show off... tutorials and resources are an amazing asset to make the site valuable.
but, whatever.
Still lacking the spit and polish of course.
As to the designs, I[ve hears a lot about large fonts on my Portfolio Page, so yeah no large fonts, but I do think that all the nave buttons should be on the same place, and probably vertical so we can add them. I am not a fan of horizontally arrainged link buttons. I agree with Pior that we do need to emphasize the game art resources and the Tutorials and tools, as this, at least to me is still what this place is all about, answering questions and learning how to add your custom content to a game. That to me is primary, even over the forums, which is second, and then the model collections (under a single buttom Model collection, leading to different types of models), and then the rest. If we focus towards Noobs, then arrainge this to be a bit more educational, perhaps?
Scott
Is it needed?
The reason the horizontal navigation works better is that you limit the choices in to the main categories.
However, the reason the vertical works better is that so much more information is instantly available.
My personal thought on this is that the vertical huge link list isn't needed - people will either click on "Resources", and on the resources page go to "Quake 3 exporting" or whatever, or else they will use the search function.
I imagine that everything will be drive by some php/mysql system and there will be no static pages.
By ditching the sidebar you free up quite a lot of real estate - just about enough to drop in the skyscraper banner.
I have a solution! Do both - have the sidebar as an option, and a style sheet to show it. By changing the stylesheet the navigation panel can be shown.
i like sonic's; post #116713
I still want to know why the ads came back though, and who's ad package they are.
Scott
And thats why the new boards are on polycount.NET?
Scott