Herald Report
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I'm working on shrinking the robes down...I had assumed that there was a coding solution, and then I was shown why... So, the dossiers will be unborked asap. On with the report.
ROBES!!!!!
_"...Can you say 'suckage'?"
"...wtf is with these crappy robes?"
"...man, you missed the mark..."
_
Hi, guys. Where the hell were you when I was asking for input?<p>
See, when I put something in my reports, it's not just to pump myself up, make myself look good, and I'm not just fishing for compliments. I will always put in progress checks in the different programs I am working on, so you (the average DB member) can see. And by all means, if you have a concern, or a question, or anything really, leave me a note. I read all of my email and all of the comments on my reports.<p>
_"...honestly, the announcements of them in your reports, I thought it was a joke this whole time..." _<p>
That came from someone whose opinion I really, truly respect. So let me be crystal clear on this... It's not a joke when I am showing my work. If you don't like it, that's fine. Send me an email telling me why. This is your club, not just mine. I put stuff up for people to see what i am doing as a DC member. And I do listen to criticism.<p>
I spend a lot of time on db stuff. More than you would think. Since getting appointed as herald, I've spent about 80 hours on development of the robes project alone. And I still have a real job (with a boatload of overtime), and some sort of life. I really don't mind spending the time... I enjoy working on stuff to make the DB better. But if you can't be bothered to make a ten second comment or even better, drop me an email, how do you expect me to magically know what you want?<p>
I've shown the robes preliminary art to about 30 people. Everyone said that they liked them. I've put samples in my reports for a while now. And only two people said that they seemed kinda low-detail (and I thank you guys, it's what made me start working on a very complex texture and shading plan for these).
Just one email, one comment can set the works spinning. A comment from Drodik and Tarax to one of my reports in January set me into overdrive on the new DJK-sabers program. That's all it took. They took thirty seconds to comment, and I asked a few more people what they thought... next thing I know, I'm working until 3 am on sabers for you all.<p>
So, you see, merely complaining after the fact is worthless.<p>
My office door is Always open to anyone, regardless of rank, order, position, or opinion.<p>
And for the record, I still like the new robe designs, even in their unfinished stage, more than the weird gumby non-sw-looking robes we had. :laughs: <p> <p> and now...<p> I made reference to showing you guys the textured and shaded version I was working on for the robes.
Clicky<p>
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NEW LIGHTSABERS FOR KNIGHTS
Jac and Radek (the new Seneschal! Yay!) Mashed through the pile of graphics i made for the knighthood saber project the other day, and implemented all those cool sabers for those of you who can have them. Login and go see for yourself. <p>
Custom Saber Delivered!
Nothing here today. I had gotten a lot of requests through the new request form (available throuigh the doss if you are of the correct rank and stuff), and had a few in final stages, but got stuck doing some things for the robes project. Sorry guys. Soon, though, I Promise.
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WARBANNER COMPLETION
Lex Darkfire
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Darth Maul
Now, maybe i am behind the times in this stuff, but I pick up a comic (ahem* graphic novel :P) every now and again... This time, it was one called "Visionaries". The premise is that there were ten stories done up by the Graphic designers of Episode 3. How could I resist?
Anyway, there's some genuinely weird stories, and a few that are too cartoony for my tastes, but the book opens and closes VERY Well. The first tale is set on Tatooine, and has a familiar Sith Lord. The end tale shows the turning of General Grievous, the cruel trick that Dooku and Palpatine played, and his...ahem..enlistment into the Clone Wars. An excellently drawn, and told tale. <p>
And that's all for tonight... Have a great weekend.<p>
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about the textured robes. Could you maybe make the background a little lighter, its practically invisible, black robe on the black background....
~Luc
They look better...but like Muz says its a bit too dark...
Other than that its ok
Sabers are awesome though.
and that Darth Maul pic is the awesomnest I have ever seen! w00t for Maul!
Ylith
the "placeholder robes are an awesome design Muz. The detailed one you posted the link for is awesome as well. I have to agree with the overal graphic being a bit dark, maybe the detaile could be lightened a bit so that the background remains on par with the rest of the website. I applaud you and your team on the hard work, and I look forward to seeing more of your finished projects. you could always hire me to make dalmation fur pimp robes, then I could take all the heat for anything that is "teh suck". LOL
I like the textured/shaded version. The only part that irked me with the ones now is that they seemed too flat. I kept thinking... 'why incorporate the new ones if they're not even finished yet?'. Lack of depth ready doesn't do them any favours. =/ But in the end... the design really isn't that big of an issue, in my opinion. It's if they're shaded/rendered nicely that gives them the effect.
My only issue is thel ines, but you said you were gonna work on that. I think they look totally badass myself. Thanks bunches, Muz!
looking alot better.....and I agree with BF in the other post....Promotion is manditory.
Firstly, just wanted to say great work on the new robes Muz. I thought the temporary ones looked great and the newer ones look even better, even if they are a little bit hard to see, as Vith said. Just wondering if any thought was given to maybe adding some optional armor type accesories, maybe a chestplate and greaves or bracers or something, just thought I'd throw that out there as an interested Obelisk.
The robes system, as planned, will have an extraordinary level of customizability... with many new features unlocking at different intervals of rank. Armour is one of many planned features (albeit at the 'Elder' echelon). Many, many things will be selectable, with hundreds of potential combinations. Once entering the Equites, the number of combinations will be so staggering, that we will have to rely on custom (meaning no selector like the DJK-sabers we have now, but rather a custom request form)...
And I'm trying a few different background and brightness options... I might put a poll up on the message boards once i get a few viable options. The issue really is people needing black robes and the site having a black background... but we'll work it out, i'm sure.
See, this is why people who just criticise should really think before they write. The new robes as they are at the moment are teh roxxor, and those textured/shaded ones are EVEN more teh roxxor- in fact, combined with the level of customness you have planned, I cannot wait for them to arrive. Geez, it's like waiting for a new Abbyshot coat to arrive... I'm going to be sitting in front of the door all day waiting for the postie ^_^
I must say that these robes were masterly done, the art and work involved deserves to be praised. My only concern is with the size of the image, perhaps you could make the robe image equal in size to the warbanner image. For at the moment the warbanner seems to diffuse some of the remarkable detail that exists in the robe designs. Other that that I must commend you and all those associated with this project with a job well done. I look forward to the other little surprises that you have instore for the DB. :P
Forget the naysayers Muz, the robes are coming along great. I do agree with Tiberius though, the sizing could be adjusted just a hair so that the warbanners don't overwhelm the robe image. And once the background coloring issue is resolved, the final versions should look kicka$$! Your doing great work, and the DB owes you a lot!!
I've noticed that for Dark Jedi who do not have a Warbanner, they're robes are still to the left of the page. Is that intentional? Because, if it is not, I think it would look much better if it were centered instead of seeming to lean to the left.
My personal opinion is that the robes lack the quality and detail of many of the other graphics on the site. When placed next to the warbanner, I feel they seem much more sketched and less professional. The textured version makes an improvement and I realize that it's not finished, but I feel that it could be even better.
Good work, though. The old robes did need an update.
One thing everyone should bear in mind is that the creator of the old robes requested we cease using them, so quality issues aside, a change was necessary, for better or for worse.
a.k.a. its this or nothing
Maybe it's just because I keep my screen resolution at 1920x1200, but I can see my robes pretty well against the background. I think one of the things we have to realize is that we've been seeing the same thing for upwards of 6 to 10 years, so we're used to it. This is new, so it's different. Human nature is to instantly dislike drastic change. I like the way these are going to be more customizable. I think it makes us look more like a club of jedi with like interests than a big school or something where everyone wears the same thing depending on what rank they are. The customization is going to trump any kind of appearance issues for me. Keep it up, Muz.
The Robes look cool now Muz, way cool :)
made me happy now, keep it up :D
and I apologise for the bitching, I guess I should
have been more specific on why I didnt like it.
Do I smell Promotion???
;)
Ylith
Great work Muz. The scope and depth of the Robe Program that you are creating is the best one that has ever been made available to the DB. I appreciate your time and effort in making this aspect of the DB better than it was before (something we should all try to do!).
I'm sure they're fantastic -- your work always rox, Muz -- but could they be lightened up a touch, or perhaps given a halo effect or something similar? They're so dark I just can't see them at all.
I gotta say, I've seen a couple of the more detailed robes with a lightened background on some dossiers today while judging battles for the ACC, and I think look great. I didn't want to comment before because I couldn't put my finger on exactly what was wrong with them, but the lightened background is exactly what it needed. I'm really looking forward to seeing them become customizable for the entire Brotherhood. Great work again Muz.