Website update

[Castruccio]

From the perspective of a guy who isn't a web designer but who visits the page often, it looks great. I don't think the images on the front banner are too distracting, although some others may feel that it makes things look less streamlined. I guess you could make it the kind of banner that scrolls the new frame instead of the kind that flashes the new frame. (see this banner for an example of the scroll effect: http://arcengames.com/w/). This is also what Valve does with the banners on Steam.

[torikamal]

Every day I tune in and the website keeps looking better and better. I actually like the scrolling idea a lot--I think you are right, though, a smoother scroll instead of a flash would do it more justice. However, kudos to all the work you've done and are doing!

[Bluddy]

Originally Posted by Shadow

We just made a couple more changes. There is a new background on the non-game specific pages that should match the other pages a little better.

We also just added an animating banner on the front page. What do you guys think? I am a little worried that it might be too distracting.

I like the animating banner. I'm going to nitpick that non-specific background image though.

It consists of 2 images side by side. However, unlike the DC images, the perspective of both images is different, making it such that my brain gets distracted by them as the camera seems to come to a 'point' somewhere in the middle of the page. It should be like the DC images, which almost replicate the same viewpoint, making it seem like they could almost be one continuous image.

[Amberjoy]

Originally Posted by Shadow

I did make it a little brighter today. If you reload one of the pages do you still feel that the font is a bit too dark?

Tiny bit better. It's readable. Thanks.

[torikamal]

I think it would make sense for the game slider on the front page to also link to the game if you click on it--for example, if it was on the Depths of Peril image and you clicked on it, it would take you to the DoP page.

[fab]

Originally Posted by Shadow

Ok, so I'm planning on reworking the website a little bit. For the most part I like how it works from a functional standpoint, so I'm not likely to change much in that regard. What I want to focus on is making it look nicer and more professional. Since you guys are my audience, I would like you input. What do you think would make it look better?

Here's a screenshot of what it looked like when I wrote this just in case I have changed anything already.

Hi Steven,

One thing that comes to mind is you have a basic type contrast of bold vs normal weight fonts, but otherwise the type is "monochromatic" throughout the pages.

You might get a nice refinement by contrasting serif and sans-serif fonts, for example titles vs main content.

http://webdesignerwall.com/tutorials...-contrast-flow

Serif is fitting on RPGs of course it gives that homey RPG feel, but it is not very readable at small sizes.

You could also line up the left and right edges of the top tabs to the left and right columns, for consistency and a nice vertical feel (ie "grid based design").

Are you designing the site yourself? I am a developer as well and I want to get better at web design. Unfortunately it's very hard to find good introductory design books.

This one was recommended to me. It introduces CRAP : Contract Repetition Alignment and Proximity It doesn't get into color, which is a good thing, because color could be a whole book in itself, but it has lots of simple exercises and a decent section on typography and all types of type contrasts. It's really helped me "see" the differences in fonts I never paid attention before.

http://www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-.../dp/1566091594

if you know of a better book please let me know!

Font selection is made a little harder when you have a dark background, because the alaising tends the makes the text fatter or thinner depending on the font size and font weight.

Last but not least, why not design a completely different layout for the landing page? Where you can show all your games at once without a carousel and link to the inside pages? On that landing page you can put all the secondary stuff like RSS, blog etc at the bottom in a large footer.

[Bluddy]

I agree that the fonts seem like they could be changed to something a little more appealing, especially since there's quite a bit of text.

[Roswitha]

Originally Posted by fab

Are you designing the site yourself? I am a developer as well and I want to get better at web design. Unfortunately it's very hard to find good introductory design books.

This one was recommended to me. It introduces CRAP : Contract Repetition Alignment and Proximity It doesn't get into color, which is a good thing, because color could be a whole book in itself, but it has lots of simple exercises and a decent section on typography and all types of type contrasts. It's really helped me "see" the differences in fonts I never paid attention before.

http://www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-.../dp/1566091594

if you know of a better book please let me know!

This book is part of a series by Robin Williams. There's also the Non-Designer's Web book and Type book. The Web book would probably be really helpful here. I would recommend reading the Design book first, just to get the basics (for anybody else who's reading this).

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by Bluddy

BTW Depths of Peril is the only game whose name and logo really doesn't describe the game at all -- it only applies to the background story. Was it conceived as something completely different? Champion of Jorvik or something like that would have been much more appropriate.

DoP was named after the event that started everything. Kivi and DC are named after actual people related to the story, so they are named differently.

Originally Posted by fab

Are you designing the site yourself? I am a developer as well and I want to get better at web design. Unfortunately it's very hard to find good introductory design books.

Yes, I design the site also. The art itself sure isn't mine though (as in mine would look like crap).

[DarkShrike]

I am loving the new look of the Din's Curse page. I think it does a great job of catching your eye and making Din's Curse look appealing if you have never heard of the game (or even if you have - though at that point you don't need the web page to make it look appealing )