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brettalton
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« on: July 30, 2009, 04:25:03 PM »

Hello everyone,

My name is Brett Alton and I'm a 21-year-old web developer from Canada, currently trying for a B.Sc. in Computer Science (to start September '09) and I would like to help with your website.

I've been playing OpenArena for many years on Ubuntu but since I'm not a modeller or a gaming programmer, I figured I could help with my first love, web development. I was previously the web developer for the game Black Mesa and did all sorts of updates on their website. I am no longer their web developer (only stopped due to time constraints at the time).

Plans

References

I of course will be doing this as a volunteer, will release all my code, etc. as GPLv2 but I do work and have school and a g/f like everyone else, but I'll do as much as humanly possible.

What do you think?
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pulchr
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« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2009, 05:34:01 PM »

it's very welcome. the current webpage doesn't look that appealing and a quick look at your sites gave me a very positive feeling.

i also think that a consistent look for wiki and main site is a good idea.
nice screenshots and some quality youtube videos is a good way to showcase the game.
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schlorri
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« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2009, 05:44:56 PM »

THAT would be awesome! Smiley
So i think your welcome here!
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-Join #aftershock in quakenet
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fromhell
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« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2009, 11:14:10 PM »

Hi
i'd like to see what you'd come with. The previous willing web developer suddenly faded into non-existence, and my new proposed design is really lazy and still ugly brainstorm.

I'm not a fan of CMS systems though (Especially having to update them manually, it's bad enough I have to manually update SMF now). Usually it's enough for a SMF news forum feed to be the only real dynamic part of the site for function.
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asking when OA3 will be done won't get OA3 done.
Progress of OA3 currently occurs behind closed doors alone

I do not provide technical support either.

new code development on github
Udi
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« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2009, 04:52:15 AM »

I think you should check out previous posts in the The official 2009 site design thread and "The New Face of Sight" Project , you can find a lot of info there what kind of site the aim is/was.

Off: do you have any infos about the Black Mesa Source development? Is it completely halted or is it just the website which isn't updated anymore?
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http://udionline.hu/en/projektek/openarena/
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« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2009, 06:12:25 AM »

udi: my friend is mapping for black mesa source and as far as i know it's not halted.
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PaniC
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« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2009, 07:22:31 AM »

I'm not a fan of CMS systems though (Especially having to update them manually, it's bad enough I have to manually update SMF now). Usually it's enough for a SMF news forum feed to be the only real dynamic part of the site for function.
Simplemachine's SSI functions are very helpful to show dynamic & forum related stuff on a webpage.  Smiley
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brettalton
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« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2009, 11:11:08 AM »

Okay, so I see a web developer has already offered his services and then has disappeared. This is common as web developers, well, can be very sketchy sometimes. I don''t know why, but if when I was running a business doing web development, every one was weary of me and my industry.

So let's take it slow and I'll build some mockups in GIMP/Photoshop and slowly build it to where we need to go.

We need a design, logical navigation and then we can go into HTML mockups.

The end user needs:
  • refreshing, clean and professional design that will hook them as soon as they hit the home page
  • sitemap/navigation that makes both logical sense and is easy to navigate
  • make it easy to view screenshots and videos of the game
  • make it easy to install the game no matter what system you're on, including pictorial instructions
  • let the user know that the game is still under active development and offer 'contribute' links

For us, we need the site to be:
  • easy to update
  • unifying theme across the website, forum and wiki
  • move wiki from wikia to one hosted at openarena.ws

What I need from you developers to make this as painless as possible:
  • Any screenshots of models I can get, specifically with a transparent background if I can. I would also like to see three models, standing at 30 degrees, 0 degrees and 30 degrees again to be used as an image to the right
  • The logo in 2D, 3D (many different angles) and maybe even the .blend or .xcf/.psd file if I can
  • Any and all comments of things you'd like the site to have
  • Would you like the site to be completely translated into other languages like http://kohanaphp.com?
  • Do you mind if I start from scratch? Everyone has just been criticizing a site with code I can't even use ATM

I read the threads and saw fromhell's mockup: http://openarena.ws/newsiteproto/protoindex.html but the other web developers self-hosted mockup has been taken down, but I did fine someone's screenshots of it: http://openarena.ws/board/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2598.0;attach=1597

I'll start working on a mockup once I have the logo and some good screenshots of models. If you need an example of screenshots of models, take a look at your old website, which I have a screenshot of...

PS: What happened to that old design?
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brettalton
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« Reply #8 on: July 31, 2009, 11:13:41 AM »

I think you should check out previous posts in the The official 2009 site design thread and "The New Face of Sight" Project , you can find a lot of info there what kind of site the aim is/was.

Off: do you have any infos about the Black Mesa Source development? Is it completely halted or is it just the website which isn't updated anymore?

They were always slow at updating their website (they have no CMS and use straight HTML, which not many of them know), but if you want to look at their development, look at their YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/BlackMesaSourceMedia

I know one of the modellers personally and I know the project is still very active. They have a private forum for their development, so it's hard to know what they're doing unless they explicitly tell you what they're doing.
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fromhell
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« Reply #9 on: July 31, 2009, 11:35:17 AM »

PS: What happened to that old design?
I scrapped it because it was single column, linear, wasn't very modifiable and also it doesn't stand up too well to bandwidth hit rush as it used excessive amounts of PNG images with alphas. When a release came out with this old design, the servers paced like molasses and affected every site it hosts. The release was hosted seperately, it's just all the front page hits that strained. This is why the site is currently simple looking (though too 1999 looking) as of now. It also uses raw HTML for text and such due to some servers ago suddenly quitting php at random, but that's been solved some months ago already.

Black Mesa is a 'surprise' development project. I think it's rude to ask about inside info about it here.
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asking when OA3 will be done won't get OA3 done.
Progress of OA3 currently occurs behind closed doors alone

I do not provide technical support either.

new code development on github
brettalton
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« Reply #10 on: July 31, 2009, 01:43:35 PM »

PS: What happened to that old design?
I scrapped it because it was single column, linear, wasn't very modifiable and also it doesn't stand up too well to bandwidth hit rush as it used excessive amounts of PNG images with alphas. When a release came out with this old design, the servers paced like molasses and affected every site it hosts. The release was hosted seperately, it's just all the front page hits that strained. This is why the site is currently simple looking (though too 1999 looking) as of now. It also uses raw HTML for text and such due to some servers ago suddenly quitting php at random, but that's been solved some months ago already.

Black Mesa is a 'surprise' development project. I think it's rude to ask about inside info about it here.

Okay, so that'll be one of the components of the site -- very resource efficient. I like being resource efficient! But I'll also make sure to give it some punch... at least on the home page.

Would you be able to send me the logos and screenshots of characters and what not?
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brettalton
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« Reply #11 on: July 31, 2009, 06:41:45 PM »

I found a neat program that can query different Linux distros, asking them what version of a package they have...
Code:
$ whohas openarena
Arch        openarena                 0.8.1-3                              unsupported http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=7748
Arch        openarena-bin             0.8.1-2                              unsupported http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=16719
FreeBSD     openarena                 0.7.1_4                              games       http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/pds.cgi?ports/games/openarena
Debian      openarena                 0.7.7+dfsg1-1                        stable      http://packages.debian.org/lenny/openarena
Debian      openarena-data            0.7.7-1                              stable      http://packages.debian.org/lenny/openarena-data
Debian      openarena-server          0.7.7+dfsg1-1                        stable      http://packages.debian.org/lenny/openarena-server
Debian      openarena                 0.8.1-4                              testing     http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/openarena
Debian      openarena-data            0.8.1-2                              testing     http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/openarena-data
Debian      openarena-server          0.8.1-4                              testing     http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/openarena-server
Ubuntu      openarena                 0.7.0-2                              universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy/openarena
Ubuntu      openarena                 0.7.7-1~hardy1                       universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy-backports/openarena
Ubuntu      openarena                 0.7.7+dfsg1-1                        universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/intrepid/openarena
Ubuntu      openarena                 0.8.1-1                              universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/openarena
Ubuntu      openarena                 0.8.1-4                              universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/karmic/openarena
Ubuntu      openarena-data            0.7.1-1                              universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy/openarena-data
Ubuntu      openarena-data            0.7.7-1~hardy1                       universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy-backports/openarena-data
Ubuntu      openarena-data            0.7.7-1                              universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/intrepid/openarena-data
Ubuntu      openarena-data            0.8.1-1                              universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/openarena-data
Ubuntu      openarena-data            0.8.1-2                              universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/karmic/openarena-data
Ubuntu      openarena-server          0.7.0-2                              universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy/openarena-server
Ubuntu      openarena-server          0.7.7-1~hardy1                       universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy-backports/openarena-server
Ubuntu      openarena-server          0.7.7+dfsg1-1                        universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/intrepid/openarena-server
Ubuntu      openarena-server          0.8.1-1                              universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/openarena-server
Ubuntu      openarena-server          0.8.1-4                              universe    http://packages.ubuntu.com/karmic/openarena-server
Gentoo      openarena                 0.8.1                                            http://gentoo-portage.com/games-fps/openarena
Source Mage openarena-bin             0.8.1                                binary     
openSUSE    openarena                 0.8.1                                games       http://packages.opensuse-community.org/packageinfo.jsp?checksum=e211900db7fbbd0f0351e45c4ad972a55ae9a1a4&distro=openSUSE_111
openSUSE    openarena-data            0.8.1                                games       http://packages.opensuse-community.org/packageinfo.jsp?checksum=8ea9c946ceb89807b85335b7527f9c323a86285f&distro=openSUSE_111
openSUSE    openarena-data            0.8.0                                lmich/openS http://packages.opensuse-community.org/packageinfo.jsp?checksum=6bbe0e1b6602234b51b3db172ce1939245fedc94&distro=openSUSE_111
openSUSE    openarena-doc             0.8.1                                games       http://packages.opensuse-community.org/packageinfo.jsp?checksum=7f4621264b69d610205960c60e16f976a1add7b4&distro=openSUSE_111
Fedora      openarena                 0.7.7-2              267M 30-10-2008
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Rose Wine
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« Reply #12 on: August 01, 2009, 08:06:00 PM »

Quote
Would you be able to send me the logos and screenshots of characters and what not?

You can take the logo here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Openarena-logo.svg

Also there are another logo: http://openarena.ws/board/index.php?topic=1748.msg14802#msg14802


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mathieu
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« Reply #13 on: August 04, 2009, 12:29:37 AM »

brettalton you can check what we've done for the french community webstie : http://openarena.tuxfamily.org/wiki/
We've setup a wiki and a forum. You can have a look at the design. Good luck for this project.
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