Planet Descent

Community => Mess Hall => Topic started by: -<WillyP>- on June 23, 2011, 07:15:36 AM

Title: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 23, 2011, 07:15:36 AM
uber, I am. ;)



(http://test.rantthisspace.com/files/gif/pccoffee.gif)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Foil on June 23, 2011, 07:43:50 AM
1337th post?  Nice.  :)

Hehe, I see it lists your postcount as "leet"...
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: VANGUARD on June 23, 2011, 07:55:28 AM
how about that. went to space and beyond. nice  8)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Matthew on June 23, 2011, 08:24:19 AM
Make a poast, I darez you!
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: SaladBadger on June 23, 2011, 10:31:52 AM
If you beat Scyphi to 3000 I will be impressed, heh

You already have the head start, but Scyphi's 32² are coming up quick on you!
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: VANGUARD on June 23, 2011, 11:53:44 AM
normally there's a bar is the "members" section, showing their post count. his right now, it's blank.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Foil on June 23, 2011, 12:51:18 PM
It probably builds the bar based on the number, but since WillyP's number is the string "leet" right now, it can't.

--------------

I'm personally curious to see how long WillyP can refrain from posting.  ;)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: VANGUARD on June 23, 2011, 01:17:12 PM
I'm assuming that once he posts again, it will no longer show 'leet'?

I checked wikipedia, I guess leet is 1337, which explains this post  :)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on June 23, 2011, 06:42:22 PM
Where am I post-count wise, anyway?

Ah, 1025.

Yes, I just posted as an excuse to see my post count afterwards. So sue me. :P
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: NUMBERZero on June 23, 2011, 11:41:19 PM
/me test his post count.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 24, 2011, 05:20:45 AM
Quote from: Foil on June 23, 2011, 12:51:18 PM
I'm personally curious to see how long WillyP can refrain from posting.  ;)

Just long enough to grab some screen shots, which is, not long.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on June 24, 2011, 05:33:44 AM
Hey! I'm second! :D

Good enough for me. :)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: SaladBadger on June 24, 2011, 05:52:00 AM
Quote from: Scyphi on June 23, 2011, 06:42:22 PM
Where am I post-count wise, anyway?

Ah, 1025.

Yes, I just posted as an excuse to see my post count afterwards. So sue me. :P
What, you can make 3000 posts on the old PD and yet you're too lazy to go search up one of your old posts to look into the userbox which conveniently contains the postcount? :P
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on June 24, 2011, 06:06:09 AM
I hadn't posted in this thread yet. And since I figured I was going to anyway...:P
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 24, 2011, 06:57:49 AM
Maybe we need a post count group called leet and triggered at 1337 posts. Not sure what perks it would get since just about everything a non-admin non-moderator user could do is granted in platinum.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: VANGUARD on June 24, 2011, 07:06:35 AM
I'm #6 on that, which sadly I knew for a while.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on June 24, 2011, 07:20:04 AM
Sixth isn't so bad. You've got more posts than Techpro. :)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Kaiaatzl on June 24, 2011, 09:05:46 AM
I'm fourth  :o ::).
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 24, 2011, 10:41:04 AM
Make it say "leet" from posts 1337 to 1399, then at 1400... I dunno... What's higher than platinum?

Actually... I think we should have them as PTMC robot rankings, newbies starting off as Class 1 Drones going up to tougher and tougher robots until you get to the D1 Level 27 boss,
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 24, 2011, 10:56:20 AM
I like the idea of D1 bots! I don't know all the names, though. Make a list.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: VANGUARD on June 24, 2011, 11:00:05 AM
if you do that and I end up with one of those "annoying" robot names, I'm going to take it personally  :P
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: NUMBERZero on June 24, 2011, 11:44:02 AM
Guide Bot
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Kaiaatzl on June 24, 2011, 12:12:58 PM
Red Hornet.

If I can find my copy of the D1 Strategy guide it had a pretty good list of all 20 D1 robots by difficulty.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: VANGUARD on June 24, 2011, 12:15:58 PM
Quote from: Omega on June 24, 2011, 11:44:02 AM
Guide Bot

you know it's programmed to have the guidebot be annoying. When he fires a flare at you, it triggers a "sorry about that."

you take aim at the guidebot with a mass driver, "hey guidebot, there's something on your windshield" 'evil emoticon'
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: SaladBadger on June 24, 2011, 12:22:35 PM
medium hulk
medium lifter
"Spider" Processor
class 1 drone
class 2 drone
cloaked driller
cloaked medium hulk
class 2 supervisor
secondary lifter
heavy driller
gopher
platform robot
polyhedron
baby spider
fusion hulk
SuperMech
boss 1
cloaked lifter
class 1 driller
light hulk
advanced lifter
PTMC Defense prototype
final boss
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 24, 2011, 12:47:47 PM
Okay, let me comprise a list, not necessarily in order of robot's appearance, but in order of "threat" level.

Threat level-wise, according to PTMC briefings, here's what I have:

NONE:
 - Red Triangle (Only appears in the Descent Mission Builder. Would be a good classification for newbies under 10 posts. The Red Triangle can represent the computer personality chip the newcomer will grow into.)

MINIMAL:
 - Class 1 Drone

AVERAGE:
 - Class 2 Drone

LOW/MEDIUM:
 - Class 3 Gopher Robot

MEDIUM:
 - Small Hulk
 - Secondary Lifter
 - Class 2 Platform Robot

MEDIUM/HIGH:
 - PTMC Defense

HIGH:
 - Medium Hulk
 - Medium Lifter
 - Spider Processing Robot
 - Class 1 Driller
 - Class 2 Supervisor Robot
 - Advanced Lifter
 - Large Hulk

VERY HIGH:
 - Class 1 Heavy Driller

EXTREME:
 - Fusion Hulk

EXCEPTIONAL:
 - Super Hulk (Level 7 Boss)
 - Ultimate Hulk (Level 27 Boss) [I've heard this being referred to as "End Hulk" on one website, can't remember which, but I think "Ultimate" is a better synonym for "End" especially when referring to this beast.]


Okay, now that they're ordered in a groups of threat level, let's see if we can, at the same time, classify them into better organized rankings. Some "less threatening" ones may surpass "more threatening" robots in the following list, but this is for the sake of keeping drones, lifters, hulks, drillers and bosses altogether:

 - Red Triangle (was this called something else?)
 - Class 1 Drone
 - Class 2 Drone
 - Class 3 Gopher Robot
 - Secondary Lifter
 - Medium Lifter
 - Advanced Lifter
 - Small Hulk
 - PTMC Defense
 - Spider Processing Robot
 - Class 2 Platform Robot
 - Medium Hulk
 - Class 2 Supervisor Robot
 - Large Hulk
 - Class 1 Driller
 - Class 1 Heavy Driller
 - Fusion Hulk
 - Super Hulk
 - Ultimate Hulk

Okay, so some of the hulks got separated, but who wants to go from Class 1 Heavy Driller to Small Hulk then all the way up to the bosses? It's gotta be somewhat linear.

Anyways, this list is of course up for debate. Let's hear your input. Is this a good ranking system order for robots?
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: SaladBadger on June 24, 2011, 01:08:19 PM
Quote from: Alieo on June 24, 2011, 12:47:47 PM
- Red Triangle (was this called something else?)
the code calls it the "polyhedron", while the bitmaps.tbl file calls it the "splitpod". I'm not really sure what it's supposed to be, honestly.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 24, 2011, 01:27:16 PM
Split Pod! That's right! I forgot what it was. Have you seen it in the mines? I put it in once. It has the robot noise of a Medium Lifter "see" and does nothing but float. It seems to have the AI of the lifter series and occasionally charges you. Well, it doesn't really charge you, it just goes right up to you and does nothing. And they flash red if I can remember correctly. Worth 100 points. Could be an excellent newbie robot designation.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and I omitted the cloaked bots because those can be seen as the same robot with a cloaking device power up.

OH! And what is "SuperMech?" Is that one of the bosses, or even Fusion Hulk?
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Kaiaatzl on June 24, 2011, 02:20:32 PM
SuperMech is what the D1 FAQ and the level editors called the red hulk.  I just call them heavy hulks or red hulks, and some call them large hulks.  They definitely are hulks :P.
Incidenatlly, did you notice the colour scheme on the three 'main' hulk bots?  Small hulk is green, Medium hulk is amber brown, and the heavy hulk is red.  Remind you of anything?
Also I believe the D1 strategy guide called the final boss the end hulk.  I'd check but the pages for the level 27 walkthrough fell out of the book years ago.

I'd classify the heavy drillers as about the same difficulty as the normal drillers.  Their weapon is powerful but it's pretty easy to dodge in most places, and they have heavy armor but they stun easily.  In fact I say they're slightly easier than the regular drillers because they're so easy to dodge (for me at least).  And they're only a little harder to hit than the regular drillers.  And they're never cloaked.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: SaladBadger on June 24, 2011, 02:39:49 PM
Oddly enough, the split pod is supposed to have a projectile attack -- it's set to use the robot blue laser and it's melee flag is not set -- it simply never fires, however, as it has no guns defined. I believe that the red homing missile guy is also called the Supermech in the source.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Kaiaatzl on June 24, 2011, 04:13:41 PM
The supervisor has blue laser set too.

And the compact lifter from vertigo has medium fireball.

I'm pretty sure the robots need to have a weapon type set, if they don't have meele... so I don't think it really means anything.
But of course you're the one who's actually looked at the code... :P
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: SaladBadger on June 24, 2011, 04:31:08 PM
Actually most melee bots have their weapon set to 0 -- Player laser level 1. This is meaningless, however, as the melee flag is what does the actual magic. Not sure about the blue laser on the supervisor, or the projectile on the compact lifter. Perhaps whatever tools they used to build the robot data assigned the blue laser to non-melee robots by default.

Due to the nature of the PIG/HAM files, no key can be undefined or not-present, really, so everything's going to have a value of some sort, even if it's senseless :P
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 24, 2011, 04:53:24 PM
Hey Wazzazle, I believe too that the Class 1 Heavy Driller is easier than the Class 1 Driller, but I put "Class 1 Heavy Driller" after "Class 1 Driller" because the name implies to me that it's original purpose before mech virus infection was used for heavier jobs in the mines than the Class 1 Driller was capable of.

I wasn't quite sure where exactly to place the Class 2 Supervisor Robot, so I put it ahead of the energy weapon armed robots and behind the heavily armed robots.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Crash on June 24, 2011, 05:30:37 PM
Does anyone have a screenshot of the fusion hulk? I don't remember coming across it when I last played descent 1 many years ago.
I can picture all the others.
I imagine the fusion hulk would be one enemy where your first instinct would be to clear out your concussion missile magazines rather than pressing Print Screen.

I recall that the beige-ish hulk that fires concussion missiles reminded me of a particular, horrendous sports teacher. It had the broad shoulders and its head was just the right shape, right down to the red, bloodshot eyes.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on June 25, 2011, 05:54:46 AM
In regards to the Split Pod, it is true that normally they don't do anything, but I've discovered that if you use DMB2 (or DLE-XP, whatever is your pleasure) to bump up it's speed and agility a little, they make for great bomber bots. And, if you texture overlay them with a texture that matches it's surroundings, they tend to vanish from your sight more, and are thus harder to shoot.  ;D

As for the robot names, I admittedly don't always think of them by their actual names. For instance, I usually think of the red hulks as homer bots, the Class 1 Drillers as the vulcan bots, etc. :P

I believe that it is fairly common among the fanbase to officially name the red hulks Super Hulks, and the fusion hulks Mini-Bosses. As for the boss robots themselves, I don't think they were ever really given an official name, so I guess we're free to call them whatever we want. I personally had just thought of them as boss bot 1 and boss bot 2. :P

@ Crash: I don't have a pic of a fusion hulk offhand to show you, but if you've played through D1, you've seen them. Think big huge purple hulk-like bots that appear mostly in the later levels, with a distinct "whirr-whirr-beep-boop" noise that fired fusion (obviously), that you ALWAYS wanted to get the first shot in on or you were dead, appeared en masse in the last two levels, and bore a slight resemblance in design to the first D1 boss, only a lot smaller, and obviously NOT a boss robot. Depending on how you play the game, you encounter them for the first time in the first secret level of D1.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: SaladBadger on June 25, 2011, 08:05:29 AM
http://home.online.no/~p-olstad/descent/d1robots.html (http://home.online.no/~p-olstad/descent/d1robots.html)

scroll down until you see the giant purple thing.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 25, 2011, 08:08:22 AM
We can also make badges to replace the stars and shield orbs.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Crash on June 25, 2011, 08:29:01 AM
Oh, yes - that thing. I couldn't remember if it was more along the lines of the medium hulk.
Very cool site, I had quite a good poke about.
Looks like they were running out of funds to pay the modelers by the time they came to the gopher.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 25, 2011, 01:32:20 PM
Quote from: Scyphi on June 25, 2011, 05:54:46 AM
As for the boss robots themselves, I don't think they were ever really given an official name, so I guess we're free to call them whatever we want.

In the outro briefing in the D1 Demo after you beat level 7, Dravis refers to the "boss robot" as the SuperHulk.

Quote from: ...WillyP... on June 25, 2011, 08:08:22 AM
We can also make badges to replace the stars and shield orbs.

ACCESS KEYS!!! ACCESS KEYS!!!
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 25, 2011, 01:40:25 PM
I was thinking, since we will have robot names for each post group, why not have a badge with that robot on it? We could have a contest to make badges.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 25, 2011, 01:55:00 PM
For non-staff, we currently have 5 post count based groups.
Rank#posts
Bronze0
Silver5
Gold100
Platinum750
Purple Heart  2000

And one special group, which is used to give members who have less than 5 posts, but are known to the community, privileges such as uploading to the gallery etc.

For staff, there are 6 groups.
RankJob TitleName
CommanderAdministratorCommander-In-Chief
Lt.CommanderAssistant AdministratorTech-Pro, WillyP
MajorGlobal ModeratorD2Junkie
PDPM Planet Descent Poll Maintainer  NumberZero
PotD Maintainer  Picture of the Day MaintainerDarkShadowFox
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: VANGUARD on June 25, 2011, 02:35:13 PM
I never understood Purple Heart. You have to be wounded, right? are we saying posting 5000 times, we are considered wounded?  ??? "we're all gonna die!!!"
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 25, 2011, 02:51:39 PM
Well we can change that to some high power bot.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: NUMBERZero on June 25, 2011, 10:33:34 PM
I thought the purple heart rank was funny. The first thing that came to my mind was someone that has made all of those posts has their fingers all broken and twisted from calking on the keyboard so much. Then I think of Darc because a long time ago, I heard him playing Descent 3 on team speak, and since he's a pure keyboard player, that's all you heard. Clack clack clack clack :P


BTW, what is up with those shields and stars anyway? What do they represent?
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 26, 2011, 05:08:40 AM
If you have a blue shields orb, you are on staff. If stars, a non-staff member. Number of orbs indicates position, number of stars is post count, unless you are Nickle Plated, which is an assigned group with one star.

However, the stars and orbs can be replaced with single badges for each group.
Example from the TinyPortal support site: (http://www.tinyportal.net/Themes/proteus_smf20rc5b/images/tp-support.png)
See here: Random thread at Tiny Portal support site. (http://www.tinyportal.net/index.php?topic=34158.msg273117#msg273117)

So I imagine this, with a picture of the bot replacing the TP cube. Then the name of the bot next to it, or maybe just a bot icon, for members, and the job title for staff.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on June 26, 2011, 06:20:38 AM
Quote from: Alieo
In the outro briefing in the D1 Demo after you beat level 7, Dravis refers to the "boss robot" as the SuperHulk.

Really? I honestly don't remember this...All I know is that the red homer bots from D1 have usually been referred to as the super hulks, specifically in mission editors, but in other places as well.

EDIT: Oh but wait, this is the D1 demo briefings we're talking about, which I haven't seen in ages, so that could explain it. I'm guessing that in the final game, that outro no longer needed, whatever material that was in it is gone from the rest of the game.

Also, in regards to the white and green platform bots...I noticed in the link that InsanityBringer posted that the briefing refers to both types as a "Class 2 Platform," which I suppose is fine, but I have also heard the white blue laser one referred to as a "Class 1 Platform" and the green concussion one referred to as a "Class 2 Platform," so to better distinguish the two.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: SaladBadger on June 26, 2011, 07:23:44 AM
He says "the remains of that super hulk are being analyzed" or something of the sort, when you complete level 7.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: TechPro on June 26, 2011, 07:05:55 PM
Quote from: ...WillyP... on June 26, 2011, 05:08:40 AM
However, the stars and orbs can be replaced with single badges for each group.
Example from the TinyPortal support site: ([url]http://www.tinyportal.net/Themes/proteus_smf20rc5b/images/tp-support.png[/url])
See here: Random thread at Tiny Portal support site. ([url]http://www.tinyportal.net/index.php?topic=34158.msg273117#msg273117[/url])

So I imagine this, with a picture of the bot replacing the TP cube. Then the name of the bot next to it, or maybe just a bot icon, for members, and the job title for staff.

Hmm.  Kinda like that.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Pumo on June 27, 2011, 11:13:55 AM
I also like it. Would be indeed pretty cool to get this done!
I can't wait to see my rank as a robot!  :D
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 27, 2011, 01:39:53 PM
Ok, lets have a contest to see who can come up with the best badges!
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 27, 2011, 06:29:31 PM
What are the required pixel dimensions, Willy?
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 28, 2011, 06:04:34 AM
Hmmm... good question! The tiny portal badge is 115x25, I think that is a good size.

And here is the main theme to be used: PD test (http://www.test.planetdescent.net/index.php)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 28, 2011, 03:36:35 PM
Can it be slightly bigger than 115x25? Is 115x30 too big?
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 28, 2011, 06:10:13 PM
I think that would be fine. Use your own judgement. There aren't limits codded, at least, I don't think so. If you want to make up some test samples we can put them up on the test site and see how they look.

I need to make a new test site with 2.0 and work up a new theme. The theme I started with on the test site hasn't been updated to 2.0. So rather than update it I have a new one in mind.

TinyPortal is still in release candidate status, but I think it is very close now.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 29, 2011, 02:11:26 PM
What file format does it have to be in? Would a png file format have a translucent background?
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: SaladBadger on June 29, 2011, 02:59:11 PM
PNG is likely perferrable because you won't suffer any quality loss, and yes, it can have a transparent background and an alpha channel and all of that nice stuff.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 29, 2011, 03:21:01 PM
Okay, here's a couple of prototypes... they are 115x30... I hope it allows 115x30 otherwise I have a lot of stuff to redo.

Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 29, 2011, 03:23:12 PM
WTH? .png.bmp???

Lemme try that Class 2 Drone again...

****

I'm gonna go ahead and stop right here for now until I hear that these will work. I'll continue once I get the OK.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 29, 2011, 06:33:35 PM
Here's that last one installed. (http://www.test.planetdescent.net/index.php?topic=329.0)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 29, 2011, 06:42:02 PM
Ah, that's sooo cool. But how can we get rid of the white surroundings? Should I make it black? I don't know how to make it translucent. I saved it as a *.png file with white backgrounds. I figured they would blend with the forum background.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on June 29, 2011, 06:45:46 PM
Hmm...maybe if I could borrow the files for a little bit, I think I might be able to fix the transparency issue in Photoshop.

Also think they stand a little cleaning up here and there, and maybe either a different font or a slightly bigger one.

Speaking of font, I do have a Descent font on my computer. Maybe while I'm borrowing them to fix the transparencies, I can try the Descent font on them and see how it works. If it's no good, I'll change them back.

Other than, though, they look good. :)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 29, 2011, 06:48:00 PM
Cool! Thanks! Well, I don't know how to zip stuff, but can I email the files to you? They're really small.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on June 29, 2011, 06:49:32 PM
Can you send the files through a private message? That might be easier for me.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 29, 2011, 06:54:19 PM
Sure! Hang on a sec.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 29, 2011, 07:04:10 PM
Okay, while I'm trying to figure out how to send these files to Scyphi, here's EVERY badge completed. I lined them up in the order of what I think should be the rank and number of posts needed to achieve that rank. Hope the rest of you like them!

Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 29, 2011, 07:33:04 PM
LOL how could I forget this last one... this is what started this all...

Use this EXCLUSIVELY when you reach that number of posts!  ;D
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 29, 2011, 07:48:34 PM
Seems you had transparency when you saved them on the blue background, I wonder if attaching them to the post knocked off the transparency.

Anyway, you might be able to zip them by right clicking and choose send to > compressed folder, at least that is what it is on mine (windows xp). Or use 7-zip.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 29, 2011, 08:51:41 PM
Unfortunately, that was just one file with all of them clumped together with a blue background.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 29, 2011, 09:33:35 PM
Ok, here's a try. This should be each individual badge and icon of each robot I made.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 30, 2011, 04:58:01 AM
I have never used Photoshop, but there could be an option to preserve the alpha channel when saving as .png. Perhaps you need to export instead of save, or maybe you just need to turn off the background layer before saving.

If you send me your layered .psd, I can open it with Gimp and save them with transparency.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on June 30, 2011, 08:08:42 AM
Um, I downloaded the zip, and I think I've already figured out what the problem is, or maybe some factor in it. They're all labelled as .png files initially, but every time I go to open a pic in a viewer I get errors. Photoshop absolutely refuses to open them, and Irfanview claims that despite the file extension being .png, they're really supposed to be .bmp and wants to change the extension to .bmp.

Since I don't think .bmp support transparencies, I think this might be the problem.

Does anyone else have this problem?

If this is the issue, then I think I can still fix them, I would just need to change them all to .bmps, change them, then save them again in the needed file format. FYI, Photoshop is capable of saving transparencies in file formats other than .psd last time I checked. :)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 30, 2011, 08:57:41 AM
Unfortunately, I don't have photoshop. I should! Oh, I'd have SO much fun with that thing! I did these in MS-Paint with meticulous pixel correcting at the 8x zoom level, and I thought they are png files. That's what I thought I saved them as. (I had to TYPE IN the ".png" so maybe that corrupted it.) So do you want me to go back and save them as bmp files so photoshop can at least recognize them?
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Wraith-1 on June 30, 2011, 09:54:55 AM
@ Alieo,

Have you ever heard of gimp? We have photoshop, but I generally use this instead-
http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

plus it's also free  :P
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 30, 2011, 10:34:05 AM
Quote from: Alieo on June 30, 2011, 08:57:41 AM
Unfortunately, I don't have photoshop. I should! Oh, I'd have SO much fun with that thing! I did these in MS-Paint with meticulous pixel correcting at the 8x zoom level, and I thought they are png files. That's what I thought I saved them as. (I had to TYPE IN the ".png" so maybe that corrupted it.) So do you want me to go back and save them as bmp files so photoshop can at least recognize them?

Ah! That explains a lot, IF MS-Paint doesn't support .png, then you don't get .png by saving with a different extension. For some reason I thought you said you were using Photoshop, my mistake.

Anyway, I really like the design, and Gimp is free, but not all that easy to use, compared to MS-Paint. However, I do recommend you get the Gimp, and learn how to use it, I know you'll love it and have a lot of fun with it. And if you save these in MS-Paint someone should be able to open them in Gimp, or Photoshop, and change the white to transparency. Although, it would be better to start over and build a layered file, it makes edits so much easier.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: SaladBadger on June 30, 2011, 01:41:51 PM
MS Paint supports PNG (though it doesn't support saving transparency). You just have to pick it from the "save as type" box. Extensions are really meaningless when it comes to file formats and really only serve as an assistant to determine what should try to open what.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 30, 2011, 04:44:59 PM
Aiyaiyai... this is gonna take me forever. I HAVE to pack for my trip tonight, even though I'm leaving the 5th, I work solid all the way from the 1st thru the 4th. Maybe when I get settled on the road, I'll take a crack at the transparency issue with GIMP, but by all means, if someone wants to take this on and try to make them transparent, the files are all there in that zip I just recently posted. Just extract them and open them up in MS-Paint first, then convert them to bmp, then go into GIMP or Photoshop and save them as pngs with transparency enabled. That's what I plan on doing when I get the chance at around either the 5th or 6th, whenever I have time.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 30, 2011, 04:54:47 PM
I think the ones for staff need to be changed to indicate position. Ie, Admin, POTD, Moderator, etc...
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on June 30, 2011, 06:08:48 PM
I can still correct the transparencies, and with it being a long weekend for me (I've got the fourth off) I should be able to find time, so unless somebody else beats me to the punch, I'll do it. :)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 30, 2011, 07:01:39 PM
Scyphi, you would be an absolute lifesaver. I'm the opposite. I'm working long hours because of the holiday weekend. So, if you can, that'd be great! I'm sorry but I gotta pack for my trip...

Now, Willy, I can make those changes, but you gotta tell me which robot to put with each admin and I can edit the text. I don't know who "The Chief" is. I'm assuming he's the HEAD honcho of this forum (I got a hunch it's an alternate ID you use but the friendly face being "WillyP" lol) but I recommend putting "The Chief" as "The Reactor" since he's kinda like the reactor to this place and without "The Chief" well... Self Destruct Sequence Activated... But just let me know which admin to put with what robot and what their status is.

I'm reserving the Pyro badge for something special. For example: If someone does something special that one of the admins like, like, I dunno, show extra support in a help section, kinda like an "employee of the month" type deal only... poster of the month, and they get to take a break from their robot badge for a month and wear the pyro as a reward. We can have polls and whatnot to decide who gets to have this. I think this reward system would be a positive and exciting thing to add to PD!

Why do I not show this much motivation at work??? LMAO!!!
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on June 30, 2011, 07:49:04 PM
Reactor for Chief is good.

For staff, there are 6 groups.
RankJob TitleName
CommanderAdministratorCommander-In-Chief
Lt.CommanderAssistant AdministratorTech-Pro, WillyP
MajorGlobal ModeratorD2Junkie
PDPM Planet Descent Poll Maintainer  NumberZero
PotD Maintainer  Picture of the Day MaintainerDarkShadowFox

I like your idea with the Pyro badge, too.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on June 30, 2011, 08:22:07 PM
Okay, here's my suggestions:

Commander/Administrator: The Reactor
Lt. Commanders/Assistant Administrators: Mega Hulk
Major/Global Moderator: Super Hulk
PDPM/PotD: Fusion Hulk (Do you want PDPM and PotD to be both Fusion Hulks or one of them a Fusion Hulk and one of them a Class 2 Supervisor Robot? Personally, a "Picture of the Day Moderator" would go well with a Class 2 Supervisor Robot because the bot kinda looks like a Polaroid camera! lol)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on July 01, 2011, 03:31:59 AM
I think that is fine. I think the bot should be a bit bigger, too.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: TechPro on July 01, 2011, 08:17:38 AM
Quote from: Scyphi on June 30, 2011, 06:08:48 PM
I can still correct the transparencies, and with it being a long weekend for me (I've got the fourth off) I should be able to find time, so unless somebody else beats me to the punch, I'll do it. :)
Ya gonna skip the activities?
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on July 01, 2011, 01:39:53 PM
No...I just know that as a rule of thumb that vacation days, even with activities on hand, usually mean a bit more free time than usual. It's not like this is going to take that terribly long, anyway. :P
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on July 01, 2011, 07:20:45 PM
Quote from: ...WillyP... on July 01, 2011, 03:31:59 AM
I think that is fine. I think the bot should be a bit bigger, too.

Which ones? Do you mean make the bots for the admins bigger than the rest? They're all 115x30. Want me to make them a wee taller, like 115x40 or even 45?
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on July 01, 2011, 08:21:08 PM
Okay, check this out. I redesigned the "badge" and "icon" background so they're square but edited the pixels in the corners for a "3D" effect which is what the original design was trying to accomplish without the transparency road block. Let's see if this gets approval or not. I'm going to start working some bot samples.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: TechPro on July 01, 2011, 09:36:34 PM
Quote from: Alieo on June 30, 2011, 04:44:59 PM
Aiyaiyai... this is gonna take me forever. I HAVE to pack for my trip tonight, even though I'm leaving the 5th, I work solid all the way from the 1st thru the 4th. Maybe when I get settled on the road, I'll take a crack at the transparency issue with GIMP, but by all means, if someone wants to take this on and try to make them transparent, the files are all there in that zip I just recently posted. Just extract them and open them up in MS-Paint first, then convert them to bmp, then go into GIMP or Photoshop and save them as pngs with transparency enabled. That's what I plan on doing when I get the chance at around either the 5th or 6th, whenever I have time.

Aiyaiyai... Why go through so much effort?  MS-Paint??  When you might have Gimp or Photoshop on hand?  Just say NO to MS-Paint.  Let it forever rest in peace.  Seriously.  You don't need to run MS-Paint. Ever.  There are so many programs (free) that will do that job so much better and more.  Besides, with Gimp or Photoshop on hand, you really, really don't need to run MS-Paint, or else you just don't know what Gimp or Photoshop can do.

Me, I like to use IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com) which can do the file type conversion and set the transparency (plus it's free and small while rich in ability).

And why do people insist on doing png files in order to get transparency?  Bah! The gif file format generates files that are smaller, load/render very fast, work with ALL browsers (unlike png), can be animated, and have been around for a long time (those smilies? They're gif files).

/me grumbles off with his old geezer's walker... slowly...
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on July 02, 2011, 12:57:10 AM
@Tech-Pro LOL I'm stubborn. I like my MS-Paint. That's what I used to create my "Mario Maps." I guess it takes a lot of patience too, but I just know my way around MS-Paint and all the little tricks and whatnot...


And as a stubborn whippersnapper, I have COMPLETELY redesigned all the badges. Here is a file that shows all of them at once, just so you get the idea. Note that the new badges have robots all the way up to the bosses, and the ADMIN have a special bigger version of the boss robots/upper level robots and are in red. Pyro-GX in blue. I guess this eliminates the need for transparencies! I also swapped "Medium Hulk" with "Class 1 Platform Robot" in rank so to keep the platform robots together. That, and IMO, laser platform (aka Class 1 Platform) has a bit more resilience than Medium Hulk and is a tad tougher, I think.)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on July 02, 2011, 06:13:27 AM
Quote from: Techpro
Seriously.  You don't need to run MS-Paint. Ever.  There are so many programs (free) that will do that job so much better and more.

Techpro, that's exactly why some people still use it. I've seen some very complicated pictures made entirely in MS-Paint, just because the artist could. It's a challenge to them, hones their skills. I suppose they look at it that if you could pull off such a pic in MS-Paint, then you can pull it off anyway, anywhere.

Think of it as being like D2X-XL. There are several little upgrades you can turn on that helps and eases your gameplay experience (inventory, radar, etc.) but how many of us will play with those things off, just because we like the challenge? ;)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: TechPro on July 02, 2011, 07:08:54 AM
Quote from: Scyphi on July 02, 2011, 06:13:27 AM
Quote from: Techpro
Seriously.  You don't need to run MS-Paint. Ever.  There are so many programs (free) that will do that job so much better and more.


Techpro, that's exactly why some people still use it. I've seen some very complicated pictures made entirely in MS-Paint, just because the artist could. It's a challenge to them, hones their skills. I suppose they look at it that if you could pull off such a pic in MS-Paint, then you can pull it off anyway, anywhere.

Think of it as being like D2X-XL. There are several little upgrades you can turn on that helps and eases your gameplay experience (inventory, radar, etc.) but how many of us will play with those things off, just because we like the challenge? ;)

Maybe so, but that reasoning would then imply that I could drive my old truck around a race track repeatedly in order to hone my race driving skills ... because of the extra challenge that would be.  However, I don't think that would really work, but it might be fun (a bit like Top Gear's Extreme motorhome racing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohkAxbeMxVo)).

If they wish to.  ;)
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on July 02, 2011, 07:45:29 AM
In Gimp or Photoshop, you could have one 'base' image, called a layer, then all the different aspects would be in other layers, which you would just turn on or off as needed. Makes editing much easier.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on July 02, 2011, 07:12:29 PM
Okay, regardless of which program I use to make the badges, do you like the new designs in my previous post? They're to the left of the original ones and do not require transparencies. Personally, I think they look better.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on July 02, 2011, 07:18:56 PM
I like the first ones better. Both are nice tho.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on July 03, 2011, 06:13:51 AM
I'm indifferent between versions, both are good to me. :)

Though, looking at both versions, I think something needs to be done to make the robots just slightly more visible...maybe if the gradient in the circles they overlay were different, darker, colors...
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: SaladBadger on July 03, 2011, 07:03:54 AM
I like the second set more, if only because the font sizes and appearances are consistent between each other, something that isn't quite true with the first set.

Though, I really hope the terrible quality on the image you posted was unintentional.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on July 03, 2011, 10:59:05 AM
Quote from: InsanityBringer on July 03, 2011, 07:03:54 AM
Though, I really hope the terrible quality on the image you posted was unintentional.

Totally... I saved that big screenshot of the comparisons in gif format for filesize purposes. And as for the circle in the middle, for the ADMIN badges, the Fusion Hulk shows up a lot better on the pure black background. ADMIN badges are also, by suggestion of WillyP, made a tad larger than the "post count" badges (for us common folk).
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on July 03, 2011, 11:00:33 AM
Ahh... forgot to post this in my last post.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on July 03, 2011, 11:06:31 AM
Something else I worked on in this revision is to make the size aspect ratio more stricter. You don't want a bigger Class 1 Drone than, say, a Super Hulk:

EDIT: I saved them wrong. Supposed to be just one bot badge, not both icon and badge. If we are going to implement these, are they going to be the full 115x30 badges for non-admin, or are non-admins going to be just a 30x30 icon with no robot name?
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: -<WillyP>- on July 03, 2011, 11:44:47 AM
I like the full badge.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on July 03, 2011, 01:53:45 PM
Here's a third concept. It's a clear simple view of the bot and name of the bot in full badge form.

EDIT: WOAH! I'm sorry to brag but these look OUTSTANDING when viewing the forum in the "blacklight" scheme! They look like they're part of the background. Looks great on Dusky2 too, which is the one I use the most.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on July 03, 2011, 03:51:04 PM
Okay, here is a zip file of ALL the third concept badges ready to go. Personally, I don't think they look bad at all. They're simple, pleasing to the eye, size proportionate and easy to see. I'd sure love to see these implemented on the site. That would be so awesome to have robot badges.

Files are in PNG format (properly saved with IRFANVIEW)!!!
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Kaiaatzl on July 04, 2011, 03:39:49 AM
Quote from: Alieo on July 03, 2011, 01:53:45 PM
...these look OUTSTANDING when viewing the forum in the "blacklight" scheme...
I agree.  I want.
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Scyphi on July 04, 2011, 05:38:07 AM
I like the black backdrop of those new ones. Also, if you made a version of those with the trim colored blue, they'd match the Dusky 2 theme (which I believe is the default theme, correct?).
Title: Re: 1337
Post by: Alieo on July 04, 2011, 08:47:17 AM
If you're bored, be my guest and edit those ones in the zip. They should be relatively easy to do in MS-Paint even because the borders use 3 colors. Just use a fill tool with three shades of blue and there ya go. I'm sorry but I cannot work on this anymore. I go to work today and leave town tomorrow, so I gotta pack tonight. The version I've turned in in completed zip compressed form is my homework, teacher!