Voice your opinion on the new, separate Ys I Complete Project Page!

[NightWolve]

https://www.ysutopia.net/projects/ys1c/

So, how do you guys like it? That's close to the final form that I can come up with on my own, and so Ys II, Ys Felghana and Ys VI, the rest of the projects, etc. will follow that style when I get around to working on them.

As you know the original Ys I & II Combined one is still here for reference:

https://www.ysutopia.net/projects/yscomplete/

It was an OK site for its time, I guess. It was how I began my venture into Falcom projects. It's totally static, all html, nothing dynamic. I'll still maintain it with any news I might throw up, but mainly, from now on, all project pages will be integrated with the Plight of the Fan Translator portal system and be database driven as a result.

So today, I just added a neat stat in the downloads section of that page I wanted to mention. The line of interest on the page to check out, way at the bottom, currently says:

Version 1.27 has been patched/version-checked on 80 distinct computers so far!

What that means is, someone with an unique IP address, thus unique machine, ran my YsI(US)v127.exe patch file with version checking enabled (which is the default, though I allow you to uncheck a box to disable it). As a result, a request was made to a designated php page I have setup, which records every such incident, so I save the date, ip address, the patch file name (since the same table will record everyone once I have version checking for all my patches), etc. as well as other info.

So anyhow, I think that's rather cool and wanted to mention that. Now I know there are, so far, 80 individual Ys fans that have patched an Ys I Complete installation. Anybody else that finds that neat can check up on that stat to see how the new patch is doing. Incidentally, 99% of them do not post here, nor have ever registered, which is also something I can check up on as well. Unfortunate, but interesting to know.

Now back to the project page. The point of this thread is to provide comments on how you like the page overall, and where you think it could use improvement. If you would like to provide me with a mockup of what a cool project page would like overall, by all means. If I really like it, I'll take it into consideration and use it for all project pages. I'm looking for one unique style that will apply to all of them. So, take a look at the all project pages so far from the index page and work from there.

Thanks.

[Seldane]

It looks good, but I have a question:

Take your pick, Seldane. I'm sure there must be something listed below here that you'd find useful...

Is this a joke or is it a script that displays the logged in name? 


Edit:

[---]so that makes three different packages this game is available in...

Not entirely correct. Yet another set of Ys COMPLETE and Ys II COMPLETE releases were released sometime in May 2005. I'll get you some pics of 'em if I can find any.

[NightWolve]

Everyone gets that. If you're logged in, I know the username, so I reprint it there with that message. Nice things you get to do when your page is php/dynamic. If you're not logged in, it'll say, "Take your pick, Guest. blah blah".

You can list additional content ideas here if you'd like also. If you had this project page, what additional information/content would you provide? That's also what I'm looking for.

[Seldane]

Maybe boxshots of all the Ys COMPLETE releases?

There's the:
Limited Edition (2001) (1+2)
XP Edition (2002) (1/2)
Best of-Falcom release (2005) (1/2)
Sourcenext release (2005) (1 only)
Popular Edition (1+2)


I can try to find boxshots of them later. I had some computer generated pictures of Sourcenext's and Falcom's 2005 releases somewhere, but I can't find them....

[NightWolve]

Here's what I've had so far:

https://www.ysutopia.net/translations/yscomplete/#8

I dunno if I should carry that over to the individual page. I'll think about it.

Btw, that's funny. You thought I had hardcoded "Seldane" in that message on purpose? Heh-heh.

[adol1976]

Well I could send you the pictures of the latest boxes of YS 1&2, 6 and OoF.
I bought them for christmas.
Those boxes are really great. Very little. and it can be put with others DVD or games...

[Seldane]

BTW, that's funny. You thought I had hardcoded "Seldane" in that message on purpose? Heh-heh.

He he he, well -- it was all part of a misunderstanding. When it said "downloads" I was assuming it only contained various Ys COMPLETE-related tools and I've been very interested in all those, so I thought you put it in there as a joke, because you assumed I would be the only one interested in it (example).

...But then I noticed the patch was in that section as well, and I assumed it just displayed the logged in name.

[Platypus]

So, how do you guys like it?

I think the new page is fine. Readable, lots of pics, and everything in one page which makes it easy to navigate. Well, you won't really have to navigate, because it's all in one page!

It was an OK site for its time, I guess.

Yes, I agree. As your project has evolved, it's a good idea to let the site evolve also.

[NightWolve]

Nobody have any other ideas on additional content that could be added to it? This is it? This is all the opinion and help I can muster?? Heh.

[adol1976]

Well a perfect site would have a library about all the characters, countries...with pictures naturally...

[MP83]

Nobody have any other ideas on additional content that could be added to it?

I would like to see Ys I Complete logo somewhere on the top page. That's all I can think of myself. It's great otherwise.

[TDOMMX]

I don't think much more is really necessary.  Since we're talking about a project page for a translation and not a product website trying to sell the game itself, you really don't need much more than a brief intro (with plot synopsis), a staff list, some screenshots, and the minimum hardware specs.  Additional stuff like project history, additional downloads, and commentary aren't really necessary, but are nice to have.  What you have already is more than enough, if you ask me.  MP83 does have a point, though: you need to put an Ys logo somewhere.

However, it would be a good idea to make a Buyer's Guide of some sort for people who want to import, but don't know where to look.  I've had to write one up several times on the GameFAQs boards for people interested in this and a few other import games, so it would definitely be useful.

On a completely unrelated note, I'd like to know what the deal is with the Karma system.  I'm not sure if this is related to a certain spammer I chewed out not too long ago, but some accounts, including mine and Seldane's, have been smitten until our net karma is zero.  Why?  Have any of us done anything wrong?  I have nothing against being smitten if I blatantly offended someone, but there really doesn't seem to be any justification for this.  Excuse me if this sounds a little whiny, but I really don't see the point...

[NightWolve]

Well, don't look at me. There's only one person here that I've smited, and when I did, it was a power smite. That it is a net zero for you and him isn't anything special. Whether they intended that, I dunno. Perhaps.

Anyway, I got as much help as I expected on this. So there's nobody here that wants to actually do something, like a mockup with a different style? Everything I've added so far is enough, nothing else that you could think of that would be a useful or cool addition? Whatever NightWolve does is OK by you, that it...? Sigh, the trouble with apparently being surrounded by yes-men...

[MP83]

Whatever NightWolve does is OK by you, that it...? Sigh, the trouble with apparently being surrounded by yes-men...

Think what you think, but I've expressed my true opinion about this. I will disagree with your doings if I would really feel that way. Happy?

[Seldane]

I have an opinion about the actual site: I think it is fairly cluttered, and -- to me -- that Chuck Norris thing is not very funny. Just my opinion.

[adol1976]

Well I find Norris quite cool on this website.
But it would fit better if he was wearing his hat as in the serie Texas Ranger !!

[NightWolve]

Agreed, a pic of Norris dressed in Texas Ranger gear would be better.

I have an opinion about the actual site: I think it is fairly cluttered, and -- to me -- that Chuck Norris thing is not very funny. Just my opinion.

OK, not the help I was looking for and a tangeant on a more broader subject. "Fairly cluttered," OK, but how does that help me? I assume there are too many blocks for your taste? Which one don't you want besides the Norris one? Or, are the left/right columns too wide for you? You can hide either block with those arrows, so that can take care of that problem. You can live without the right column more than the left, so that can be solved per individual's taste.

Clearly this is gonna be fruitless and I shall have to rely on myself as usual. I'm trying to enlist some kind of tangible help other than a comment here or there said in passing so as to keep myself from burning out, but this thread is starting to frustrate me and is having the opposite effect of what I intended.

Now that I'm recording patching activity, I like that I have a handle on the Ys fan base, but at the same time, it's quite revealing in a very disappointing way. There are 95 different people that have patched the latest Ys patch on their computer as of today. 95 of 'em in some 3.5 weeks! Of that, 4 are registered with little to no posts. Not a thank you or nothing from the others. That's a pretty pathetic ungrateful fan base to be serving if you ask me. I'm starting to wonder again what the fuck I'm still doing this for when I was so close to pulling out of this shit altogether. Maybe I need to put up a bribe to enlist someone for web development help like access to private patches of Felghana or something. Only if they produce tangible results though, no eff'ing bullshit. I dunno. I guess I didn't learn my lesson with RIGG and the leecher mentality that was so typical.

[turbofan]

Well here`s my opinion - Why the heck are these YS games so popular to begin with? I`ve never understood what the big deal is about these games.

Maybe you should only allow registered users to download these patches, maybe that would detour half these people coming here downloading the patch than leaving. I`d be glad to offer help, but I no absolutely nothing webdesign or anything of that nature..

Xak 3 was a great translation, continue your great work. I`d rather see more PC Engine game translations, but that`s just my opinion.

[NightWolve]

Well, this is a niche site you know. They're popular amongst us, but we're one little corner on the web. Go anywhere else, then you'll find they're not so popular or even known. It really all depends. I exist because I'm fond of my first CD-ROM experience with Ys Book I & II on my TurboDuo. It was my first time going from the environment that cartridges had long been providing me with NES/SNES to the future of gaming with the CD-ROM and it was quite memorable with the voice acting, cinemas and unbelievable music. That game still has one of the best soundtracks even today. If you're questioning why Ys, well I wouldn't exist with this site if it wasn't for Ys, so...

Anyway, only allowing registered users to gain access to patches is a type of strategy I no longer believe in given the results of the past 3 years in using something similar with the prior site I ran called RIGG. We had a DC++ Hub, and you could only gain access to it by registering with the forum to learn the URL. So what was the overwhelming result? Your forum gets loaded up with tons and tons of worthless accounts, since you wind up only attracting those looking for a quick fix to download games and then begone. So, this isn't a strategy I'll ever employ again.

I prefer things the way they are now. The only person that's gonna register likely has something to say or ask, since they're not in it for a game to download, given that I offer nothing. If I hid the patches and forced them to register, sure, my forum will gain more registered accounts, but this does not translate to dedicated community members at all. It would not guarantee even one post.

[turbofan]

Yeah dont get me wrong,I understand 16,17 years ago the game was probly a pretty great.Being one of the first cd based console games.And for people who played the game back than.I finally picked the game up about year ago,after years of reading and hearing about what a great game it was.Now the music,cinemas and the striat foward gameplay was all good.The first half of ys book 1 was good,but I found going through darm tower some what mundan and tedious.Example if you miss something and having to backtrack down severel levels.Like I say continue your great work,but consider if you took the name "ys" off the origonal game and added a diffrent title.If the game would garner so much attension now.

[rocket]

Night i kept a bunch of your origional patches older then 1.20 do you want them?

[NightWolve]

Like I say continue your great work,but consider if you took the name "ys" off the origonal game and added a diffrent title.If the game would garner so much attension now.

Well, I would say that nobody would deny nostalgia has a lot do with it. So is once having had a site dedicated to all things PC-Engine/Turbo Duo as I did (Keeping a dead system alive, that's nostalgia). There's a certain simplicity and charm with the Ys series and for the most part, it'll never be mainstream here in the US, although, if Felghana was given a chance here, I think that would change. Keep that in mind, even though your perception is that it has received too much attention undeservedly, it's still far from mainstream here.

Night i kept a bunch of your origional patches older then 1.20 do you want them?

I'm not sure what prompted the question, but nah. I needed my old server logs to know how many times like the old cab-based one was downloaded, but all of that is lost since I moved from jmet's home server. Maybe that's what you were thinking of based on my comments in the Downloads section. But if not, I would never want to recirculate the older versions for posterity or something. I see some torrent people that still circulate a whole YSE_DVD image with those old cab patches and am annoyed by it.

[rocket]

ok understood.   Ya it was the download section with the seval different versions to download that prompted that question.

[X-Calibar]

Mmmmm,
First off, Blonde Adol??? lol I thought this was an easter egg at first [on the Ys 1 Complete Project Page, some of the thumbnail's with Adol in it,  I see Blonde hair...]  (I imagine it's just the pny picture format reducing color amount)





But, on a serious note; The design of the site works well for my 1680x1050 resolution.
Yet, I don't feel drawn to reading the text [oh I definitely did the first time I saw the site, because of my great interest in Ys games!  I don't feel drawn into the page though, more of a check once and forget...  Reminds me of sourceforge sites, informative; but I usually skim and skip though to the downloads]

Hmm, now that I've given some criticism, I'll tell you the screenshots seem to be the focal point; cool and unusual though... java work?  Looking at the color scheme of the site, personally I like it, but I must admit, it's mostly a dark and overcast site [even the thumbnails feel constrained to the colors of the site]
Not saying you should change the colors of the site, but you could probably exploit it more, such as finding ways to have parts of the screen stand out [places you want to draw in the reader through uses of contrast in color, and shape even]

Also, I'd probably give each Headline it's own page [Details/Introduction], Screenshots, Overview, Links, Progress, Downloads..  The links are even kind of hard to find, since the link and the description are the same color, until I get unlazy and mouse scroll over to it

"Take your pick, X-Calibar. I'm sure there must be something listed below here that you'd find useful..."

lol the first time I saw that, I was surprized as well [I quickly knew what it was but, even still; perhaps you should try using that as an attention-getter earlier, before Details, seeing their name in it would grab the casual member just for a second.

I like the statistical information that show downloads, and as for your frustration about lack of members and of course illegal downloads, and no respect..

You should have immediately demanded respect and grabbed people's attention on Hongfire when your patch was "released"; [although probably the wrong crowd of people; I feel like your in the sitation that some people in the recording industry feel like; people are downloading but nobody is buying...]  However, since that's in the past, you could quiz people, see if you can get any response, from those who have downloaded it from Hongfire, and see if you can grab new interest.

I attempted to grab attention for Ys on one of the fourms I like to look at, and it worked for ..... like a day; I really probably needed to keep at it, storytelling perhaps to grab people's attention.  [uh I mean telling about the story lol]

http://www.imoen.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=332

Here was my sad attempt and trying to hook people on Ys
In the end I sent the game to one person, and the response I got was quite dissapointing...
Same as what you're feeling, I expected more interest; and ... yeah asd

lol okay I've gotten discouraged for the moment, trying to think about why aren't more people jumping on the wagon, and shouting WE LOVE YOU NIGHTWOLVE!!!!

I'll let you check out what I've written so far; I hope that it can be useful somehow, and maybe when I reply again later; I can add some insightful/useful stuff~

And on a final note, I paid over 100$ for Ys1+2+shipping and don't regret it at all [even though I hear you can get both for 40$ or less now?]; translation projects like these [the few that live free]; are inspiring, and worth every cent; and all involved have done a fantastic job, I can't stress this enough...

[NightWolve]

Those huge images you made with Ys screenshots are pretty good. Nice.

[X-Calibar]

Ah thanks~
Speaking of which... If you need help with image editing, or something in the graphics category; I'll be glad to help when I'm free~

I was actually making a Ys 1,2 Trailer as a film project tech demo last fall; wouldn't mind finishing that up sometime mmmmm

EDIT: Whoa just discovered what those little colored rectangles do at the top of the page lol
Nice~

[ViperD]

I have to post because of the fellow Baldur's Gate fan, and Imoen lover...

[JoeQuaker]

lol okay I've gotten discouraged for the moment, trying to think about why aren't more people jumping on the wagon, and shouting WE LOVE YOU NIGHTWOLVE!!!!

We love you Nightwolve!



hahaha

[xneoangel]

lol okay I've gotten discouraged for the moment, trying to think about why aren't more people jumping on the wagon, and shouting WE LOVE YOU NIGHTWOLVE!!!!

We love you Nightwolve!

I second that

The site is pretty good with an Overview, a history lesson, screenshots and the downloads, altough it'd be nice to put in some screenshots of the characters with a brief description of them.

[NightWolve]

As of today, Ys I Complete v1.27 has patched/version-checked on 926 unique computers around the world, with 1,620 downloads! My patch workmanship is spreading like a virus to over a thousand Ys nerds!! Mwahahaha.

Now what I'd love to do is deduce the country of origin from the IP address that is logged when a user does a version check upon running 1.27. Then I wanna generate a map of the world and mark the locations, roughly, where someone ran my patch. Somebody get on this right away for me! Make me a module in php or javascript and what not and I'll add it! Chop chop! One simple function that I need is to translate a given IP address into the country of origin. I suppose with some whois lookup. Anyhow, I kid, I kid. While such a module would be fun to add, who that knows how would be willing to do it? I think there might be some java based map generators that perhaps could be adapted for this purpose, but it'd take some long scouring of the net to find something useable.

[adol1976]

hI
Well I am playing your patch on another computer, which isn't on internet...so..

[neo82]

hey NightWolve its me again!

Actually i was doing some more reading today, and saw this post went to the top so I read it again....and I saw your post earlier up on page 2.  All i have to say man is..  people might not express it, but if they are feeling anywhere remotely close to what I am, we're ecstatic to have you around working on this stuff where (am i correct when I say nobody) has dared to venture or take this as far as you have.  I can understand greatly from your vantage that it looks like the chef has prepared the meal, and when he sits down to eat everyone has already left the table without giving comment/complement.  Stick through with it as long as you have the spirit to do so, we definately love you for it.

[NightWolve]

Gracias.

[malducci]

Ditto neo82