Feral Heart

Game & Forum Discussion => Forum Discussion => Forum Suggestions & Ideas => Topic started by: Fonzie on January 11, 2019, 06:43:54 pm

Title: the forum's design
Post by: Fonzie on January 11, 2019, 06:43:54 pm
now, don't get me wrong, i'm more making this out of curiosity than complaint. i apologize in advance if anything i say comes across as harsh.

is a new forum update on the radar? from a graphic design point of view... the forum is a little... meh. it's always looked thrown together and unfinished to me. while the colors don't necessarily clash, they certainly don't blend together either. on the other hand, the layout is fine, the forum is easy to navigate in my opinion (that might be biased though since i'm quite familiar with it, if a newer poster could give their opinion i'd like to know their thoughts). back on the subject of the theme itself, to put it bluntly, there's a lot of work that could be put into it to make it look a lot more polished. perhaps if a little more TLC was put into the design it would bring in more people, as i can see the current look being a deterrent to some. something as simple as a banner would go a long way. perhaps we could have a contest for that? there's plenty of options, i'm just saying that if this was all meant to be temporary, it's been like this for a pretty long time, because if i remember correctly the forum was changed not long after the 2016 patch.

thoughts?
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: Valar.Morghulis on January 11, 2019, 07:03:59 pm
I agree. The Forum definitely needs some changing. I too believe that the general layout is very nice, things are easy to find and navigate. A ''contest'' seems like a nice idea but I don't think that is necessarily a priority at this point. I personally would rather stick for a little while with this Forum, and have more things implemented into the actual game. As for my opinion on the Forum layout, I agree with most points that you have mentioned here. I too would like to have some sort of banner, like what we had before and what we have now on the feral-heart.com  (http://feral-heart.com)homepage.
As for the Index, It would be nice to see more banners and maybe some screenshots or drawings related to Feral heart. Perhaps a nice drawing of characters (not specific characters like Staff, just a random wolf and lion, as what we used to have before) and some drawings or edited screenshots of current or future Feral Heart maps.
Having perhaps some small edits around the Forum Index, like random flowers in the background, nothing that will bring too much attention, but still will add that something and make it look more likeable.

Forum is bound to be changed as far as I know, It's just that at the current moment, I don't believe it is a priority.

You definitely didn't come out as harsh, opinions like this are always welcomed. :)
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: Azurain on January 11, 2019, 07:05:30 pm
I really think a new forum is needed, or this one at least finished. It got switched over and just...it was never fixed up. There are some things that look out of place and it's basically just....rather messy and unprofessional looking in my eyes. Not to mention the theme just doesn't match whatsoever.

I'm sure this idea has been brought to Raz, but let's just hope it's pushed a little.
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: G4RG0YLE on January 11, 2019, 07:18:24 pm
What sort of colour palette/scheme are you hoping for us to use, exactly?
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: LordSuragaha on January 11, 2019, 07:22:43 pm
The forum does indeed need work and prettying up to say the least. This has been brought up by staff and a number of users before too. There has been talk of it being done and suggestions and ideas thrown around but nothing has ever really come from it since other projects like patch work etc ended up taking priority. It would be nice if the forum can finally get its chance at some love and attention especially now with a bigger staff team but alas I can’t make any immediate promises to when it will happen. Regardless of what art, graphics, or other bits are made it’s Raz who is the only one who can edit and add these things. Same goes for any additional forum applications like the banners etc. I would love to see banners make a return and have a part in contests too. The banners would definitely add a much needed spark of color around here too. Thank you for your suggestion <3 We’ll keep this all in mind when the time comes to work on this stuff again.

If you guys have any further suggestions or pictures of ideas and concepts for layouts feel free to share here :D
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: Fonzie on January 11, 2019, 07:29:06 pm
What sort of colour palette/scheme are you hoping for us to use, exactly?

that sounds like a good poll topic. i feel like darker yellows and oranges would suit the game (like the colors used for the ingame interface), i would say a lighter background but that might make it harsh on the eyes. honestly just about any color scheme could work if executed properly. not digging these browns though.
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: G4RG0YLE on January 11, 2019, 07:39:05 pm
I don't particularly agree with changing the black background as it greatly compliments other users' uses of forum colours. The oranges may be a nice idea as FH has always had a savannah-like sense to it. Not too fond of the brown gradients (such as in the 'Quick Reply') myself, I have to say.
I don't think we need to change too much but I do think that we need to bring in a way of seeing the FH banners on the forum.
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: Azurain on January 11, 2019, 08:04:47 pm
Honestly I'd like to see a Savannah theme, like leopard spots and zebra stripes and the like. maybe somewhat similar to Lioden's site. Some brown and oranges and golds of course, but maybe some splashes of light green and blue?
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: Jango_Fett on January 11, 2019, 09:41:02 pm
black base with light orange/yellow highlighting.
or potentially a black/gold/green mix-up to mirror the game's logo and typically foresty or savannah themes.


just please for the love of everyone's eyesight here make sure it all mixes well before implementation.
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: LordSuragaha on January 11, 2019, 09:56:54 pm
Would be nice to implement a poll for everyone to vote on if we come up with some designs from the suggestions here. Could basically show a visual example of each design and have everyone vote upon the design they prefer. Might be something to keep in mind in the future.

Personally I do prefer and like the solid black back ground but some of the suggestions here sound interesting as well. If you guys have some visual examples feel free to dump them here. It can definitely help with idea brain storming when designs are taken into consideration.
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: Bawfle on January 11, 2019, 11:45:47 pm
This is something I had created for a different game that never got used.

https://sta.sh/026rdtsr39ej

I might create something more simple and familiar for the FH forum. Bring back some gold and warm essences. Bring back the nostalgia.
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: wolfdog01 on January 12, 2019, 12:51:37 am
I just miss the pictures on the top of the old forum and how it changed when you refreshed it, also the map usage on the side to show how many people were in each map, that was nice. I like the colors of this site and the layout is fine too.
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: Kahbloom on January 12, 2019, 05:41:21 am
Ooooh, yes!
The forum is by no means horrible, but it does look rather... plain. Not to say that it's not nice. (: It is. There's just a lot more lovin' that could be put into it, I think.

I quite like the idea of a savannah-themed site & I think it would tie in with Feral-Heart's "aesthetic," haha.
It might be kinda neat to put some slightly more vibrant colors on the site, like red-oranges/golds/greens/blues. I could see some tropical plants perhaps coming into play in certain places, as well. I have a vision guys

Although, this is just my vision on what I'd like the site to look like!
There are so many wonderful things that you could do. It'd be really neat to try to experiment with ideas, though!
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: Kuri on January 12, 2019, 10:20:30 pm
Just keep in mind if you add too much sparkle it'll glitch out & lag horridly on internet exploder.  I meant explorer.
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: Jango_Fett on January 12, 2019, 10:37:49 pm
Just keep in mind if you add too much sparkle it'll glitch out & lag horridly on internet exploder.  I meant explorer.
or in general will look terrible.

for this forum we should keep it simple. that way we could maybe i don't know up the pixel limit on avatars, or something outlandish.
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: G4RG0YLE on January 12, 2019, 11:00:12 pm
Would be nice if we could come up with a design that gets rid of all of these horrid dots in people's names and around their profile. Mmhhhh.
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: Jango_Fett on January 12, 2019, 11:07:04 pm
Would be nice if we could come up with a design that gets rid of all of these horrid dots in people's names and around their profile. Mmhhhh.
or at the very least finish the current one so that the old site theme isn't leaking everywhere.
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: Fonzie on January 12, 2019, 11:16:03 pm
This is something I had created for a different game that never got used.

https://sta.sh/026rdtsr39ej

I might create something more simple and familiar for the FH forum. Bring back some gold and warm essences. Bring back the nostalgia.

nice. thank you so much for the example, it'll come in handy. i like the look of this, but i'm not sure it would work- it looks really sleek, but personally i don't think it gives off a very welcoming vibe if that makes sense? i love it, but i agree with Azura, i personally prefer the idea of a design more similar to Lioden (as an example) with the darker yellows and oranges with a lighter background. a lighter background would be a bold change since it's been darker for forever, but i honestly think it would look nice and give it a more "fresh" feel to it. warm colors are the key if you ask me.
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: Jango_Fett on January 18, 2019, 12:38:26 am
question


where on the priorities list is the forum revamp/being finished?
if there is one.
Title: Re: the forum's design
Post by: G4RG0YLE on January 18, 2019, 08:09:18 am
There is no list in regard to numbering what needs to be changed. Yet.
As I've said numerous times before, a lot of things are still in discussion and if we are to change the forum's theme, we will have to play around with colours before coming to a final agreement on a design to implement. Or, coming up with a selective few designs and giving them forward to the community to vote on.

There is no list until we've come to a decision on what is coming up in the next patch as a priority and what can wait until the next patch due to needing more time to make sure everything will run smoothly.