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Names are important, you son of a-

TheWinglessTheWingless Registered User regular
edited October 2006 in Artist's Corner
Hello again.

For those of you who don't remember, I was the guy that brought you this little slice of flash awhile back.

Problem is, I've finished a very big project that I'd like some feedback on... but it's not quite art insomuch as it is a very, very stylized utility. It's a fantasy name generator called TheForge.

So, while you could (and by all means can) critique the visuals, I'm also exceedingly interested on how you feel the program works. Is it intuitive? Are there features not implemented that you would like to see? What's working? What fo' sho' ain't?

In essence, please critique it as you would a function-centric website... hell, just critique it like it's a utility, cuz that's what it is.

Here are some screen shots. Click on any screenshot to access the site. Once at the site, click the ENTER button. (it uses old republic javascript technology to power its awesome LINUX, that's why there's two steps).

ss1.jpg

ss2.jpg


Again, as per usual, any feedback is greatly appreciated and considered at great length. Thank you so much for your time and your consideration.

--Wingy

p.s. My Google ads are haywire. Don't bother critiquing that :roll:

TheWingless.com
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TheWingless on

Posts

  • EWomEWom Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    When I click enter, I get a new window, that is very white, and very blank.

    EWom on
    Whether they find a life there or not, I think Jupiter should be called an enemy planet.
  • MushiwulfMushiwulf Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    Did you give it a second? I started with a blank white window and then very slowly I got a new loading page.

    Mushiwulf on
  • Dyrwen66Dyrwen66 the other's insane Denver CORegistered User regular
    edited October 2006
    The loading screen after clicking "Enter" seemed to be excessively long (minute or two max), not sure if that's on my side of things or what. I guess it is a lot of information to send.

    The name generator is nice enough, though the 4 different ones is kind of confusing to look at. Since I'm like "I just need a name.." but I guess I can understand being able to randomize 4 at once. The spacebar-bit to create them all at once wasn't too intuitive for me. I thought maybe a clue of that hovering over the middle transparent for a bit would've helped me realize it was there. It doesn't stand out.

    Overall it seems to work rather well, so I like that much of it. Critiquing web sites isn't my forte, so to speak, but I know what I like. It's simple and it's practical in its use, which is damn good.

    Dyrwen66 on
    Just an ancient PA person who doesn't leave the house much.
  • MushiwulfMushiwulf Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    I like the functionality. The way you can change parts of names or lock certain parts in is neat. Not a fan of the initial load time, but it seems to go quicker once it is cached.

    Mushiwulf on
  • EWomEWom Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    Ok it loaded, after a very long time, the 2nd time I tried.

    And honestly I'm not impressed by the names. It seems to just stick two randomly selected nothings together for no purpouse whatsoever. Demon Land? Bronze Slayer? Willow Pool? Doesn't make any sense, and I can't see it being useful with that kind of matching, when there are so many other FNG's out there that have a rhyme and reason to their matchings and makings.

    But, the site did work. I don't think I ran by any errors or anything like that.

    EWom on
    Whether they find a life there or not, I think Jupiter should be called an enemy planet.
  • World as MythWorld as Myth a breezy way to annoy serious people Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    It loaded just fine for me. Took maybe 5 seconds for the loading screen to finish up.

    I'm not really crazy about what's generated in most cases; it seems a little bland, but maybe that was something you're working on. In any case, the tool is great, and aesthetically-speaking, lovely.

    World as Myth on
    kQwcZLJ.png
  • Tweaked_Bat_Tweaked_Bat_ Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    I like how it generated "Night Dawn" :P

    It looks nice, it works nice. I like how you can lock names you like and keep generating others... but it seems a bit random... like I said... "Night Dawn"??

    Tweaked_Bat_ on
  • Delicious Sci FIDelicious Sci FI Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    I liked it but it took forever to load for me. Some of the names are bland but some others were pretty cool. I enjoyed Apple Poet the best. I really want to play a bard that is obsessed with a fruit.

    Delicious Sci FI on
  • Tweaked_Bat_Tweaked_Bat_ Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    I dunno why everyone is complaining about load times... mine took 15 seconds top... are you on 28.8k modems or something? :p

    EDIT: I also liked the name "Rust House" O_o

    EDIT AGAIN:

    I went back and looked through it again, and I thought I'd mention a few things.

    I like the spell name generator, because of the ability to choose themes. That, in my opinion, automatically makes it more appealing. I think if you did that with the fantasy name generator it would be alot cooler.

    Tweaked_Bat_ on
  • DeepQantasDeepQantas Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    I gotta say that Spell generator is awesome. Woon's Strange Inspiration and Evanella's Mechanical Militia ftw :)


    Anyways, seeing as how the buttons take a bit of figuring out I don't really see a reason for the Context Sensitive help being a toggle.

    The Third button gave me a pause with it's three different states. Could use a written text for "Always / Random / Off". There seems to be plenty of room for it on the bottom row, too. The selected Theme could use text as well.

    Forges could be "Back" or "Return to Forges" or something like that. I'm also thinking it should be bottom-right because that's when reading that's where you look last.

    The buttons on top and bottom (TheSpellForge and Spacebar) are way too non-obvious. Took me a while to realize Spacebar is clickable and only now I realized TheSpellForge doubles as a back to Forges button.

    The Write-in-text doesn't allow for long enough strings. Also it'd be nice if the textbox was selected as soon as you click on one of the words so you can immediately type without having to click the box. Especially seeing as how you can't do anything else while the textbox is visible. I'm also sometimes getting "undefined" when hitting enter straight away but I couldn't make that happen every time.

    Also noticed couple of teeny tiny typos:

    "Permanant" should be "Permanent"
    "Sacrafice" -> "Sacrifice"
    "Kobald" -> "Kobold" ?

    In general: Good stuff

    DeepQantas on
    m~
  • Kuro HouKuro Hou Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    Wow! Simple but effective! I especially liked the "gentle cannon" Spell. I think that the "Name Generator" is better for naming say weapons, but the spell generator is terrific. A bit slow, but perhaps if you mentioned to people that this is flash (right?) they might know to wait for the whole thing to load.

    The design is solid, but has a lot of empty space, though I did like how the background color changed at every screen. Hella Cool dude.

    Kuro Hou on
    "For a man who looks like a garden gnome, you sure have a lot of demands."

    I dare you to make less sense.
  • ProjeckProjeck Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    Hm, how do you guys get to this Spell generator? I only see the beast and general generators.


    I also only have the top line of options

    :?

    Projeck on
  • Tweaked_Bat_Tweaked_Bat_ Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    It sounds like your window is cutting off part of it... tried resizing the windows or something? Probably a bit hard when it's size parameters are set in the Javascript code itself....

    Tweaked_Bat_ on
  • ProjeckProjeck Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    Yeah, I'm stuck with 600x800 resolution.

    Projeck on
  • NightDragonNightDragon 6th Grade Username Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    Everything worked gorgeously for me. This is hardcore sexcellence. <3

    I noticed a few spelling errors (porcelain was one that comes to mind), but aside from that, I really like this.

    NightDragon on
  • SpilltoySpilltoy Registered User regular
    edited October 2006
    " Names are important, you son of a-"

    Tell that to Joseph Conrad olololol

    I've got nothing real to say. =[

    Spilltoy on
    I really don't.
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