Need a Creative Eye...

I know the whole text based game is over done, especially on these forums, but mainly by noobs who think they can just rush into programming with no prior understanding of how to do jack. I'm not asking for anybody to come to my website, check it out, or anything, I just need your guys' advice on creating a better layout for my almost complete tb game.

The one I currently have is tacky, and won't keep any members, I'm sure. We have several concepts we're tossing around on the forums where its become a community project, but I'd like some ideas of people who have experience in the field of web development, design, and efficiency.


Alright, so here's something I whipped up in PS using someone else's image. Just for a rough draft of what might look good. The final result will be my own image, no worries there ;):

http://ispikedthepunch.com/forums/gallery/futuregamedesign.png

Now, the whole page concept comes into play because it's a medieval game setting. So parchment, burnt parchment, those things kind of tickled my ideas.

And then for the background I was thinking brick, or something like that:

This:

http://www.loriswebs.com/textures/brickred.html

This:

http://www.loriswebs.com/textures/brickgray.html

or This:

http://www.loriswebs.com/textures/brickcreamy.html



Rather simple textures, but effective on web pages. With the big burnt parchment in the middle.

So I need advice on both of them. Is the parchment a good idea? Should I change the style of the parchment to be more of a clean paper (like a scroll), with a fold on the corner for extra accent? Maybe a few holes in the background?

It's a very simple concept, but needs some opinions, and new ideas! Thanks in advance :D

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I know the whole text based game is over done, especially on these forums, but mainly by noobs who think they can just rush into programming with no prior understanding of how to do jack. I'm not asking for anybody to come to my website, check it out, or anything, I just need your guys' advice on creating a better layout for my almost complete tb game.

The one I currently have is tacky, and won't keep any members, I'm sure. We have several concepts we're tossing around on the forums where its become a community project, but I'd like some ideas of people who have experience in the field of web development, design, and efficiency.


Alright, so here's something I whipped up in PS using someone else's image. Just for a rough draft of what might look good. The final result will be my own image, no worries there ;):

...

Now, the whole page concept comes into play because it's a medieval game setting. So parchment, burnt parchment, those things kind of tickled my ideas.

And then for the background I was thinking brick, or something like that:

This:

http://www.loriswebs.com/textures/brickred.html

This:

http://www.loriswebs.com/textures/brickgray.html

or This:

http://www.loriswebs.com/textures/brickcreamy.html

Rather simple textures, but effective on web pages. With the big burnt parchment in the middle.

So I need advice on both of them. Is the parchment a good idea? Should I change the style of the parchment to be more of a clean paper (like a scroll), with a fold on the corner for extra accent? Maybe a few holes in the background?

It's a very simple concept, but needs some opinions, and new ideas! Thanks in advance :D

Parchment is good, but you need a texture for the background that would match better than the brick. The brick (any color) ends up looking very late-'90s-tiled-gif-geocities-angelfire. Parchment is very medieval-looking, and there are many other textures that fit into that category as well, like a nice stone texture or something more organic.

Another thought: You might consider no texture at all for the background, but just a simple color or gradient. Consider that the edges of the parchment and the gradient leading up to them are very busy, and any even remotely complex background would look really jarring up against the parchment edges. At the very least, if you're going for a tiled background, consider putting a drop shadow or an outer glow around the parchment to set it off a bit.

In summary: Go for a busy foreground and a calm background, or vice versa, but not both.

I'm not sure brick is the way to go for the background, either. I don't think most medieval homes were made from brick. Think wood or wattle and daub, or stone (if you were king).

Try this wood (http://www.grungetextures.com/gallery/pic.php?id=1287) texture.