[feedback] Battalion front page

[sand858]

I made a little Flash intro page for my game Battalion (also done in Flash).

I was wondering if anyone had any comments:

http://www.urbansquall.com/battalion...alion_site.php

The pages that link off that one are still in the old format (ie: there is no consistency and they suck). I'm gonna get to them as I have time.

Let me know what you think.

[Phlook]

I like it

Maybe with the menus, make the container a movie clip, then the words/their backgrounds into buttons, or have the word change color on mouseover because its hard to tell if you're going to press it or not

[luxregina]

Hey !

Well - i'm sorry to bring less positive feedback, but i'm not nessecerly fan of it ...

I mean, it's cleaver, the way you brought it in, as a preview of the gameplay, but as a front page i would expect more

My opinion might be twisted by the oldschool gaming here, but, if i respect a lot Daydream in-game gfxs, i think they are hyperbolic to ease the gameplay : what i do expect from a frontpage is to set the background, the tension, no matter if the Gfxs of the front page do not match the Gfxs of the game - i'm thinking box cover there too : remember how all those games where showing the greatest heroic fantasy artwork on the box, while in game, the art was more ...simple ?

I liked the visuel of the head-to-head generals much more, as it was illustrating much more what the game is about - that, with maybe an animated background of flying planes and moving thanks ( they can be simple, in shadows for ex ) along with a martial musical theme would, to my sense, set the player in the right state of mind to be ready for the game, and give him a little to fantasize about

Don't get me wrong, i like the execution of the page, i just wished it could be a bit more 'oldschool' - but it might be just me ...hope i make sense

[luxregina]

i think you could get inspiration from the russian communist period design : they were quite creative on propaganda, with a clear, yet impactive design - that how i see your game

i know stating communist design as a reference might be a bit -strange- but i truly think they set some of the modern templates for communication here, whatever the idea that lies beneath, of course ...

[sand858]

luxregina:

I half agree with you. I am myself fighting with one of two scenarios:

1) Have a stylized splash of the game on the homepage with the hopes that it attracts the player enough to download the client, connect, bother to set up a game, etc.

2) Have the main page give an instant feel of the game, then have the player download the client, sit through a stylized intro (not yet implemented.. it would be in the game client though), then actually play the game.

Obviously I have leaned towards #2. I wanted to pique the visitors curiosity. Give them a quick taste of what they might expect in game.

I'm still not sure which is the right way, and obviously the fact that you think otherwise gives me even more doubt. I think I will leave it for now, though, and try to get more feedback before I switch.

I do appreciate the comments though. Thank you for all the feedback.

phlook:

Thanks for the comments. I understand what you're saying. I'll see what I can do.

[luxregina]

yeah : let's just see what other feedback is : i'll learn from that too !

BTW, one quick solution to your problem is a 'screenshots' page : i think most of the players always check it prior installing/subscribing to a game ...

[sand858]

Hmm... I used to have the screenshots posted, but they simply do not compare to something that's animated.

I think let's see if people give us other feedback.

[chriserrorplain]

well, I thinks a top front page, looks pretty, nice layout, gives you wee hints about the inner mechanisms of the game, and has an nice console / web hybrid look to it.

Chris

[LittleRed]

Following from what Lux said, I do like title screens that set the scene and create mood, but then when I buy strategy games I will always look at the back after seeing the cover artwork to have a look at the in-game graphics.
I guess you need to find a balance between the 2 - maybe a header to set mood and then some actual sprites/screenshots beneath that? Or a mood front page, and then an obvious link to screen shots?

[STEMax2]

Hi,

don't want to be rude, but i really think that the major problem with this site is the distraction of the eyes.

What i mean is, there are too much things that your eyes can focus on, so at the end it don't focus on any of them. Take exemples, block of informations are all over the windows but without any link between them, mountains have the same colors that block of information (-> distraction of the eyes), red and bleu items distract the eyes because of the contrast with green background...

As Lux said maybe it's just me, but i really think you must work on organisation of the informations... And keep eyes focussed on what is really important...

Hope, it's ok for you, i don't want to be rude but this is what i think

STEMax

Ps : one more thing, don't use green background for the webpage, because vehicles and planes can only go trough the flash windows and eyes don't understand why they disappear suddenly...

Ps' : As i develop website every day, i can say that sometime, 2 or 3 days (1 week is better) without work on a site can do fine, because when we see the site with new "fresh" eyes, mistakes jump out

[crashlanding]

i think it looks brilliant, but i can understand what lux is getting at.

just go for what you thinks is best...

[sand858]

Hey, thanks for the feedback guys.

And Stemax, I appreciate the honesty. I can take it, don't you worry.

My soul likes simple interfaces. I like minimal action, simple colors; I like to focus the users attention on what's important.

My goal here was to expose the visitor to the game before they even played it (because I feel like that would encourage them to play the game more than anything else).

Unfortuanetly, in pursuing this goal I have obviously sacrificed simplicity for complexity, and, clearly, I am having a hard time making that transition.

My gut feeling is that the basic design is sound, but that the finishing touches are insufficient.

I think, as was suggested, the best thing to do is for me to get some perspective on the design and revisit it in a few days.

Thanks for all the feedback!