[Gonchi]

Originally Posted by Marek

Wow, people browsing the web in tiny windows, people browsing without the Flash plugin ... no offense, but is it 1996?

If I were to say I have a PC running Windows 95, would that count as a yes?

[tsa]

Originally Posted by Marek

If anyone is using the Lynx text browser in DOS, let me know.

AG in Lynx. I couldn't resist.

[Trumgottist]

Originally Posted by Marek

Wow, people browsing the web in tiny windows, people browsing without the Flash plugin ... no offense, but is it 1996? I'm just totally surprised by the extreme browsing habits that some people have.
If I'd known, I would have made the CSS gracefully degrade to HTML 1.0. If anyone is using the Lynx text browser in DOS, let me know.

I am slightly surprised that so many run their browsers full screen. My screen is only a 13" laptop (1280 pixels wide), but I still think that's way too wide to read comfortably. Am I unusually narrow in my viewing field? Maybe I'm constructed a bit differently than the majority of people.

I noted that Steve Ince appreciated the "narrower forums because the shorter length of the text lines makes the posts easier to read". So for the full screen users, the new fixed width is an improvement. But I had solved that problem on my own by using a narrower browser window before, so I already had the text lengths at the size that works best for me.

Originally Posted by Marek

(Yes, I'm being grumpy. I'll be back with renewed energy and hopefully a smiley face tomorrow.)

I should point out that I think you're doing a good job. This site not only presents good content, but looks good while doing so. I know that good design isn't easy, but (with this one exception IMHO, and others disagree with me on that point) you've succeeded very well.

[Marek]

Yeah I get what you mean. I'm on 1280 myself too and sometimes when I visit sites that automatically adjust their width (such as Amazon.com, which I just happened to visit) it leaves huge gaps of white space everywhere which is less than ideal. So I get where you're coming from. I'm just stressed out by the huge number of specific preferences that people have.

It's a relief to see AG works in Lynx though!

Actually, kidding aside, from our stats I know a few people visit AG on their Wii, PSP or mobile phone. Has anyone tried that with the new design yet? Does it work reasonably well? (Apart from possibly the Flash galleries?)

[tsa]

I only have Lynx and I specifically installed it to make that screenshot AG in Lynx is quite unuasble though because I could only reach part of the forum pages.
And again, I second all that Trumgottist just said! I have a 15.4" widescreen laptop with 1440x900 pixels, and the AG site is just too big for that. On my normal PC (1600x1200) it's OK.

[tsa]

By the way, I'm proud of having my quote on the home page! I saw that I was on the home page whilest trying out Lynx. It was a nice surprise.

[Trumgottist]

I think the following quote from the latest AG feature belongs in this thread:

Originally Posted by Hal Barwood

[Adventure gamers] are possibly the most conservative of all game players — of all the orangutans who are skeptical of changes in their cages (laughs) — they really don't want any changes at all.

[Marek]

I almost wanted to rant about how I can really relate to adventure game developers now.

[tsa]

One of the jokes in the first Christmas Quest games was about the protagonist having a ten year old computer. The guy said something like: "Luckily I only play adventure games." I guess the truth that is in there is that for many adventure gamers, it still is 1996. Well, maybe it's 1999 now because many adventure gamers keep going on about how good TLJ was.

[Steve Ince]

Originally Posted by Trumgottist

I noted that Steve Ince appreciated the "narrower forums because the shorter length of the text lines makes the posts easier to read". So for the full screen users, the new fixed width is an improvement. But I had solved that problem on my own by using a narrower browser window before, so I already had the text lengths at the size that works best for me.

I like having my browser full screen as there are so many times I like to view screenshots as large as possible. That's one thing which puzzles me a little - why so many sites re-size screenshots without giving the viewer the option to view them at their original size. Viewing them as they're intended to be seen gives the potential player a better idea of the quality (or lack of) they can expect.

[Scott Nixon]

I hate the new design. I finished browsing it in under 10 hours. Why is it still mostly 2d? The parts that are 3d suck. The animations are wooden. I can't skip through the longwinded posts with a mouse click. There are too many posts. There aren't enough posts. There aren't enough puzzles. There are too many slider puzzles. The ending is contrived. The are several screens where there is nothing to do. There are several screens where I had to pixel hunt for buttons. The inventory system is dated. The graphics are dated. I won't run on my sister's 286. The voice acting is non-existent. It installed secuROM on my hard drive.

Man, that felt good!

Actually, my only issue with the ads after the posts is, when going to a new page, it always make me think the top post is the last post in the thread.

[Jeysie]

Originally Posted by Marek

Wow, people browsing the web in tiny windows, people browsing without the Flash plugin ... no offense, but is it 1996? I'm just totally surprised by the extreme browsing habits that some people have.

Well, lessee. I don't browse in tiny windows, but that's because I use larger-than-normal fonts to compensate for my crappy eyesight. (18px Arial)

I do browse without the Flash plugin on all the time, though. For one, Flash ads are common (and suck). For two, I tend to listen to music or videos all the time, so I don't need another website's "soundtrack" competing. For three, since I make heavy use of tabs, even one "mainstay" Flash applet can bog things down when you've now got 10+ copies of it running at once because you just "open in background tab"-bed a ton of links on the same site (or even on different sites which both use Flash). So I find it easier to keep it off and just turn it on with a couple clicks when I need it (hurrah for Opera!)

I'm a firm believer that Flash (and other plugins like Java) should only be used for things you can't do with good ol' HTML, CSS, and JS, anyway. Stuff like YouTube and little games and apps? Yes. Image galleries?

Well, I went over to try the image galleries, and I don't really understand why they're in Flash. For someone used to being able to go through a set of thumbnail images, "open in background tab" everything that looks cool, then browse through every open image all at once, having to load them one at a time feels *so* slow... One could argue that having to patiently click through all the images one by one is so 1996.

Anyhoo. Just food for thought.

I don't mind the design... the forums don't look all that different to me, and I generally see the rest of the site through the "quick article/news links" on the forum pages. (I do kinda miss having those at the top of the page, though.)

As for the ads, well, again, yay for Opera's easy content manipulating. Sorry, but because of the way I shop, ads are useless to me, and even if I did click on them, I find anything that interrupts the flow and easy reading of text to be annoying. *apologetic look*

FWIW, that doesn't mean I'm a leech. I wouldn't mind subscribing to AG at all if that's the route that was taken, as long as the price was decent and I could still read while not logged in; I subscribed to an RP board I post at, and I haven't even been there as long as I've been here.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[tsa]

I, for one, welcome our new Sponsored Links Overlords.

[Wormsie]

Bug: http://www.adventuregamers.com/underground.php "Depressingly Common Adventure Game Design Flaws" has the wrong description text ("Josh Roberts’s ongoing design journal for his classic Sierra inspired western game Rise of the Hidden Sun..."). Those articles are written by Yahtzee and have nothing to do with Sierra or the Rise of the Hidden Sun.

Maybe somebody already mentioned that, but I thought I'd risk it.

[Melanie68]

That one hadn't been mentioned. Thanks.

[Jatsie]

I was about to ask if there was any particular reason why Sam & Max: Season Two was listed twice under the "Last Updated Releases" section, especially as both link to the same page. I then realised that perhaps it was because it was being released twice, once by Gametap, and once by Telltale. Assuming that is the case for the double listing; considering the releases are only a day apart, isn't overkill to have it listed twice, especially as the reasoning for it isn't immediately clear?

[Marek]

No, we are attempting to track as many releases as we can. And technically there are two Sam & Max releases, one published by Telltale and one published by Gametap. They are different, and so they get different entries.

It might be weird on the homepage where the publisher is not listed (not enough space), but it makes perfect sense on the calendar itself.

[Marek]

Originally Posted by Scott Nixon

I hate the new design. I finished browsing it in under 10 hours. Why is it still mostly 2d? The parts that are 3d suck. The animations are wooden. I can't skip through the longwinded posts with a mouse click. There are too many posts. There aren't enough posts. There aren't enough puzzles. There are too many slider puzzles. The ending is contrived. The are several screens where there is nothing to do. There are several screens where I had to pixel hunt for buttons. The inventory system is dated. The graphics are dated. I won't run on my sister's 286. The voice acting is non-existent. It installed secuROM on my hard drive.

Man, that felt good!

You, sir, made my day.

[LeisureSuitedLooney]

Originally Posted by Scott Nixon

I hate the new design. I finished browsing it in under 10 hours. Why is it still mostly 2d? The parts that are 3d suck. The animations are wooden. I can't skip through the longwinded posts with a mouse click. There are too many posts. There aren't enough posts. There aren't enough puzzles. There are too many slider puzzles. The ending is contrived. The are several screens where there is nothing to do. There are several screens where I had to pixel hunt for buttons. The inventory system is dated. The graphics are dated. I won't run on my sister's 286. The voice acting is non-existent. It installed secuROM on my hard drive.

lol, that really made my week. Too funny.

[Giligan]

Originally Posted by Scott Nixon

I hate the new design. I finished browsing it in under 10 hours. Why is it still mostly 2d? The parts that are 3d suck. The animations are wooden. I can't skip through the longwinded posts with a mouse click. There are too many posts. There aren't enough posts. There aren't enough puzzles. There are too many slider puzzles. The ending is contrived. The are several screens where there is nothing to do. There are several screens where I had to pixel hunt for buttons. The inventory system is dated. The graphics are dated. I won't run on my sister's 286. The voice acting is non-existent. It installed secuROM on my hard drive.

If this post doesn't go into the "quotable quotes" section of the site, I'm going to boycott this site.