Planetfall website - anyone here with basic html knowledge?

[Maniac]

Planetfall has a webpage on WePlayCiv, but I have no html knowledge whatsoever, so I can't do anything with it. I'd like for it to at least link to the places where you can download the main file, latest patch and sound files though.

Something like this:

PLANETFALL

Main File
Latest Patch

Optional: the SMAC sound files
THANKS to WarKirby for providing them.

Does anyone know how to do this?

Also once converted to html code, how do I actually turn that into a webpage. *Where* do I need to put *what kind of* file? This is how the ftp contents look like (screenies). Do I need to put a file in one of these folders?

 

[Panopticon]

Sure. I can make you a really basic page with those links on it, then depending on what you want, we can prettify it. I'm no FTP expert; I've always used trial and error.

 

[Maniac]

Thanks, that would be great.

Anyway, I just figured out it's index.html which needs to be edited. That's at least a start.

 

[Panopticon]

Maniac, unzip these files and upload them to where the index.html file ought to be. You don't need style.css, but it looks better if you do.

 

[Lord Tirian]

Not a web monkey, so I can't help directly, but I can supply graphics at least... for example, as part of the interface overhaul, I played around with some alternative main menu backgrounds. As part of that, I produced a retro-style Planetfall title text (by retro, I mean a SMAC-title inspired one).

I attached it here, it's rather big, it's a PNG, so it might prove useful.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Maniac]

Maniac, unzip these files and upload them to where the index.html file ought to be. You don't need style.css, but it looks better if you do.

Thanks! I've put these files on the FTP!

I'll put a link to the website in the Hints section which shows up during game loading. In the past now outdated versions of Planetfall have been uploaded without my knowledge on several other sites. People downloading that wouldn't know where to go to get the latest patch. A link to a site with an easy to remember url (unlike http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=278...) can help in this regard.

Regarding prettifying. I've been trying to find SMAC sites. Unfortunately most have disappeared at this point. I found this blog though: http://alphacentauryforever.blogspot.com/2007/09/sid-meiers-alpha-centauri-from.html

How would you feel about using the starry background of that for the Planetfall website?

Not a web monkey, so I can't help directly, but I can supply graphics at least... for example, as part of the interface overhaul, I played around with some alternative main menu backgrounds. As part of that, I produced a retro-style Planetfall title text (by retro, I mean a SMAC-title inspired one).

I attached it here, it's rather big, it's a PNG, so it might prove useful.

Cheers, LT.

I kinda like both the old and new title. Hmm, indecision...
Did you get concrete results for an alternative main menu background? I must say I've never been a fan of the starfield for instance.

 

[Deon]

How would you feel about using the starry background of that for the Planetfall website?

I have some designer and web works in my past so I must say: DON'T! It starts to look like those "see 3d in this pattern" pictures and heavily affects eyes.

However. If you use it as a background but put text on frames with a solid background, it's fine.
Example:
http://www.freeallegiance.org/
http://www.freeallegiance.org/forums/index.php?act=home

The main rule: the more content is on the page and the more often it is updated, the less "flickering" and high-contrast patterns should be there.

And don't forget to have it resolution-friendly (scaling to screen resolutions).

 

[Maniac]

That Furious Space Action Combat background looks cool!
Something like that or something like the Planetfall Datalinks colours would look great IMO.

 

[Deon]

Oh and don't use plain HTML, it's a pain in one place to update it. There's a lot of cool engines avaliable and almost any free hosting supports PHP.

 

[Quibblesome]

Nothing wrong with plain HTML. It just depends on if you want your site to be interactive or not.

 

[Tancredii]

Hey guys,

I notice the planetfall website is still largely non-existant.

Have you thought about making one in google:sites?

simple to set up, searchable in google, anyone can do it!

I think a dedicated site, like the old SMAC site would be great!!!!

 

[PPQ_Purple]

True, it is a good idea.
If such a project is ever started I would like to offer my 7 years of experiance with HTML and XML for the job.

 

[Maniac]

What are the urls of Google sites usually like? A big advantage of weplayciv.com/planetfall is that it's short so easy to remember, when people see that link among the Planetfall hints while loading a game.

Anyone, as said, I have no html experience whatsoever, so this is not a project I can do anything for, except offer peanut gallery opinions. But if anyone feels like taking the lead in this, go ahead! For starters perhaps the background could be changed to a starfield as discussed previously in this thread.

 

[Tancredii]

I'll be happy to make a start on a Google site, but i am by no means a webdesigner or a programmer, or an artist or a IT dude of any sort.
I just love planetfall, and want more people to know about it!!!

 

[Tancredii]

What are the urls of Google sites usually like? A big advantage of weplayciv.com/planetfall is that it's short so easy to remember, when people see that link among the Planetfall hints while loading a game.

Anyone, as said, I have no html experience whatsoever, so this is not a project I can do anything for, except offer peanut gallery opinions. But if anyone feels like taking the lead in this, go ahead! For starters perhaps the background could be changed to a starfield as discussed previously in this thread.

And so it begins...

http://sites.google.com/site/civ4planetfall/

it's not even close to functional yet, but i thought i'd show you where i began.

let me know what you think. I tried to get it to look a little like the SMAC site, but it still needs a hell of a lot of work.

but it's a start

 

[Maniac]

Um... Wow! Looks great.

First a technical question though: how does that site work? weplayciv.com/planetfall consists of a index.html and style.css. Does that Google site also consist of similar files which I could just copy into the Planetfall folder on WePlayCiv's FTP?

 

[Tancredii]

Um... Wow! Looks great.

First a technical question though: how does that site work? weplayciv.com/planetfall consists of a index.html and style.css. Does that Google site also consist of similar files which I could just copy into the Planetfall folder on WePlayCiv's FTP?

Hi Maniac,

Like i said before, i'm no webmaster, if it does, i don't know how to access it.

Thanks for liking it though.

Is there anyway you could send me some stuff to put into the site, ie your favourite gallery items you'd want displayed or the like?

Also, as i have mentioned previously i'm still really new to planetfall, so if there are errors on the site let me know.

oh and OMT, can you give me the specs on what the different factions advantages are? or is it in the planetopedia?

 

[Pfeffersack]

oh and OMT, can you give me the specs on what the different factions advantages are? or is it in the planetopedia?

They can be found in the Datalinks in the leader entries.