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| Thread: Sponsoring your own custom HC features |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 · NEXT» |
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Valeriy
Mage of the Land
Naughty, Naughty Valeriy
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posted March 21, 2006 03:02 AM |
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Edited by Valeriy at 22:14, 29 Apr 2006.
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Sponsoring your own custom HC features
This has been done in the past and there has been interest in it again, so I'll make a dedicated sticky.
Here's how sponsoring custom features works:
1) You think of a feature which would be really good for HC and that you would most like to have, and describe it here.
2) I reply as to whether it is possible to implement, whether it is reasonable to implement (will be of benefit to HC), and about how complex it is for me to implement in terms of programming required (simple, medium, advanced).
3) If the feature is possible but we have doubts about its side effects, we will run a separate poll, asking HC members whether they think it should or shouldn't be implemented, or if they perhaps have ideas of how to improve the idea of this feature.
4) Once approved, contributor makes a paypal donation (accessible via the FAQ page) and I get to work.
Feature Sponsors, in chronological order:
Celfious
- Originated sponsored features idea back in 2002.
- Last 5 Posts received a shortcut to the last page of each multipage thread. Last 5 Replies Before. (Note: This was also adopted for Today's Posts page. Last 5 Replies was expanded to Last 10 Posts in late 2005.)
Djive
- Sticky Threads (Note: was fist buggy and stickies had to be bumped back to the first page, or they appeared on top of a later page. Fixed in 2005. Icons also improved in 2005.)
- Improved Memberlist. Memberlist Before.
- Inactive Member Pruning tool (later Loved by Pandora  )
- 3 red stars = no floodprotect when editing. (Note: later no editing floodprotect at 0 or more red stars).
FriendOfGunnar
- Selected 40 avatars to be assigned to specific members for the duration of 1st April 2006, while the avatar changing was disabled in profile edit page. Everyone had great fun, and 26 avatars were kept for future use as apr06-...
Kookastar
- The KookaBar, tool on the left of the post/edit box that allows easy application of BB Code and simple insertion of smileys. (Extras: all icons were made insertable into posts, strikethrough BB Code added, three extra fonts added, disable smileys feature implemented for posting code). April 2006. Previously there were no automated BB Code / smiley insertion tools at all.
Loknar
- Loknar Stealth Edit: now users have an option to edit a post without marking a thread as if a new post has been made in it. April 2006. Bonus: "Edited by" markers for all future edits will show correct date and time, in your timezone.
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You can wait for others to do it, but if they don't know how, you'll wait forever.
Be an example of what you want to see on HC and in the world.
http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com
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Loknar
Adventuring Hero
Missing Links
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posted March 21, 2006 11:17 PM |
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Non-reviving Edit
*Loknar bows deeply on entering the Throne Room*
I'd like to have a checkbox in the edit window to mark if the edit should revive the thread.
I know this is against an ideal of transparent communication that is a nice touch to a forum. And of course I can live without it. But I am kind of impulsive and perfectionist at the same time, and that is a heavy burden.  And English is not my native language, so I am challenged, too 
I acknowledge it might be exploited. But I think it would be worth the risk.
(You even spared me the oriental trade thing. Thank you!)
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Valeriy
Mage of the Land
Naughty, Naughty Valeriy
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posted March 21, 2006 11:39 PM |
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It's quite simple for me to implement this. However there are potential misuses of this feature. You should start a poll in tribunal asking people to vote for/against this feature, or to suggest improvements of the idea. If the outcome is favourable we can proceed.
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You can wait for others to do it, but if they don't know how, you'll wait forever.
Be an example of what you want to see on HC and in the world.
http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com
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Consis
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Of Ruby
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posted March 22, 2006 06:25 AM |
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Valeriy,
How much of a contribution would you require for implementing/allowing animated avatars? I might be willing to pay a fair amount for animated avatars.
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Roses Are Red And So Am I
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Valeriy
Mage of the Land
Naughty, Naughty Valeriy
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posted March 22, 2006 10:17 AM |
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At the moment I think Xarfax has the only animated avatar 
The problem with animations is file size.
And the problems with file size are:
1) increased page loading time for modem users
2) increased server traffic
That seems to leave 2 options:
1) come up with animated avatars that are not much larger than current 2kb avatars
2) restrict animated avatars as a privelege to specific members, for example based on stars
Then another issue is how to work it in with 1 custom avatar per user per lifetime rule. Some people don't like this rule, but it tends to keep people to the same picture, which is more honest and nice to everyone else. Of course an option would be to add a batch of standard animated avatars - somehow keeping in mind points 1 and 2 above.
So the idea needs a bit more thought and detail. Also you should post some examples.
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You can wait for others to do it, but if they don't know how, you'll wait forever.
Be an example of what you want to see on HC and in the world.
http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com
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Consis
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Of Ruby
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posted March 22, 2006 03:10 PM |
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Hmm . . .
I like all of your suggestions in using the animated avatars. I'd be willing to pay for those implementations. That's one of the reasons why I like the way you run this message board Valeriy. You seem to be particularly organized, methodical, and fair in your judgments. I appreciate your response. Thanks.
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Roses Are RedAnd So Am I
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Valeriy
Mage of the Land
Naughty, Naughty Valeriy
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posted March 22, 2006 09:03 PM |
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Thanks for the compliment, but I meant that I need you to make the idea more specific:
1) Post some samples of animated avatars you'd want to see or at least describe how exactly they will look, and who you'd want to produce them and how.
2) Explain who you expect to be able to use these animated avatars.
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You can wait for others to do it, but if they don't know how, you'll wait forever.
Be an example of what you want to see on HC and in the world.
http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com
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Consis
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Of Ruby
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posted March 23, 2006 03:22 AM |
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Like This:
Perhaps attainable with five stars?
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Roses Are RedAnd So Am I
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Valeriy
Mage of the Land
Naughty, Naughty Valeriy
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posted March 23, 2006 05:56 AM |
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These ones are over 10 times the current maximum avatar size... And they are warcraft.
If someone could make animated gifs of HOMM 1, 2 or 3 creatures, that might work.
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You can wait for others to do it, but if they don't know how, you'll wait forever.
Be an example of what you want to see on HC and in the world.
http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com
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Korejora
Promising
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posted March 24, 2006 12:26 PM |
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It would be difficult to make animation files smaller than 2 kB, I think. A sprite, for example, is relatively small in terms of width and height and also has only four (three distinct) frames, but with a few different animation programs (Animagic, GIFanimator, Adobe ImageReady) the smallest file I could come up with for a sprite animation...
...still counts more than five kilobytes.
(edit) - Minus the shadow, it's still more than 4½ kB.
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That's the best part. 
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FriendOfGunnar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
able to speed up time
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posted March 24, 2006 02:20 PM |
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If I may interject... I think that both of the animated avatars presented so far would be a huge distraction from people's posts. IMHO they would both be annoying if I was trying to focus on a non-spam thread. Although I hate to say it (grrrr...) I think Xarfax's avatar is a good example of how animation should be implemented. In other words, entirely static with only a few small changes to add humor or interest.
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Valeriy
Mage of the Land
Naughty, Naughty Valeriy
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posted March 24, 2006 08:26 PM |
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Wow, nicely done Korejora!
As animated avatars are a special feature that would only be available to members with enough stars, we could step up a bit in size. But FOG raises a good point. How about an animation of a standing sprite that from time to time does her on-mouse-over animation? Reasonably long period idle of time between animations, maybe 10 seconds.
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You can wait for others to do it, but if they don't know how, you'll wait forever.
Be an example of what you want to see on HC and in the world.
http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com
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Lord_Crusader
Promising
Supreme Hero
UHU!! supreme!
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posted March 24, 2006 09:27 PM |
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Quote:
At the moment I think Xarfax has the only animated avatar
The problem with animations is file size.
And the problems with file size are:
2) increased server traffic
Quote:
well the first issue can be solved if the gif is linked from another place... I mean made the option to link an avatar from another place
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Dig Out Your Soul
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Khaelo
Honorable
Supreme Hero
Underwater
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posted March 24, 2006 10:55 PM |
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1) Loknar's idea of allowing edits without bumping the thread: In order to keep some measure of transparency and counteract some exploits, how about adding a timestamp to edits? That would make it more obvious whether subsequent posters are responding to the current version of any given post, even if all posts and edits were submitted the same day. Another fix could be to mark edited threads as "unread" while not bumping them to the top of the list.
2) Animated avatars and their annoyance factor: From observing animated avatars on other boards, I think that leaving a long period between animations is even more irritating than continual movement. A continual animation becomes visual static, easily ignored. One with a single change over a long loop attracts more attention to itself every time it moves, especially when the brain has dismissed the image as static. ("Ack! Did that thing just wink? It looks still now...do I have to watch it for ten seconds to see if it REALLY winked?") I didn't like Xarfax's avatar until I confirmed that, yes, it blinks. Quite frankly, I don't want to sit here watching someone's avatar.  Most of us are familiar enough with the HoMM animations that they don't require extra attention. It takes only a glance to register what that sprite is up to.
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 Cleverly
disguised as a responsible adult
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Korejora
Promising
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posted March 24, 2006 11:46 PM |
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I agree with Khaelo. Those things sit there forever with a ten-second delay:
And five seconds isn't much better.
You just keep wanting to look at them to see what they did... and then they don't do it again, so you look away, and then they do it while you're not looking!
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That's the best part.
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Valeriy
Mage of the Land
Naughty, Naughty Valeriy
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posted March 25, 2006 01:10 AM |
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Hehehe Let's try 4, 3, 2 and 1 seconds to see how it looks.
As for transparent editing idea - marking the thread unread while not marking that it has been last posted in is not viable due to board structure. But displaying the exact edit time and perhaps even the number of edits is what I've also been thinking about. Loknar, why don't you make that poll?
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You can wait for others to do it, but if they don't know how, you'll wait forever.
Be an example of what you want to see on HC and in the world.
http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com
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Korejora
Promising
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posted March 25, 2006 02:31 AM |
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I'll put them in mock-up threads for a better idea of what it would look like in actual use...
[url=http://ca.geocities.com/korejora/stuff/test_10s.html]Ten seconds[/url]
[url=http://ca.geocities.com/korejora/stuff/test_5s.html]Five seconds[/url]
[url=http://ca.geocities.com/korejora/stuff/test_4s.html]Four seconds[/url]
[url=http://ca.geocities.com/korejora/stuff/test_3s.html]Three seconds[/url]
[url=http://ca.geocities.com/korejora/stuff/test_2s.html]Two seconds[/url]
[url=http://ca.geocities.com/korejora/stuff/test_1s.html]One second[/url]
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That's the best part.
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Consis
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Of Ruby
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posted March 25, 2006 02:54 AM |
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Edited by Consis on 24 Mar 2006
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Hmm . . .
Could we see the upper half portion (lower half-waist&legs-cut out) of an H3 Crusader unit animation? . . . . I want to see the frames where he stops walking and is turning to look.
I wonder how that would look.
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Roses Are RedAnd So Am I
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Korejora
Promising
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posted March 25, 2006 05:07 AM |
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I think I see what you mean:
When he's walking towards the friendly hero, he has to turn back to face the enemy hero at the end of his turn; you want only the top half of the sprites, and only the first half of the turn, so it looks a bit like he's saluting you?
Like this:
Or am I completely out to lunch?
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That's the best part.
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Valeriy
Mage of the Land
Naughty, Naughty Valeriy
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posted March 25, 2006 05:26 AM |
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Thanks Korejora
I think 3 seconds is the best interval.
How easy or difficult is it to make those pictures? Do you have some automatic way of extracting them from the game?
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You can wait for others to do it, but if they don't know how, you'll wait forever.
Be an example of what you want to see on HC and in the world.
http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com
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