Interlopers.net Forum - Half-Life 2 News & Tutorials

Hey,

I was (once again) reconsidering the possibilities regarding level design portfolios (as my current one sucks donkey ass, and I really want to substitute something better and more original) and came across this idea:
Making a website entirely from HL2 textures and text/screenshots in custom image based containers - probably depicting torn up paper and Polaroid photo frames taped onto the wall. Here's the layout so far (subject to MASSIVE change regarding sizing and, perhaps, choice of textures):

Outdated

What do you think? Will the concept last? How about copyright and such - am I even allowed to use Valve's textures like this?

Thanks.

I wouldn't use valve's textures no.

It might work, but keep load-times in check. Also I think pieces of torn posters would work better than polaroids.

I won't do that at all honestly I would try to keep the visual noise on your website to a minimum and draw the focus to the actual content rather than the site itself. Unless you are going into web design then I would recommend being flash but not going over the top. But still content is more important than the site itself. I hate to bring this up again but it really is a perfect example.

http://www.philipk.net/
Pow name
Pow work
Pow small explanation
Pow Resume

All done with no fuss and you leave with all the information you needed.

The site structure should be as sufra said name,work,details,resume . As for the visuals try something nice & fast to load .

The whole "fast to load" thing is almost obsolete today (with most people having 5-20 bit download rates), but I see your point.

I agree regarding site/content attention, though, I should probably go with something more simple. It's just hard to make something distinctive without using large custom graphics.

Ugly textures. Unless you're showing off entirely industrial/grunge maps, I should try something cleaner.

Yeah, I know. I really like the industrial theme and often build maps around it which is why I picked those textures in particular. I've trashed the theme, though, and will start working on something a bit more simple soon. I've also got Underground to finish, though, and that spook group effort so I'll leave this thread now Thanks for the input, all.

I don't know man, I looked at your link and then as surfa's. I think the busy background you have going on there will detract from your work. I would say go for a more minimal look to get the viewer to concentrate on your work more. Right now it looks like a site for texture design rather than level design... That's just my two cents though...

I got some stuff put together:
Outdated
Don't mind the stretched screenshot.

What do you think? Simple enough?

Simple enough, better than your original idea. It needs more spacing though, it looks quite cramped (especially vertically). Additionally you might want to pick a primary layout color - monochromatic is nice but even better when accented by a single color (pretty much whichever you want will work). I also am very turned off by the choice of Century Gothic, but that's more personal preference than a criticism.

Thanks. And yeah, I'm considering using a more unique font for headlines and a more generic one for the rest. I'll increase general spacing and check out some colors too.

Surfa wrote:I would recommend being flash

No. Just no.

It's way more professional and worth spending your time; making a decent xhtml/css/php/javascript website than spending time in flash. Flash is just something that grew bigger than it was intended to be; and it was certainly not meant for websites originally. Also it's less user-friendly and has no search engine optimization/capabilities. Also you force your visitor to have flash installed in order to view your website.

Flash makes me puke, so no worries... That's the last thing I'd do.

OVRKLL wrote:The whole "fast to load" thing is almost obsolete today (with most people having 5-20 bit download rates), but I see your point.

i cant speak for the entire world, but any increase in local internet speed decreases the amount of loading patience i have as by the same amount. so. yeah.

I've used Philip's portfolio as reference as I must agree with you that it is extremely functional (although I find it could use some minor corrections). Comparing my current layout with his at this point, I have to say the dark theme, which I had actually tried to avoid, is extremely comfortable to look at. Psy's site (http://www.aarongarcha.net/ - although he keeps changing things. Right now it looks kind of screwed) is dark, too, and also works pretty well. So, is it generally preferable to work with bright text on a dark background? This is probably a basic question, but I have no sense of web aesthetics what so ever.

EDIT: zombie:
Well, I see your point but only to some degree... The entire site took less than half a second to load here (20 mbps) so even with a 5 mbit connection the delay should be below two seconds. Think you can wait that long?