Beta testers needed!

[BasiliskWrangler]

Ha! You thought this was for Book II, didn't you?

Actually, we need a few of you to test out the new web site before we post it live to the general public- you know, click on things, try it out in different browsers, report anything that looks broken, etc.

Notice: there is still some content missing- we haven't moved everything over from the existing site. Also, a few graphics are just placeholders still so it's not the final look, but it is good enough to test. By the time we actually activate it for everyone else, it will be completed and we'll put up at least two new Book II screenies to go with it.

Just follow the link: http://basiliskgames.com/wordpress

...and don't forget to tell us what you think!

[BasiliskWrangler]

Hmm, on our Mac Book Pro there seems to be a dark background to the graphics on the front page - visible using both Firefox and Safari. Odd....anyone else seeing this?

[Iane]

Ha! You thought this was for Book II, didn't you?

Such a Tease checking it out now

[Iane]

Hmm, on our Mac Book Pro there seems to be a dark background to the graphics on the front page - visible using both Firefox and Safari. Odd....anyone else seeing this?

Site looks Great to me but do you have a Screen shot of what you mean - I see a black background but don't know if it's what you mean

[Kreador Freeaxe]

I did notice a typo in the pop-out description for The Catacombs. It says "old new" instead of "old news".

Otherwise, the new layout is very clean and nice. I'll follow a few links and see how that goes.

EDIT IN:

The Catacombs link seems to blow out of the layout. In my Firefox browser on my iMac, it shows a black background with barely readable white and blue (linked) text running without much formatting beyond line breaks.

All of the other pages look very clean and readable and attractive.

[IJBall]

One minor thing I noticed last night is that if you click on any of the Book I or Book II screenshots and pull them up on screen, and then click on the webbrowser's 'Back' button, you are taken back to the Home Page and *not* to the Book I or Book II page where you just were - if you then click on the browser's 'Forward' button from the Home Page, you are then advanced to either the Book I or Book II page you were just at (but clicking the Forward button again does not take you back to the screenshot!).

Like I said, it's minor, but it's weird.

I should note that pulling up any screenshot seems to put it in an 'album' with forward/back buttons on screen that allow you to 'flip' through all of the Book I or Book II screenshots in order.

I'm accessing it on a MacBook using Firefox. Same thing happens in Safari.

I didn't notice any other problem when poking around last night.

[Dragonlady]

One minor thing I noticed last night is that if you click on any of the Book I or Book II screenshots and pull them up on screen, and then click on the webbrowser's 'Back' button, you are taken back to the Home Page and *not* to the Book I or Book II page where you just were - if you then click on the browser's 'Forward' button from the Home Page, you are then advanced to either the Book I or Book II page you were just at (but clicking the Forward button again does not take you back to the screenshot!).

I noticed the same with Book I, but not book II pics. Back button got me to the Book Ii screen to get more sample pics.

I was using Mozilla & Mac G4, will check later & edit this when I use Firefox.

edit: Used Firefox this time. Better results. Don't like the black background on the edges. It's distracting, too much of it. Clicking the 'Forum' button got me back here..well, I mean the forum first page. Not sure if that was supposed to happen or not.

[AK_Marty]

I tried the new page using the latest edition of Firefox on Windows XP. All the buttons worked as they should. I do like the way it handles the preview shots, with arrows to switch between screen shots and clicking the image to close the preview. The only thing I would change is on the Book II page. The first paragraph with those certain letters in a different color, the letters are almost too dark to read.

All in all, a fine looking site. I just hope this does not prolong the wait for our much anticipated Book II.

Good work BW

edit: It seems our happy group does not use Internet Explorer.

[Painted Lady]

I must admit my heart gave a little lurch when I saw the words "Beta testers." Anyway, I swallowed my disappointment and successfully accessed the new web site (on my iMac running Firefox).

I think the new logo is good, although I want to look at the sword a few more times before I decide how I feel about it's being a part of the logo. If I remember correctly, weren't you talking about doing a Sci-Fi game in the near future? Would the sword fit in with that sort of game? Also, the B and K look nice pulled down, and the basilisk is terrific.

Under Book 1 - when I took the "Purchase" option I was re-directed back to the old web site.
Under Community Forums - that option also reverted to the old web site.

The Catacombs had a black background (as has already been noted) that made it hard to read.

I like the tabs on the left-hand side - that always simplifies navigation.

[BasiliskWrangler]

I think the new logo is good, although I want to look at the sword a few more times before I decide how I feel about it's being a part of the logo. If I remember correctly, weren't you talking about doing a Sci-Fi game in the near future? Would the sword fit in with that sort of game? Also, the B and K look nice pulled down, and the basilisk is terrific.

I don't consider the sword part of the overall Basilisk Games logo at all. It is kind of like a "logo ornament" and could be changed to something else in the future, or removed altogether. Since we will be focused on and promoting our fantasy RPGs for the next couple years, I figured it was appropriate for the time being. If it is too distracting, I'll axe it.

The first paragraph with those certain letters in a different color, the letters are almost too dark to read. All in all, a fine looking site. I just hope this does not prolong the wait for our much anticipated Book II.

I'll lighten the red a bit to make it easier to read. Also, no, this won't prolong Book II development. In fact, because our old website is so "clunky" when it comes to updating, this new website will actually require less of our time and thus more time will go towards developing.

The Catacombs link seems to blow out of the layout. In my Firefox browser on my iMac, it shows a black background with barely readable white and blue (linked) text running without much formatting beyond line breaks.

We'll get the catacomb page fixed up.

[Siemova]

Hmm, on our Mac Book Pro there seems to be a dark background to the graphics on the front page - visible using both Firefox and Safari. Odd....anyone else seeing this?

Yes, I see this in Firefox 3.5.2 on Windows as well. If you save graphics with embedded color profiles, recent versions of both Firefox and Safari will attempt to display them accordingly. To make sure all your colors match, you'll need to save every image in the same manner (either with or without a color profile - up to you).

It appears to me that page_bg.gif was saved without a profile, whereas the graphics overlaying it have one. You'll probably just want to re-save it to match. The header image looks much nicer with the color profile in Firefox than it does in IE without it.

Yeah, geeky stuff. Being a web developer, I have to know about these things. ^_^

[CrazyBernie]

One minor thing I noticed last night is that if you click on any of the Book I or Book II screenshots and pull them up on screen, and then click on the webbrowser's 'Back' button, you are taken back to the Home Page and *not* to the Book I or Book II page where you just were - if you then click on the browser's 'Forward' button from the Home Page, you are then advanced to either the Book I or Book II page you were just at (but clicking the Forward button again does not take you back to the screenshot!).

Like I said, it's minor, but it's weird.

I should note that pulling up any screenshot seems to put it in an 'album' with forward/back buttons on screen that allow you to 'flip' through all of the Book I or Book II screenshots in order.

I'm accessing it on a MacBook using Firefox. Same thing happens in Safari.

I didn't notice any other problem when poking around last night.

Click on the picture to close out the "album." You're still technically on the Book I/II page which is why clicking "back" takes you back to the homepage.

One cool thing about the choice of logo font is that it blends well with the Book I game title. You might want to consider matching up Book II's title as it looks more like the current logo.

I think the Sword looks pretty badass... and would be even cooler if it was animated to slide into the logo... a "sheathing" perhaps with some sparks flying and such.

[BasiliskWrangler]

Hmm, on our Mac Book Pro there seems to be a dark background to the graphics on the front page - visible using both Firefox and Safari. Odd....anyone else seeing this?

Yes, I see this in Firefox 3.5.2 on Windows as well. If you save graphics with embedded color profiles, recent versions of both Firefox and Safari will attempt to display them accordingly. To make sure all your colors match, you'll need to save every image in the same manner (either with or without a color profile - up to you).

It appears to me that page_bg.gif was saved without a profile, whereas the graphics overlaying it have one. You'll probably just want to re-save it to match. The header image looks much nicer with the color profile in Firefox than it does in IE without it.

Yeah, geeky stuff. Being a web developer, I have to know about these things. ^_^

Thanks Siemova! That appears to have been the problem.

[Randomizer]

Seems to be working for Safari version 1.3.2 .

Dial-up connections are a pain when you are waiting for graphic intensive pages to load.

[BasiliskWrangler]

Dial-up connections are a pain when you are waiting for graphic intensive pages to load.

Yes, some of the graphics are a bit large (in size) so there are optimizations to be made. Not only do we need to keep it lean for dial-up users, but it will cut down on bandwidth costs.

Thanks for your help everyone, and keep checking in on the new site every couple of days as we optimize, fix, and add to it. We'll try to go live with it late next week, which as I said will include 2 new Book II screenshots.