Earth Central Free's Redisign Subject Closed!

[Don. Edwards]

Hey Everyone,
I could use some input. I am in the proccess of creating the new images for Earth Central Free and could use some input. Now that I have dropped the silver background I am not sure that the bevels around the globes is needed. So I will let you decide which looks better.

#1



#2



I have other ideas but havent implemented them yet.
So give me your prefference.

BTW the sites background is black so this is what they will look like on it.

Don.

[ElChristou]

For me the second is fine...

[Cham]

IMO, the second is MUCH better .

[Dollan]

Yup, I like the second one as well.

Don, if I can ask (you've probably said it somewhere and I missed it), what will be available on your free site?

And if some of the items previously placed on your old Earth Central are now going to be used for commercial endeavors, or at least will require a fee, do you wish copies that might have already been downloaded deleted? I have about everything you've made, though I will say I'd hate to lose the ice age Earth texture!

...John...

[Don. Edwards]

John,
No need to worry. Everything that has been released free up to this time remains free. The content that is on the present Earth Central included.
Textures that will be going to be available through the Pro site will all be in lossless format of 16k and up unless someone requests lower resolution material.
I haven't quite decided what I am going to do with my Earth 32k texture as of yet. It will definitely be going to the pro site, but I may release a lossy DDS version for the Celestia community that has supported me so well. Without all of you, my venture into the Pro Graphics field would not have been possible. It was everyone?€™s support and input that got me where I am today when it comes to graphic arts. Those of you who have given me pointer along the way, know who you are and, I thank you.

Here is a third version. This one has a slight inner blue glow to it. I think I like it the best.



Let me know what you think.

Don.

[Don. Edwards]

I just finished Earth Central Free's greeting page. You can have a look at the direction the site is going by clicking this link.
http://www.shatters.net/~impulse/Earth_Central/Earth_Central.html

I am using this page to test a few new graphics. If you mouse over the globe it will illuminate with a soft blue glow. I also made a new enter button. Believe it or not this one is also based on a button design from Microsoft's Longhorn project just as the last one was.

Any feedback is always welcome and needed.

Don.

[John Van Vliet]

hi don i just took a lok at the site ,not bad
but i like the earth without the disk around it . To me it looks as if the earth is in or on a dinner plate . Also how about a litle bit of color in the text ,gray
on black , to me is ? somthing? to low contrast maby ?
but that is my taste in graphics

[Dollan]

I tend to agree. I think the Earths would look much better without the silver plate effect.

And thanks for that information, Don!

I hope to eventually see some of your other works on the site too, such as Orpheus, your HD-system (I can never remember the number), etc. Regardless, the Eartht extures that you've provided are, as always, absolutely remarkable.

...John...

[Don. Edwards]

John,
Orpheus lives! I have recently put all the textures together for Frank to use and sent them to him Friday, but I haven't heard back from him yet. He must have gone off this weekend so he hasn't checked his in box. If he gives the OK than Orpheus will be available very shortly. I would consider it a beta texture as I really want to touch up a few things that after a year I feel could use fixing. I want to put real volcano images in place of my hand drawn ones. Another thing is if Frank wants and Orpheus with water on its surface or a bone dry world. If he goes with the dry version than I will release the version I have now a forked project.
As for the HD 28185 add-on. I am putting all textures together in a fresh install of the latest version of Celestia to make sure everything works right. As soon as I am sure nothing is broken or missing than the add-on will be released. It is going to be in several parts that I will release over time. This way I can replace textures as needed and the user can decide to update the textures or keep what they have. That way I can stop pushing back the release date. I am about a week behind right now. I was hoping to have it ready for the anniversary of the first version that I released almost 3 years ago. I just checked the creation date for the old version and it was dated June 27, 2002. I think I should be able to match that or at least hit July 1, 2005.
Cross your fingers.

Don

[Don. Edwards]

John,
Orpheus lives! I have recently put all the textures together for Frank to use and sent them to him Friday, but I haven't heard back from him yet. He must have gone off this weekend so he hasn't checked his in box. If he gives the OK than Orpheus will be available very shortly. I would consider it a beta texture as I really want to touch up a few things that after a year I feel could use fixing. I want to put real volcano images in place of my hand drawn ones. Another thing is if Frank wants and Orpheus with water on its surface or a bone dry world. If he goes with the dry version than I will release the version I have now a forked project.
As for the HD 28185 add-on. I am putting all textures together in a fresh install of the latest version of Celestia to make sure everything works right. As soon as I am sure nothing is broken or missing than the add-on will be released. It is going to be in several parts that I will release over time. This way I can replace textures as needed and the user can decide to update the textures or keep what they have. That way I can stop pushing back the release date. I am about a week behind right now. I was hoping to have it ready for the anniversary of the first version that I released almost 3 years ago. I just checked the creation date for the old version and it was dated June 27, 2002. I think I should be able to match that or at least hit July 1, 2005.
Cross your fingers.

As for the images on the site. I have chosen to dump the beveled circle around the globes. I just haven't had the chance to remake all the images the main site yet. It was allot easier using the greeting page as a test than the whole of Earth Central. But I have started to change things there as well.
Now for John Van Vliet's comments on the text color. I thought about going back to the pale blue I used to use. But really the only color I want on the site are the globe images and the download buttons when they are moused over, a feature that will be similar to the enter button on the greeting page. I want the texture globes to stand out and if they are the only thing with color then they will pop. There is always a method to my madness. Trust me it will look good and probably even better when ported into a flash based web site.

Don

[Dollan]

Hey Don...

It's good to hear that Orpheus still has some developmental life to it! In whatever form it comes out as, I certainly can't wait to play with it! I don't know why, but it has always absolutely fascinated me. Maybe because the thought that there was an entire other planet in our system that went into the making of the Earth-Moon system is so compelling.

And consider my fingers crossed for the HD 28185 system! It is probably going to be one of those add-ons that will go in my high quality installation of Celestia, where I also have Runar's items.

Thanks for the information, Don, I'll be sitting on the edge of my seat waiting!

...John...

[Tech Sgt. Chen]

Actually Don, I'm surprised to discover that you're not already a professional graphics artist. I've become partial to your artwork and meticulous attention to detail. Everything you've made so far is running on my version of Celestia and if it's not, thats because it didn't come in a larger size. Your work suggests, to me anyway, that you're far above the talented catagory! Good luck going Pro!
P.S. You're Website looks fine to me, just the way it is.

[fsgregs]

Don, I did just get back from a weekend trip. Sorry for any delay.

I am PMing you about Orpheus now.

Frank