Opu User Icons - Next Gen

[dm-horus]

From now on this will be my main thread on the OPU User Icons. Since the set referenced in the other thread has been lost and Ive started over, I think it is more or less moot but still serves as a "version history."

Ive spent some time thinking up ways to make this icon set since I didnt really decide til halfway through on the previous attempt. This forced me to go back and do revisions to every icon many times over. Hopefully this thread will outline my ideas and help make this go smoother. What Lev suggests the purpose for these icons to be will be a large part of the forums so Im not going to take the job lightly. Read on for a breakdown of my plans for the icons.

View the icon list here. This is the master list from which I am building the icons. Pass your suggestions by the team there.


Methodology
The format Ive selected for the icons is much like the original. An underlay consisting of a colored sphere (or circle depending upon the viewed scale) which denotes rank. On top of this is the icon layer where the actual icon representitive is displayed. The icon on this layer will be grayscale so as to make identification easy and simple. This new icon set will have 2 versions. The hi-res version will be derived from "master" templates each 1200x1200 pixels. Icons will be made from these master files by scaling them down to 32x32 pixels and using bicubic sampling. The result is a fairly hi-res icon for its size. The underlay is merely the icing for the icon on top which describes the icon meaning. While subtle, rank can be inferred by varying the underlayer.

The second icon set will be lo-res. These will be more or less pixel icons with little (if any) color variation and no gradients. The result is crisp, sharp, pixellated icons which look more like dingbats. These may be useful in places where the hi-res icons would either take up too much space or simply not fit in with the rest of the page, like in a text box. These icons will not be derived from the hi-res master files, but will instead be made completely independant of the other icon set.

Ranks
I decided to add a rank system to the icons to help OPU indicate levels for the badges given. Instead of having "OP2 Gamer", "OP2 Guru", "Newbie", "Intermediate", "Advanced", the background of the icon will vary in color depending upon rank. The ranking system is as follows:

    +Newbie - White
New users and those just diving into a subject.

    +Regular - Blue
Users who have been around long enough to know the ins and outs and have gained experience in a subject or gained presteige within the community.

    +Pro - Green
Those who are vital to community projects and have been with OPU long enough to be considered a veteran. High level rank. For example, new IRC Ops would get the "IRC Op" badge with the green background.

    +Guru - Red
This rank is reserved for those who have done the most to advance the community. For example, IRC Ops who have been with the comm for an extended period would gain the "IRC Op" badge with the red background. Project leaders get this rank.

    +Special - Gold
This rank is reserved for site admins, permanent members, forum admins and main contributors. Nobody but admins and founders get this rank. There will be several "general use" badges made for this rank to fit future additions.

I will post the icons for community review in the file forum in a new thread when complete, but this will remain the development thread.

Please review this breakdown and let me know if anything should be changed, thrown out or added. The icons are still all in .psd format for now, so I can make changes very quickly. Send in those suggestions. Make suggestions for new icons, badges and ranks also!

Thanks!

[BlackBox]

The small icons should probably be around 16x16 or so, those would go in the mini profile on the left of the post. The bigger icons could be reserved for the full profile.

The categories sound pretty good. I think we should have specific icons for certain things though. (Those we could probably do ourselves in some cases. As an example, someone doing a mod might get an icon with the logo of the mod in it).

All the icons will have alternate text so you can point to it and find out exactly what it means if you're unsure.

I could replace the normal 'user ranking' system with the icons. We'd really have to see how they turn out first.

BTW: I can't really say this is exclusively my project or Lev's project, we came up with the idea as a team. Also, it's for the community, so I think it's important that the people who would have the icons get to have a say in how they look, rather than it just be a "op2hacker thing" or a "Lev thing" or even a "team thing." It's for everyone.

[Leviathan]

Sounding very good, and i like it and it sounds likes its making it simplier. Eg you dont have to have a diff pic for each op2 skill level, just one (prob the op2 ico) with diff color background for rank.

So you could have the mapper ico with diff color background's to show experience with the mapper. People who have just made one map would have the white with maper ico badge.

Also we will want higher res versions of the pics i think, 32x32, 48x48 and 64x64 possibly max.

Great

[CK9]

damn, horus, you're starting to make the rest of us look bad

[OP2Patriot]

+Special - Gold
This rank is reserved for site admins, permanent members, forum admins and main contributors. Nobody but admins and founders get this rank. There will be several "general use" badges made for this rank to fit future additions.

I was the third member to join here other than xfir and Arklon, and I was the first admin to join xfir's team. I have also made some contributions in the past. Do I get that rank?

[Leviathan]

We could have another badge for old admin or somthing of that sort.

[Betaray]

what about ex gm's lol

[Leviathan]

This thread is for the icon/badge designs etc, post in the other thread plz.

[OP2Patriot]

We can't have too many categories. If we want to have a perfectly fitting category for every one or two people ... *sigh*. I find dm-horus's categories quite sufficient.

All I was asking is if anyone else thought that I ought to be in the rank. I know I am not too active, but I've written novellas, pioneered any efforts within this community on memory editting, and have been around and in influential positions in this community in the past. I was the one who actually convinced Killer to resign after the last straw. I am arguably a founding member of this forum body itself, being third to join and was a former administrator here, and at Killer's forum.

[dm-horus]

OP2Patriot: I think issuing icons would be up to the admins. I think the badges should be given but not revoked as if it were a privilege unless you disappeared for a year or the purpose of the icon no longer applied (if you dropped a community project you would no longer be a project leader, for example). Maybe this could be outlined and posted in the wiki later?

I am designing a number of custom, single-use icons that are only suitable for temporary status like a returning member or admin for example. I will also make "joke" icons for various things like "Lag Magnet", "WTF", "Thor Fodder", "Over Achiever", etc... I will need your input on creating the joke icons, so post those in this thread too.

The icons are highly simplified; instead of the multiple layers used to define a purpose, I am using a single, simple element layer. This helps with appearance as the icon is scaled down to smaller resolutions.

-----------------------------------------------------

Im going to make the ENTIRE icon set in multiple formats. Im going to release the underlay rank files (the element without the actual icon, eg blank) as well so that people who are willing and able can add new icons to the list later. I will release them in the following formats:

.psd
.bmp
.jpg
.gif
.png

All of these filetypes will be released in the following sizes:

16x16
32x32
48x48
64x64

That comes to a total of 20 versions for a total of 200 original source files. Keep in mind, this number applies only to the blank icons. (5 ranks, 5 filetypes, 4 resolutions, 2 versions [hi-res, lo-res]).

To keep the files easy to retreive I will release them in a main directory with nested directories beneath containing all appropriate files, one dir per icon version (2), filetype (5), resolution (4), rank (5). While in total this is a large amount, I think this will make icon modding very simple and straighforward down the road. The total filesize of the entire directory should only be about 3MB.

Releasing the source .psd's would help anyone who wants to develop new icons down the road since having them would preserve transparencies, layer blending, etc. Trying to rework existing icons would be insanely difficult as cutting out the old element and adding the new one would destroy the icon quality.

[Leviathan]

Sounding great

[dm-horus]

Just released the OPU Badge Demo here. Take a look and make sure to leave a comment and post your ideas!!! Keep in mind, I am only displaying a small demo release. I rest will be yours to enjoy at reunion.

[BlackBox]

It all sounds very nice!

And yeah, this thread isn't to suggest "who should have the icons".. that will be decided after we actually have the system in place.

[Leviathan]

How they going, will you have em done by reunion ?

[lordly_dragon]

i want something about music and sfx  :lol:  

[dm-horus]

those were among the first i made, so yur set.

[lordly_dragon]

cool

[dm-horus]

I will release the OPU Badges tomorrow night. They have been complete for more than a week now, but are not arranged or packaged sufficiently for use. The initial release will be substantially smaller than my projections simply for the sake of time in an effort to get the necessary files to our coders ASAP to expedite the completion of the forum mod.

The full file set will be uploaded by Monday and will include all working files and public demo files as well as hi-res demo images and source .psd's for other dev's to work with. The .psd files should be publicly available for anyone to modify, barring any disagreements with the admins. Keep in mind that just because the source files are free to use, its unlikely that anything you create will be incorporated. Quality it key!

[Leviathan]

Sounds good. Once again thanks for the work.

[dm-horus]

Update: There is a problem. The icons will not be released as planned. I am forced to push back the release date to an unknown date. Today when I came home, I noticed a smell. I went to my computer to see it not running as I had left it. I hit the power button to no avail. I looked closer to see discoloration at the back of it. I couldnt get it to power on, so I removed the housing. My power supply was not new. When I built my computer I noticed that the PSU was from another computer, as it had old dust in the exhaust. About 9 months ago, the fan died in it and I had to replace it with a spare. Knowing this, I assumed the problem was once again in the PSU. Nine months earlier, the computer would simply shut off when the power supply overheated but this time it didnt. It stayed on until the heat melted the solder which dripped thru the case and down the side of the mother board. To say the least, the PSU is gone. I have no spare and money is too tight to buy another right now. The problem may have damaged my motherboard and if so will set me back farther. I wont know until I get a new PSU and test it. The only copy of the badges is on that computer and I cannot access the HDD - I gave my testbed computer to a friend who apparently trashed it.

The timing of this couldnt have been worse as the icons are ready to go and I am currently working on a web project which I may not be able to complete on another computer. I am borrowing a laptop to write this and attempt to work on my web project so I will not be very easy to get ahold of until my computer is restored.

I apologise for the problems, everyone.