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Shadow Corp :: Halo 2
http://shadow-corp.com

I like to make a small speech about my skins for reviews because the simple 1-liner "Review my board! "with a URL doesn't make me feel sincere about getting my message across.

You may remember my request for an old skin review back on here ( http://forums.invisionize.com/Shadow-Corp-2-development-completed-t38506.html - read for a bit of History ) and the feedback was great, thanks to those who took the time to go in deep with it.

Since the release of my last skin exclusively used for Shadow-Corp.com, I haven't had much skinning time since I was caught up in work and all. But that didn't bother me too much because I make my .psd files dynamic enough (sliced, diced, optimized and HTML'ed) that I can export multiple schemes from the same single file, all it takes is a few hours to be creative enough to manipulate it. One of the few accomplishments I've made that I was happy with.

The way I make my skins, I separate them by Generations. By Generations I mean something that's been redone at the core HTML level because the actual template design of the layout (.psd file) has been significantly altered. So if I made a SC-1.0 .psd skin file (not related to a version of Invisionboard) for my forums, Shadow Corp, I would make like 5 other schemes of that same SC-1.0 .psd file. If I made a SC-2.0 skin, I would do the same. Each Generation of skin shares the SAME Wrapper and SAME Template files of others in it's same Generation. So 1 change to the Skin Templates or Board Wrapper and all of the schemes in that same Generation are modified with the new HTML/CSS. That's what I did with my latest SC-2.0 skin, mainly as a test to see if my little experiment would work and it did quite well. It was like Plug-n-Play and it feels quite rewarding so I am happy about it, especially considering it's not just a basic generic color change, but with actual layout graphics.

I spend the past 2 hours slapping together a Halo 2 Theme skin based off the SC-2.0 .psd template I made earlier this year (Indigo colored one), when I was happy I just did a raw export in ImageReady. I installed a copy of the old SC-2.0 skin for my forums, just simply replaced the images and BOOM, instant cup-o-skin. Anyway there's a more detailed explanation about my skinning here: http://shadow-corp.com/index.php?pg=skins2

The .psd file took me near 6 months to get done in total (working on it off and on) finally paid off 6 more months later. It's just one of those things that you knew if you spent time and effort on it, that it would end up working for you later on in life.

Anyway now that you've got the lowdown, I'd appreciate any reviews, be it either negative or positive on the Halo 2 Scheme I just installed.

http://shadow-corp.com

Also if you want, you can test out the other skins by clicking [1] - [5] at the top left under the Skinilizer.

Log: demo
Pas: demo

Remember a couple of things, each one is a Generation and so far there is only Gen[1] and Gen[2] available. I already started a whole new .psd file for Gen[3], but at the same time making more Gen[2] skins. And if you login as demo, someone else may have selected a different skin to view and you would inherit that, so you may have to re-choose the skin you want to use when you visit.

Thanks!

This post has been edited by Mina: Aug 9 2004, 05:40 PM

Possibly the nicest skin I have ever seen.

1 million thumbs up!

WOW. Very original! AMAZING! You made me jeolous! Best Skin I have ever seen!

This post has been edited by akabugeyes: Aug 9 2004, 06:56 PM

Very original indeed .

Definately one of the best, if not the best skin, I've ever seen. Its totally unique and though that alone doesn't a skin make, I can't really fault it at all.

I'm not into Halo, but I don't care, your skin still really grabs me and pulls me out of my chair, I wish I could be constructively praising you, but by all measures it is perfect (though, that spam forum image is a bit out of line with the others).

And oh yes, its a bit heavy for us 56k-ers, though I for one, would willingly wait for it to load.

Those .psd files aren't public domain are they .

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!!!!

I love it, it looks amazing how long did that take you to do?

WELL DONE!!!

Looks good, can't say i've been a fan for the narrow width skins but this one is nice.

Looks awesome

I think that your forum icons are too big and the skin to narrow, but besides that it looks great

IMHO the header could use a "simplifier", its just too messy at the moment.

7.5/10

OMG, that is brilliant. I bit crowded, but you are too gobsmacked to notice. It must be an honnour to be a member of a forum that has that skin


/me faints (O.M.G.!!!)

Wow, it's absolutely amazing! But you've heard a thousand praises already so I'll move onto the small bit of criticism I have. Well, with all that stunning Photoshop work, the forum icons seem a little out of place. They're very large and some are pretty ugly. Besides that, navigation is a bit awkward... Unless I'm an idiot, it seems that the only way to get to the homepage is through the nav bar... I think it would make sense for some portion of the header to link back. And I'm assuming the image at the bottom that says "Top" is supposed to take you to the top... but it doesn't...

Anyway, this is without question the most amazing skin I have ever seen and the few complaints I have are very minor. Everything about it is outstanding.

This post has been edited by briansbar: Aug 11 2004, 06:15 AM

i changed it to the blue skin, i like the blue better

Thanks a lot peeps. I already know the navigation issues with the forums, but perhaps it's because it's so different, most people tend to get confused, or maybe it's so natural to me and the senior members that they got too used to it.

And you know what? I -still- forget to mark-up that "top" link. I feel stupid everytime it's brought up to attention and then realized, oops!

I just added a new Skin into Shadow Corp if you're interested, I added in the new Gen[2] Fallout skin based on the same template design. I detailed it a lot more than the Halo 2 one.

Any how, thanks for the crit's, the more I know, the more I can fix. Problem is that everyone on my board is so used to it, they can't find anything they deem wrong, that's why I need fresh pairs of eyes looking at it, like from here.

This post has been edited by Mina: Aug 10 2004, 09:37 PM