[Concept] Quarterly Community Magazine

[SirCmpwn]

Not to be rude or anything but I'm not liking the totally grey and uniform design. It's too dull and dark for a magazine.

Np, do your thing

Furthermore, I propose changing "Letter From the Editor" to simply "From the Editor". Furthermore, I think the "editors" bit should be changed to simply "staff' and be located at the bottom of the page and done in a much more subdued manner (smaller avatars and text).

I like this thought, except for the bottom of the page thing, I kind of like the PC Gamer style that is going on with this one.

In addition, I think "Letters to the Editor" should be renamed "The Community Speaks" and done in a very Nintendo Power Pulse-esque manner (Question, then answer below it in italics. Everything is in a slightly small font).

Hmmm, that kind of defies most magazine standards...

A) Table of contents should be right after the cover and before anything else.

B) Finally, I would also like to go with an NP-esque approach for Reviews, where a review would be something like this:

A) Fine
B) To be completely honest, the example you posted doesn't sit too well with me, I kind of like to see reviews where the author is totally honest about the whole thing, and speaks his opinion about the game/program.  Are you thinking a paragraph summary or an article?  I personally prefer the latter when I'm reading a magazine.

To be tactlessly honest, I would very much like to make the page designs myself. The other graphics people, SirCmpwn included, would be responsible for the cover and for creating any graphics I feel a particular page/article needs as my abilities to create diminish greatly outside basic text logos.

*sigh...*
That's fine.  I would have prefered some feedback about the design and to have made some changes from there.  I wasn't expecting my design to be the same for every article, no way no how, but I wanted a default to fall back on if we were pushed for time.

[SirCmpwn]

Here is the updated cover:

[DJ Omnimaga]

Personally, reviews shouldn't be too harsh, though. If you're gonna review a program an author spent lot of time on it and diss the entire game, it might be best to just not review it at all and pick either a program you like more or one that really blows. Otherwise, it might discourage their authors and we don't want that.

As for the design I kinda like the title page in overall, altough if you keep some gray in the pages, I think it would be best to have the background white and the rounded borders rectangle area blue-ish, but not too dark. Maybe blue-gray ish. But that's my opinion. For the title page, I would maybe add some 3D to the axe parser text or a shadow. You did a good job in overall, though.

EDIT: just saw updated cover: forget about the 3D effect lol, I kinda like it like this now. Maybe try with a shadow behind the text and logo, though? I wonder how it would look like?

Also I wonder if it would look cool if the background around the axe was more blue-ish?à

Just one thing: if you make pages more colored, don't overdo it either, like this:

[SirCmpwn]

Personally, reviews shouldn't be too harsh, though.

I agree in general, but I also think that if a program sucks, the author should know to improve it.  The review writer wouldn't spend the whole time dissing the article, but they shouldn't lie, and they shouldn't let you waste your time on a download you won't use.

As for the design I kinda like the title page in overall, altough if you keep some gray in the pages, I think it would be best to have the background white and the rounded borders rectangle area blue-ish, but not too dark. Maybe blue-gray ish. But that's my opinion. For the title page, I would maybe add some 3D to the axe parser text or a shadow. You did a good job in overall, though.

EDIT: just saw updated cover: forget about the 3D effect lol, I kinda like it like this now. Maybe try with a shadow, though? I wonder how it would look like?

Also I wonder if it would look cool if the background around the axe was more blue-ish?

I kinda like the design, too, but I want to wait for TsucazaZX's input, seeing as he is editor in chief.  I'll try out your design suggestions and see how they turn out, I like the idea.

*EDIT*
I originally had a much broader color scheme, but it looked kinda stupid so I simplified it a bit.  It used to have 3 different shades of blue, pluse 2 shades of green, there was red, white, black, grey and purple.  There was also yellow at one point.

[TsukasaZX]

Foremost, I'm sorry for coming off as a rude and perhaps pretentious. I just really want this to look nice and how I imagined it would look. I'll lighten up a bit and again, I apologize.

As for the "From the Editor" page, I want the more subdued look because quite frankly I don't like that bit sticking out so much. I don't want to put much emphasis on the editors and staff of the magazine because as far as I'm concerned we aren't as important as the actual content.

As for the "Community Speaks" bit, so what if it defies standards? Since when does anything have to follow a standard of any kind? It's more fun to break the mold and get creative. That's what really catches the readers' eyes.

As for the reviews, the reviews don't need to be super intensive. An overall score, some major pros and cons, and a paragraph or two about the game itself and how the reviewer feels about it is sufficient.

As for your design, I think it should be lighter and less "boxed in".


Honestly, I think I should just nix this idea right here and now. I obviously don't work well enough with anybody to make this work smoothly so I should just save everybody the hassle of dealing with my totalitarian grip

[DJ Omnimaga]

Personally, reviews shouldn't be too harsh, though.

I agree in general, but I also think that if a program sucks, the author should know to improve it.  The review writer wouldn't spend the whole time dissing the article, but they shouldn't lie, and they shouldn't let you waste your time on a download you won't use.

As for the design I kinda like the title page in overall, altough if you keep some gray in the pages, I think it would be best to have the background white and the rounded borders rectangle area blue-ish, but not too dark. Maybe blue-gray ish. But that's my opinion. For the title page, I would maybe add some 3D to the axe parser text or a shadow. You did a good job in overall, though.

EDIT: just saw updated cover: forget about the 3D effect lol, I kinda like it like this now. Maybe try with a shadow, though? I wonder how it would look like?

Also I wonder if it would look cool if the background around the axe was more blue-ish?

I kinda like the design, too, but I want to wait for TsucazaZX's input, seeing as he is editor in chief.  I'll try out your design suggestions and see how they turn out, I like the idea.

*EDIT*
I originally had a much broader color scheme, but it looked kinda stupid so I simplified it a bit.  It used to have 3 different shades of blue, pluse 2 shades of green, there was red, white, black, grey and purple.  There was also yellow at one point.

Yeah that's what I mean. Basically, if for example, you take Gemini 3D and say this game is worth nothing, the author wasted his time on it because the graphics are blocky and the game takes way too much memory, I think it's unfair considering the amount of work the author spent on it. Automatically, when a program makes ticalc front page, it is unfair to diss a program like this. A review should tell that the program needs to be split into multiple programs or made a Flash APP so it's easier to play under 24 KB of RAM and that graphics should maybe be less pixelated, like a lower framerate but higher res mode, or full screen mode. We have to stay realistic, too, based on the programming language and platform used to make the game.

Basically the reviewer shouldn't comment on a program in a way that would get him banned from Omnimaga if he did the same thing on the forums.

And yeah I think Tsukasa will prbly have the last word on this, since he's the founder of this project (which I think is a very good initiative, especially that the french TI community alerady had this for months now)

[SirCmpwn]

Honestly, I think I should just nix this idea right here and now. I obviously don't work well enough with anybody to make this work smoothly so I should just save everybody the hassle of dealing with my totalitarian grip

Woah cowboy - don't get discouraged too easily you are doing just fine
Why don't you send me an email with an idea of what you are looking for, and I can try to mock up something that reflects what's in your head?  Also, maybe we can follow that model for the smaller and less exciting reviews, so to speak, but when I personally read an article about something the community is excited about I like for it to be in-depth and to cover as much as possible.  We don't want the readers to look at the mag, and have to go hopping around the internet for more info.  We should do the hopping for them.  Thoughts?

[DJ Omnimaga]

Please don't stop the project , I think it is a good initiative you had here in the first post. I guess people just wanted to provide suggestions. You might want to state which part you'll be in charge of designing and what design style you would like. It's certain certain people will not like the chosen design, though, but that's inevitable since everyone has different tastes. Plus, this will be the first magazine, so eventually it can be improved. See how many times Omnimaga switched designs

[TsukasaZX]

Hey, I'm just trying to limit the collateral damage here ^^;
I am neither liable nor responsible for any damages received by my cheese-grater personality. Work with me at your own risk, and the risk of going insane.

Anywho, for things such as articles and interviews, they should be as in-depth as possible; however, for reviews of the quarter's top games and whatnot, they don't need to be super in-depth because they should only go as far as to interest or dis-interest the reader to either get them to download the game and see for themselves or not bother with it if it might be a slight waste of their time.

Alternatively, we can have "major reviews" and "minor reviews". Basically, a major review would be an in-depth review of a very very popular recent game and can be all that in depth (maybe even a walkthrough if applicable?). The minor reviews would be the little blurb ones to cover the not-as-hot games.

Thoughts?

Anywho, I'm gonna try my hand at some design ideas and post 'em and then we can collaborate to make one super ultra awesome issue design

Finally, as for your newer cover. The footer text should be white in my opinion and I still think "Axe Parser" needs more flair and maybe nudged up and right a little. Other than that, it's still epic win beyond epic win!

[DJ Omnimaga]

In reviews, I kinda like that the reviewer describes a bit what is the game about and stuff, it puts the person into it more and it's easier for the person to understand why some points are stated if he didn't check the description of the game on ticalc or if the game description was unclear or misleading.

[SirCmpwn]

I will apply those changes to the cover tomorrow.  You should start thinking about what you want the design to be, you name it, I'll make it happen.  I don't, however, think we should have walkthroughs.

[TsukasaZX]

@DJ I agree, game descriptions are a good idea

@SirCmpwn Okay, ix'nay on the alkthroughs'way. But definitely I think super major games (such as E:SoR whenever that comes out) should get a two maybe 3 page spread for their review while lesser top/major games get the smaller reviews. We could fit the smaller reviews 2 to a page so they can be fairly verbose but still 'small'.

Furthermore, we don't necessarily have to have a major review each issue if there isn't anything worthy of one.

[DJ Omnimaga]

I don't think we should have walkthroughs either, because Omnimaga alerady have a section for walkthroughs now (altough it's invisible to guests). Maybe you could have small tips and tricks for some games, though, but not necessarly entire walkthroughs and secrets.

[SirCmpwn]

I agree about the structure of reviews, we should definately have a couple big ones and several little ones.  I also agree with DJ Omnimaga about the tips and tricks.

[TsukasaZX]

A'ight, that's settled then. The big reviews can have some tips and tricks if there are any.

However, just to give a counterpoint, while Omni does have walkthroughs, it is pretty much the only site to and they are only accessible to logged in users. That means people who can't/won't/don't sign up to Omni won't ever have access to those guides. That is why maybe at least on the occasion a really hot game (or perhaps for a really good Oldie but Goody) should have a walkthrough in the mag. However, for now, that idea can just sit in the "I'm too stubborn to truly throw it away but at least it's out of sight for now" box.