Clan Akelara Updates

[StarFyre]

Hah, wut?

In my infinite free time (aka: when I'm taking a break from coding to try and keep myself sane), I've been (slowly) modifying some things on the Akelara main site. A lot of the stuff is just pure aesthetic - for example, I've changed some of the CSS files in order to make the tables scattered ALL OVER much more fluid and much less annoying in form (stupid hard-coded table dimensions).

Some of the stuff, though, is more along the lines of cleaning up descriptions, prose, etc. Example:

Myrsilkain eggs are... much like any other eggs of dragons, in all truth, except they have a few interesting properties. When laid, the eggs tend to be small, especially considering how very large the adults are. Not only thay, but they're incredibly soft and pliable for a length of time. During this time, the females tend to be the broodiest, and can become rather violent if anyone dares to get near their precious eggs. In the normal way of things, the eggs slowly absorb the magic in the air about them, the pliable shells stretching and slowly hardening as the dragon within grows.

Stunts usually occur when the shells harden too quickly for some reason, trapping the developing dragon within a smaller space than usual. Not all stunts survive, though, with the survival rate being perhaps one in ten at best.

Becomes:

Like many other dragon eggs, Myrsilkain eggs, near hatching, are hard-shelled oblongs of varying mottled colors, often ranging from a creamy yellow to a brick red. Unlike other dragon eggs, though, Myrsilkain eggs are very small when laid, approximately the size of a full grown housecat, and the shells are soft and pliable to the touch (though the shells themselves are well over two inches thick at every point). It is during this time that the females tend to be broodiest, and it is not uncommon for the mother to become very threatening, or even violent, if anyone dares to get near their precious eggs. As time goes on, the eggs slowly absorb the magic in the area around them, and the pliable shells stretch and slowly harden as the dragon within grows. As the shells stretch, the thickness is reduced, until at the end the shell is usually no thicker than a quarter inch at any point.

Stunts usually occur when the shells harden too quickly for some reason, trapping the developing dragon within a smaller space than usual. Very few stunts survive, and those that do often have to be broken free from their shells. Even of those who are broken free, stunts often tend to be of weaker constitutions.

At the very least, I believe that the new description has more to do with solid facts, and less with generalities. Personally, I see the new version as "cleaner", though whether you agree or not I don't know.

I think much of the Books are going to get revisions along those lines. So, I will ask this! Are there any specific paragraphs, anywhere on the Clan site, that seem too vague, too confusing, or that you'd just like more details?

Also! Thanksgiving at my parents granted an interesting boon, in the form of ancient information on the Myrsilk that I don't even remember drawing out. More specifically, this: (comments in [] are now-me commenting on past-me, boldings added for emphasis)

Six basic elements: Water/Wind/Fire/Earth/Shadow/Light. These could be considered "pure Myrsilk" -- from these, all others arose as muts[sic: mutations, I'm assuming] on the purity of the six.
Water-->Lightning(Storm) / Ice
Wind --> Wylder / Illusion
Fire --> Sun / Blood
Earth --> Metal / Wood
Shadow --> Spirit / Void
Light --> Moon / Dream

Lightning(Storm): grey, lightning streaked, hyper, lightning powers
Ice: ice blue, cold, pale, emotionally frigid, ice powers
Wylder: deep violet, tricksy, footloose, fifth element - aether "that which is all"
Illusion: light violet, deceivers, hunters, illusion powers
Sun: electric blue-white, vibrant, hot, powerful, sun/heat powers ["Blue-white?!" I hear you cry? And I quote, from previous in this sheaf of papers: "Tiny world, low gravity, low in heavy-metals, circling a blue-white star." Thus was the origin of the Myrsilk. Also, no idea where the Sun element vanished to]
Blood: blood red, soft, silky, loyal, able to manipulate blood in the veins of themselves and others [Yep, another element that just vanished between concept and creation]
Metal: metal colors, stoic, stable, manipulation of metal in all its form
Wood: wood grain, tree-huggers, herbalists, power of plants
Spirit: white (pale colors? albino Void?), friendly, trustworthy, spirit summoners
Void: black, loners, distrustful, nocturnal, spirit summoners (evil spirits? cliche...)
Moon: silver-orange-black (Harvest Moon-esque), mysterious, motherly/fatherly, wild, power of transformation self/others [And yet another that just vanished. No, I'm not sure why I had the Sun element as the proper color, and the Moon element just became the Harvest Moon]
Dream: pinky/purple, dreamer, fortuneteller/prophet, distant, dream/fortuneteller powers

Along with some very bare-bones history of the Myrsilk as a race. The history I'm in the process of fleshing out and putting up in, one sentence at a time as I have time.

So, what do the rest of you think? Should I "revert" back to this older elemental style? (Not that much would change - I'd just reorganize the element pages in the Books and add the five missing elements back in.)

Anyway, those are my two questions for you: Which parts of the old site are confusing? And: Which elemental style should I keep, the old or the current?

[Dray]

I remember trying to navigate the Winter's Dark Heart and having trouble finding certain pages from other pages -- having the links either on all the pages, or a link back to a table of contents so we can find participants vs hatchings vs pickup pages would be really great!

I like the idea of adding in the 'new' elements. :3 I'm a sucker for 'Blood'... XD

The re-write looks really good. I think things like that will really benefit the site.

I'm imagining massive dragons pooting out cat-sized eggs and going "D: Wait, what was that?! I thought I just had to lady-fluff!" No wonder their egg shells are so thick. XD

[JKatkina]

Woo, new (old! XD) elements! You could either revert, or simply include new ones with no explanation -- I'm a fan of breed-systems not being totally perfect, a bit of 'messiness' can add a bit of realism. Or you could present the two different systems as essentially two different ways of presenting the same information. I don't know? Is there too much conflict between them for that?

Also, keen info revamp! I think it is clearer this way, and it seems more... for lack of better word, professional. *thumbs-up* When I have some free time, I'll poke around the Akelara site, see if I find anything confusing.

[Dray]

You could also have the elements phase in, like new discoveries? It's a tried and classic method for bored adoptable-site owners! :D

[StarFyre]

Dray: Eyarg, the WDH... c.c;; So, uhm... I can only say that those pages were done years ago and never looked at again? I'll get that stuff fixed, and actually put in the proper place.

As for the eggs >.> Historically, the small size is a result of a survival mechanism -- so much easier to hide tiny things in small nooks, than to try to defend properly sized eggs. Originally (before sapience and massive size came about), the Myrsilk had predators they called the baishu, that loved eggs, young, and anything else they could get their claws into. When they hunted their hunters to extinction (Heh... civilized appearance or not, this race purposely killed off several other races on their homeworld), they suddenly had less competition and more resources, and so began to grow bigger... and while their physical size grew at one rate, the size of the eggs didn't really keep up as well. So.. the adults are about 6-7 times the size of their ancestors, but the eggs are only 2-3 times the size of their ancestors' eggs. Causes some baaaad difficulties at times, it does. Especially the stress it puts on the growing hatchling.

JKat: Really, there's not much difference, except the five "lost" elements and the vanished belief in the six "pure" elements from which all others derive. It kinda amuses me that Wind and Fire lost both their mutations, while Light lost one, and the rest didn't lose a thing. And really, you could think about it as such: The subset of Myrsilk that exist in Clan Akelara have lost those specific mutations from their genes (or never had them), thus why none of those five types have been born. And a simple cultural shift can remove a belief in "pure/dilute". I think Myrsilkain society that focused on the six "pure" elements would have a more stratified society than what I currently have set up. Theoretically, all you need to do to find those five elements again is to find Myrsilkains that carry for them, then breed the poor things together until you get what ya want =P



Oh, something I forgot to mention before: I am also working on both size charts and growth charts for all listed races (and those races not listed yet). Also, symbol 'cheat sheets' will come into existence for the Myrsilk (showing you all the little details you couldn't see on my poor sorry art)

Expect the library to be further expanded with:

• - Alaiskya history and lists (with stats and relevant history snippets) of known demigods/gods.
  - Myrsilk history (including recent history, with a completed Kankaemetsurihen page).
  - Alevaharin history.
  - Vayamir information (from start to finish - including history and relevant details on how the Vayamir interact with the OTHER two races that I never completed).
  - Werewolf information (as with the Vayamir, including a proper name and image).
  - Gargoyle information (as with the Vayamir, including a proper name and image).
  - Aiji Kamui information (from start to finish).
  - A general Flitters section (including information on the Chanis and the Padiren).
  - The unnamed "Mischevious" race will get a name and details.
  - The gemstone dragons that I need to friggin save and post (I'd lost the image a couple of times due to photoshop crashing, so got rather discouraged.) will get a race name and proper details.
  - The poor forgotten Loekairii will get an information section, which will include colors, rune-lists, and some bits of history -- the purebloods may never come out (because Mystic and I were doing that together, though I suppose I could edit the female template I had done to add the sexual dimorphism attributes in for the males), but the information might as well be there

Phew, I think that's all the Library changes. As you can see, even ignoring the revamp of all the rest of the pages, the Library will double or triple in size. And while I know most people aren't all that interested in where races came from =P I am, so it's something amusing for me to do.

Other than that:

• - The flitters section will reopen, complete with Padiren, new Chanis images, and a proper place for the Gears
  - THERE WILL BE MAPS... I cannot stress that enough. Of both the world (well, the part near Akelara, at least) AND Akelara proper AND Koshi Keidai
  - Later, there will even be, GASP, something REAL in Koshi Keidai, besides the random air and scattered code that's sitting on that section right now.

Hoy. I think that's it...

[Dray]

Sounds like a lot of work that you've got laid out before you! XD Best of luck with it!
And... I dunno, having all of this info can be inspiring. I think I latched onto JKat's Avengaea because she had maps and lots of nifty info about her critters... so it's good to at least have it ready to read for those who get excited!

[StarFyre]

Heh, yeah, this'll all happen slowly, over an extended length of time. As I get sections finished, they'll be uploaded and noted here. Easiest, of course, will be the things that are just revisions of current pages (so much easier than making things out of whole-cloth).

[StarFyre]

Well, I thought I'd ask this now, before I get too far into redoing the site.

I've noticed recently that a lot of people here are going to a more frames-oriented page style. Frames and me tend to get along okay (though with a bit of mistrust due to my initial introduction to coding them two years ago)... would it be preferred if I changed things to be all frames-ified?

[Yakima]

I only like frames because If I change something in the content bar I don't have to change EVERY single page. LOL But I've always used frames so...

I just wish a drop down menu would appear OVER frames. That would have made my plan for LSI perfect. XD

Just my two cents.

[Shard]

I like frames. I don't like "iframe" style with the unchangable sized windows. But normal, fill the page if you can frames... I am all for those.

[StarFyre]

AHA -- Shard, you hit the nail on the head. My first introduction to coding frames was the stupid inflexible variants, it all its forms. I struck up an instant hatred for frames, and only grudgingly took a look at them later, when a client wanted frames...

And huh! Imagine that! They can be made bendy? Well, I suppose I'll work with these bendy frames... =P

Yakima: =P That's what "Find -> Replace all" is for. Then again, I use Textpad, which is a text editor with a workspace that can open any number of text files at once in one window.

[delyar]

As someone on a teeny tiny screen, I am totally guilty of the small iframe syndrome. :P Frames can be made bendy in that you use "*" as the height/width and it stands for "whatever is left". So you can do "200,*" for width of your frames and you get one bar that's 200 and the other takes up the rest. :)

[Yakima]

Yakima: =P That's what "Find -> Replace all" is for. Then again, I use Textpad, which is a text editor with a workspace that can open any number of text files at once in one window.

XD Yeah... I also just like the style and look...The menu doesn't move when i scroll down on the content page so I don't have to go all the way back up to find a new link. XD

[JKatkina]

Maaan, I love iframes, but only because they can be stuck in a layout that otherwise doesn't look like it has frames in it.

Of course, then some browsers right fuck that idea up when they render iframes weirdly. :| Beveled edge my ass.

[Dray]

Beveled edges are like the internet's equivalent to varnished wood paneling outside of or inside of cars. XD "DEAR GOD, why would you WANT that?!"

[StarFyre]

I present to you a frames-less update!

http://www.silveredmagic.com/test/index2.html

Ch'all think?

The site will gain a colorshift back to deeper blues, different backgrounds, et so on. But for now, ch'all think?

[JKatkina]

Keen. :3 I actually kinda like the framey layout. I think the solid background behind the text was a good choice.

The one thing that I think could help the site really shine is a change of header. Now, I'm partial to smaller headers (outside of splash pages, but splash pages at the index of a site seem to have gone out of style!) because they eat up less space that could be used for the layout. But more than that, I think a header in a flat color as a transparent .gif or .png rather than a gradient-on-a-gradient would fit much better with the look of the website itself, especially with the shiny new frame. :) Mayy-be, if you can manage it in Photoshop or such, you could try out a bevelled edge around the text like the ones you have around the frames -- I mean, it might not work, but it might be worth a try. XD;

[StarFyre]

All with CSS baby *shashays*

The intention I'm going for in the revamp is a more sleek look, so a changed header (oh holdovers from four to five revisions ago..), different background, color change, etc. The colors are probably going to be pulled (generally) from that header -- a more blue-blue than what's there as page colors currently, with the lighter bevel being a silvery-blue and the darker bevel being a blue closer to the dark blue on the gradient background of the old header.

I have a scheme slowly forming in my head, just need to sleep on it a bit.

[Dray]

I agree with JKat about changing the header -- though picking colours from it sounds good! The current header is bad design because it is difficult to read. The most noticeable thing that makes it difficult to read is the gradient-on-gradient, as it plays tricks with the eyes. The second thing is the italic font, as italics are generally slightly more difficult to read than normal fonts (hence why they're often only used for emphasis). The third thing is that the font is quite fancy... while it's definitely not too bad, either shrinking it down or using that font for emphasis of capitals (blegh, not the best choice XD) or just going with a simpler font will make the header much more clear to read.

If you're going to have a beveled edge around the content boxes (I want to say 'frames' but I'll avoid that! XD) then you should include a similar beveled edge around the box that contains the copyright information. Either that, or remove the border from the copyright information, or change the borders of the content to reflect the solid border of the box at the bottom! It just helps with the cohesiveness of the design!

Lastly, I'm not sure if your scroll bar is colour coded for your content frame, but beware that on a mac we have a default scroll bar that can't seem to be overridden (at least, I have no idea how to do so!) For mac users, your site will always look something like this! It's kind of lame, but at least it's not too bad. XD

[StarFyre]

A long, long time ago I tried to do scrollbar colors. Unfortunately, those aren't really supported in anything but IE, sooo.. I gave up on trying them and just accept the fugly that is standard scrollbars. Looks like this.

[Dray]

That's not too bad! ^^;

[StarFyre]

Small colors update: http://www.silveredmagic.com/test/index2.html

How's that looking? Mind that the header and the background image haven't changed, so the background is still the old background.

[Yakima]

XD I wouldn't know what the difference is because I missed the first update...like the frames. XD

[StarFyre]

Well, unless anyone has major objections to how this now looks, I think this is the version I'm keeping and am going to alter the rest of the site to look like.

http://www.silveredmagic.com/test/index2.html Is the link as before.

What's changed between noon and now: the header, the background, and the symbol.

[Shard]

I like the background and love the symbol but the header text is very plain. *sniff* doesn't it deserve a nice logo/image?

[StarFyre]

Theoretically, I suppose so. If I was better at creating such things =P

But honestly, any time I've tried to create something, I end up hating it. I can't seem to create something that's sleek/uncluttered enough to go with the rest of it. *shrugs*

[Cy]

I'll do it, if you want. Least I can do for all the line-art help you've given me.
:D

[StarFyre]

If you'd like, go ahead ^^

[JKatkina]

Oooh, Star, I... LIKE the simple header. :o Just make the gap between the header and the body information a little smaller, and you are golden. Although I am curious to see what you come up with for a header, Cy. :D

[Dray]

The logo on the side is gorgeous, too. :D This is so much more sleek than the earlier design, I think it's leveled up, so to speak!