Review my site

[wazza6]

I look at all the posts in this section and everybody's web site is so much nicer than mine lol. Anyway I'm not a web designer nor an artist, so I made my website simple with a focus on functionality. It's a web site to support a game I'm developing (high scores, update checks etc.) and even that's not too serious... It's all about learning.

I'm not too good with gimp, but if there's a tutorial, I can probably do it. I tried searching for free templates but I couldn't find anything to fit my game's style.

So the website is located at asteroids.pcriot.com(down) (for now, I'm going to change the name and buy a .com soon). I'd like it to be more visually appealing without changing the theme too much so it still fits with the game. I find the menu annoying too, I don't like it, but I didn't know what else to do. Do you have any ideas?

You can also leave comments about the game itself if you want.

 

[ken.gervais89]

I would suggest at least one screenshot if possible, and change the name, since I believe the name Asteroids is copyrighted and possibly trademarked. Change it to something like, MasterRoids, StarRoids or something of that nature. If you plan on creating more games, I would suggest creating a logo of some sort, not just for the site, but for each game as well.

In the game, if you can, see about changing the controls option to use the right and left mouse buttons to rotate your ship, since Asteroids is a terrible game to play using just the keyboard.

The site loads super fast, and for a starter site it does what it's intended to do.

Once you have your game looking and playing like you want it, consider heading over to http://www.freewebsubmission.com/ to submit your site to their search engines. You don't need to do them all, just a few of the more popular search sites will do you just fine. Just remember to include meta tags in your main index page.

 

[wazza6]

Thank you for your suggestions. You came up with nice ideas for the names, all I could think of was luasteroids (didn't look good in that font) and love asteroids (too long). So I was thinking I'd come up with a name for my "studio" and mix that with asteroids. Anyway this is something I'd rather not rush.

And can you explain what you mean about the mouse controls? You say "Asteroids is a terrible game to play using just the keyboard" but I've never seen a version using the mouse.

I'm aware of the trademark, it was only a placeholder until I found a new name. I was supposed to give the address to my friends only so they could try the game, but I didn't remember that at 2:30AM when I started this thread... If I start getting too much traffic or see my site on a search engine before I have a new name I'll take it down.

 

[bdistler]

I'm aware of the trademark

that puts your account on the wrong side of the TOS
if you like to keep your account at x10hosting - replace that "trademark" NOW

 

[ken.gervais89]

And can you explain what you mean about the mouse controls? You say "Asteroids is a terrible game to play using just the keyboard" but I've never seen a version using the mouse.

I meant that using a keyboard to play any game isn't always the best solution. The very first time I played Asteroids, it was with a joystick and didn't like the feel of the game that way so I shelved the game. Then a couple years ago I happened across a version that used the mouse to control turn direction. If I moved my mouse left, it rotated counterclockwise, if I moved it to the right, it did the opposite, when the left (or right) buttons being the trigger. The only keys used on the keyboard were the space bar to move forward and the Escape key to pause and if pressed again, exit the game. I'm left handed and the second I see a game uses keyboard controls, I pass on it, because 99 times out of a 100, the key choices are laid out with right-handed players in mind.

As for taking your site down if it gets too busy or for whatever reason, why not simply have a contest of sorts where visitors suggest a name for the game. Have the prize be to have their name included in the game credits. If it was me, I'd also include a salute to the Atari, who developed the original version. I'm pretty sure you can find something about the game on Wikipedia (or WikiWand if you use that Firefox extension or iPhone app)

 

[wazza6]

I'll keep left-handed people in mind. I don't like the idea of turning the ship with the mouse as the ship's rotation speed is part of the challenge. Configurable controls were planned but not in the near future, I'll see if I can push 2 control layouts for left and right-handed people in the next update.

I'm not going to have a contest as I didn't have enough visitors and the site is now password protected until version 2 is finished with a new name (still not sure, I might use MasterRoids if you don't mind )

I'm pretty sure you can find something about the game on Wikipedia

There was a link literally on the first line. Did you miss it because the links are the same color as the text with only an underline?