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Gary's Heroscape Site & Stuff
- Thread starter GaryLASQ
- Start date
welp, i've got some good news and some bad news.
the good news is, my website is now "XML based" which allows me to do some pretty cool things. for those of you who have looked at my HexScape thread, you will notice i'm absorbing it into my website in order to build a map database. currently it just has Hasbro maps with a dirt simple table to access them. this database is under construction but i have big plans. i'm also working on some improvements to the map graphics (i plan to allow users to choose different page styles, like "black background" or "white background" or "printer friendly" or "black and white" (using patterns instead of colors like LandScape does). so stay tuned...
the bad news for some of you (most of you?) that use my site is i had to slam the door on Internet Explorer. because of the way i'm marking up my webpages, IE can't handle it because the parser it uses for XHTML isn't a truely "xml aware" parser. although it seems just about every other browser out there can handle my changes. (there are some hoops i could jump through to make IE work but i'd rather not go down that path.) Microsoft has some serious catching up to do...
the good news is, my website is now "XML based" which allows me to do some pretty cool things. for those of you who have looked at my HexScape thread, you will notice i'm absorbing it into my website in order to build a map database. currently it just has Hasbro maps with a dirt simple table to access them. this database is under construction but i have big plans. i'm also working on some improvements to the map graphics (i plan to allow users to choose different page styles, like "black background" or "white background" or "printer friendly" or "black and white" (using patterns instead of colors like LandScape does). so stay tuned...
the bad news for some of you (most of you?) that use my site is i had to slam the door on Internet Explorer. because of the way i'm marking up my webpages, IE can't handle it because the parser it uses for XHTML isn't a truely "xml aware" parser. although it seems just about every other browser out there can handle my changes. (there are some hoops i could jump through to make IE work but i'd rather not go down that path.) Microsoft has some serious catching up to do...
thanks markwars.
you know i just realized i may have slammed the door on more than just IE. bascially it comes down to the way i'm using SVG (scalable vector graphics). i chose to put the SVG markup "in-line" with the XHTML rather than make separate SVG files and link them in with the <object> element in HTML/XHTML.
so basically this means my site only works for browser that have "native SVG support" like Firefox, Opera, Camino, Konqueror. i think once Apple comes out with Mac OS X Leopard this year, Safari will be able to view the map graphics on my site.
an SVG plug-in may not work because i'm using SVG in-line. hmm... i think i may have gotten a little too close to the cutting edge with this SVG stuff.
you know i just realized i may have slammed the door on more than just IE. bascially it comes down to the way i'm using SVG (scalable vector graphics). i chose to put the SVG markup "in-line" with the XHTML rather than make separate SVG files and link them in with the <object> element in HTML/XHTML.
so basically this means my site only works for browser that have "native SVG support" like Firefox, Opera, Camino, Konqueror. i think once Apple comes out with Mac OS X Leopard this year, Safari will be able to view the map graphics on my site.
an SVG plug-in may not work because i'm using SVG in-line. hmm... i think i may have gotten a little too close to the cutting edge with this SVG stuff.
if you use Firefox then you're good to go.markwars said:
Firefox is my browser of choice as well but i'm also liking Opera lately.
btw, Wii uses Opera for web browsing (which Nintendo will start charging a service fee for soon...morons.) so Wii can also view the SVG graphics (currently just the Hasbro maps) on my site.
you're welcome Ugly-Caco.
update for everyone...thanks to some push-back from folks (this means you Grungebob
) who may not use Firefox or Opera browsers, i've been working on a more cross-platform version of my website now that i've added SVG (Scalable Vector Graphis) to the mix.
at first i tried going with "in-line" SVG, but this was a bit too bleeding edge. even browsers that have native SVG support like Firefox and Opera appear to have some wrinkles to iron out with the in-line approach.
so instead of in-line, i'm using the <object> element from HTML/XHTML to "link-in" external SVG files. this method will work for pretty much any browser that has either native SVG support or an SVG plug-in (if it lacks native support). i'll put instructions on the site for where to get the plug-in.
the changes aren't live yet, but it's looking good so far locally on my laptop. it should go live in a day or two. i've tested it on Firefox (with and without the plug-in), Opera, IE (with plug-in) and Netscape (with plug-in). when it does go live i'd appreciate if a Safari user could try it out for me. (Safari may have problems with the <object> approach from what i've heard...)
update for everyone...thanks to some push-back from folks (this means you Grungebob
) who may not use Firefox or Opera browsers, i've been working on a more cross-platform version of my website now that i've added SVG (Scalable Vector Graphis) to the mix.at first i tried going with "in-line" SVG, but this was a bit too bleeding edge. even browsers that have native SVG support like Firefox and Opera appear to have some wrinkles to iron out with the in-line approach.
so instead of in-line, i'm using the <object> element from HTML/XHTML to "link-in" external SVG files. this method will work for pretty much any browser that has either native SVG support or an SVG plug-in (if it lacks native support). i'll put instructions on the site for where to get the plug-in.
the changes aren't live yet, but it's looking good so far locally on my laptop. it should go live in a day or two. i've tested it on Firefox (with and without the plug-in), Opera, IE (with plug-in) and Netscape (with plug-in). when it does go live i'd appreciate if a Safari user could try it out for me. (Safari may have problems with the <object> approach from what i've heard...)
the battlefield graphics are looking good (although they come up a bit slow...i'm looking into this.)
Opera and Firefox show the graphics without needing an SVG plug-in.
but IE, Netscape, etc can see them once the plugin is installed.
the battlefield/scenario webpages don't print out nicely yet. i'll be working on this sometime in the near future.
if anyone has trouble viewing the battlefield graphics...post here.
Opera and Firefox show the graphics without needing an SVG plug-in.
but IE, Netscape, etc can see them once the plugin is installed.
the battlefield/scenario webpages don't print out nicely yet. i'll be working on this sometime in the near future.
if anyone has trouble viewing the battlefield graphics...post here.
welp, the slowness is due to the SVG feature for group opacity (aka alpha blending) that gets used heavily for the translucency of previous-level pieces.
so...i've decided on just using SVG to build images and then convert them into PNG files. the disadvantage is bigger file sizes (so my full-website download feature may have to be broken into separate pieces eventually.) another disadvantage is loss of some very interesting features that can only be done with SVG but are not things i planned on doing right away anyhow.
the advantage is no more browser compatability issues (for the most part) *whew* and the speed issue with alpha blending is gone.
some day months from now i may swap out the PNG files for in-line SVG as web browsers improve on native SVG support.
i'm still working on better printability before adding more maps to the XML database...
click on the picture below to see how things are looking so far.
so...i've decided on just using SVG to build images and then convert them into PNG files. the disadvantage is bigger file sizes (so my full-website download feature may have to be broken into separate pieces eventually.) another disadvantage is loss of some very interesting features that can only be done with SVG but are not things i planned on doing right away anyhow.
the advantage is no more browser compatability issues (for the most part) *whew* and the speed issue with alpha blending is gone.
some day months from now i may swap out the PNG files for in-line SVG as web browsers improve on native SVG support.
i'm still working on better printability before adding more maps to the XML database...
click on the picture below to see how things are looking so far.
thanks for the Safari test.
i've taken the liberty to edit the wording on the Hasbro scenarios (I need to footnote this on the "Battlefield Table" page). the editing is just for the purpose of making them more consistent with each other. i'm being very careful not to alter the game mechanics when I do this minor editing. (not quite finished with the editing, but almost finished.)
i'm also about to declare for myself what the heck the start zone(s) should be for Player 2 (the elusive orange start zone) in the "Ambush on Wolf Swamp Road" scenario.
i've taken the liberty to edit the wording on the Hasbro scenarios (I need to footnote this on the "Battlefield Table" page). the editing is just for the purpose of making them more consistent with each other. i'm being very careful not to alter the game mechanics when I do this minor editing. (not quite finished with the editing, but almost finished.)
i'm also about to declare for myself what the heck the start zone(s) should be for Player 2 (the elusive orange start zone) in the "Ambush on Wolf Swamp Road" scenario.
dug a little deeper into CSS. the site is now printer friendly. https://heroscape.glasq.com
Ambush on Wolf Swamp Road now unofficially has a start zone for player 2 !!
Ambush on Wolf Swamp Road now unofficially has a start zone for player 2 !!
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in honor of Scaper's 1 year birthday, i've done another update to my site.
the battlefield table has terrain expansion quantities in it. might put in a "Sym" column that rates how symmetrical the map is like: 1-very, 2-fairly, 3-slightly, 4-not. the question is which way should the column sort? should "very symmetrical" be at the top of the list or bottom?
still plugging away at moving some of my older maps into my XML database.
next is a scenario table, with "number of players" and a "yes/no" for Teamplay. also thinking about a category for type of scenario, like: kill-em-all, capture-flag, etc, but this gets a bit tricky.
i've added a few more links to the Links page. this page could use more organization, more links and some banners to click on instead of boring text.
the battlefield table has terrain expansion quantities in it. might put in a "Sym" column that rates how symmetrical the map is like: 1-very, 2-fairly, 3-slightly, 4-not. the question is which way should the column sort? should "very symmetrical" be at the top of the list or bottom?
still plugging away at moving some of my older maps into my XML database.
next is a scenario table, with "number of players" and a "yes/no" for Teamplay. also thinking about a category for type of scenario, like: kill-em-all, capture-flag, etc, but this gets a bit tricky.
i've added a few more links to the Links page. this page could use more organization, more links and some banners to click on instead of boring text.
i lifted the images off the character pages on Hasbro's site. since they don't have character pages for flagbearers they don't have the hitzone images for them.
but just for you markwars, i'll scan them in from my army cards.
(i was planning to do this soon anyhow.)
but just for you markwars, i'll scan them in from my army cards.
(i was planning to do this soon anyhow.)
The "Hitzones and Special Powers" table now has several ways to list powers. Some are very similar to Rev's "Definitive List of Definitive Lists" done by various members.
https://heroscape.glasq.com/tables/char_powers_001.html
I'm still trying to make up my mind over some things with this, plus I'll be adding more ways of listing powers.
These changes are not yet in the Web site's download feature.
https://heroscape.glasq.com/tables/char_powers_001.html
I'm still trying to make up my mind over some things with this, plus I'll be adding more ways of listing powers.
These changes are not yet in the Web site's download feature.
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