DKC Atlas Forum

Qyzbud wrote:

On the DKC1 Atlas main page, it says something like, "A guide to Donkey Kong Country", you might want to do the same thing with the other atlases by saying, "A guide to Donkey Kong Country 2/3".

Another work in progress... this one ought to be pretty easy. Heh.

Weren't you using "An Adventurer's Guide to Diddy's Kong Quest" and "An Adventurer's Guide to Dixie Kong's Double Trouble"? =P

Another thing, which you probably know but I'll say anyway, is that the DKC1 Atlas has a DKC Atlas logo in the left, but neither the DKC2 nor the DKC3 Atlas have one =P

^ Hmm... that sounds familiar, but if he didn't do that, then I think it would be better than a simple "Donkey Kong Country x".

Welcome to the club, Kiddy14!

I found some cache from Google of DKC3's Atlas before its launch (hope you don't mind Qyz), and he used "An Adventurer's Guide to Dixie Kong's Double Trouble" =P

Aaaaand... found this, DKC-Atlas Wiki?
The site's down by now, but... was it done by you, Qyz, or by someone else?

Kiddy14 wrote:Weren't you using "An Adventurer's Guide to Diddy's Kong Quest" and "An Adventurer's Guide to Dixie Kong's Double Trouble"? =P

I was indeed, and yeah, that's what I'll put there when I next update. Sounds better than 'DKCx' as a title.

Another thing, which you probably know but I'll say anyway, is that the DKC1 Atlas has a DKC Atlas logo in the left, but neither the DKC2 nor the DKC3 Atlas have one =P

Good point! I've been thinking about this for a while... It'd be easy enough to just plonk the current logo in each of the headers... but I'm thinking of redesigning. I've got a few ideas for the logo; some simple, some quite ornate... I'll probably just put the current logo up there until I come up with something better.

Oh, and about the Wiki... Jomingo and I (mostly Joe...) started one just to see how we felt about the idea. We may start one up in the future, but probably not for a while. Lots of other things to work on before we overload our schedules!

I noticed that you fixed a major fraction of those problems.

You added some PAR codes for DKC3, but to get there, you have to click Studies & Docs, and click PAR codes, but wouldn't it be easier to have it on the drop-down list?

Try hitting refresh.


I think the only 'issue' left is the Home button on the DKC3 atlas, but that doesn't even happen in Firefox. I think maybe I can edit the button graphic to have transparency instead of the black background, and then give the menu itself a black background colour. Should work, I'll give it a go.

What about the world maps?

Well, the bordering and broken images are fixed, right? I still need to decide how I'll use the open space to the right of the single-screen world maps... Any ideas?

That's odd, the bordering is fixed for me, but the broken images are still there , I even refreshed.

Oh well, it's not the big of a deal, I'm sure it will be fixed soon.

As for ideas, I feel like there's a great idea on the tip of my mind, but I just can't find it .

Fixed.

When I saw the need of ideas, I immediately came up a solution. You can indicate where something is when the mouse scrolls over the image! When the cursor is not on the image, it stays like it is now. But when it is on the image, it shows numbers where a level entrance is and provides a list on the empty space that says where all the numbers mean. The only bad thing is that the other info pages that don't have empty spaces wouldn't look too good...

I don't really know if this would work out (I don't know anything about that website stuff) but from what I've seen in the rest of DKC-Atlas, it looks possible.

Your idea is a good one (in fact, I'm planning to do something very similar!), but like you said, I'd want to do the same thing for every map screen, even the double ones... which leaves us back at square one, really. So far the most logical conclusion I've come up with is to simply have a message appear in the blank space saying 'single screen map' or something like that. It's not the perfect solution, but I'll do it anyway and we can see how it feels.

^ You could do that, you could but a big X over the space, or you could just center out the map and have no extra space.

I'm going to attempt an astonishing combination of all three.

Going through the new sections of the site, the layout looks pretty good on the pages. There were a few comments I had to throw in though.

1. On all the pages where it just says "The DKC(2/3) Atlas", then "An Adventurers Guide To...", I think the page would benefit from a picture there. Maybe of the title screen, maybe of the overworld, characters, I dunno. I go into the pages though, and it just seems a little bland there. I dunno if you have plans for that space, but I'd like to kill some time by making a composite image of each of the games, or DKC2 at least for the page.

2. None of the level maps load for me anymore. D:

3. In the DKC3 Atlas, there's a picture of Baron K Roolenstein down the bottom. I dunno why, but I'd rather someone else there. One of the best things about DKC3 to me was that K Rool wasn't a huge part of it. I mean, when I saw him it was a massive surprise to me and having him there kinda killed the surprise. He can stay, but eh... :P

Nice job anyway, Qyz. It's gonna be an amazing resource when it's all finished. Cheers!

Eh, I like having K. Rool at the bottom of each atlas. It just fits. Perhaps references Kaos somewhere in there couldn't hurt...

Rodent wrote:I think the page would benefit from a picture there. Maybe of the title screen, maybe of the overworld...

I definitely plan to make those 'game overview' pages a whoooole lot more interesting when I get a chance. I have plenty of ideas, but it all takes time to implement, and I've got other focuses at the moment; such as working on the level maps...

None of the level maps load for me anymore.

Good grief. So what happens exactly when you try to load them? All is fine on my end (except for the foreground layer, as Kiddy mentioned - which I will be addressing as soon as possible...). Even IE6 and my E71 (my phone) are displaying them just fine... Just to help me specifically work out what's going on at your end, what happens if you visit the Winky's Walkway map: http://www.dkc-atlas.com/maps/dkc/2-1

In the DKC3 Atlas, there's a picture of Baron K Roolenstein down the bottom. I dunno why, but I'd rather someone else there. One of the best things about DKC3 to me was that K Rool wasn't a huge part of it...

Hmm... after putting him there, I considered what you're saying; the story of DKC3 was pretty much based around the mystery of this 'new leader', so in some ways I agree that it would be nice to maintain/pay homage to this mystery... but DKC Atlas is really for people who have long since completed the game (multiple times, no doubt), so I don't think the spoiler-factor is too much of an issue. I certainly get where you're coming from, though.

Rodent wrote:1. On all the pages where it just says "The DKC(2/3) Atlas", then "An Adventurers Guide To...", I think the page would benefit from a picture there. Maybe of the title screen, maybe of the overworld, characters, I dunno. I go into the pages though, and it just seems a little bland there. I dunno if you have plans for that space, but I'd like to kill some time by making a composite image of each of the games, or DKC2 at least for the page.

I agree! Maybe even an introduction will help.

Qyzbud wrote:

Rodent wrote:None of the level maps load for me anymore.

Good grief. So what happens exactly when you try to load them? All is fine on my end (except for the foreground layer, as Kiddy mentioned - which I will be addressing as soon as possible...). Even IE6 and my E71 (my phone) are displaying them just fine... Just to help me specifically work out what's going on at your end, what happens if you visit the Winky's Walkway map: http://www.dkc-atlas.com/maps/dkc/2-1

That Winky's Walkway map loaded fine. When I load the maps from the respective atlases, it loaded the background but then the page gave me a window saying "Can't load the site, operation aborted, mahahaha" or something like that. Would a print screen help?

The Internet Exploder Operation Aborted Error is haunting Level Maps now!
Well, it looks like it...

I was wondering if you'll add the 75 Kremkoin Trick? =>

That's like, not well documented...

Rodent, A screenshot might be useful, if you get a chance - thanks. Are you able to view maps without a problem if you access them by entering the URL directly? What's the URL of the page(s) that you have tried to access the maps from, but received the error? And lastly... is it IE that you are browsing with?

Kiddy, I will indeed feature a how-to guide for that 75 Kremkoin cheat.

Hold up, I got my terminology mixed up. Level maps can load up fine - level info is where I get the message. Once I get it though, if I hit back, then the page can load fine. :S

And yeah, I'm using IE.

Another idea know I can view the maps - care to add a link back to the homepage and respective atlas the map belongs to on the page?

Well that's a relief. Even still, I'm very keen to fix that problem; it has been plaguing the Atlas since early July, and unfortunately the best I can do for you at the moment is to recommend Firefox. (which, of course, I would have done anyway!)

As for your map page navigation tips; I'll make a point of getting that all happening as soon as I can. I'm surprised I haven't done so already.

Hi guys, just thought I'd let you all know that I've taken up a new job (as a contruction worker, setting up grandstand seating for a car racing event in Adelaide), so I won't have much time during the week to work on DKC Atlas. I'm not going to stop work, but I'll probably only get to make updates on weekends.

Bother.

Oh... Kay then! Be careful out there. And make sure you wear your Hard Hat.

Wasn't that the name of the mole in Donkey Kong Land?

Hard Hat... Yep, I think so.

Actually, I wore such a thing yesterday doin some beneath-the-stands work, but mostly I've just been wearing a stylish safety harness for working at heights... Hello, ladies.

Woah, off topic to the extreme. My bad.

Alright Qyz, you womanizing Donkey Kong Country worshipper. I'm sure the harness is cool (but I'd prolly get scared and diez.)

I think the general on-going development of the site is fine, and I can see this getting off topic fast. I'm off to get some shut-eye...

Is there going to be a DKC Atlas focusing on also the GBC/GBA versions of DKC series, Donkey Kong Land games and all other Donkey Kong games in general? Also, I would love it if there was also a version allowing us to edit the atlas, but only with Qyzbud's permission.

This message is for Qyzbud.

P.S. could we please also have a wiki?

Thanks.

I am currently working on a new version of DKC Atlas, which will be based on the WordPress content management system. Among countless other advantages, this will allow me to easily appoint editors and contributors to help improve the site. I can't offer much in the way of an ETA for this new version, unfortunately... but I'll be sure to keep the Atlas community in the loop.

DKL and other 'approved' (DKC-related) games will be part of the new DKC Atlas. I don't personally intend to give them full coverage, but since I can easily appoint editors and contributors with WordPress, this might be something that other members of the Atlas community would like to work towards.

WordPress also has good support for wiki building, so if there is plenty of interest in such a feature, this will almost certainly be a part of the new DKC Atlas. I'm thinking of making the 'Factfiles' (which I've yet to begin work on) using a wiki system.

So, I guess it's good news all round!

When will it (approximately) be complete?

EDIT: Can I please be one of the editors for the site? I'll make the site look really advanced .

I will be aiming to have the upgrade 'complete' by the end of July. By this I mean the new version will be live, not complete as in no more work to be done on the site, of course.

I will definitely consider your offer to be a site editor. Thanks!

Are you going to do it all at once or one thing at a time? If one thing at a time, could you please do the site editors first? Thanks.

Uh oh! Real life is getting in the way again!

Hi guys, just a quick message to let you know what's up.

I've run into a financial pinch of late, and have just taken up a seasonal construction job this past week to help pay the bills. It's actually a job I've done on and off for the past decade or so, and is a big reason for the relative lack of Atlas development in the first few months of each relevant year.

The job involves setting up the grandstand seating for the Clipsal 500 car race, which is held in Adelaide, South Australia each year. It's quite demanding (long hours of hard work in hot weather — five or six days a week), and it means that I get home with very little energy left for web design (or anything else that requires focus!) so, I apologise in advance for being less responsive over the next month or so (and for this exhausting past week!).

I'll try to be around a bit in the evenings from time to time, and if I get a chance I'll get a bit of development done on weekends, but mostly I'll just be resting up for the days ahead.

That's quite alright, Qyzbud. Simion32 and I shall care for the forums while you're on leave!