About This Website/FAQs
On this page is information about how to use the site and information in general. Below are links to each question/answer?
Who is the geeza behind all this junk?
Why I wanted to build this site / what is it's purpose?
So why cover old games?
So, you show us nearly all the game but not how to do it?
How to use?
Why is this site pretty low-tech (Lack of flash etc)?
Where do you get your info?
Updates
What is the direction for this site?
How was this website made?
Using Stuff Off this Website
Mentions
Who is the geeza behind all this junk?
That would be me. I'm Lee, of twenty-something age and I live in Birmingham in the UK and my profession is IT (when things are good) and have done consulting/support and development work for several years.
Checkout my Myspace page for more the grizzly details.
Why I wanted to build this site/what is it's purpose?
I've been playing games for a long time on numerous consoles and computers including the arcades. Games on Sega machines were my favourite because of that 'pick up and play' feel with them; games like Sonic, Wonder Boy and Space Harrier for example.
 Space Harrier from Sega (Arcade) |
 Metal Slug from SNK (Neo Geo) |
 Varth from Capcom (Arcade) |
 Duke Nukem 3D (Atomic Edition) from 3D Realms (PC) |
 Donkey Kong Country from Nintendo (SNES) |
 Wonder Boy III: The Dragons Trap from Sega (Master System) |
After first having been hooked up to the net and seeing some fan sites about some of my all time favourite games I decided I'd like to have a go too.
I had some ideas what I wanted to build a site on. Originally the plan was to have a small but complete site but I couldn't decide on the subject . After toying with a few ideas I didn't want to omit anything and ultimately I decided to do a few pages on lots of things that I like. As a result the site is rather large now and there is loads of work left to do, and there will always be things going on to improve things.
At the moment, I gain nothing from this website other than having my own expression out there on the net.
So why cover old games?
As technology in consoles advanced, games in my opinion did not (mostly). Don't get me wrong, there are some brilliant games from this age yet many (for me) lacked the 'pick up and play' feel to them games had many years ago. Much more time seems to need investing to have a less than satisfying experience.
Developers, especially in the last generation, seem to pay more attention to visuals rather than the gameplay. Whether that's down to advances in processor power alone, I'm not sure.
And as far as coverage of modern games goes, there are loads of big corporate sites that handle those in this age.
So, you show us nearly all the game but not how to do it?
This is intentional. The theory is that I show you what's in the game but if I tell you how to do it then that takes all the fun out of playing it. I'll probably change this in the near future and switch to full game guides in addition to articles/features.
The gaming articles assume people know something about the subject matter so they won't be too dumbed down. For example, I won't explain how to operate an options screen.
How to use?
Click on the images on the right to enter the main sections or checkout the menu bar for more information about the website.
The site is constructed in a hierarchical manner and composed of indexes and articles. You are in the Main Index which leads to the indexes of each of the major sections i.e Sega, Sonic, and Silly Stuff. These sections (or areas) will each have articles or features inside. For example, the Sega Index links to the features of the Sega consoles which in turn link to the game features which will be styled also.
You can use the Google search box to search within in the site only.
For quick navigation around the site click the sitemap icon which leads you directly to the sitemap is a breakdown of all the main pages on the site. Click on the homepage icon to return to the homepage and the top icon to return to the top of the page.
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Homepage |
Sitemap |
Top of Page |
Themes are a new experimental feature. At present these will be selectable from the bottom of the opening pages. A link to the old version is also available, though this is no longer maintained.
Every single image has been programmed with the alt tag, meaning that should you hover the mouse over, then additional information or instructions will appear. Some paragraphs will also have a background colour when the mouse is hovering to ease with the reading of text heavy pages.
Any multimedia will (at the present time) be presented in WAV, MP3 and Windows Media Video (ver 9). You may require the appropriate plug-ins for your browser.
If you are interested in the most recent visitor stats then check out the link on the archive page for the latest update.
You can contact me by clicking on the envelope at the bottom of the page or selecting the Contact Us page.
Why is this site pretty low-tech (Lack of flash etc)?
The goal was to make it as crisp and speedy as possible by keeping the content as optimised as I could without breaking the idea I set out with. Originally this was because I only had 15MB of web space and intended to provide a decent experience for 56K'ers but I decided to carry this ethos on to prevent the website from getting cluttered so hopefully you won’t feel bombarded with animations and complicated navigation and even on the slowest of broadband connections it should remain pretty snappy.
Where do you get your info?
A lot of it is memory where I'll remember something and then research it using books, magazines and finally the net but I don't just want to rely on the net too much. I have lots of recordings of old programmes too.
Most gaming info comes from Ultimate Guide to Video Games which is a highly recommended read (and still available at places like Amazon) and some magazines, most notably Official Sega Magazine from the 90's (for the Sega sections) and the game literature itself. Basically because any dickhead can make a website and say whatever they want. That's one reason why features take so long to make!
Updates
Ideally I want to be updating frequently, at least several times a month.
I'm always on the look out for more stuff that I can add. At the moment I need some improved graphics. I'm always reviewing the pages for little tweaks here and there and any new ideas/additions that come to mind.
Real materials like case scans, magazine articles and adverts etc are always welcome. At the moment I have very limited sources of materials. If anyone can help then by all means let me know.
Imm also severely limited by the ISP as they now have imposed a maximum upload size of 2MB. Not good for adding music and video.
What is the direction for this site?
Well, there isn't one really. There are more stuff I want to talk about but like I said in the opening it is what interests me.
Although I mainly a Sega fanboy (he he) I played tonnes of games and some of them deserve a mention like games from SNK (Metal Slug), Sin and Punishment, Donkey Kong Country and Starwing and some of the Sega re-releases on the PS2 and Xbox.
I'm working to include more PHP about the place too.
Keep a watch on the news pages for upcoming items and features.
How was this website made?
I write all of my own code to XHTML1.1/CSS 2.1 specification in AceHTMLPro 6 and Top Style Pro 3.5 Pro. These programs do good jobs of keeping things tidy so it can be glanced at and understood quickly what's going on (to me anyways).
There will still be lots of HTML4 code around in old pages (written in AceExpert) that is not valid but there is an effort underway to replace it.
Text was done in Word (naturally) and image work is done mostly with Paint Shop Pro ( I know.. I should be using Photoshop).
Pages are tested with Firefox at 1024x768 as a minimum hoping that it should look ok in Internet Explorer too. I will hopefully do some testing for portable devices too.
Using Stuff Off this Website
If there is something you would like to utilise then please be polite and ask. Just send me an email....I would be most accommodating. All I would ask for is perhaps a link or mention. Please don't be like those people who robbed the Ban This Filth clips and uploaded them to Youtube as their own, Swines!
If you would like to link then please feel free to do so.
Mentions
Thanks to those people over the years who have offered some input (rather than just taking the piss), especially those from the really early days in the workshop...
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