Warships Campaign - Questions, Comments and Concerns

[panther3485]

Appreciate all of your hard work.

Thanks.

I gave it a bit of a try about an hour ago.
For some reason I couldn't get the images on Photobucket to upload here but I did try uploading directly from my desktop and it seems to work.
However, while my image copies loaded up to Photobucket are consistent sizes, my desktop copies are widely varying.
I did try re-sizing by using the ACG thread options within the upload process but these did not appear to allow me to set exact pixel sizes.
That could have been simply me getting tired and not seeing the wood for the trees; so I'll hit the sack and try again tomorrow.

If I cant get my picture sizes to be consistently within the range I want, I'll pre-select the specific images I intend to use and create a separate desktop folder in which to copy and then re-size them before uploading.

[panther3485]

Guys, I'm still very busy with other stuff in real life (including helping to tidy up and manage a deceased estate, which looks set to drag on for weeks yet) but regardless, I'm also making sure I set aside some time to work on this; come Hell or high water as the saying goes.

OK then, apparently (a) I won't need Photobucket at all for this tournament and (b) I've got the re-sizing good enough now.
Uploading directly from my desktop is actually giving (I think you'll agree when you see them) very acceptable results
After about half a dozen aborted attempts, I managed to insert the various elements in a properly structured manner, in the opening post of my first new mini-poll thread.
All pics are in place and IMO they look pretty good. Titles, picture labels, spacing etc are also all squared away now.
However, once again it's getting late into the night and fatigue is starting to set in so quitting until tomorrow afternoon/evening; but that will be Sunday morning for my US friends.
(Most of the day I'll be continuing with work at the father-in-law's house.)

Anyway, I'm now pretty pleased with things and in my next session I'll add some basic text information for each of the two ship types.
Until I'm finished, this "experimental" mini-poll thread will remain closed but I'm fairly confident of having it completed and running before the weekend is completely done.

Some time after this, I'll post at least one more mini-poll. Probably at least three more because I think that practicing a number of times should help me to get reasonably good at this in our "new model" ACG.

See you again soon,
Best regards,
Paul

[Pruitt]

The deceased is not your Dad is it?

Pruitt

[panther3485]

My wife's Dad.

[Pruitt]

That still sucks. Please pass along my sympathies to your spouse.

Pruitt

[panther3485]

That still sucks. Please pass along my sympathies to your spouse.

Pruitt

Thanks, I'll do that.
My father-in-law has been gone about a month now but there is still a lot of work to do at his house, to make it ready for sale.
He was a lifetime carpenter and house-builder so there are large amounts of tools and other stuff associated with his profession, as well as all the usual furniture and personal possessions.
... and a lot of rubbish to be got rid of ... some repairs to the building that he was too old to do ... etc.
The wife and I still both work full-time, so the weekends are really our only opportunity to do work on the place.
She has a brother but he is - how shall I say it - only removing the stuff he wants and does the work directly associated with that; but no more because he is always "too busy".
He's in for his fair share of the proceeds, of course.
Enough said, I think.

[panther3485]

OK guys, the first mini-poll is now open and it's right here in Armchair Attacks.

Please do have a go. I would also like your feedback.

Best to all,
Paul

[panther3485]

Hi once again, my friends.

Things are progressing reasonably well and a couple of mini-polls are now up, to try things out with the new ACG layout.
I'd already decided that the maximum amount of practice I should need would be 3 or maybe at most 4 mini-polls.
I now think 3 should be enough so after the final mini-poll - to be posted in the next couple of days - I will start putting together the 32 poll threads for T2 proper.


At this stage, I can't say exactly how long it will be before all those poll threads are ready but given the very restricted amount of free time I'm having lately, it could be at least a couple of weeks following the third mini-poll.
It really depends how I go, juggling T2 with a very busy life. Frankly, right now it's almost
I'll keep you all posted if there are to be any significant changes.

Best to everyone,
Paul

[Merkava188]

Well it still stinks. I hope something can be done. For me the ribbons were the best part.

[panther3485]

Well it still stinks. I hope something can be done. For me the ribbons were the best part.

I share the same hope, regarding the ribbons. However, my powers are severely limited.
Like you, I can only wish for their return but we have to face a strong probability that they never will.
In the meantime therefore, I intend to go ahead with my fallback plan, which is to post an image of the ribbon for T2 and the successive tournaments in this campaign, together with a list of all those members who have earned them.
I also intend to "retrospectively" do the same with T1, so we'll have them all showing up.

Imagine an image of each of the ribbons in the size shown below, followed by a list (Roll of Honor) of all members who have earned them:


T1 LARGE.jpg


T1 PLUS LARGE.jpg


Fortunately, I keep all my own records of who has voted in which polls, on an Excel spreadsheet.
Even more important is the fact that I also have copies of the ribbon images, for the Warships Campaign.
(Thanks and acknowledgement to Dibble201Bty, who did the artwork for these. )


OK, so obviously my idea is not as good as having the ribbons appearing individually, next to our avatars as they did before.
However, it's the best I can do.

[Merkava188]

When will tournament 2 start?

[panther3485]

When will tournament 2 start?

Based on my estimate a few weeks ago, I should have been ready to launch either the last weekend in July (28-29) or first weekend in August (4-5). However, I've been able to get almost no work done over the last couple of weeks due to relatives from interstate, and their kids, staying over.
I'll be seeing them off at the airport tomorrow, so things should be back to normal after that.
As a result, my amended estimate is still in August; but now it should be either the weekend 11-12 (if things go very well) or more likely, weekend 18-19 August.
I've actually constructed all 32 of the polls themselves; and the images to go in them only need to be re-sized before insertion.
The really time-consuming part is the write-ups in the opening post of each pairing.
I've therefore decided not to make them as detailed as the longest of my test polls; so they'll come closer in length to the other two.
That way, I should be able to meet the amended deadline.

[panther3485]

Latest update:

I Just received an inquiry from one of our members regarding the launch date. (Thanks for the reminder, MM. )
Yes, I am still more or less "on target" for an August launch of T2, except now it's more likely to be one week later than estimated in my previous post (just above this one).
In other words, rather than being a case of "more likely the weekend 18-19 August", it looks as if the following weekend - 25-26 August - is now more realistic.
My first week in August was especially bad, with family related issues dominating almost every bit of free time I was expecting; and I wasn't expecting a great deal to begin with! I got virtually none.
I did manage to catch up a bit during the second week, but probably not enough.

Following all the research, here's where I'm at as of this evening, 15 August:

• Construction of 32 poll threads: Completed
• Posting of the 32 poll threads to a safe place in ACG: Completed
• Locating and editing of hundreds of images: Completed
• Selection and placement of 192 images for Round 1 of T2: Completed
• Writing up & placing headings and candidate titles for all 32 polls: Completed
• Writing up headings and informative text for each of the 64 candidates - 6 done, 58 to go.

Based on this progress, about the only way I can be up and running for weekend 18-19 Aug is to neither go to work (I work full time); nor to help my family with all the other stuff that's going on.
Therefore, I think the weekend 25-26 Aug is much more probable now.

Apologies for all these delays, guys, but I'm hoping you will all very much enjoy the final product of my labors.

Best to all,
Paul

[Mountain Man]

So what's with all of not-really-polls posted in placed like the Five Star Grill?

[panther3485]

So what's with all of not-really-polls posted in placed like the Five Star Grill?

If you mean the four pages of polls in 5 Star Spec Ops, that's them.
All 32 of 'em.
Hands off, please!
(but feel free to check 'em out if you're curious.)

BTW, as you may recall, this is where I've usually had my previous tournament polls sitting while I'm working on them. When they get moved to Armchair Attacks, you know they are ready to go.
I started doing the picture titles last night. Should finish those this coming evening.

As for the text on each warship type, I've already got 6 done (very comprehensively); so there's another 58 to go.
I'm thinking I might keep those 58 remaining texts very brief at least, to start with; trying not to spend too much time on each one (which could further delay the launch date); and then return to add to them if I've got the time.
This will make sure that EVERY warship type has at least a small accompanying text by the planned date.

My reckoning is, that the members won't mind if I develop the texts a bit more following the launch, if necessary?
What do you think?

Regards,
Paul