[Feedback] Website: Quarks and Aces

[bodgey]

Hi,
I'd appreciate feedback on my website: http://www.qnagames.com

I'm interested in all feedback, particularly:
* The writing on the main page (game description)
* Any SEO issues
* Organisation of the site
* Position of the download buttons
* I made the logo myself, do you think I can get away with something of similar quality or would I need to get an artist for that
* Any and all other issues

The screenshots are sort of temporary and the bottom 3 will be different from the top 3. Also the large screenshots will be a bit smaller and won't include the title bar. There is no demo to download yet.

Thanks heaps,
Bojan

[papillon]

Your website does fairly strongly say "I am not an artist and made this up myself". I've seen worse - I've seen MUCH worse. It's not actually offensive to the eyes. That's a good start. :) But it's not very inviting either.

The site design, with the exception of the stuff popping out of the box (which doesn't fit the web design AT ALL) feels, to me, like it's trying to peddle timeshare. Resort vacations. Probably because a lot of vacation sites use blue and tan/yellow to evoke "beach" and therefore the connection has slowly burned into my brain. It doesn't currently say "I am a fun computer games site".

Also, that screenshot with the red grinning thing is AWFUL. What is that giant red thing? It has nothing to do with golf. If it's a 'Quark' character meant to give your golf game a fun personality, it needs to be done over by a proper artist to really be an appealing character. If it's an unimportant graphic just demonstrating that the user is selecting the 'Jaws' level by showing a picture with some jaws... Why? Why not show a graphic from the actual level while they're choosing the level?

Anyway, that red thing looks bad. It looks like something scribbled in Paint, then saved as a jpeg and resized with no understanding of antialiasing. :) You do not want that red thing on a screenshot on your webpage.

[Christian]

When i click on any screenshot number, there is allways the same screenshot.

Also, dont make the lines of text so large, put less words per line so that is more inviting to read.

Good luck.

[bodgey]

Thanks for the replies so far.

... a lot of vacation sites use blue and tan/yellow to evoke "beach"...I expected the colour scheme wouldn't be too good. I've quickly made a few tests (they're just samples and not at all finished). Which of these look better as far as the colour scheme goes? Or does anyone want to suggest a different colour scheme?
(changed)http://www.qnagames.com/index.html
http://www.qnagames.com/index2.html
http://www.qnagames.com/index3.html
http://www.qnagames.com/index4.html
http://www.qnagames.com/index5.html
http://www.qnagames.com/index6.html
http://www.qnagames.com/index7.html
Edit: New (thanks to Mr.Blaub) http://www.qnagames.com/index9.html
Also, that screenshot with the red grinning thing is AWFUL. What is that giant red thing? ... Why? Why not show a graphic from the actual level while they're choosing the level?The graphics is just a placeholder I drew myself, and clearly I'm not an artist ;-) I originally wanted a unique picture for each level, but I think I'll just use a screenshot of the level instead.

When i click on any screenshot number, there is allways the same screenshot.I haven't uploaded the screenshots yet, but it does work.

Thanks and feel free to comment on anything else
Bojan

[RohoMech]

bodgey, I think the site looks okay, I wasn't put-off by it. I agree about the text, there's quite a bit of it...I don't think someone is going to read all or even some if they see that much. I'd say look at the portals and what kind of descriptions they put it and try to mirror that.

What might work is if you could describe the game in 1/3 the space you use now, then the screenshots and text would all fit into a single screen.

Anyways, the game looks pretty interesting, I'll be sure to try the demo when it comes out.

[electronicStar]

if you remove the grey box (with the jacks in the box) I think you'll have a very decent website. I like the sheer simplicity of it.

You should also work on the text: put titles, paragraphs, colours, etc...
The average web surfer doesn't read more than a sentence or two of each paragraph. Make sure to take his/her attention to the important bits.
Simplify the text. You can replace some useless sentences with one or two shock-words.

Oh and I hope the game is still in beta because the screens are ugly and the red thing will disqualify you from selling IMHO.

[bodgey]

What might work is if you could describe the game in 1/3 the space you use now, then the screenshots and text would all fit into a single screen.Simplify the text. You can replace some useless sentences with one or two shock-words.I wanted to but I heard a lot of people saying you should have 200-300 words minimum because of SEO. I don't have any experience with this so if anyone has a better idea of how SEO works I'd like to know if I'm on the right track and if there's anything else I should be doing.

Anyways, the game looks pretty interesting, I'll be sure to try the demo when it comes out.Thank you! ;-)

if you remove the grey box ... put titles, paragraphs, colours ...Thanks, I'll start working on this.

screens are ugly and the red thing will disqualify you from selling IMHOYes, for the most part I want to completely reskin it when I can afford an artist. For the first version (for sale) do you think the snow level looks okay? I was hoping to have a small release first and then use the income to get an artist and put out a better version as soon as possible.

Thanks again for the feedback,
Bojan

[Mr.Blaub]

As for the colour schemes, I think the first one is a little too high on saturation. Index6 is a nice scheme, but again some of the colours (like the top banner for instance) are a little too saturated.

I think if you went with the index5, but the blue/orange combo it would look pretty good. Pastel colours are more inviting than neon.

[bodgey]

I think if you went with the index5, but the blue/orange combo it would look pretty good. Pastel colours are more inviting than neon.Thanks, I think this is what you meant http://www.qnagames.com/index9.html

Bojan

[mahlzeit]

Whenever I read blurbs like these: "Nature is an amazing 3D mini golf game with breathtaking graphics and addictive gameplay. Play mini golf in stunning outoor environments and superbly crafted courses," I have to think: marketing hype, especially when the screenshots aren't particularly breathtaking or stunning. Maybe you should tone down the adjectives a little and let the prospective customer make up his own mind. Also: spell check.

I would pick other fonts, both for the buttons in the sidebar and the main text. Times New Roman doesn't look particularly funky while the sidebar looks a little too funky. ;)

[Mr.Blaub]

Thanks, I think this is what you meant...

Yep. You're getting the contrast between blue and orange there, but it remains nice and subtle.

[bodgey]

Maybe you should tone down the adjectives a little and let the prospective customer make up his own mindI'd like to keep it short and simple but I wanted to make it a bit longer for SEO reasons. I suppose I can write a short sales pitch first and then have a longer description of the game if anyone cares to read.

Also what do people think about exagerating a bit and making your game sound like the best thing since sliced bread? Am I going too far?

I would pick other fonts, both for the buttons in the sidebar and the main text. Times New Roman doesn't look particularly funky while the sidebar looks a little too funky. ;)Will do this, thanks.

Bojan

[Anlino]

Well, the text is saying something the images don't account for, so you wither need to make a game that stand to your text(Basically, improve your game:p ), or you need to edit the text.

[electronicStar]

Also what do people think about exagerating a bit and making your game sound like the best thing since sliced bread? Am I going too far?
Everybody does that, I think that's one of the elementary techniques of marketing. Although it does sound boring for a lot of people, I think it has its uses in some cases.
Don't just align the meaningless buzzwords, try to find the words that will create an emotion and at the same time can be credible.
For example, instead of
"Nature is an amazing 3D mini golf game with breathtaking graphics and addictive gameplay."
you should say something like
"Nature is an addictive mini golf game using 3D to render panoramic environments and a fine tuned gameplay that manages to capture the......."
Do you see the difference? you have to actually put forward the game's assets.

[bodgey]

"Nature is an addictive mini golf game using 3D to render panoramic environments and a fine tuned gameplay that manages to capture the......."
Do you see the difference? you have to actually put forward the game's assets.Damn, you're good! I wish I paid more attention in my English class.

I'll work on it

Bojan