Ok, I’ve been looking for a new idea for my site for some time now. I have been getting into some actionScript, and I want to incorporate that into my site. I also want my site to be original. My current site I feel is very original, but it is incredibly hard to update it because I made it static. Oh what a nieve child I was. Also, I have recently found out that my site does not work with Mozilla Firebird. I was at a lack of inspiration until tonight.
I started doodling in Flash, which I haven’t done for quite a while, and I came up with a sort of weird pattern of lines. Then it hit me. A maze. I am thinking that this should be the next version of my site. A user will be able to control a little character, for example a mouse, and will be able to make him walk (with the arrow keys) through the maze. Scattered throughout the maze will be little items, and when they are touched by the character, they will pop up the page that they corrospond with. There will be a key that will be accessible at all times to allow the user to know which emblem goes with which section. There will be a “secret” section in the middle. All of the other sections will be linked to from the key as a sort of cheat sheet, but to get to the file in the middle, which will have something special, the user will have to wander through the maze to get to that item which is at the end (in the center maybe) of the maze.
Here is a very quick prototype that I whipped up in about 5 minutes. The final version would be a tile based world with pixel graphics and all. What I need to know is: a) Has this been done before- is it an original idea? b) Do you think that it will create a good final product? c) Will it improve upon my current site? (linked to in my footer) and d) What do you think would make this site better, opinions and criticism on the idea welcome.
Please do not be very harsh on the prototype. I whipped it up really quickly in Flash, and it is not even fully functional. For example, you can go through the walls. It is just to give a rough visual of the concept.
Yes, it is a design company, but it’s not really a corporate site, it’s supposed to be a personal portfolio that I can show stuff that I have done and advertise what I can do.
yeh now i see where you heading. Because you said it was a design company i was like: “shouldnt the site have been more professional looking?” and now youve said its more of a personal portfolio so yeh
IMO: that type of design isn’t going to get you clients. its cool for a personal playground, but if your looking to get work from that site i’d think about going a different route.
btw i totally understand when u say you want your site to stand out, but its about what sells
Well, I want to get work, but I don’t really need a ton of work, just a stray project here and there. Mostly though so far, my work has come from word of mouth. So I’m not too worried about it.
yeah as I said, it’s just a prototype. Instead of saying "hit’, it would pop up the page that was associated with the cheese. Also, you wouldn’t be able to go through walls or off the screen.
k k I see:P sorry I didnt read the book at the beginning of this topic. its a good idea, but in the same time you could spend a alot of time on this project and then see no interest from ur audience. I suggest making a normal site and then putting this concept somewhere on that site…
I pretty much agree with everyone here.
It’s great that you’re thinking originally and not wanting to just put the same old played out website out there, but as everyone else said, that’s what sells. A better idea would be taking a regular website and doing something unique with it. 90% of websites are exactly the same, a bunch of boxes with a bunch of words and pictures in them. It’s all in the presentation of those boxes. That’s what seperates 2advanced from the other guys. They all still follow basic layout techniques. I think it would be great to really develop the maze idea and maybe use it for a personal site with experiments and what have you, but for a site that’s purpose is to net customers you really need to be more user friendly. Keep up the good work.
