Contest to win a GOG copy of Iron Harvest

[allexandeur]

Looking throught this post, I gotta say a lot of really good stuff here!

 

I find myself especially drawn to the ones that are based on actual interfaces. Like Major_Tom_v5.wsz that @shinonome_nano posted. Also the ones that look like radios, hifis or amps - a couple like these here. But Nintentdo (or close second Famocom) would still have to be my top pick - childhoon nostalgia ftw!

  

On 9/9/2020 at 2:23 PM, shinonome_nano said:

Yeah, I like to imagine I'm launching nukes any time I switch on my pc.

Major_Tom_v5.wsz

 

 

Edited September 11, 2020 by allexandeur (see edit history)

[accursedfarmer]

(I know this is for the giveaway and not for sappy melodrama, but I didn't want to overload your mailbox, Ross, so I thought i'd write here.)

 

Ross, I first saw you last July, when you made the Game List video and I've been a huge fan ever since. I've been watching your videos on almost a daily basis and I've seen all of them multiple times now. YOU ROCK MAN!! My life is genuinely better because of you!!! I can't get enough so I'm going through all the past chats with fans, and I love them too. You're such a big part of my life now, with your views on education, humanity's future, economy etc. etc.

Wanted to say 3 things basically:
1) When you make decisions, consider that there are probably *thousands* of people like me, who absolutely *love* your work, but too shy or lazy to write a thank you!

2) Quality > quantity. I understand your perfectionism, and you said it yourself it's bad from a business perspective, but hell your videos are SO GOOD. It's your call, you can do whatever you want ultimately, but I just wanted to say I fully support your current priority of quality over quantity.

 

3) The monthly chats are priceless!! Please please keep them up!! It's so incredible how you're so open and approachable; I loved your normal videos, but the chats just made me feel that you're basically family. Don't want to get all melodramatic, but man you pulled me through some very rough times!!

Good luck with The Movie! And best wishes to you and Magda!!

 

I don't want the game, plz don't give it to me!! But just to maintain propriety, here's the skin I like best:

48.wsz

Edited September 11, 2020 by accursedfarmer (see edit history)

[cbout]

I don't know why, but I really prefer all of my pc aesthetics to be blue
si_amp.zip

 

 

Edited September 11, 2020 by cbout (see edit history)

[FullBusinessSuit]

I have a bunch I found that I think are cool, but here's my main pick

 Old_Timey.wsz

 

 

An interesting bit behind what I was looking for here: I always thought the interface for the Sega game "Soldier of Fortune" looked pretty cool (the game's got a mystic vibe about it mixed with mercenaries and military dudes, including a scientist with questionable character; not that that's a bad thing), so I went to find something that had a more military style, and there were a bunch that looked good (and they did have the Soldier of Fortune skin as well). I picked the one that I wanted that closest matched Ross's criteria from the GUI video. This is a darker theme (that part is kind of my preference) - but not too dark in case you go to look at a bright picture or something, since it has those lustery spots and plenty of room to add lighter shades. I have a runner-up theme that might match that criteria better, but I didn't know how dark Ross would allow, however I still picked this one for the contest because it matches Ross's computer theme where he's got his surface and core drives, and this sparked my imagination of taking a submarine to the bottom of the ocean to take a gate into the core of the planet. Or even a similar machine to withstand pressure drilling into the surface of the planet.

 

Spoiler

 

Here's my second runner-up, and I think it could also be a winner, but I thought the immersive aspect of the first one might be more to Ross's preference.

 

The_Legend_Of_Winamp.wsz   This one makes me think of operating a set of military intelligence equipment in a tent. It also might be just right for that light/dark balance we all crave. This also happens to match the theme of Iron Harvest a bit more.

 

Other runners-up:

Cool video game looking theme (maybe a little too busy)

 

Actual video game looking theme

 

Cool old school video game swamp looking theme (like the swamp from Soldier of Fortune)

 

This one reminds me of Magic the Gathering (even though I never really played that game)

 

Something I'd try for a day to see how I like it

 

Mood setting theme

 

A different light/dark balancing theme

 

The actual Solder of Fortune theme I started with (not picked because of the man standing there)

 

 

 

I LOVE IRON HARVEST!! SAXONY FTW!

 

Favorite line from the game: "What does the empire require?" Gives me goosebumps knowing the Third Reich is coming.

Edited September 12, 2020 by FullBusinessSuit (see edit history)

[FullBusinessSuit]

9 hours ago, accursedfarmer said:

(I know this is for the giveaway and not for sappy melodrama, but I didn't want to overload your mailbox, Ross, so I thought i'd write here.)

 

Ross, I first saw you last July, when you made the Game List video and I've been a huge fan ever since. I've been watching your videos on almost a daily basis and I've seen all of them multiple times now. YOU ROCK MAN!! My life is genuinely better because of you!!! I can't get enough so I'm going through all the past chats with fans, and I love them too. You're such a big part of my life now, with your views on education, humanity's future, economy etc. etc.

Wanted to say 3 things basically:
1) When you make decisions, consider that there are probably *thousands* of people like me, who absolutely *love* your work, but too shy or lazy to write a thank you!

2) Quality > quantity. I understand your perfectionism, and you said it yourself it's bad from a business perspective, but hell your videos are SO GOOD. It's your call, you can do whatever you want ultimately, but I just wanted to say I fully support your current priority of quality over quantity.

 

3) The monthly chats are priceless!! Please please keep them up!! It's so incredible how you're so open and approachable; I loved your normal videos, but the chats just made me feel that you're basically family. Don't want to get all melodramatic, but man you pulled me through some very rough times!!

Good luck with The Movie! And best wishes to you and Magda!!

 

I don't want the game, plz don't give it to me!! But just to maintain propriety, here's the skin I like best:

48.wsz

 

 

 

I love this post, do you care if I save it?

Edited September 11, 2020 by FullBusinessSuit (see edit history)

[Four Bajeena]

Bytecast.wsz

 

This was the cleanest ui that wasn't just flat black and white imho.

[capritsuno]

 

I would totally go for something like this. Old school RPGs had some pretty stimulating color palettes.

 

(baldursgate2.wsz)

Edited September 12, 2020 by capritsuno
Added the skin name (see edit history)

[RocketDude]

 

LASERmecha_4000.wsz

 

Other ones I liked:

Spoiler

https://skins.webamp.org/skin/9eac900685e05104b45ea6aa9b2009e6/Kevin_.wsz/

https://skins.webamp.org/skin/ef1b32f92fa26e824156ceb2929097e0/Gundam_wings.wsz/ I actually found the one I picked by searching "Gundam," this one and the one above almost made the pick.

https://skins.webamp.org/skin/72920a27e9dd96d8c6f92c2e51c2e343/rotane_red_firewall_1_0_66_winamp2.wsz/

https://skins.webamp.org/skin/6d232cc66940af3f05c91c977916be2f/GBJ_-_The_Hand.wsz/

Not to mention a bunch of the anime ones--I'm not ashamed to admit I liked the Lilith_Crucified one.

 

Edited September 12, 2020 by RocketDude (see edit history)

[augustvalek]

First of all, thanks for the link, I was unaware of it and there are a lot of crazy skins for winamp, I feel like if was thrown in a time machine.  Secondly I had to think a lot about it, I tried my best to get to the end and missed a lot because they didn't load, but I finally decided for this one, I like the simplicity of the design with the shades of grade, and the changing colors depending in the positions is a nice touch, if I'm gonna stare at an OS for a long time I'd rather it to be easy on the eyes

 

Name: Women_Want_Winamp_Skins.wsz

 

 

there are some others that really catched my eye, specially "Feels like in heaven" unfortunately that one is too minimalistic, is nice for a winamp skin, but for an entire OS it could result in a lot of confusion.  Also the iones inspired in the original fallout and Planescape torment are amazing, but I tried to steer clear from skins based on other media

[centersolace]

 

This one without question. I've always loved these over the top, plastic-y looking designs. This ones called -Arora Efex Mix Fix- by peacemaker and xenosomething.

 

If you're into this sort of thing I recommend you check out this website as well. They have all kinds of good stuff.

 

Here are some of my favorites unrelated to the contest:

 

 

Available Here.

 

 

Available Here.

 

 

Available Here

 

 

Available Here

 

And I think that's enough for now. I know they're not the most practical, but I'll be damned if they ain't stylish.

 

[centersolace]

25 minutes ago, RaTcHeT302 said:

thanks, i hate it

 

xD

 

to be honest, it's probably more interesting to look at than GREY BOX WITH TEXT

 

bleh

Yeah it's definitely not for you if you're not into magenta.  I have a very extreme sense of taste.

[Delta_Melta]

Looks nice, not too bright and reminds me of the  Metal Gear Codec.

t100.wsz

[Ross Scott]

Here are the winners for the contest!  This was hard to judge, I had even more runner-ups, but unfortunately I have no prizes for them. I tried not to overthink things and just go with ones that I immediately liked the look of.  Many looked cool, but I think their novelty would wear off rapidly.  Others I thought had a GREAT look, but then had awful contrast on the text or just issues with the readability.  Finally others I also liked, but I had to cull my list to just 10.  

Here they are:

 

RaTcHeT302 with System Shock 2 theme.  This was almost a cheat, since it was known I liked that in my GUI video, but I can't deny I still like how this looks:

kachiat with unknown theme.  It could use a tad more contrast, but this just looks pretty nice from the get-go:

 

Interlinked with Blackamp. I think the site rescaled this improperly, but I admit I like the look of this for a dark theme, easy to read and I like the color choices. Give me an 80s tech + sci-fi stuff vibe to it:

 

alfredzharoff with unknown theme (Moss?).  Very clean looking theme, easy to make out everything, eyes directed to the right places, funny that it's imitating an actual stereo:

 

randomprecision with unknown theme.  This is very slick.  I wouldn't have the dark bar at the top, but other than that, this a super clean looking theme.

 

Four Bajeena with Bytecast.  This is simple, but looks slick.  It shows what a difference gradients can make to this damn flat mania going on now:

 

augustvalek with Women Want Winamp.  My bias is bleeding through here, since I like the neon 80s accents.  I'm sure some think this is ugly, but I like the look.  I can imagine an alternate history where this is the standard look of computing

 

The above are ones I was pretty sure were going to win.  The remainders I tried to get a little more out there with:

 

Solus with Unison brainstorm.  This isn't really my look, but it looks very polished and I respect someone going all out on a steampunk theme.

 

capritsuno with baldur's gate 2.  Not quite my look, but I respect making the whole OS feel like an old school RPG:

 

Swamp with Pixel.  To be honest, I actually hate this color scheme, but the rest of the theme looks very neat and crisp and has a look I just didn't want to sideline. I can almost imagine what this theme would sound like:

Winners will be private messaged soon (give me half an hour or so) with the keys.  Thanks for entering this, that Winamp site helped restore some of my faith that things can be better with the GUI.

OTHER COMMENTS:

 

@KingLich: I was over limit, I had to bump somebody, sorry, yours was #11.  I was impressed how well the claymation look was executed here.
@RocketDude: If it had a little bit brighter contrast, yours might have won.  I was impressed how genuinely evil your pick looked.
@Ronno72: Yours was close to winning, but it was a bit too much yellow for me.  Cool ideas going on with the layout though.
@allexandeur: This one was close, but the contrast and readability hurt it for me, even though they're imitating the LCD look.
@GWFH: Another close one, though the contrast was a tad too high for me.
@nfb: I agree that yours has a real personality to it going on.  It gives me this feeling like there's a world beyond the UI, but it was a bit muddy for me to pick it.
@p-s-t: Almost won, but all the extra stuff going on around the text made it harderto read.  If it didn't have the layered transparency stuff, I might have picked it.
@Tim: Yours looks really cool, but the readability wasn't the best, plus it might get a little old looking at before long.
@Vertigo: Yours had cool stuff going on, but the contrast and readability sank it for me.

@shinonome_nano: It's well done and I liked the color scheme, but for some reason I didn't like the indented look to everything.  I should have a better reason for not picking it, but I just had to go with my instincts.  I felt like the Moss theme had kind of a similar look that I liked better also.
@Isaiah: Yours was super-close to winning, but it just felt a bit busy and didn't have the right contrast for me.

@panzyr: I liked it, but I think I would get tired of it too.
@666heidegger: Thanks for all the comments.  Yours was actually really close to winning also, but it felt a tad too busy to me compared to the others.  A lot of cool UI ideas going on there.
@accursedfarmer: Yours was close to winning, but you said you didn't want the game, so that made things easier.  Glad you like the videos!
@danielpotatostove: Same as above.
@Fenric: You were tied with capritsuno for the old school RPG look, but I liked the look of the baldur's gate one a little more.

@centersolace: The readability on yours kind of disqualified it, but I actually enjoy that smooth rounded lit up ergonomic look for actual peripherals as opposed to digital layouts.  Something in this vein could have won if it was made a little more practical.

Edited September 12, 2020 by Ross Scott (see edit history)

[RocketDude]

Whoo, congrats to the winners!

 

"Evil" did not cross my mind when I picked mine. I guess I kinda see it? Are we talking "evil" in a cool way, or in the "bad design" way?

[danielpotatostove]

really appreciate the work you took for this contest, i had fun participating and digging through skins even when i knew i wasnt entering! 

[Fenric]

An enjoyable contest. Some of the skins here have made me want to take an axe to my desktop UI.

[capritsuno]

Congratulations, everyone!

[centersolace]

5 hours ago, Ross Scott said:

@centersolace: The readability on yours kind of disqualified it, but I actually enjoy that smooth rounded lit up ergonomic look for actual peripherals as opposed to digital layouts.  Something in this vein could have won if it was made a little more practical.

 

Yeah, I had a feeling this would be a sticking point. It's definitely a form over function type deal but hey, you said to pick my favorite, and I could tell from just looking at it no one else would pick it.  

 

From a pure practicality standpoint any of the others I linked would be way more usable, but since they were from a different website I just wanted to include them as part of the continuing GUI conversation, since this is something I care about a lot. But the colours were pretty and I'm still a huge fan of that plasticky/early 2000's mp3 player look.

 

15 hours ago, RaTcHeT302 said:

YEAH? WELL I LIKE THE COLOR, ORANGE

 

 

i'm not sure what would count as extreme for me, i've always been a fan of stuff which looks simple and elegant, i'm a fan of simple shapes with lots of colors, this is the type of minimalism which i enjoy the most, i just think it looks really visually pleasing compared to, boring ass, grey boxes

 

if i designed an user interface, it would probably not follow any rules or design patterns at all, it would likely be complete madness xD

 

 

 

Ah! A fellow student of The Designers Republic I see. I can see where you're coming from and I'm a big fan of that Jet Set Radio/Wipeout look too. Minimalism is frequently so boring, with dull colours, and lots of white and black. It's something of my nemesis. But this has such strong visual appeal and I'd like to see it get more popular. 

 

If you like stuff like this I reccomend you check out the Buro Destruct, Karim Rashid, Klaus Mai, Ippei Gyobu, and FontGraphic if you like pixel art. You'll like at least some of those.

[FullBusinessSuit]

On 9/9/2020 at 11:23 PM, randomprecision said:

Pretty nice. I would make a GUI off of this theme, but all the elements needs a little more contrast for me.

 

This looks like something stock windows already offers in terms of color. I think the last time I fired up Windows Media Player was 2007, and I think this is a theme one can choose for that app too; or something very similar.  Maybe except for the hard to read font.

 

I know this one got picked, but it even seems kind of bland. I'd lean towards something unconventional so I get that excited feeling whenever I go to use my computer. :-/

[randomprecision]

4 hours ago, FullBusinessSuit said:

This looks like something stock windows already offers in terms of color. I think the last time I fired up Windows Media Player was 2007, and I think this is a theme one can choose for that app too; or something very similar.  Maybe except for the hard to read font.

 

I know this one got picked, but it even seems kind of bland. I'd lean towards something unconventional so I get that excited feeling whenever I go to use my computer.

Yeah, I agree with that. The reason why I chose it is because a lot of the other submissions had poor readability for the buttons and text, so I went to find a clean look that was readable with a light theme, and I found it.