dirk: Change Is Coming (to Simtropolis) Version 6.0!

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

Please discuss, pontificate and generally speculate matters concerning the Simtropolis Banner here.

[Cockatoo 2,257]

If there is a god, I think it's probably Dirk. The dude works in mysterious ways... we hear little of him in the forums but you can't help but get the feeling that he's always watching what's going on.

There's got to be some reason for him changing the banner, maybe he's trying to hint at something... we can only guess.

[masochist 111]

My guess is that we'll see v. 6.0 before the year is out

[Hamish 1,370]

Thats what I was thinking, now that the beta testing link has gone from the bottom of every page. And Dirk did say that he had something big planned for the Simtropolis community.

Either that or the banner really needs a change.

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

Originally posted by: Cockatoo-210893 If there is a god, I think it's probably Dirk. The dude works in mysterious ways... we hear little of him in the forums but you can't help but get the feeling that he's always watching what's going on.

There's got to be some reason for him changing the banner, maybe he's trying to hint at something... we can only guess.quote>

 

Oh he is watching...  always watching, and even when he is not watching his watchers are watching and when they are not watching...   

My guess is that we'll see v. 6.0 before the year is out quote>

Now that is a pleasant thought...  indeed it is.

[Yeah_Right 2]

maybe he joined the dark side.

or dirk side?

or dark as in grey?

...

[Haljackey 17,385]

Originally posted by: hamish ...Dirk did say that he had something big planned for the Simtropolis community.

quote>

Really?  I haven't heard about that.  Would you be able to provide a link to where he said that?  I'd like to give it a read.  Thanks!

Best,

-Haljackey

[purpledaddy 6]

I could have sworn that Dirk said that as part of plans for the next year when the 2007 Trixies were announced. But for the life of me I can't find it to verify.

[Kevin 101]

I couldn't tell you where I saw it, but dirk said at the end of last year that ST 6.0 would be coming in 2008. Haven't heard anything since... so who knows

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

The ways of the dirkside are mysterious indeed. 

[Micah 16]

Wow! Cheese, I was just about to post that! Creepy... well, anyway, I came here to post that and to ask why the banner changed to grey? Is it to signal the end of 5.0?

Anyway, cheese is right. After the 07 Trixies, Dirk said something along the lines of we should be expecting something big in 08. He didn't say 6.0 was coming, but I think that's what most of us concluded that he meant.

[BlondeTwiggy 43]

wow, ST 6.0? That would be really exciting. I'm kind of attached to this one though. :/

I guess we'll just have to wait and see. ]

[purpledaddy 6]

One of the earlier versions was gray right?

[simmaster07 1,221]

I've been eying the footer of ST ever since it said ST 6.0b (b = beta fyi ) Dirk, if the gray banner means the end of ST 5.0, then I love the idea for it!

[Explodingsims 3]

6.0 might be on its way?

Sweet.

Although having the banner go grey and fuzzy seems like an odd way to ring it in.

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

Hmm...  I wonder if I should rename this thread the ST wild speculation thread....?

[purpledaddy 6]

...or the Wonder What The Dirktator Will Come Up With Next! thread!

[Kevin 101]

Found what I was talking about:

(originally posted by dirk)

The Original Simtropolis v.1 was powered by EZBoard believe it or not -- for a very short time, then for Simtropolis v1.5 we used ASPNuke Forum and then we moved to IdealBB ASP version.  We were with Idealbb for the longest time (from ST v.2 - v.4) but performance became a real big problem and I was frustrated with the slow bug-fixes and releases.  ST v.5 we migrated everything over to FuseTalk which has been heavily modified, and further modified and fixed with ST v.6 which is coming in... 2008.  quote>

Its in this thread: https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=32&threadid=96883&enterthread=y

[Hamish 1,370]

^^^ There you go, I wasn't making it up.

[kj3400 178]

Awesome, are we carrying on again?

I'm going to sound really stupid for having been here a year, but what is upgrading ST to v6.0 going to mean? I know ST will be better, but how?

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: purpledaddy One of the earlier versions was gray right?quote>

V2 (which was slightly before my time) was. V3 adopted a lot of black. V4 went back to a lighter look which I would describe more as silver than gray. V5... well, this is V5. You know what it looks like.

Here's a few screenshots for comparison:

V3 (Mar '03 - Nov '04):

homepage

forum

V4 (Nov '04 - Mar '06):

homepage {screenshot by dev}

forum

V5 (Mar '06 - ):

homepage

forum

If anyone's got a screenshot of V2 or V1 lying around, do contribute. I don't have any!

[Kevin 101]

Always was a fan of 4.0...

3.0 reminds me of 5.0

[Joesocwork 4]

Originally posted by: kj3400 Awesome, are we carrying on again?

I'm going to sound really stupid for having been here a year, but what is upgrading ST to v6.0 going to mean? I know ST will be better, but how?quote>

 

I think that is a fair question.  It's a given that Dirk is going to go with what is best with whatever given resources are available regardless.   I personally would not have any clue what would be in store for the site in terms of style.  But there are subtle little tweaks in site operation that I'm sure that he and we the staff would love to see made in the next version, resources willing.  

[masochist 111]

Originally posted by: Duke87 If anyone's got a screenshot of V2 or V1 lying around, do contribute. I don't have any!quote>

Doing a bit of searching in that thread Cheese89 pointed out, there's a link to an archive site that has plenty of screenshots of the old ST's.  [Here's the site]; take your pick .

<EDIT> Upon further inspection, I don't think there's a link to the very first ST, instead starting only at 2.0 (after ST moved from the SimGolf site)...unless I'm mistaken...

[Wrightguy0 40]

I like the overall look of 3.0

[Boggy1 45]

Oh gosh, ST V4.0. I loved that. I really grew up on that look (was only with V3.0 for a few months). I loved how the banner changed with the seasons, and just how clean and pretty the site looked. Silvery/grey colours = awesome. V5.0 has too much blue for my liking

[Zelgadis 638]

Personally, I kind of doubt that v6.0 is going to be out before the end of the year. Anyone who remembers some of the past switchovers, like v4.0 to v5.0, will remember that the site was out for weeks while the changeover occurred. Trixies first, I reckon. Perhaps there'll be a switch sometime around the beginning of the year?

ISF

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: masochist

Originally posted by: Duke87 If anyone's got a screenshot of V2 or V1 lying around, do contribute. I don't have any!quote>

Doing a bit of searching in that thread Cheese89 pointed out, there's a link to an archive site that has plenty of screenshots of the old ST's.  [Here's the site]; take your pick .

<EDIT> Upon further inspection, I don't think there's a link to the very first ST, instead starting only at 2.0 (after ST moved from the SimGolf site)...unless I'm mistaken...quote>

Been aware of the wayback machine for quite a while. Problem is, it doesn't actually archive screenshots of the site, or files from the site, just the coding. The old images which made up the graphics for the old versions of the site are no longer present on the server, so when viewing it through the wayback machine, it doesn't look like it actually did. Look at either of the February '03 links. Notice how none of the images load. So that method doesn't quite work. You'd need a screenshot actually taken by someone in February of 2003 to get what it really looked like.

And as for why V1 isn't there, it's because the simtropolis.com domain name was not in use until V2. V1 didn't have its own domain. It was hosted on, as you said, the SimGolf site.

[BarbulaM1 38]

Oh v3 brings back so many memories! I have always been quite fond of the design and its overall apperance. But as for the banner, our dirktator is more mysterious than God himself (or he simply is God and others are just copying), it will be very interesting and exciting to see what comes out of the next iteration of our beloved site from God/Dirk. What if the grayscale banner is not v6? Something to contemplate even further

[Craig-Abcvs 1,595]

Wow!  I knew that ST has been around for a while, but I had no idea it had gone through so many different looks.

I got the 3.0 screen to load on way back...  - the images turned up eventually, you just have to be patient.

One of the most facinating things was to see who was online that day...  there are one or two names that I recognise!