PlutoLighthouse : Project Blog

Version 11's Liva Alpha - Build #24!

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 23:37:00 +0000

Just a quick heads-up - the 24th build of PlutoLighthouse.NET's Version 11 Alpha is up and looks tons better. I made some minor graphical updates to the template/theme of the Portal and a kind of "construction" page is up for the Scrapbook and Portfolio so you can see the new themes.

For all intents and purposes, the Portal is basically done. The only thing left to do is a full, final review of all text on the Portal to make sure there aren't any glaring spelling, grammatical, or other errors and fix 'em if there are.

Here's the link to the Portal, again, and the Small Fixes update as well in case you want to keep-up with the progress. I've also posted links to the two constructions pages for the Scrapbook and Portfolio so I hope you enjoy. :)

Portal (95% Complete)
http://plutolighthouse.net/portal/
Small-Fixes Log (for Build #24)
http://plutolighthouse.net/portal/index.php?page=updates&sub=viewer&postcode=small_fixes_log_-_v11_alpha_24

Scrapbook (Placeholder)
http://scrapbook.plutolighthouse.net/

Portfolio (Placeholder)
http://portfolio.plutolighthouse.net/

-Age

Small Fixes Logs (V11 Alpha Build #23)

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:39:00 +0000

I've decided to keep a small log of all the changes I do as I do them. I didn't think they deserved an entire post each, but at least this way you can keep up with the small changes in my progress. You can catch-wind of new features as they're added here as well. Just check the log for the specific build every so often until a new build is uploaded and a new log released.

Small Fixes Log (Build #23)

If nothing else, this should give you the perfect excuse to test my new comments system. ^_^

-Age

PlutoLighthouse.NET Portal - Version 11 Live Alpha

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:30:00 +0000

I wont apologize for a lack-of-posts, I'm beginning to sound like a broken record - needless to say life has been very busy lately and I've had very little personal and/or posting time to speak of.

That out of the way, I've decided to post what I've done so far in kind of a live "Open Alpha". The Portal is not done, of course, and it still needs a lot of work, but I've redone the entire engine/structure/layout that all sites on the PlutoLighthouse.NET umbrella will run under and this is the first candidate utilizing the new framework. The goal is to keep this "LighthouseNET Framework" for a few years at the least and continuously improve and refine the coding. I'd like it if you could take a look at the PlutoLighthouse.NET Portal (Alpha Build ~~#21~~ ~~#22~~ ~~#23~~ #24) and let me know what you think. What you like/dislike about the whole thing and what works and what doesn't.

NOTICE : The Scrapbook and Portfolio links will not work yet as they are password protected - I will eventually open these up when I know they are secure, but for now they're inacessible.

Certain things I'd like in particular to be looked at are listed below - parts of the site that I'm particularily proud of and I'd like some comments/crit on;

the breadcrumb-like link-trail I've created under the menu
the new, simple menu at the top & bottom of the page
the coding! take a look at my HTML source code - for a website built exclusively from PHP, I'm very proud of how clean the source-code has come out (note : I realize indenting source code makes it easier to read and modify and rest-assured, the PHP source code is very nicely modualized and properly indented - the HTML is output without indents as it's the most effecient means of keeping the code clean)
the HTML itself is 100% compliant to HTML 4.01 specifications and every page validates against the W3's HTML validator - check if the site's HTML validates yourself (you can also check any other page on the portal)
the CSS has also been 100% validated - check the CSS validation
the speed for page loading has been greatly increased due to all the code and design improvements - there may not be much there now, but you should already see a significant different in the speed to load the page

The rest of the pages (Links, for example) as well as the rest of the content for existing pages (the rest of the version history in the About the Website page for example) will be added as they are completed, so look forward to more as time goes on.

Lastly, this entire Portal site was developed using a personally-coded Admin Panel that I created for myself. The Admin Panel obviously can't be shown due to security reasons, but I'll work on getting some screenshots and a walkthrough for what it's capable of in the future. For now that, please let me know what you think about the Portal - I'm excited to finally be making some ground, even if it is at a very slow pace. ^_^

-Age

UPDATE : An incomplete but still functional Links page (and subpages) have been added to the Live Alpha for your viewing pleasure. ^_^

UPDATE2 : The 'Links' page and it's subpages have both been completed now and now appear as they will when the site goes live for real. I've also added to the 'Disclaimer' page and done some minor-tweaks to the 'Home' page and some misc. coding. Let me know what you think. :D

Hallow Man (Powered Up) Redesign

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 03:16:00 +0000

Dear Blog,

Hello again! Sorry I haven't posted in you for a few weeks, I had a run of crazy schedules for a while, but I'm back now (for a bit). I've been working on something in what little spare time I have and I thought I'd show you. I know you're just a web-application, but hopefully you can see the beauty of my work (lol).

Anyway, I've been working on redesigning the Hallow Man character I created a few years back for my MegaMan Powered Up TCG. He was okay before I guess (quite a lot of people seemed to like him), but I think he was a little half-assed as far as his design and artwork goes. Granted, there were a small few other Mega Man fans who noticed his lack-of awesomeness as well, so I had always planned on redoing him anyway - now I finally have! Well, I started redoing him at least.

FirstDraft Hallow Man Powered Up (II)

I'm posting the initial doodle/sketch (above) and then the refined illustration (below). They're both on lined paper, so not exactly professional quality, but they do look kinda cool. I've already started on his full-colour CGed version. I'll post that too once it's done. Hope you like them!

Second Draft Hallow Man Powered Up (II)

-Age

Drill Man Doodle

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 03:42:00 +0000

Dear Blog,

I'm sorry for not posting in you very often. I've been very busy with work and life in general and have had very little time for artwork, posting, or pretty much anything else. I still love you though! I promise! Things will get better once my life gets on track again...

I doodled a picture today, while I was on a call with an annoying customer. It's not that good, but I think it's cute so I'm posting it on you. Hope you like Drill Man! He might not be 100% accurate, but he's still pretty damn adorable! :)

Until next time,
-Age

Artwork Page Previews

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:25:00 +0000

Not much to write, but here are two previews of the artwork list page and the artwork view page. Everything can change at a whim, but this is the basic framework I'm working with. There are still a few more things to add, but basically - this is what it's gonna look like. :) Let me know what you think so far! :D

-Age

Suggestions and Feedback

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 02:45:00 +0000

Alright, so I've clearly already started on V11 of the site, but I'm still not live so things can change on a whim. Now that I think I have the basic framework down and I can start adding "features" and the like. One such feature is one that my boyfriend, DJ, suggested - a "Back" and "Next" button for scrolling through artwork. So that while you're viewing a piece of artwork, you could scroll back or forward to the next one in the list without having to go back an album page or anything. The only reason I didn't do it before was because I hadn't thought of it! I admit I needed to do some abstract thinking in order to come up with a way to implement it (code-wise), and I haven't tested it yet (I'm at work right now), but I think it should prove fairly easy.

Why am I posting about this? Because I want your feedback too. I doubt many people are reading this blog, but to those who are - what suggestions can you give me to make V11 better and more accessible than the current V10?

What kinds of features, options, and ideas would you like to see implimented? What bugs you about the current design? Anything you would add? Remove? Change? To anyone who's reading - please, please leave comments. I want your input to make the PlutoLighthouse the site it deserves to be. :)

-Age

Scrapbook Begins

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 08:17:00 +0000

First, let me start by apologizing for the long delay in updates. I was recently hired by a new employer as a Technical Support Specialist and have had a significant amount of training to deal with. Aside from the insane amount of work involved, it's actually been quite fun. I'm learning more than I have in a long time and most (if not all) of it is relevant to my personal interests, so I'm enjoying it very much. Needless to say, however, it's kept me from my website! All hope is not lost, however, as I've already started working on the Scrapbook section of the website.

The Scrapbook has been taking a considerable amount of time to complete, but I can't say I expected any less. This version of the site aims to make browsing (and uploading) artwork much easier and a lot easier on the eyes. I've tried to make everything both easily accessible and easily understood to any users that may visit the site. Also, after years of avoiding it I finally decided to implement tags into the design. Albums have also taken on a new shape as "collections" - something that'll make sorting things easier for me and more relevant to visitors. A whole lot of extra backend database stuff will be going on too, but I wont go into details about that.

The screenshot attached to this post should give you an rough idea of what's available, but before I post any screens of the actual artwork pages, I want to give them a bit more polish. Until next time, (which hopefully wont be too far away) have a good one! :)

-Age

About/History Complete

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:43:00 +0000

Finally done the About and History pages, or at least have them at a point where I can move onto other things. DJ is going to proof-read them for me as I'm horrible with grammar and writing (as you can tell in my blog, lol) and then I'm going to update them with the revised text. For now though, they server their purpose well. The history page(s) are a little long, but the Pluto Lighthouse has been around for a while...

In other news, this means that aside from the editing - the Portal is complete! :D

Now I can finally start on the other sections - the Portfolio and Scrapbook sections. I haven't yet decided which one to do first, but I'm assuming the Portfolio will be the easiest because it's gonna have far less content than the Scrapbook. Having it done first might also make job-hunting easier, but I don't plan to upload any of the site until it's all done.

Guess we'll see what happens. :)

-Age

Contact Complete

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:30:00 +0000

BlossomMan!

Anyway - I finished the Contact page. Might not seem like much, but it's been a while since I coded any Javascript or SQL and I needed both for this. Looks fairly simple, I know, but at least it's straight-forward now. Before it was confusing as hell and seemed to be more of an "about" page than a contact page.

Anyway, it's now complete (barring any future ideas for it) and that means only two more to go! The About and History pages shouldn't take too long, and then I'll be done the portal section! When I think about it though, the Portal is only like, 10% of the site, so maybe I better not get too excited. >_<

-Age

Disclaimer Complete

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:27:00 +0000

The Disclaimer page isn't very interested - it simply states that all the fanart that I do is simply that - "Fan Art" and does not intend to infringe on any patents etc.

I like the background image I chose for this page though - looks spiffy. Haha.

-Age

Links Complete

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:18:00 +0000

Next up on our list of updates is the Links page. Before, the links page had nothing but text links and generally didn't look very attractive. The other thing was that it was in the main menu as if it was part of the website. While I like the idea of links being easily available, I didn't like them looking like they were part of my content.

And so, now I have a link to the Links page in the footer of the Portal/Root of the Pluto Lighthouse, away from any important content on the Portfolio, Scrapbook, etc.

Now, as you'll see in the image, the links page is a lot more visual than before. Each site has their own button (like always) and they are displayed alongside some splash artwork (Atropos and Zeta Soul Chris). I realize that it's just a link page and every website has one, but I thought mine turned out well so I wanted to post it.

That, and it's complete (minus any future additions) so I'm one-step closer to completing V11 of the site. Yay!

-Age

Portal Complete

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:03:00 +0000

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? It's been a busy week - job interviews and the like so I didn't get as much as I would have like to. I still did get some work done, however, and I'm gonna show it to you.

First and foremost is the Portal page again. Looks pretty much identical except for the fact that I made the banner more plain than before. This was actually the plan all along - I want the portal to very neutral while the rest of the site each has it's own theme. Other than that, however, the Portal has remained unchanged. I'd say this means that - aside from any minor tweaks in the future - the Portal is complete!

You can view it full-size by clicking on the image. :)

-Age

Tables and CSS

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:33:00 +0000

I am so tired. Last night I finally got on a roll with my website coding and I ended up staying up until almost 6am before I realized I needed sleep. It doesn't look like much from the screenshot (left), but it took me a lot of work to get that page to look like that.

I read on countless forums, websites, and I'm pretty sure I read it somewhere on that W3Schools site too - tables are bad. Or something like that. This site goes as far as saying tables for layout is "stupid". Luckily, later in the article they also noted that tables are actually okay to use once in a while - you're just not supposed to use so damn much of them (something my old layouts were notorious for).

And so, as you'd guess - I gave in and used a table. Getting CSS to display 3 inline columns correctly takes for more coding, effort, and time than using a simple table and if it's less efficient to use CSS - doesn't that defeat the purpose? So I used one table in my entire layout (for the three-column look with the black padding on the sides of the page) and the rest is CSS, something I'm kind of proud of (^_^).

That out of the way, the first actual "page" I finished was the Portal - the hub of all sites under the Pluto Lighthouse name (it's the one in the screenshot above). It's a nice, simple page with some nice buttons and whatnot and serves a very simple purpose. The reason this page is a big deal, however, is that it allowed me to not only set up the framework for the layout, but also to get all the CSS coding out of the way. The main coding anyway - fonts, headers, links, and other behaviors are now all hard-coded into the website (making it much easier later).

Lastly, I thought I'd share an interesting techniques that I learned from the site I mentioned above that hates tables. The site suggested that a list of links (for example, in any kind of navigation bar) is exactly that - a list. So instead of having those links just being text formatted in a certain way, use an actual HTML list for any kind of navigation. There are slight problems with this, obviously. Not everyone wants their link menu to be bulleted, and not everyone wants them to be vertically stacked. That's okay - CSS can help, lol. I'm not going to thoroughly give an example here as I wouldn't say I'm at all qualified, but not only can the bullets be removed with CSS - you can also make the list horizontal at will. Code/examples are found on that same site that I linked to twice earlier on this page.

Anyway, that's enough for one post and I'll post again as soon as I have some more progress made. Thanks for reading!

-Age

Colour Schemes & Updates

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 07:01:00 +0000

Today I didn't do any huge updates, but I think I finally decided on a look/feel for the new PlutoLighthouse V11.0. I found a site called ColorSchemer to get some ideas and I came across this little gem of a colour scheme (below).

I came across a few other colours schemes, but they didn't have the right feeling/look that I wanted. And so, what you see there should be the final colour scheme once the new site is launched.

You'll also notice that (looking around) the blog has undergone some changes as well. In order to get comfortable with the new theme (and continue preparing for the new site) I decided I'd fit this blog with the new theme and see how it looked. After some tweaks in the layout and such, I think it turned out pretty well.

Also notice the slideshow on the right of the page - I'm not sure if I'll keep it forever as I'd prefer it to randomize the images, but for right now it looks pretty good. ^_^

Well, that's all for today! Let me know what you think of the new colours and such, I plan to use them for the rest of the site as well.

-Age

PlutoLighthouse.net V11.0

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 06:31:00 +0000

Normally, I like to keep things completely to myself when I'm planning a new update to my website. I work this way not-just with my own site, but with any other sites I work on. I don't like creating unreal expectations of release dates and the like, so keeping plans to myself has served me well up until now.

At this point, I'm redesigning my site from the ground up and besides the obvious addition of new content and ideas, I've also decided to change the exact fate of this blog as well. Not to get into too much detail at this early point in development, but the main site will soon be branched into three very separate sub-sites - one of which is this blog. I plan to slowly change this blog into a "Project Blog" of sorts - updating the world wide web of my current projects and their status as well as (hopefully) getting early feedback from my viewers (if there are any, lol). This initial post will hopefully be the first of many in an attempt to ease myself into the blogging-side of the web - something that will be crucial to the future success of this blog.

And so, while this particular post shall remain relatively short, I just wanted to put it out there that a version 11 is being created and it should be better than ever! I will have more details soon, so please check back again! Maybe next time some of you will be able to give me suggestions for planned features? :)

-Age

BubbleMan Powered Up

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:49:00 +0000

Post Date : July 11th 2008 @ 12:28AM
Album : MegaManClassic
Medium(s) : FlashMX

Wow, this took a while. Might not seem like it, being posted so soon after NumberMan Powered Up, but this really did take a long time. I worked on NumberMan casually throughout a single day - this one I worked on non-stop for hours spread out over three days.

That being said - I really like how it (finally) turned out. And I don't just say that because it took a long time to CG - I've had this drawn for quite a while now - maybe over a year? It's just now that I finally felt I could CG it and despite a few...falters...I think I did okay for myself. :D

Overall, I think he's super cute and I'm glad I finally got him out of the way because I knew he'd be a challenge. Not quite sure why, but I wasn't looking forward to him. He's got a strange angle and I wish I would have picked a better pose while drawing, but that's how it goes.

As far as CGing goes, there are a few things to be said. Shading and all that jazz is pretty standard Ageman-quality stuff here - not great, but also not bad. Lineart, however, was a little bit strange for this one. I tried using the same method I did for NumberMan, but had to slightly tweak it. This actually made things much more difficult than normal. The fact that there are a lot more lines [than NumberMan] didn't help, but I managed. The other thing about the lineart is that this time I didn't use the same outline-matches-fill approach that I did for NumberMan and kept with the single-colour dark green.

I think it turned out fairly well but if I'm going to be honest, I still feel I have a long way to go before I reach official-art quality.

Oh, by the way - this [Flash] file used a LOT of layers. This made it easier for some things (like rearranging body parts) and extremely difficult and time-consuming for others. Lol. I'll probably refine the process by the next Powered Up.

As far as design is concerned, he's okay. Cute even. I took a lot of liberties, as always, and some I'm more happy with than others. The proportions were a big one, being Powered Up and all, but also the size (and shape) of his head. I wanted to present him as a playful, baby-like robot and I think the big head helps. Haha. The eye lids also gave me a lot of trouble - having to redo them several times - but the final result serves it's purpose, I think. :D

(On the first attempt at his eyes, he looked very high...not something I wanted in the final but I did find it rather amusing...maybe I should post it too?).

On an end-note, I'd like to apologize for the long description, but I've decided to take a blog-like-approach to all my descriptions from now on (seeings as they eventually make their way to my new blog anyway). :D That, and it's nice to be able to go back to these in a few years and really have an idea what was going on with the piece.

Anyway, thanks for taking a look and let me know what you think in the comments! :P

-Age

Powered Up Roundup

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:58:00 +0000

Alright, so all of these posts have just been posted to this blog, and one of which is totally new, so I thought I'd do a Powered Up Roundup, so you could see all of my MegaMan Powered Up pieces together and gander at the newest NumberMan.exe! If you want full views of any of the images, just click on 'em. :D Hope you guys liked this first (huge) batch of art!

MegaMan Powered Up kicks ass. Lol. You remember that. Oh, and sorry for the huge post. :)

-Age

Testing the photo posting...Pichu love!

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:13:00 +0000

This is just a test to see if I can make this a photo blog too. Hope it works! This is a picture of my toy Pichu. Probably the cutest and best gift Ender ever gave me...lol. At least emotionally, lol...holds a special place in my heart. :)

Anyway, Pichu!

-Age
______________
Adrian Marceau
http://www.plutolighthouse.net

Adrian Starts A Blog. Finally.

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 08:35:00 +0000

So I guess this is my first post. Nothing fancy, actually. I barely have anything to say for this post, I'm just trying to get used to the place...make it look a little more like...my own. So yeah, this is pretty much just a "hello world" post and I'll make more (important) posts in the future. Can't wait to talk to you all in internet-land!

-Age

NumberMan Powered Up

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 06:40:00 +0000

Post Date : July 5th 2008 @ 11:40PM
Album : MegaManClassic
Medium(s) : FlashMX

Been a while since I did any Powered Up conversions! Lol. Not as long as my last lull, but still.

What are we looking at? Well, this is another piece in my line of art in the style of Capcom's "MegaMan Powered Up". I am more fond of that game than I think anyone knows. Lol. Anyway - this Powered Up is not of an existing Robot Master. This is actually a NetNavi-to-RobotMaster conversion like SharkMan Powered Up. And like SharkMan Powered Up, I took quite a few liberties with this design. Only keeping the colour-scheme and dice from the original (whereas CosmoMan Powered Up was pretty much a direct copy of his Navi form...just chibi).

Why NumberMan? I think he is one of the coolest original Navis in the EXE/Battle Network series. I even kinda liked him in the anime...don't know why though. Haha. But yeah, he was pretty cool so I decided to use him as a base.

Obviously his hands-as-mits might look a bit lazy, it probably was at the time, actually. I actually drew this a while ago...maybe 1 or 2 years ago? I just didn't colour it until now, and even though I didn't change the mits, I did change a lot of other things from the original pencil. If I did him again I'd give him classic NumberMan.exe hands, but for now the mits'll do.

As far as everything else goes, I actually think this one turned out well. I tried something new with the linework and hopefully it comes across as well as I hoped it would. Let me know what you think so I can adjust for future efforts.

So yeah, overall, I really like it. :D

-Age

FlashMan Powered Up

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 04:23:00 +0000

Post Date : September 26th 2007 @ 08:23PM
Album : MegaManClassic
Medium(s) : FlashMX

Continuing with the Powered Up conversions, I decided to do FlashMan Powered Up! and now I'm almost done with all the robots from MegaMan 2!

FlashMan, I think, has one of the best poses of the series and certainly kicks some major butt as far as linework and colouring goes. I love him.

*glomp*

Looking back on it a day later, I can see that I went a little overboard with the thick-lines. I'll try and correct that in my new Powered Up!

-Age

CrashMan Powered Up

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 16:15:00 +0000

Post Date : September 25th 2007 @ 08:15AM
Album : MegaManClassic
Medium(s) : FlashMX

While the card game may not be in production anymore, I still love drawing Powered Up characters, and thus, I decided to CG this one.

CrashMan I actually found in my sketchbook from last year, it seems I did a few really awesome Powered Up robots but never CGed them. So here he is - my favorite of the doodles!

Don't you love how crazy he looks? And, and we can't forget how adorable. At least I like to think so anyway...

The lines are tight and the colouring is crisp. What more could we ask? Haha, just kidding. What do you like/dislike about this piece?

-Age

ProtoMan Powered Up

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 19:29:00 +0000

Post Date : December 3rd 2006 @ 11:29AM
Album : MegaManClassic
Medium(s) : FlashMX

Official artwork for ProtoMan in his Powered Up state is very rare - and when you do find it - it is VERY small and in screenshot form. I needed ProtoMan Powered Up art as I am sure many other people do as well - so I made it by tracing over the official artwork and re-colouring it. It turned out very very well.

Again, this a tracing (of sorts) official artwork - all credit goes to Capcom for the original. :D

-Age

QuickMan Powered Up (V2)

adrian.marceau@gmail.com (Ageman20XX) — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 19:26:00 +0000

Post Date : November 29th 2006 @ 11:26AM
Album : MegaManClassic
Medium(s) : FlashMX

The original QuickMan Powered Up that I made kind of had a problem with the feet as well as the fact that he was not exactly in an interesting position. Anyway - here is a much nicer and way cooler version of QuickMan Powered Up. He looks much better like this but I still need to redo him in the exact style of Powered Up (with the thick lines etc.)

-Age