DKC Atlas Forum

[gamer_boy997]

As I have noticed, we so far have a total of 93 members, but this site has been out for 5 and a half months. In order to get more members, we can do so by advertising this site to the appropriate people, (People who enjoy DKC, people who want to talk about it, etc.), this is the place where we discuss how we can do that. First of all, we can do this by puting this site in to your signature on the appropriate sites. You can think of other ideas and post them here.

[Qyzbud]

This is a good thread to have - thanks for starting it.

Well, I'm going to spend some time tomorrow (or soon, at least) creating a series of pretty little banner/button ads to help spread a bit of DKC Atlas love.

Any further ideas are welcome here... Let the brainstorming begin!

Here's a copy of the DKC Atlas logo in PNG format:

DKC Atlas logo v1 (62% halo opacity)

AtlasLogo_v1.png (43.56 KiB) Viewed 102069 times

[gamer_boy997]

Yeah, you're welcome. I just get really bored since I'm the only one on all the time, but on forums that have been out for a couple years pretty much have at least 10 or so users on every second.

[Jomingo]

Well, here's one thing we could do. There are a lot of forums out there that let you apply for affiliation with them. Then they will add a banner of us to there affiliations page. The problem with that is that we are then supposed to put a banner of them on our site, and I don't know where it would go. Also, I don't know if this would even help any, or if we even want to be affiliated with some of these sites. I think if we do become affiliates with a site, it should be a high quality site with a similar focus as ours. Sites like MundoRare and DKU for instance.

[Kiddy14]

I can use PowerPoint to make some little banners to help Qyz'. The only thing I would need to know would need the size from the banner, what do you want in it, colors, and that stuff.

[Tiptup Jr.]

There are only two other forums on the internet I'm a part of, and they're both Avatar-related. So meh.

HOWEVER, I am currently making a YouTube commercial for the site that is the perfect blend of stupidity and awesomeness. Ohhhhhh Yeeaaaahhhh...

[Simion32]

As for YouTube videos, I wouldn't mind putting a splash screen at the end of my videos in order to advertise DKC Atlas.

Problem is, I'm not an expert at designing logos, so someone else might have to design it. Preferable sizes would be 256x256, 256x224, and 480x360. And of course, in PNG format.

[DK4Ever]

Well, today I changed my signature on SWF (Smash World Forums or Smashboards) to not only include my awesome Diddy sig someone made, but a link to DKC-Atlas, and a "DK Fans click here!" before it.

I'll advertise on other sites, and do more creative things as time goes on, but right now, I'm tired

[Qyzbud]

Here's a banner I just whipped up...

banner1c.png (15.2 KiB) Viewed 102465 times

Ideas and critique are welcome.

[gamer_boy997]

I like that banner Qyzbud. Looks very interesting .

[Jomingo]

I like that banner. It's awesome, even though Diddy looks a little...wierd. I don't know, he just looks off...



Note to anyone making a Youtube Video for the Atlas: Please make sure Qyzbud approves of it before posting it on the Tube.

[DK4Ever]

Wow, that's a great banner.

I could use that to do more advertising on other sites if you'll permit me

[CaptainEddie]

Preatty banner, Qyz. But Diddy does look a little weird...What sprite did you use? Or is it a custom?

[Kiddy14]

[...]even though Diddy looks a little...wierd.

But Diddy does look a little weird...

What do you guys mean? It's just Diddy when hanging from swinging ropes; it may look weird because you usually see it animated =P
See this sprite sheet courtesy of the Spriters Resource.

[Jomingo]

It could be because I'm used to seeing it as a 3D render, and that one looks like a 2 dimensional cartoony image.

[gamer_boy997]

Wow, we got 3 members in one day! This thread seems to be a success. Maybe if we put banners in more places, and think of more ideas for advertising, this forum might end up like the other ones I have been on.

EDIT RIGHT AFTER BUMP: We have now reached 100 members! Let's go for 125 or 150.

[Simion32]

With my updated DKC Hack video (just uploaded yesterday), I mention to go to DKC Atlas instead of just downloading the IPS straight from YouTube. I figure that asking them to go here first would better advertise the site.

[gamer_boy997]

Cool! May I see that video?

[Simion32]

Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owmJpNjFN0E

Regarding semi-off-topicness: I would have PM'd you, but it wouldn't have made sense not to post here.

[gamer_boy997]

Thanks, but didn't you add an exit?

EDIT: I was thinking, "Hey cool, what's in the bonus levels?", but it looks like you didn't work on that either, maybe you can add more to it later?


Qyz says: Please, try to use the appropriate thread (here, in this case) whenever you post.

[Simion32]

No, there is no exit.

We really need to get a YouTube trailer up for the Atlas soon... we've just gotten 100 members, which is a surprise to me. You'd think that DK fans would be flooding the site by now.

I have been noticing a lot more Guests on the forum lately, plus a general influx of activity by registered users (I'm on almost every day, so I notice these things). Imagine how much activity we would have once the Atlas Advertising Campaign becomes more prominent!

[Qyzbud]

I must say, until now I have held off with promoting/advertising because I've felt the Atlas is still in early stages, and not ready to be advertised to the world. I'm realising that it doesn't have to be complete (or close to complete) before raising public awareness; in fact, this is a good opportunity for DKC fans to have early input in shaping the design, content, scope and functionality of DKC Atlas - which can only be a good thing.

I think we're ready for our community to grow.

Any banner/button design submissions and ideas can be posted here. Let's aim to design with these standard dimensions:

Micro bar (88 x 31) for use as 'affiliates' links, subtle signature links, etc.
Half banner (234 x 60) for use in signatures, on personal sites/pages, etc.
Full banner (468 x 60) same as above, but larger and can be more informative

Visual guide:

banner-sizes.png (605 Bytes) Viewed 102295 times

[Kiddy14]

Ahaha now I realize I suck at making banners =P

Perhaps, Qyz do you have the original DKC Atlas logo. Without the clouds or without the trees? I would just rip them but seems that there's transparency in the yellow... umm.. circle thingy and it ends not looking good.

[gamer_boy997]

There is also the basic way: Tell your friends about it, so they can go on. However, none of my friends are DKC fans, some of them probably don't even know what DKC is, so I'm afraid I can't play a role for this part.

[Kowbrainz]

For affiliates: An email to paul AT spiralmountain.co.uk OR luke AT spiralmountain.co.uk, and I'm sure you'll get one with us. You'd need to get him a 40x90 button (animated if possible, slightly smaller like the example you posted above is okay); you can use this one and reupload it if you like: http://www.projectplumber.com/Layout/SpiralMountain.gif

SM had a large boost in member activity due to advertising on youtube, so if you get the DKC-atlas account a little more active with glitch videos, speed runs, showcases of maps, video walkthroughs etc, then I'm sure that would give the forums a bit of a boost, provided you keep the site URL in each video since some subscribers don't bother to read video descriptions or profile information. (to this day people still ask on the SM youtube account whether we're male or female, what our favourite games are, what our views are on X etc etc etc). Advertising videos on their own aren't very effective unless you have an already-established fanbase; it's best to start off with glitch and trick videos/compilations in my opinion.

Edit: Banner is now my sig at SM... albeit resized a little.

[gamer_boy997]

I'm surprised hardly anyone is posting here, it's like no one wants this site to have a big population.

[Kiddy14]

[...]it's like no one wants this site to have a big population.

I don't think so. I told my friends in YouTube and deviantArt about the site but non of them seem to be interested; so I didn't say anything in the thread. Besides you can help too.

Also, I have the banner idea in my head (and I made one with the cloud background but it didn't look good) but I'm still waiting for the clean-fresh DKC Atlas logo (maybe I should PM Qyz ).

[Qyzbud]

Banner is now my sig at SM... albeit resized a little.

Thanks for helping with promotion. You may have to fix the link, though; it's currently this: http://www.spiralmountain.co.uk/www.dkc-atlas.com

Good suggestions about affiliation and YouTube promotion, too; I'll be sure to follow those options up.

Kiddy, check my first post (the 2nd post of this topic) for a transparency-enabled DKC Atlas logo that you can work with.

[Kowbrainz]

^ not sure what you're talking about there; it works for me at the moment. There is a possibility for a mess up with the coding, since that sort of thing happens from time to time with links over there.

I can tell you now though, if you're able to create a few walkthroughs for the game which showcase some nice skills and as little mistakes as possible, then you'll be sure to get people interested; SM's youtube account has gained a couple hundred subscribers through this alone, and many of those viewers will end up joining at some point after subscribing. You can show off some of the game's glitches within the walkthrough videos at the same time, or even add commentary; a lot of viewers seem to like viewing more if there's some live commentary involved, you don't need to be too funny with it either.

[Qyzbud]

Ah yes, the link's just fine now.

I'd quite like to do some gameplay vids with a bit of commentary. I don't know if anybody else would like the sound of my voice as much as I do, but perhaps the Aussie accent would be worth a laugh.

[Kowbrainz]

^ lol, yeah... I tried recording a run of BK with commentary once, but got really put off while editting. I guess I'm used to the british and american accents I hear so often on TV or youtube.

Good to know, though. It's also good to see you've found a bit more time for site updates these days; that's always a good sign.

[Stone]

Gameplay videos with commentary would be awesome. Maybe a commenting duo would make it even more vivid.

[Qyzbud]

Yeah, having a second commentator would really liven things up. Not quite sure how we could coordinate such a thing, but would anyone be at all interested in lending their voice to such a project? I think it'd be a lot of fun, so I'm in.

[Jomingo]

It shouldn't be too hard to coordinate. I don't really understand any of this technical stuff, but it would seem that you would just make the video first, and then add the voices over as a background sound effect or something. I mean, if the DKU can get however many people to have a conversation in real time once a month for there podcast, we can do this.

I really, really would love to be the second commentator, but I have no microphone or other means of communication, nor would I really know how to use it. Besides, my internet is probably too slow to do it anyway, and I probably wouldn't even know what I'm talking about.

It seems the universe doesn't want me to do it.

[Kowbrainz]

^^ I remember a while back, Tompa posted some vids of him playing through the game with commentary. Looked as though he prerecorded a run, sent it to some other people, then recorded their conversation using skype or something, then editting the clips together.

[gamer_boy997]

Well, we just hit 127 members, but only 30-40 of them are active, . Don't worry though, the more members we have, the more quicker we get members, since we have more people to tell others about the site. In about 8 1/2 months we got 127 members, let's go for 150 members by the end of the year!

[Swing King]

Well over at the Mariology Forums I tried to talk a little bit about DKC, I planned to advertise it there but I realized there are 2 problems with that:
1.Out of the 20 users there, about 5 of them are really active.
2.Only a few of them care for DKC.

[gamer_boy997]

1.Out of the 20 users there...

Only 20 users? How new is that site?

EDIT AFTER BUMPING: One of the main reasons I made this topic was because hardly anyone is on, I just sit there bored, waiting for someone to post, and for the last couple days we have only been getting about 3 or 4 posts per day . I'm very interested in this site... but there are hardly any posts in this site . If we get more members, then one of the missing pieces is complete! The other pieces are for the dkc-atlas site itself, by getting all the major work done, then the finishing touches, and the site will be a complete puzzle!

[gamer_boy997]

Okay, sorry for the bumping, but since it has been over 24 hours since the last bump, I decided to start another post.

For this post, I will list a few things so far that we can do:

1. Make a video with some advertisment of this site, have Qyzbud approve it, then post it on the internet.
2. Change your siggy in other forums to an advertisment for this site, (IF IT IS ALLOWED IN THAT FORUM!).
3. Advertise other gaming sites, and have them advertise us.
4. Simply discuss it with your friends, or somewhere on the internet where it is allowed.

This is some of the stuff we can do now. Sadly, most of the forums I go on, if not all, don't allow advertisments for other sites, and I'm absolutely not someone who makes videos, I might think of something to do though...

[gamer_boy997]

Sorry for the triple post, but good news. I FINALLY made an account on GameFAQs, and I'm able to advertise in my siggy there .

P.S.: We are at 182 members, let's go for 200!

[Simion32]

GameFAQs

So many times have I read that GameFAQs is a place full of immature noobs. Not a good idea.

[Rodent]

I've tried referring a few people I thought would be interested in DKC, but none of them signed up as far as I know. If I can get a userbar sized image, I'd be glad to advertise using that. I think the simple solution would be to try advertise on other DKC/Mario sites. Our community of DKC fans is a limited one, considering it's about a trilogy of ten year old SNES games, so it's gonna be hard for us to ever have a bustling memberlist anyway. I'm pretty comfortable with where we're at right now, because we've got a great group of people which allows us to have nice old conversations, and we're all pretty familiar with each other anyway.