OverClocked ReMix Design ?'s and Issues

[Magnetic Ether]

Kind of a small issue, but I find the main/lyrics/download tabs on the remix pages rather annoying.

This is mostly because there is no way to open each one in a new window/tab; attempting to do so results in a blank page.

Often times I will be listening to the youtube preview and then decide I want to follow along with the lyrics or download the track, however clicking on either of those tabs cuts off the preview, meaning I have to open another identical page before I click on them.

I know that the way the pages are set up right now would make it rather difficult to change, but it would be really nice to have the option of opening these in a new browser window or tab.

(I know this isn't a priority, and it definitely shouldn't be, but I just thought I'd mention it since it has been bothering me for a while ).

[Ethan Rex]

I too have noticed this and have been mildly annoyed by it.

Nothing to add otherwise other than being another person who noticed it.

[Melbu Frahma]

Yeah, this has been bugging me for a while too, although not really overmuch. I've honestly just taken to opening new track's pages twice if I see an artist I don't know/know has doing vocal tracks in the past, and just killing the extra tab if there's no lyrics.

[djpretzel]

Fixed in v6 - the right column persists on both the lyrics and download pages, and the youtube will remain playing if you switch between the three.

[Eino Keskitalo]

That sounds goooood.

--Eino

[Unununium]

Works in Chrome 21.0.1180.89 m, but still not Aurora nor MSIE. I just checked.

[Unununium]

The post format widgets (e.g. bold button, smilies) are misbehaving in Firefox (Aurora 17.0a2 (2012-09-12)). They worked fine the last time I checked (a few months ago). They do nothing when clicked, and the <textarea> appears unformatted using a fixed-width font. Did something change on the site, or is this a regression in the browser?

The behavior in Chrome 21.0.1180.89 m is better but still not optimal. The <textarea> is unformatted, but the buttons work; they do so by inserting the markup (e.g. [ B ] sans spaces) directly in the displayed text. Chrome users, is it the same for you?

Everything works fine in MSIE 9.0.8112.16421.

[Magnetic Ether]

Lol, now it just needs to actually come out .

[Unununium]

Now it works again in Firefox (Aurora 17.0a2 (2012-09-15)) as well as Chrome, but still not MSIE. Wonder what changed...

[Unununium]

Sorry for bothering everyone with this. I figured out the problem. I forgot that I had configured my browser to spoof the user agent string to be Opera, and that apparently caused the forum servers to send the wrong post format scripts, or to not send them at all. Restoring the default user agent fixes everything in Firefox.

[Gollgagh]

You are just figuring out how to break everything, aren't you? heh

[Polo]

Is Metal Monkey from Secret of Monkey Island (the mix page and review thread's 1st post say so) or Escape from Monkey Island (like the review thread's overt title and the file name in the latest torrent)? I see the latter in OCR's database, but no listed mixes.

[Liontamer]

Is Metal Monkey from Secret of Monkey Island (the mix page and review thread's 1st post say so) or Escape from Monkey Island (like the review thread's overt title and the file name in the latest torrent)? I see the latter in OCR's database, but no listed mixes.

If you read Ryan's sub letter in the judging decision, it's representing Escape. There are a handful of game reassignments we still need to make live on the site to reflect corrections I've made for the torrents, but we'll get everything updated soon.

[KyleJCrb]

Isn't the source in both games regardless?

[Liontamer]

Isn't the source in both games regardless?

Yep. However, game assignment can only go to one game; when I know which specific game inspired the ReMixer, I use that.

[Dafydd]

What about ReMixes from games that have been released on several consoles? For example, http://ocremix.org/game/624/fallout-3-xb360 lists no remixes, but http://ocremix.org/game/623/fallout-3-ps3 and http://ocremix.org/game/622/fallout-3-win do. Is this just an oversight?

You say game assignment can only go to one game, and in the case of the only Fallout 3 ReMix on the site (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02077/), it's assigned to the PS3 version, but apparently, 2 games (database-wise), both the Windows and the PS3 versions of Fallout 3 list ORC02077 as being ReMixes of them (which totally makes sense other than that the Xbox version doesn't list that same ReMix). So what's stopping both Escape and Secret from listing OCR00670 (even if the ReMix itself only lists Escape)? There are several ReMixes that use sources from several different games and only list one game, but the game pages themselves all list that same ReMix (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02496/ being one example).

EDIT: I noticed the Windows version's list of songs refers to songs actually listed as being songs from the PS3 soundtrack. I am assuming, therefore, that the reason that the Xbox version doesn't list the ReMix is because it doesn't list the songs, either (which it should). Unless the song ReMixed in OCR00670 is identically the same in both the Monkey Island games, it wouldn't make sense to have either game refer to a song that's listed as being part of the other game, or you'd have to crosscheck every time a ReMix is posted whether the song it is a ReMix of exists in another game (take the Zelda overworld theme. Good lord). So... I guess it makes sense to do things the way you're doing them now (besides OCR02077 not being listed under the Xbox version of the game, that is, but again, I'm guessing that's just an oversight).

Edited October 23, 2012 by Dafydd

[Eino Keskitalo]

The following games are listed as Windows games, despite being (first) released for MS-DOS:

DOOM: http://ocremix.org/game/110/doom-win

Released in 1993 for DOS as per http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/doom and to Windows only in 1995 as per http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/doom

Star Control 2: http://ocremix.org/game/351/star-control-ii-win

Released in 1992 for DOS as per http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/star-control-ii - there's no Windows release at all for the original SC2 (contra the open-source Ur-Quan Masters).

7th Guest: http://ocremix.org/game/26/7th-guest-win

Released in 1993 for DOS as per http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/7th-guest and to Windows only in 1997 as per http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/7th-guest

Legend of Kyrandia: http://ocremix.org/game/342/legend-of-kyrandia-win

Released in 1992 for DOS as per http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/legend-of-kyrandia and to Windows (3.x) in 1993 as per http://www.mobygames.com/game/win3x/legend-of-kyrandia 2012 edit: the latter has actually disappeared from MobyGames (the link goes to the Amiga release) Wikipedia doesn't list a Windows release.

Doom 2: http://ocremix.org/game/111/doom-ii-hell-on-earth-win

1994 for DOS: http://www.mobygames.com/game/doom-ii_

1995 for Windows: http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/doom-ii_

2012 edit: working links. I also notice that the 1995 Window release data (GT Interactive as a publisher) looks correct on OCR, it's just that the 1994 DOS release was the first one.

Highway Hunter: http://ocremix.org/game/503/highway-hunter-win

Only a DOS release in 1995: http://www.mobygames.com/game/highway-hunter

King's Quest V: http://ocremix.org/game/294/kings-quest-v-absence-makes-the-heart-go-yonder-win

DOS looks like the earliest release platform (1990): http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/kings-quest-v-absence-makes-the-heart-go-yonder

Win (3.x) in 1992: http://www.mobygames.com/game/win3x/kings-quest-v-absence-makes-the-heart-go-yonder

Mechwarrior 2: http://ocremix.org/game/278/mechwarrior-2-31st-century-combat-win

DOS release predates the Windows release by a few months: http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/mechwarrior-2-31st-century-combat vs http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/mechwarrior-2-31st-century-combat

Command & Conquer: http://ocremix.org/game/76/command-and-conquer-win

According to Wikipedia, it was first released for MS-DOS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_%26_Conquer_(video_game) (MobyGames only listed 1995 for both)

--Eino

Bumping after 2+ years. edit: Links checked and fixed.

--Eino

Edited October 23, 2012 by evktalo
fix links

[quintin3265]

I thought that some people here might be interested in an easy way to post remixes and track changes to them. I created a new feature that would allow anyone to embed a remix in this forum, should the admins choose to make a simple 30-second change.

You can see a sample of how it works at http://www.shoemakervillage.org/grdemo.html. When some BBcode is inserted, a song box like those displayed in the linked page appears. Clicking inside the boxes plays the songs, displays the user's profile picture, and provides a link to download the lossless or 24-bit version (if the user has uploaded one). Statistics, like song views, are tracked as usual.

These boxes are always updated to the latest version of the song, so if the user creates a new version, it automatically updates to the latest version. Older versions are still available by clicking on the "download" link, of course. I tested this in Firefox 16, Chrome 23, Internet Explorer 10, and the Android browser.

It does not require Flash, so it works on iPhones as well.

The code to add a song listening box would go something like: [gameremix-song]3223[/gameremix-song], where the parameter in the middle is the "song number," which is displayed on the user's profile page.

The manual on where in the control panel the custom code feature is is located here: https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/bbcode_add.

All you have to do is type "gameremix-song" in the "Tag" field, and in the "replacement" field, put:

<iframe src="http://gameremixes.com/song/embed/number/{param}"  width="445" height="155" seamless="seamless" frameborder="0"  scrolling="no"> 
</iframe>

Feel free to offer comments. If people use this feature, I can also make a [gameremix-album] or [gameremix-compo] tag. If no admins see this, I'll try posting in a different forum.

[SonicThHedgog]

I thought that some people here might be interested in an easy way to post remixes and track changes to them. I created a new feature that would allow anyone to embed a remix in this forum, should the admins choose to make a simple 30-second change.

You can see a sample of how it works at http://www.shoemakervillage.org/grdemo.html. When some BBcode is inserted, a song box like those displayed in the linked page appears. Clicking inside the boxes plays the songs, displays the user's profile picture, and provides a link to download the lossless or 24-bit version (if the user has uploaded one). Statistics, like song views, are tracked as usual.

These boxes are always updated to the latest version of the song, so if the user creates a new version, it automatically updates to the latest version. Older versions are still available by clicking on the "download" link, of course. I tested this in Firefox 16, Chrome 23, Internet Explorer 10, and the Android browser.

It does not require Flash, so it works on iPhones as well.

The code to add a song listening box would go something like: [gameremix-song]3223[/gameremix-song], where the parameter in the middle is the "song number," which is displayed on the user's profile page.

The manual on where in the control panel the custom code feature is is located here: https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/bbcode_add.

All you have to do is type "gameremix-song" in the "Tag" field, and in the "replacement" field, put:

<iframe src="http://gameremixes.com/song/embed/number/{param}"  width="445" height="155" seamless="seamless" frameborder="0"  scrolling="no"> 
</iframe>

Feel free to offer comments. If people use this feature, I can also make a [gameremix-album] or [gameremix-compo] tag. If no admins see this, I'll try posting in a different forum.

I like this Idea a lot, but I'm not sure if they would easily add this feature to the website yet

[Anorax]

I thought that some people here might be interested in an easy way to post remixes and track changes to them. I created a new feature that would allow anyone to embed a remix in this forum, should the admins choose to make a simple 30-second change.

You can see a sample of how it works at http://www.shoemakervillage.org/grdemo.html. When some BBcode is inserted, a song box like those displayed in the linked page appears. Clicking inside the boxes plays the songs, displays the user's profile picture, and provides a link to download the lossless or 24-bit version (if the user has uploaded one). Statistics, like song views, are tracked as usual.

These boxes are always updated to the latest version of the song, so if the user creates a new version, it automatically updates to the latest version. Older versions are still available by clicking on the "download" link, of course. I tested this in Firefox 16, Chrome 23, Internet Explorer 10, and the Android browser.

It does not require Flash, so it works on iPhones as well.

The code to add a song listening box would go something like: [gameremix-song]3223[/gameremix-song], where the parameter in the middle is the "song number," which is displayed on the user's profile page.

The manual on where in the control panel the custom code feature is is located here: https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/bbcode_add.

All you have to do is type "gameremix-song" in the "Tag" field, and in the "replacement" field, put:

<iframe src="http://gameremixes.com/song/embed/number/{param}"  width="445" height="155" seamless="seamless" frameborder="0"  scrolling="no"> 
</iframe>

Feel free to offer comments. If people use this feature, I can also make a [gameremix-album] or [gameremix-compo] tag. If no admins see this, I'll try posting in a different forum.

Here's the question though, would this be for OCR Songs only? I mean, sure, it's a ridiculously useful idea except for the fact that you would have to use some kind of redirect table considering that all OCR songs are uploaded with track name, not with OCR number. so, say the BB tag for OCR is [OCR-Remix], you couldn't enter [OCR-remix]02550[/ocr-remix] and pull up the 2550th remix due to how BB works.

Because BB is a simple HTML-port system for forums that allows single parameters, you couldn't really do this properly because, in your example, the embed runs off of an <iframe> with a link to a specific URL determined by the {option} tag within the BB code.

The OCR site would need a complete rework to make this happen. Every single song (all 2530+) would need it's own embed iframe set up, and then have it's own seperate URL for the BB code to call upon (such as the "http://gameremixes.com/song/embed/number/25" in your example, which has "http://gameremixes.com/remixes/25-v1-Demonstray-Militiae_Corneriae" embedded within it).

Now, the BB code could be reworked to include the URL page in it's entirety, or an HTML redirect system could be used instead. A URL database could be set up, where [ocr-remix]00352[/ocr-remix] looks up the example URL "http://redirect.ocremix.org/remix/00352" which would redirect straight to the OCR mirror for the specific remix (in this case, "http://ocrmirror.org/files/music/remixes/Secret_of_Mana_Smooth_Mana_OC_ReMix.mp3")

In short, it'd be more than a 30-sec fix due to how the OCR system is currently set up, unfortunately. However, if it were to be set up properly, it would make the whole system much easier in the future (instances such as adding a player directly on a posted remixes' page, making it easier to let people listen to the song without having to directly download it)

there's my $0.02, however illegible it may be

[quintin3265]

Here's the question though, would this be for OCR Songs only? I mean, sure, it's a ridiculously useful idea except for the fact that you would have to use some kind of redirect table considering that all OCR songs are uploaded with track name, not with OCR number. so, say the BB tag for OCR is [OCR-Remix], you couldn't enter [OCR-remix]02550[/ocr-remix] and pull up the 2550th remix due to how BB works.

Because BB is a simple HTML-port system for forums that allows single parameters, you couldn't really do this properly because, in your example, the embed runs off of an <iframe> with a link to a specific URL determined by the {option} tag within the BB code.

The OCR site would need a complete rework to make this happen. Every single song (all 2530+) would need it's own embed iframe set up, and then have it's own seperate URL for the BB code to call upon (such as the "http://gameremixes.com/song/embed/number/25" in your example, which has "http://gameremixes.com/remixes/25-v1-Demonstray-Militiae_Corneriae" embedded within it).

Now, the BB code could be reworked to include the URL page in it's entirety, or an HTML redirect system could be used instead. A URL database could be set up, where [ocr-remix]00352[/ocr-remix] looks up the example URL "http://redirect.ocremix.org/remix/00352" which would redirect straight to the OCR mirror for the specific remix (in this case, "http://ocrmirror.org/files/music/remixes/Secret_of_Mana_Smooth_Mana_OC_ReMix.mp3")

In short, it'd be more than a 30-sec fix due to how the OCR system is currently set up, unfortunately. However, if it were to be set up properly, it would make the whole system much easier in the future (instances such as adding a player directly on a posted remixes' page, making it easier to let people listen to the song without having to directly download it)

there's my $0.02, however illegible it may be

In response to your question, I wanted to clarify that the suggestion wasn't meant for posting overclocked remixes at all (the opposite of your idea), although embedding overclocked remixes can also be implemented by me as well should you decide to get the initial code working.

After reading your post, I'm wondering if we're talking about the same thing. Perhaps I should clarify and you can tell me whether we are or not. There are two reasons for suggesting this idea: first, I noticed that many WIPs never get any replies, which could be reduced if people can listen to them inline in the forums. Second, I'm having difficulty contacting our existing forum admins and people have asked me to set up a forum where they can talk about songs they've posted at game remixes and I don't want to fragment the community with yet more unnecessary forums. It's better to tell them to "go to overclocked's WIP forum."

I thought the boxes are most useful in the "work in progress," "competitions," and "albums" forums, where people are constantly posting links to many different sites. Most people (such as me) will never get good enough to get songs to even be looked at by the judges panel, and you can't "upload" songs to overclocked remixes on demand. If such contributors can put a GR box with a "play" button in the post, maybe twice as many listeners will decide "I'll just click on that" and later download the song than would have if they had had to go to a second website.

As another example, an album creator might have difficulty determining exactly which tracks are in his album and what state they are in at any given time, because he has to keep a manual list of links that he needs to go offsite to listen to and update his list every time a new version of a work-in-progress emerges. These boxes eliminate the versioning and tracking issues and make it easy for that album creator to kick people from his project for underperformance or laziness.

The same goes with compos: contestants could track their songs and get feedback before submission, while organizers can track which songs are being submitted. If the song box is added and catches on, then I have the advantage of being able to make improvements and address complaints, which can't be done at YouTube.

As a side note, there is actually another way this could be done: with the <object> tag, so that you have something like

<object data="http://url/{param}" width="" height="" type="text/html"></object>

. I don't think that changes anything in terms of implementation, but it might be interesting to know.

[djpretzel]

We'll consider eventually adding something... for OC ReMixes, specifically. On OC ReMix.

And perhaps SoundCloud & Tindeck, too. And YouTube.

[quintin3265]

We'll consider eventually adding something... for OC ReMixes, specifically. On OC ReMix.

And perhaps SoundCloud & Tindeck, too. And YouTube.

I'm all for adding every site. The more choices, the better. I do have a problem with the second part of that post, though.

I'm not going to repost that deleted line because you obviously thought better of it, but for those who did read it, I will comment to say that Wikipedia has a policy of "assume good faith" because they want to build as big a community as possible. Even if what you said was 100% true, which it is not, would that be a horrendous thing? None of the remixers whose songs I have reviewed has criticized me for listening to their works and providing my honest opinion to make their music better. And none of the people on this thread has said anything negative about this suggestion either.

Your words state: Overclocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation and promotion of video game music as an art form. If you think the suggested embed box is worse than Soundcloud's or YouTube's for improving video game music as an art form, then you should say why and I would have no problem moving on or making improvements. But that's not what you said.

[Anorax]

I'm all for adding every site. The more choices, the better. I do have a problem with the second part of that post, though.

I'm not going to repost that deleted line because you obviously thought better of it, but for those who did read it, I will comment to say that Wikipedia has a policy of "assume good faith" because they want to build as big a community as possible. Even if what you said was 100% true, which it is not, would that be a horrendous thing? None of the remixers whose songs I have reviewed has criticized me for listening to their works and providing my honest opinion to make their music better. And none of the people on this thread has said anything negative about this suggestion either.

Your words state: Overclocked ReMix is an organization dedicated to the appreciation and promotion of video game music as an art form. If you think the suggested embed box is worse than Soundcloud's or YouTube's for improving video game music as an art form, then you should say why and I would have no problem moving on or making improvements. But that's not what you said.

I think the main idea here is the fact that it is a lot easier to install SoundCloud and YouTube embed capabilities that it is to build a whole new system for allowing any and all embed of audio files.

I think both DIP and I read this as "embed for posted OCR mixes", which makes sense considering what this site is about.

[quintin3265]

I think the main idea here is the fact that it is a lot easier to install SoundCloud and YouTube embed capabilities that it is to build a whole new system for allowing any and all embed of audio files.

I think both DIP and I read this as "embed for posted OCR mixes", which makes sense considering what this site is about.

Yeah, I think that at one point there were two different conversations going on: the idea that overclocked remix should design a box like that to be posted on other sites, and the separate idea that other sites should be able to be embedded in overclocked remix's forums. I was talking about the latter, while you were probably referring to the former.

While it's a good idea to allow Overclocked's remixes to be posted in its own forums, I'm not sure many people would have much use for such a feature. There are already official threads for those ReMixes asking people "what do you think?" An "outgoing" embed feature might be good for the same use as the "incoming" boxes I posted: to include remixes on external forums, which increases the traffic to both Overclocked and to the external site.

My original point, which I think djpretzel missed by posting his deleted post about promotion and competition, is that this is not a zero-sum game. If you design an outgoing embed box, or add the code I specified above to allow incoming embed boxes, people aren't going to think "I'll go here instead of there." Instead, they will think "now I know of two (or three or four) sites that each have different remixes and I can listen to more of the video game music I love," and traffic flows in all directions.