Suggestions

[Petie]

Couldn't say it better myself. But to clarify anyway, instant approval is not something to be bought. It is only given to staff and those who have a proven track record of quality submissions. When we set up the supporter system, the main point was to give people an alternate way to support the site. It was not to buy a rank or give people privileges on the site that couldn't ordinarily be obtained. Removal of ads fits well into this theme but things like instant approval do not as it goes against the nature of the supporter group.

Additionally, the submission system is in place for a reason. It is not there to be an inconvenience or stop you from uploading content. It is there to ensure that the content that makes it onto the site is of acceptable quality. Letting people buy their way past those checks would defeat the purpose of having them at all.

So, to summarize, instant approval will not be given to supporters automatically. We're definitely open to suggestions regarding supporter perks but they need to be simple. Anything that gives supporters a material advantage over other members won't be considered.

[Inthegrave]

In my opinion I think instant approval should stay like it is; it's given to people who have proven to consistently upload quality resources and know what they're doing.

I do think that the system could be abused, a donation might not hinder some people who want to go on a huge spamming spree (which would be even worse if this includes revisions). It would also widen the gap between supporters and non-supporters, as this is quite a significant perk (whereas the removal of ads and the other current perks aren't really huge things), which is something we want to avoid. Something like this should be earned, not bought.

I guess your right, you shouldn't just be able to purchase power. Also your right about dividing the user base.

[Gors]

It is still a honest suggestion though and while we wont add it due to the posts above, I appreciate your thought and if you have any more plausible suggestions, please tell us! As a community, we work with people's inputs to ensure a good browsing experience for all.

Thanks and I hope to see more of you

[Inthegrave]

It is still a honest suggestion though and while we wont add it due to the posts above, I appreciate your thought and if you have any more plausible suggestions, please tell us! As a community, we work with people's inputs to ensure a good browsing experience for all.

I actually was thinking about possibly adding different levels of payment? Like say $10 dollars a month? or $2 dollars a month?

I may get to a point were my financial situation is better and I may want to donate more than the default $5 dollars a month.

The VG Resource is like a very close friend to me, I want to give back to that friend instead of take from him. 

Thanks and I hope to see more of you

   
If you want to see more from me check the tSoR forum.  I'm actively giving back to the community.

[SuperFlomm]

What about a toggleable dark background for the resources? A while ago I noticed how weird FTL sprites look on a bright background.
Here is an example image of how I imagine it:
   

[puggsoy]

Just to clarify, it would only really affect sheets with transparency, since those show the background colour.

I do think it's a good idea and hopefully wouldn't be a heap of trouble to implement. It would even just be nice for those who prefer darker themes (like with the forum).

[DarkGrievous7145]

Alright, so I'm just thinking for organization or neatness or whatever.

There are some cases where ripping different types of resources from a game are simple, and don't really merit creating a new thread for each type of resource. One example of this is flash games.

For those, all you tend to do, is grab the .swf(s) , throw them in your decompiler of choice, select what you want, and export them in the format you require. Give or take, 90% of the time, this will get you anything you need, even code or data. To me, creating a new thread for each type of resource seems wasteful. But, it'd also be off-topic if someone were to post a thread in spriters-resource that also included sound or textures. (models I'll exclude, those are extremely likely to vary from case to case) However, I don't see anything for like, misc. resources. Is there already an acceptable place to post a tutorial thread that covers most, or all of the resources that can possibly be extracted from a .swf? (or any other well-known, and even documented file format that simply involves popping it into some program that can automatically (and in batches) convert/export resources?

The only difference with .swf tends to be the file types of what you're exporting, but almost everything exports to a format some known program ,at least a few of which are actually free, can use without additional conversion.

Now, as for what makes this relevant to suggestions. If it seems there's enough similar cases to merit this, a dedicated sub-forum somewhere, for misc. resources, particularly, tutorials about ripping them. Instead of creating...
[tutorial] how to rip sound from .swf,
[tutorial] how to rip sprites from .swf,
[tutorial] how to rip textures from .swf,
[tutorial] how to rip models from .swf,

and then have most of them basically just say
"load game, find file(s), download file(s), open file(s) in decompiler, select resources, click export, choose formats(if prompted), done"

In many cases, this is the exact process for getting anything besides models from your typical flash game. (and 3D flash games aren't "Typical" , anyways)

[Skyla Doragono]

Now, as for what makes this relevant to suggestions. If it seems there's enough similar cases to merit this, a dedicated sub-forum somewhere, for misc. resources, particularly, tutorials about ripping them. Instead of creating...
[tutorial] how to rip sound from .swf,
[tutorial] how to rip sprites from .swf,
[tutorial] how to rip textures from .swf,
[tutorial] how to rip models from .swf,

Actually, this would probably be best served in the Wikia we have on this site.

Having more tutorials on there in general would be nice.

[DarkGrievous7145]

I've noticed how lacking in content that section is.

[Jermungandr]

This might sound like kind of a weird idea but ...

I see a lot of people coming into the forum and posting along the lines of "hey why isn't my submission getting approved" and the responses often site the fact that sheets without icons submitted with them tend to take longer to be approved due to the fact that the mods actually have to take the time to actually create said icons.

And that got me thinking, what if there was a way for miscellaneous registered users to see the sheets waiting in the queue and be able to submit their own icon suggestions in order to assist in speeding up the approval process?

I don't know how many people would be interested in helping out in this manner to make it worth it, though. I imagine if just a handful of dedicated users did like ten a day it would help considerably. Just an idea.

[Arcrom]

I was thinking… How about when someone uploads a sprite sheet that has sprites dismantled like this one for example and the user didn’t create an icon for it should then in the sheet provide a sample of how the sprite really looks like. I believe that could save a lot of time for the staff in having to search about the sprite and assemble the pieces together.

Saven Force

[DarkGrievous7145]

The problem is that in the end, a staff member still would have to make the icon. There's also a chance the provided example is wrong. I actually messed some icons up when working on the renovation project because I couldn't find a solid example of what the real sprite looked like. It also is possible for the ripper, themselves, to screw this up. And the two main ways that this can go:

1. The staff member notices, and has to re-make the sprite themselves. They might even just reject the sheet on this basis
2. The staff member doesn't notice, makes the icon with the provided example, and approves the sheet. Then, later, someone else is going through and happens to see the error, and reports it, or troubles themselves with correcting it.

I actually mentioned this before myself, but from a realistic perspective, the icons shouldn't be optional, since if someone has the time/energy/resources to rip something, they should have all the same means and capability of creating an icon for it. This suggestion was rejected, however. I felt like bringing it up, though, because it is relevant, and actually the proper way for this kind of issue to be handled. At least, that's what I believe.

[Petie]

This might sound like kind of a weird idea but ...

I see a lot of people coming into the forum and posting along the lines of "hey why isn't my submission getting approved" and the responses often site the fact that sheets without icons submitted with them tend to take longer to be approved due to the fact that the mods actually have to take the time to actually create said icons.

And that got me thinking, what if there was a way for miscellaneous registered users to see the sheets waiting in the queue and be able to submit their own icon suggestions in order to assist in speeding up the approval process?

I don't know how many people would be interested in helping out in this manner to make it worth it, though. I imagine if just a handful of dedicated users did like ten a day it would help considerably. Just an idea.

I've thought about doing something like this but in the end, it seemed like it would be more work than it was worth given how few people would actually wind up using it. It's not something I've written off entirely but it's not currently on the table either.

I actually mentioned this before myself, but from a realistic perspective, the icons shouldn't be optional, since if someone has the time/energy/resources to rip something, they should have all the same means and capability of creating an icon for it. This suggestion was rejected, however. I felt like bringing it up, though, because it is relevant, and actually the proper way for this kind of issue to be handled. At least, that's what I believe.

On the surface, I agree with your logic here but there's one thing that isn't so obvious - not everyone, even those with the time, energy and resources to rip from a game, have access to (or is comfortable with) software that can handle transparency. Yes, there are a number of free programs out there that do transparency just fine but requiring people to download and install software they don't know in order to submit would only wind up reducing the number of people willing to submit to the site which is much worse than having delayed submissions while staff makes the icons for those who can't or don't want to.

[DarkGrievous7145]

The irony being they will go and download emulators or games, or the tools to rip from games. I understand the logic, and yet I don't understand it at all. Sad that this is the case, though.

[Ecelon]

I have a suggestion about "Pending Submissions". // I'm using models-resource as a reference, specifically Borderlands 2, since I have models awaiting approval.

What if when you clicked on a game and the page loaded, there would be every standard category: Characters, NPC's, Villains, Props, etc. And under the accepted "categories" there was a new category which would be titled "Currently Pending Approval" or along those lines. In this category, there would be your standard icon box with the icon and the name. When clicked, you would be redirected to the Large Display Picture. I've mocked up an example of what I mean to give you guys a rough idea( And my fond hatred of Photoshop is in full throttle now ). This could also be implemented into the "Pending Games" that are awaiting approval, under the "Add Model" section. Which is the reason I had this idea. I saw "Halo: Reach" a while back and was curious what had been submitted. Well thanks, and here's hoping this idea gets the go ahead...

       

P.S: Sorry about the .zip icons in the pending section. I screen capped the images from my "Awaiting approval" list.