DIGITAL_DEVIL_DATABASE Community Forum

I decided to try flexing my artistic skills, and I cranked out a new background for the front page (though it's gonna be a while before I can implement it)

It's more than strictly a single background. It's basically the background of the white stuff that floats over the actual background. Which is more of a wallpapering affair. But at any rate you can get the idea from this image attached...

PS: I call the look Fat Sticker :aroused:

One with the present banner...

PS: It'll get thumbnailed, so you'll have to download it to see full size. I wish you could just go to the image in the browser, but it doesn't work (with Firefox at least) ...if anyone wants to host the image off site / re-post it please do!

By hosting the image "off site" do you mean something like this?:
(http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3767/fatstickerlogoae0.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/fatstickerlogoae0.jpg/1/w792.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img147/fatstickerlogoae0.jpg/1/)

Yup :biggrin: That does it :rainbow:


PS: It's hard to say for sure, but I swear some of the Photoshop blending options seemed to have been lost when I had to merge them into a flat layer to make the wider display in the banner image... mostly the effects outside the white background seem to be possibly missing. Though it's suttle enough, it could just be a jpeg anomaly.

edited: It could also just be an optical illusion caused by the wider area given to the blue background on either side of the image with the banner. I checked the pixel values. They're not identical, but the diff is so small it's hard to say on an LCD display.

Well looks like I couldn't resist picking at this scab :redface:

Now you get a whole website preview: http://www.digitaldevildb.com/

Just imagine the website expanding horizontally someday :goodnight:

Here is a new temporary banner if it meets everyone's approval...

I had a hard time choosing between information/nerd society :rainbow:

PS: No comment after a couple days is implicit approval :rolleyes:

oh! Sorry, I didn't see the banner! Well, it's a big difference than the previous one, I like the new font, but are you going to add it "Digital_Devil_Database" instead of "Digital Devil Database"?

Underscores aren't compulsory :rainbow:

I went ahead and threw it up. The only part I'd really like approval for is using "Megami Tensei Information Society"... it isn't offcial or anything, I just couldn't come up with a more natural way to toss Megami Tensei into a subtitle.

I'd prefer the tagline "Persona　・ Devil Summoner　・ Avatar Tuner　・ all of Megatendom!" be over the title I think, but that doesn't scale well... so I'd have to bake it into the bitmap.

edited: I'll probably change the "MT info society" font when I do that too. It was fun for a while, but it just stands out too much / is too 80s.

How about "Better Living Through Megami Tensei" :rolleyes:

Changed yet again :ninja:

PS: There seems to be a sort of top news blurb now :rolleyes:

It looks better now. :wink:

I missed this thread.  :crying:

Anyway I'm just not sold on that image of Kerberos.  I'll see what I can't throw together in the next few days, I've been kind of busy as of late.

I've been using "Show most recent posts to the forum." at the top of the BBS index.

I wish the forum tracked unread threads, but it just seems to track the boards. There is a 2.0 version, but it's not regarded as stable yet, and I haven't looked into it's features. I'm not really sure how many forums are able to track threads on a per member basis, but I'm pretty sure I've used ones that did before.


As soon as someone comes up with a better banner we'll use it, but I tried to address some concerns about the banner as easily as possible. I'm not nuts about the "megami tensei information society" bit or font... but I feel like Megami Tensei should be somewhere, and mentioning it in the game list up top wouldn't cut it. Looking at the old front page if you didn't know what Digital Devil was a reference too / the Jack Bros, you wouldn't have had much to go on... but I imagine even if you pop something into a search engine it wouldn't matter much, Digital Devil / Megami Tensei either way. Not like anyone just stumbles across something on the internet at random anymore anyhow.

I do think recognizing the site as a "society" is important at this point... though the language is a little stuffy either way.


I rather like this banner, though I don't know that it's as good as the sum of it's parts. The moon and kerberos are very primeval imagery I think. And together they work well. It still needs some thought though I'm afraid before I'll feel satisfied. I really wish you could see more of Kerberos in that silhouette. I might just add a tail to it some day or something (I prefer the thinner bifurcated kind personally)

I'd prefer to give the website a more hellish feel, versus cutesy frost this and that, but that's just me.

The Tony :: About :: Games :: Articles :: Lexicon :: Demonary :: Forums :: Links bar will go eventually. I think after some devil databases are ready for browsing we can just put direct links to the most used databases there, and a drop down box at the end for the remaining ones.

At any rate, enough mumbling for now.

I am up entirely too late.  :goodnight:

That banner kinda leaves me speechless... how serious is this? It's really cool, but at the same time it has too much character if you know what I mean. Its really retro in an ironic sort of way (that is hipster speak if the Colbert Report is any indicator)

I'm personally opposed to Japanese in site imagery. But it's so tempting I'd put it on rotation. Especially if we had like a series of Megaten thru the ages banners done with the art/style of the era. That would be really awesome actually. Plus anything pre Revelations: Persona would technically be in Japanese kinda.

You gotta admit it definitely doesn't look contemporary :smokin::

Btw, the banner is a front page link now (I had to layer an invisible image on top of it -- html is so silly sometimes)

When I have time I'll limit it to just the inset banner area :goodnight:

I wonder if there is any MTI&2 era concept art floating around out there (other than what's in the manuals)

I'd love to see a complete lineup of art for every devil for those games if such a thing exists :crying:

I don't know, just throwing things together in my free time, so not very serious.  I just threw Kerberos on there to keep with the current theme, but I could use virtually any piece of Megaten artwork for that spot.

I like the idea of using a series of retro pieces up to contemporary banners. That would be a very ambitious but probably worthwhile effort... not to mention the only way I could imagine capturing the entire spectrum of Megaten. However say what you may, I think a contemporary banner given the nature of the site, should look more or less like a corporate banner you'd find on any corporate website these days (save for all the innocuously smiling people arranged in all colours and family units)

My logic is the mission of the site appears to be less fan oriented, and more akin to a completely public historical preservation society.

I like the idea of being able to insert simple announcements over the banner, so make sure you leave room for that (generally speaking you want it to be the lowest text on the banner so it doesn't overlap other text as viewers adjust their font sizes)

I just uploaded yet another iteration of the same old banner to the front page. It's looking more commercial I think...

I discovered a way to make the text stand out that way while trying to make the "information society" typeface more conspicuous. It's just a gradient fill with an outline around the text layer (from Photoshops blending options)


Btw, anyone think "internet society" would be better than "info society"? Or is that too redundant for the internet? I kinda like society, cause it has an occultish ring too it :tongue:


I think this banner is going somewhere. I still think it could use some twiddling around the Kerberos and background fill. There could very well be a better Kerberos silhouette than that if I went back to that part of the anime. I originally chose that one more for the composition of the now cut boy/girl couple. I know in one silhouette he is growling. He also shakes himself clean of Loki ectoplasm, which is pretty cute :hearton:

What do you think of "Virtual Society"?

We are very real last I check... well speaking for myself :rainbow:

Just kidding. Virtual Society is a bit of an oxymoron... no offense, I'm no wordsmith, but I'm thinking it doesn't roll off the tongue so well. Neither does "internet" for that matter, but "information society" just sounds slightly more conflated. It's probably fine, though I'm open to alternatives (it's just a banner after all at this point)

Nice try though :hearton:

Ok, now this one is damn slick :cool:

The only part that could use work is the Kerberos silhouette, which will mean going back and capturing some new raw data. I sharpened it up, but that's all I can do with the pixels I have for now. I'm not sure the sharpening looks ok, but it was just so blurry it stood out against the crispness of everything else :sweatdrop:

I think I finally found the perfect mix of colours. Ctrl+Shift+R to make sure you're seeing the latest banner.

I think maybe the bbs banner needs some work now :doh:

If anyone knows of any scans of the BBS Kerberos on the web, I wanna see them :hearton:

I lifted it off the back of my Kyuuyaku guide. It was actually white on skyblue too (edited: and very blemished)

Feel free to use these in addition to Kerberos if you want, maybe put them on rotation?

They'd probably work better in rotation with the moon in the current setup. Thanks btw :smug:

If you wanna make stuff to rotate with the Kerberos, probably best to stick with the high contrast white feel that blends into the white of the background. It can clip on the bottom and right, but not the top (or left obviously)

edited: If it does clip on bottom and right, it should do both (so there isn't a broken off island of blue) ...it also probably works best if it clips off the whole corner too. Try to avoid the lettering.

Oh! I get it now, in rotation on the BBS banner. Yeah that will work well I think :doh:

edited: If you want, the BBS font is still up in the air. I think just flat ghost white works best for now. No drop shadow. That is the way the forums banners are by default for this theme. I want the Japanese out too. And not the same font as on the current website banner. Something hellish might be cool I think... if that means anything. Not necessarily gothic or anything, though sharp serifs might work. Just something with charisma would be nice. No "information society" stuff please.

I plan on darkening up the background on the BBS banner panel when I can get around to it.

PS: The font should fill in the same space vertical space as the Kerberos. And preferably the final image should be the same size as the current (will save me from tweaking the theme) ...and it would be best if the text went to the end as well.

I dunno on second thought... I gotta admit I just love the way the Kerberos stands on the line and faces the left like a piece of gothic heraldry. I'd rather not switch him out I think. Though I would like a better version of the same illustration. We can definitely see about doing something else with those graphics though.

PS: I'm done negotiating with myself :tongue:

It hurts to not use them... I'll see what I can think of. But I think the Kerberos is best for most of the time. They also don't work as well on the 800px wide display however. If you make your viewport less than 800 pixels you'll see that the banner changes so the Kerberos is under the letterhead. I worry with the circular styled icons it wouldn't look appropriate. Perhaps you could work them into the lettering, but it seems like two clashing icons in the banner would be too much :frown:

This design business can be too much :nolaff:

If nothing else they could still work in place of the moon I think... possibly as rare easter eggs :ninja:

Might even be cool to try shadowing them over the moon... possibly in a slow looping animation or something???

Speaking of which it might be fun to calculate the moon shadow as well :aroused:

I sized them exactly the same as the Kerberos icon but feel free to you can use them for whatever you want.

I've got a few fonts you might want to try out:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/font1-banner.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/font2-banner.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/font3-banner.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/font4-banner.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/font5-banner.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/font6-banner.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/font7-banner.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/font8-banner.png)

 :eek: They're all really cute, but I'd rather see something that seems more "serious" (true type to begin with) ...gothic, but also modern would be cool. I kinda wonder what a font made out of abstract horns and devil tails would look like... I dunno, I'll have to look into it. I don't have a ton of fonts on my computer, though I have several hundred... mostly from an old Corel Draw disc.

I kinda like the old font actually. I'd really like to know if anyone ever recognizes it. If you wanna tear the kana and shadow off it, that might be a start. I've resampled the one in use from Tony's banner, So you might have an easier time with his image than that one. I guess it's possible he could've made the font custom somehow.

Gotta login into IMAGINE for the war event right now...

Here is something I fucked around with... just a demo. It seems most of my fonts don't have lower case lettering, even if I wanted it :sweatdrop:

You gotta quit encouraging me to diddle with Photoshop this way :rolleyes:

Only prob with using BBS in the banner, is it makes less sense as a link back to the front page (which I kinda like)

So many forums lack a link back to their home site. Which I've always thought was dumb.

The font matches the feeling of the Kerberos better I think. If we go with this gothic look, we'll have to change "Hello" to Welcome, or something even more brooding :razz:

edited: Maybe Kerberos could be a link to the front page. Wouldn't be obvious by looking, but at least it's a big button to grab hold of.

Here's that Kerberos if anyone is interested.

PS: That looks like after I touched up the background with a clone tool enough to get a selection mask around him.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-vipersquadronsolid.png)<==
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-transuranium.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-thaelia.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-swediecruel.png)<==
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-spaceboy.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-quicksilver.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-proverbialgothic.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-leeschwartz.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-iomanoid.png)<==
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-fraktur.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-crowntitle.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-crappygothic.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-collectivesharp.png)<==
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-collectiveround.png)<==
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-bicycle.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-4shadow.png)

My faves <==

I'm as funky as the next guy, but understand a lot of these are out of the question in my opinion because of the Megaten theme I think. Others would be ok, but not with the current Kerberos setup I think. Speaking of which, I'm a little worried about the quality of our Kerberos. I'd even encourage someone to email AtlusUSA and see if they can't contact the Japan office about placing that Kyuuyaku era image. It really is a rarity I think.

As for fonts, it's too bad there isn't any really recognizable western script associated with Megaten afaik. My favs...


I should probably try to download many more fonts myself, but I drive myself nuts enough down arrowing thru every single one whenever I gotta pick one out.

I don't think legibility is an issue with them so much as appropriateness.  I was just show-casing the wide array of Gothic fonts.  Personally I think the "Collective" sharp and round fonts would be perfect.  It reminds me of Soul Hackers to an extent but I think really stresses the "digital" aspect as well.  There could be more negative space to it maybe.  The top one is totally my favorite though.  It's all "Logan's Run," I love it.  :biggrin:  I'm just trying to see what looks good with good old Kerberos.

Don't get me wrong, I think they're all cool more or less. Just saying picking the right font for the occasion can be a real bitch. Legibility is a requirement like it or not. If I can't read it reflexively it's out.

What was the name of this font?

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-fraktur.png)

Can you stick it somewhere I can dl it?

Btw, I like the effect I worked out with the font I put forward. I'd like to use it, though very possibly with a different font. So try to imagine that effect being applied to whatever font you choose. I honestly don't have any other fonts on my machine I like. I also think that effect looks very latin, so it plays a lot like the font used in the Megaten solomon seals. There is a version of that seal in the MT2 manual btw. Just without the outer circle with the lettering, and without the goddess icon in the middle.

What was the name of this font?

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/phantomlimbs/fonttest-fraktur.png)

Can you stick it somewhere I can dl it?


EDITED: Damnit, every time I try to quote myself I overwrite my original post :doh: