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JSLBrowning

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Posts posted by JSLBrowning

  1. On 4/9/2020 at 11:30 PM, Planetperson said:

    Congrats on the new update!

    Thanks!

    On 4/9/2020 at 11:30 PM, Planetperson said:

    Where did the high-quality images of the Quest for the Masks cards come from?

    They were created by ivanproff on Reddit.

    On 4/9/2020 at 11:30 PM, Planetperson said:

    A tip: you might want to interlace large images, like ones used for the comics, so that they do not load slowly from top to bottom, but instead start out grainy and get sharper as more data loads in the browser.

    That's a good idea! I'll put that on the agenda.

    On 4/9/2020 at 11:30 PM, Planetperson said:

    I would prefer that the character bios be separate pages that you can hyperlink to, rather than modals, because modals cannot be linked to.

    The guidebook information will be on separate pages in addition to the modals. Each modal will have a link to a page containing all the guidebook information for that subject.

    • Upvote 1
  2. On 3/22/2020 at 12:44 AM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    Regarding the customization though, I see that there are still story sources that cannot be checked or unchecked, like the story cards for example. It's certainly not a big problem, as you can simply uncheck everything and then check the main content again, but I thought I'd mention it nevertheless.

    Don't worry, additional options are coming. I'm just trying to design an intuitive UI at the moment — I don't want the settings page to just be an endless pile of different buttons.

    On 3/22/2020 at 12:44 AM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    Speaking of the cards... though it's nifty that you've added them, they are non-canon, so they do stick out akwardly. They also contradict the canon story and mention strange things like "the golden master mask of power" (at a time when the Toa don't even know about the golden masks yet). At the very least, I would indicate somehow that these things are non-canon, or semi-canon at best.

    "Canon"? What's that? :p

    My thoughts on the concept of "canon," specifically as it relates to BIONICLE, are... complicated. Basically, though, I thought only including a handful of cards, the ones that only sort of contradict other story materials (which already contradict each other constantly), would be the best option for the recommended reading order. A few other people have told me they thought it was a good idea to include them, but if more people end up feeling otherwise, I'll take them out.

    On 3/22/2020 at 12:44 AM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    Also, is there a way to return the default order after you've customized it? And is there a way to share your ordering with other people (as in, linking to a version of the site that uses your customized order)?

    You can return to the recommended reading order by visiting the settings page again and hitting "submit" without changing anything (currently, the settings page always loads the recommended order).

    I'm working on a change to the settings page that would make it automatically reorder according to your current reading order, and then offer you a more clear way to revert... but making the checkbox items rearrange themselves is proving rather difficult, and it's gonna take a bit more tinkering before that's ready.

    I'm also working on a feature to export and import custom reading orders, and it's near the top of my agenda. (I actually meant to put that in the list of upcoming features...)

    On 3/22/2020 at 12:44 AM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    There is one feature you removed, which I already miss - the original contents page, where you had each story year divided into its, own separate page. It made it so much easier to navigate the site, and I really think it should be brought back.

    The chapter-based table of contents will be coming back, but I want it to be able to reflect custom reading orders — so I need to make the aforementioned rearranging code for the settings page work first.

    On 3/22/2020 at 12:44 AM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    I really like your idea of guidebook inclusion (even if the example you mentioned doesn't actually use any of the guidebooks, but other sources). I think a system where the info is linked the first time a certain name of concept is mentioned would be good, but I would not provide a link every single time. This also calls for a bit of tactical timing though... for example, I think including a bio for Onua would be much more organic in the book chapter where Onua is introduced, rather than in the introduction, where he's just mentioned by name. Similarly, throughout the website, I think consideration would need to be given to where exactly this info is linked to. But in general, I think the idea is a good one.

    Yeah, putting that example modal during Onua's chapter would probably be better... Good call.

    Timing is definitely a concern with this one. I want the guidebook integrations to be spoiler-free, so there would probably be a new link the first time something is mentioned in each of the twelve chapters. For example, Tahu's first mention in Makuta's Revenge would give you information from The Official Guide to BIONICLE, while his first mention in Shadows in the Sky would give you his Encyclopedia Updated entry.

    On 3/22/2020 at 12:44 AM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    Ok, now THIS took me completely off guard. You can actually do that? :blink: That sounds really, really awesome!

    I can actually do that, yes! :p I've been able to get a prototype of this working a few times, but I've also had it crash a few times, so... it can be done, but it needs a bit more time in the oven.

    On 3/22/2020 at 12:44 AM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    And this even more so! This would be a great service to the Bionicle community, if you can pull it off.

    I definitely think I can. Once you get under the hood, MNOG is pretty simple.

    On 3/22/2020 at 12:44 AM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    These are just my thoughts at a first glance. I'll have to take a more in-depth look at the site when I have the time. But it's looking good!

    I'm glad you think so! If you have any more thoughts or suggestions, feel free to let me know here, or in the #website-feedback channel of our Discord server. Your suggestions are always really good, so I look forward to hearing whatever you've got.

    • Upvote 1
  3. (This post is a mirror of a post made on the official Wall of History blog, with a few changes to fit the forum format.)

    After hours upon hours of hard work, it’s finally here — the “Nuva Update,” as I call it. In this post, I’ll be going over the changes made to Wall of History in detail, as well as outlining where the site is going from here.

    For starters, the site has been redesigned from the ground up, allowing for aesthetic improvements (such as adding nice background images to some MNOG pages) as well as full mobile compatibility. The redesign of the site will also make the development of future updates much faster, as the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript utilized have been streamlined in key areas (which should also make the site load a tiny faster).

    The next major change is the introduction of the settings page, accessible by visiting the table of contents and clicking on the gear icon in the upper right corner. This page allows users to modify the ordering of the story content, as well as choose which items are and are not included. This customization feature was particularly difficult to test by myself, and as a result, it is still very much a work in progress. As such, I would very much appreciate any and all criticisms or suggestions users might have regarding it.

    Use of this customization tool is, of course, entirely optional. On a user’s first visit to the new Wall of History, the site will automatically set itself to use the default, recommended reading order, which includes most of the story content in an ordering that several fans had input on.

    Speaking of content… we’ve got new content! Several story items not previously on the site have finally been added, including, in release order:

    1. BIONICLE: Quest for the Masks Story Cards
    2. BIONICLE: Mask of Light — The Movie
    3. BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui
    4. BIONICLE 3: Web of Shadows
    5. “BIONICLE News Update”
    6. BIONICLE: Journey of Takanuva
    7. Takanuva’s Blog
    8. The Rising
    9. The Truth
    10. BIONICLE: Secret of Certavus
    11. BIONICLE: Desert of Danger
    12. BIONICLE: Challenge of Mata Nui
    13. Mata Nui’s Diary

    Guidebook content is also being added to Wall of History beginning with this update, and this is another area where user feedback would be appreciated. Currently, there are two guidebooks available in their entirety, which can be accessed by visiting the table of contents. I’ve also been experimenting with what I call “guidebook integration” — the inclusion of guidebook content in story pages, an example of which can be seen on this page.

    My current plan is for all the information from all the guidebooks to be integrated into story pages using similar modal boxes — once this process is completed, users would be able to click on the name of virtually any place, character, or object and learn more about them. As previously mentioned, though, this is a project I would appreciate user feedback on before going further with. Is this something people would like to see? Are there any better ways this could be implemented? If modals are fine, should they only be accessible the first time something is mentioned, or every time? If you have any thoughts, please share them with us below.

    This update also brings e-book downloads for all the BIONICLE novels, available on the pages for each series of novels, once again accessible from the table of contents. If there is significant user demand for them, and no issues arise with the e-books published today, e-book downloads of other story materials, such as the serials, will be made available in the future.

    Speaking of the future, I also said on Twitter that the Nuva Update would be accompanied by a rough timeline of planned future updates. So, without further ado…

    During Q2 2020, further improvements to the design and structure of Wall of History will be made, based on user input. For obvious reasons, the Nuva Update was difficult to test, and there may still be some kinks to work out. I also want to keep making the site look better, and this will be easier to do now that the CSS utilized has been simplified.

    During Q2 and Q3 2020, all guidebooks will be added to Wall of History and integrated into story pages (if the latter does prove to be something users would want).

    During Q2 and Q3 2020, I will attempt to make all the Game Boy Advance BIONICLE games playable on the site, using a JavaScript-based emulator.

    From Q2 2020 onwards, I will be adding higher-quality scans of all visual media to Wall of History.

    From Q3 2020 onwards, I will be working on Wall of History’s most ambitious project yet: converting Mata Nui: The Online Game from a Flash game to an HTML5 game, so future generations of BIONICLE fans can experience it the way it was meant to be.

    Should the aforementioned project prove successful, I would like to do the same with MNOG II: The Final Chronicle, probably around Q4 2020.

    I think that about covers it for now. For more information on future updates to Wall of History, be sure to follow our blog, follow our Twitter account, and join our Discord server.

    • Like 3
  4. Hey B/S/T!

    As I'm sure many of you are aware, I've been working on a BIONICLE media archiving project, Wall of History, for almost a year now. As part of my continuing quest to make the BIONICLE story as accessible as possible, I'd like to start adding non-English story media to the site, as well as make some other minor additions. To that end, I'm now interested in buying any and all non-English story media, as well as any promotional CDs (of any language).

    I already have the German edition of the first two BIONICLE comics, as well as the 2001 interactive demo CD, the Tanhok-Kal and Lehvak-Kal CDs, and the Guurahk CD. Any other non-English story media or promotional CD (of any language) is fair game, so if you've got something you'd be willing to sell, let me know!

  5. Those of you who know your BIONICLE history might recall that the original BIONICLE Legends #7Invasion — was cancelled in 2007. Well, thanks to some detective work by yours truly, and some help from BZPower's own Black Six, the introduction of Invasion has been recovered, and is now available to the public for the first time ever! You can be among the first fans to read it by clicking here.

    I'm starting this thread for two reasons: for discussion of the recovered Invasion introduction, and for discussion of lost BIONICLE media in general. BIONICLE was a massive story, and I highly doubt this one chapter of one book is all that's almost been lost to the sands of time — and now that I'm in detective mode, I'd love some more leads to follow. :p

    • Like 2
  6. On 10/20/2019 at 2:37 PM, RWallace said:

    Just dropping by to express how wonderful this project is progressing! I’m loving the care and scans that are going into this.

    Thanks! I'm really glad you're liking it.

     

    On 10/21/2019 at 7:35 AM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    Just a few quick points that came up:

    1. Onua's introductory book chapter has an odd error in it. Where the original text uses "you don't seem too certain about our success", the website says "you don't seem too certain about your sources".

    2. There are several style guide excerpts missing from the website, even though you've used some of them. Is that intentional?

    I'll fix that error in Onua's chapter when I get home tonight. Thanks for pointing that out.

    As for the style guide excerpts, yes, that's intentional. Only the excerpts that contain original content are woven into the narrative. I figured three different versions of the Toa's battle with Makuta, for example, would be a bit much. Many of the missing ones are on the website, though, and can be found here (the rest are gonna be added soon).

  7. On 10/2/2019 at 1:32 PM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    So, I went through Toa of Italy's changes and made a Google doc with comments and remarks. I commented extensively on 2001-2007, but from that on I have fewer remarks, because the ordering of the serials is much more up to one's interpretation, and I didn't really have the time to go searching for an ideal order for all of those serials...

    Thank you! I really appreciate all the effort. I'm still pretty swamped with homework at the moment, but I should be able to go over your Doc within the next couple of days.

     

    14 hours ago, Planetperson said:

    Actually, I recently sat down and tried to figure out the best ordering of the 2008 serials when I was making my 2008 timeline on thegreatarchives.com. The serials are messy, but it helps if you use the release dates of the serials as a baseline and rearrange things from there (new chapters were released in a cycle for Destiny War, Dwellers in Darkness, and Brothers in Arms, in that order). Here are my notes if you want them:

    This will definitely be a big help! I'll be sure to consult your timeline and your notes when working on the new ordering. Also, where did you find the release dates for the serial chapters? As far as I'm aware, the BMP mirror of the 2010 BIONICLEstory.com is the only place they're hosted in their original form, and it doesn't appear to have release dates for anything...

  8. 19 hours ago, Toa of Italy said:

    This is very impressive. While there have been other projects in recent months trying to collect all the Bionicle storyline, yours seems by far the best. What I truly appreciate is that you've tried to place the story sources in the right order, but you've also delivered it to us as it was originally. This way someone reading it has multiple ways to do it.

    Wow, thanks! I'm really glad you like what I've done.

     

    19 hours ago, Toa of Italy said:

    That said, I've also found some discrepancies in how you've ordered everything. In general, I would recommend splitting the comics at times, since they do not always portray events in sequence.

    To make it easier to understand, I've written the order I would give to the various extracts. I would split some of them (the comics especially), so I've tried to clarify what each piece corresponds to.

    This is... really impressive. I know this must have taken a long time to write up, and I really appreciate the effort. Given how many points there are to discuss, I've responded to your suggestions using a Pastebin paste — two, actually.

    The first isn't a direct response to your suggestions, it's just a quick summary of how I originally ordered things, and what rules I set for myself regarding accuracy and media integrity. You (along with anyone else who wants to) can read it here.

    The second is a direct response to your suggestions. You can read it here. I don't think I addressed all of them, but many of the changes you suggested are on the agenda for the next update, and I'm definitely going to be looking over your post as I work on the new ordering. Speaking of which...

    THE NEW ORDERING

    I've been getting a lot of suggestions regarding restructuring the content on Wall of History, most notably from wadapan in my Discord server, and @Toatapio Nuva and @Toa of Italy here on BZPower. Many of the suggestions these three have given me have been unanimous, and as such, I'm soon going to begin working on implementing them. This will take some time, especially since I'm very busy with school right now, but I should have a revised ordering written up soon, which I'll post here before implementing on the site.

    In the meantime, if anyone has any other suggestions they'd like to give me, I'd love to hear them! Feedback is always appreciated.

  9. On 9/29/2019 at 10:21 AM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    Ah, sorry, I actually mixed things up here. The Ga-Koro chapter of MNOG actually takes place in the middle of the second comic, so I suppose those two should be placed next to each other, one way or another.

    Rearranging everything to make that work will probably take a bit, but I have gotten several comments about this, so I'll get to working on it.

     

    On 9/29/2019 at 10:21 AM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    I would recommend either moving them all after the Morbuzakh saga, since that's when the sets were introduced, or placing each animation after the chapter where they were first used. For example, the Keerakh video would go after the chapter where Nuju and Whenua encounter them while searching for the Ko-Metru Great Disk.

    Yeah, the other person said they should go after the Morbuzakh arc as well... I'll probably put them somewhere around the end of The Darkness Below and the beginning of Legends of Metru Nui.

     

    On 9/29/2019 at 10:21 AM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    Actually, there's a place where they fit quite nicely: right after the chapter where Vakama, Nokama and Matau escape the Coliseum and hop into a chute. It seems to be the place where all the comics are meant to go. They should definitely also be back-to-back, since they represent a continuous story.

    That's probably the best place for them. I'll make that change next time I update the website.

     

    On 9/29/2019 at 10:21 AM, Toatapio Nuva said:

    I would move all of Makuta's Diary entries after the epilogue, honestly. But if you're really keen on dispersing the chapters, I would at least place all of them in the Mata Nui Rising section.

    Hm... Moving them all to the end might actually work really well, since I've got all of The Mutran Chronicles at the beginning of the Phantoka chapter... Two different Makuta diaries bookending the Karda Nui arc... Alright, I'll work on rearranging Makuta's Diary for the next update.

  10. 31 minutes ago, Toatapio Nuva said:

    I really like its new presentation and style. It's easy to navigate and looks nice.

    Thanks!

     

    31 minutes ago, Toatapio Nuva said:

    The Ga-Koro chapter of MNOG should come after comic #3: Triumph of the Toa.

    Could you explain why? Making that change would necessitate moving Triumph of the Toa (and, by extension, the other two comics) to much earlier in the chapter, or moving the Ga-Koro chapter of MNOG (and, by extension, the rest of MNOG) to much later — and I feel like both of these options would mess with the overall flow a lot.

     

    31 minutes ago, Toatapio Nuva said:

    The Vahki animations are in very strange places. I feel like it would be better to include them later on.

    Someone else gave me the same suggestion, and I'm planning on moving them — I just haven't decided where they should go yet.

     

    31 minutes ago, Toatapio Nuva said:

    The last two comics of the 2004 story are in very puzzling places, where they contradict the canon massively.

    Yeah, I'm not really fond of where they are either... The thing is, though, they kinda contradict the rest of the canon wherever they go — they both clearly take place during the events of Legends of Metru Nui, but there isn't really a perfect place where they fit into that story. If you have any suggestions for where they should go, let me know.

     

    31 minutes ago, Toatapio Nuva said:

    Why are the Phantoka, Mistika and Mata Nui Rising parts divided? They're parts of the same arc, and are quite short on their own.

    The chapter divisions on Wall of History are the same ones that were on BIONICLEstory.com. I think dividing the 2008 story into three chapters is a little strange as well, but it's the only official way the story was ever divided, so it's what I'm going with.

     

    31 minutes ago, Toatapio Nuva said:

    The way Makuta's Diary is dispersed across the 2008 story spoils the ending of that arc right at the beginning.

    I wouldn't say it spoils it, per se — no more than Legacy of Evil or Dwellers in Darkness did. I put that first diary entry where it is because I think it serves as some nice, ominous foreshadowing there. If there's a consensus that it should definitely be moved, though, I'll do it.

     

    31 minutes ago, Toatapio Nuva said:

    The last chapter of Brothers in Arms should be earlier, not because of the canon, but because it makes for a bad conclusion to the story as a whole.

    I initially put it where it is because I felt it was a nice segue into the Bara Magna chapter, but I'm not too attached to its position there. I'll move it a few spaces earlier in the next update.

  11. WALL OF HISTORY

    Hey BZPower! Many of you are probably familiar with Wall of History, the web archive of the BIONICLE story I launched earlier this year (which is linked to above). While the BZPower forums were down, Wall of History received a significant update, and given that my original discussion thread rolled over the revival limit during that downtime, I thought it'd be a good idea to start a new one.

    Here's an overview of the changes made in the Big Update:

    • The site received a visual upgrade — all the pages now use the light-on-dark color scheme that was previously exclusive to the Legends of Metru Nui and Web of Shadows chapters, and the headers have been tweaked.
    • Virtually all remaining story media — most notably, all the remaining novels, short stories, and story serials — was added to the site. (There are still a few miscellaneous things I'm planning on adding, like the rest of those little McDonald's comics, but basically the entire story is available now).
    • Animations have finally been added! The MNOG pages now have the relevant cutscenes (at their original 18 FPS, thanks to the wonderful Peri), the (BIONICLE.com) Wall of History pages have their animations (also at the correct frame rate), and the Vahki animations and The Search for the Mask of Light are available.
    • The map has been improved, and now has two companion pages — a sources page, where you can sort media by type (comic, novel, serial, etc.), and a search page, where you can search the contents of the archive.
    • We now have an events page. Join our book club. We have giveaways, and we do movie streams sometimes.

    I'm also now working on adding all the BIONICLE guides to the site, which you may have already noticed if you visited the sources page linked above. (This was not part of the Big Update, but also happened while the forums were down.) I started working on the guides pretty recently, so the only one we've got at the moment is Metru Nui • City of Legends.

    I think that about covers everything that's happened with Wall of History since June. I'd really appreciate any feedback y'all might have!

    • Like 3
  12. mite b cool

     

    i've found myself coming back here occasionally lately. over the last year of my life or so i've spent a lot of time revisiting stuff that was important to me when i was younger, like an incredibly lame quarter-life crisis.

     

    and i guess it would be fun to reevaluate my taste in media circa the time i was 10 years old, especially since i didn't start being a sentient human being until i was, like, 16. i joined this site when i was 8. thankfully my childhood forum posts have been lost to time, but you can still see years of awful blog updates.

     

    Glad you think it'd be fun! I think it would be too, and since most people I've talked to feel the same way, it'll most likely happen. Keep checking back here over the next few weeks for more information, or follow Wall of History's Twitter account!

  13. Hello, I have #27 and ignition #3. Pm me

     

    I've actually already found copies of those two! Sorry about that, I should've updated the list sooner. Thanks for offering, though! If you have anything else on the list that hasn't been struck through yet, let me know.

  14. This sounds like a really fun idea, tracking down and reading all the books growing up is a memory I’m really fond of and I think it would be really cool to dig into them one by one and appreciate them. I still remember so much of the writing and they’re such gems. It’s a nice way to keep engaged with the fandom!

     

    Glad you like the idea! The books are really great, and I think giving new fans a chance to enjoy them and talk about them would be great for the community.

  15. Why have a Discord when you could be here?

     

    ... ... ...

     

    I know why...

     

    So basically just a Bionicle Book Club?

     

    I figured Discord would be better since it's more conducive to free-form, real time conversations, and pretty much anyone who might be interested would already have an account. Discord would also allow me to run different channels for different levels of spoiler avoidance without clogging up the BZPower forums.

     

    Basically a book club, yeah. A digital book club.

  16. Hey BZPower!

     

    As some of you may already know, a few months ago, I started working on a new archive of the BIONICLE story: Wall of History. Now that the archive is getting close to completion (with transcriptions of all the remaining novels finished and being error-checked), I've begun to think about hosting a community rereading project. This idea is largely inspired by Revisiting the Time Before Time, a community reread hosted on Tumblr a few years ago, as well as the Gathered Friends podcast.

     

    I never read the BIONICLE novels or side stories when they were first published, and didn't even get into the comics until around 2006, so working on Wall of History has been my first real experience with the story... and I've really enjoyed it! Because of this, I feel that a group rereading could be really fun for fans, both new and old, in addition to fueling interest in Faber's mysterious project.

     

    Should this project come to be, I'm planning on calling it "BIONICLE: The Legend Revisited."

     

    I'll create a reading schedule based around the novels, likely dedicating one week to each, along with whichever comics and side stories are woven into them on Wall of History. I'll create a Discord server for discussing the readings, maybe host streams of the movies... and maybe even host giveaways for physical copies of the novels (as working on Wall of History has left me with multiple copies of most of them).

     

    I'd advertise the project here, on Reddit, on Twitter, and on Tumblr a few weeks in advance, encouraging anyone interested — dedicated fans, people who were into the toys as a kid, but never really got into the story, and people who aren't familiar with BIONICLE at all — to participate. We would probably begin reading towards the end of the summer.

     

    So now my question for all of you is — would you, hypothetically, be interested in participating in something like this? There's a poll at the top of this thread to vote, and if you have any suggestions or questions, you can leave them below.

     

    Thanks for reading!

    • Upvote 2
  17. Hey B/S/T!

     

    I'm trying to track down physical copies of the last two BIONICLE Adventures novels, Web of Shadows and Time Trap, that have the covers seen in these images:

     

    BA9.jpg

    BA10.jpg

     

    I know that some copies of Time Trap were published with that purple cover (as opposed to the more common red one), as an acquaintance of mine had it at one point. The BIONICLE Wiki labels the orange version of Web of Shadows as the "Scholastic book fair edition," so I'm assuming copies of it were published at one point as well.

     

    Does anyone have either of these, and if so, would you be willing to sell them? If so, let me know below, or DM me.

     

    (I'm particularly interested in these because their cover designs are consistent with the preceding eight Adventures novels, which would make for much more aesthetically-pleasing Wall of History pages for them.)

    • Upvote 1
  18. We've got another one.

     

    The first line of the caption really sticks out to me — "B is a mindset." He's referring to the franchise itself as "B." This might shed some light on that hashtag he's been using. #14B2020. Faber could be saying that he's "one for B(IONICLE) 2020."

     

    I made a comment on the post describing the above theory, and Faber responded with, "you are spot on but the name of the project is tbd."

    • Upvote 3
  19. Would you be willing to sell the comics and novels you've got separately? I already have most of the sets you've got, but would be really interested in whatever story media you have (I run a BIONICLE media archive called "Wall of History," which you can check out through the link in my signature). If you would be willing, please message me. I can pay pretty generously.

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