New Smilies - Round 2

[Lee Bee]

Voting from the original thread showed that while most forum users would be interested in making the sprites a bit more Spectrum-themed, one in three users remain happy with the original smileys and don't want them changed.

With this in mind, here are some new ideas that are more subtle. The originals are at the top, getting more Spectrum-like as you go down. Then at the bottom, Dizzies but in the style of the original smileys.

Would be interested if people have any feelings about this?

[Lee Bee]

So… the most popular individual option is currently Dizzy!

However, the original style of face has a slight majority of votes overall (57%). This, coupled with the fact that some users loathe Dizzy, means that switching to Dizzy would probably be the wrong choice.

There does seem to be a definite preference for the solid black outline, though, as well as the use of Spectrum colors. So if the style were to be changed, I'd suggest option 4 as the most popular all-round.

But this doesn't mean we should change it! Statistics and polls can be misleading. Things can look better out of context, and sometimes you don't realise how much you like (or hate) something until you're actually trying out. Therefore, I might humbly suggest the forum ran a TRIAL of number 4 style (which I could put together), just to see how people felt about it? Entirely up to the admins though.

[R-Tape]

I'm afraid I wouldn't choose any from either poll (sorry Lee!). I'm okay enough with the basic ones because they are already there and it doesn't involve work for Peter to worry about the extras every forum update (even though the default smiley does have shades of the 'Hide the pain Harold' meme!).

The last option in the first poll sums up my thoughts: I like the idea of Speccy emoticons, just not these ones. Maybe a long running thread with contributions from all comers, and no pressure to get it done soon, so that we can create some gems.

[Lee Bee]

Maybe a long running thread with contributions from all comers, and no pressure to get it done soon, so that we can create some gems.

Yes, that's exactly what I had in mind - a team effort. My own ideas were only a suggestion to get the ball rolling.

As I've always said, I like the original smileys, my original point was that this is a community of pixel art lovers, and we have this little collection of pixel art right there in the forum. I just thought there must be people here who would find it fun to come up with their own smileys. I'm not the only one who thinks a couple of Speccy sprites would add a bit of fun, and give a sense of the community's identity.

Anyway, just as Peter's time is limited, so is my own, so I'll leave this alone now for someone else to think about!