Comments on: Comments on 1240

Post number 1240

mathowie — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 11:54:50 -0800

This DHTML site is just plain amazing. Hearing that the author wrote the whole thing by hand in a text editor with nothing but a book for reference is incredible. It reminds me of seeing an insane rug or quilt at a museum and hearing it was stiched by hand using only crude sewing tools. Just thinking of the work it took to make that site makes me want to cry in pain. [link pilfered from kottke]

By: Cavatica

Cavatica — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 13:42:46 -0800

All that was done by hand?! I'm in total shock.

By: vitaflo

vitaflo — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 13:49:10 -0800

Yup, it was done by hand. This is my site actually, thanks to mathowie for posting the link here. It took me 3 months to make this site, mostly because I was learning as I went. Back in January I wanted to get back into doing code (I was doing a lot of design at the time), so I thought DHTML would be cool. Picked up the O'Reilly DHTML book, and started learning the ropes. I also decided not to get code from other sites. It was sink or swim on my own. And it turned out to be fun. Reminded me of the old days learning HTML for Mosaic. I'm glad you guys like it!

By: Dean_Paxton

Dean_Paxton — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 13:53:21 -0800

Wow, this is one of the coolest things I've seen all year. Wonderful work!

By: corpse

corpse — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 15:30:09 -0800

Hmmmm, makes me want to actually read my O'Reilly DHTML book instead of sitting my Pepsi on it.

By: starduck

starduck — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 16:23:29 -0800

it's about time someone made dhtml presentations featuring video games

By: Axodys

Axodys — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 16:36:01 -0800

Very cool! Everything works fine in IE 5 on my Mac, but the three colors on the main page end up being too similar (the old Mac PC gamma issue I suppose). On my Win2k workstation everything looks great.

By: neo452

neo452 — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 18:14:08 -0800

almost made pull out the super nes outta the attic...Creative stuff indeed.

By: alan

alan — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 18:28:27 -0800

Super nes? Mega-man and Mario =< 3 are old school NES, sans super.

By: corpse

corpse — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 18:57:15 -0800

The NES is and always will be the greatest console system, ever.

By: alan

alan — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 20:04:14 -0800

You'd be right corpse, if it wasn't for the ColecoVision! waiting for a crazy uncle to come in and mention some stone age game system.

By: Dean_Paxton

Dean_Paxton — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 20:10:21 -0800

Check out Arcade @ Home if you haven't already. There you'll find ROMS and emulators for all of the older console/arcade games that you are longing for. It'll be good for ya... Dig out your gamepad. There are hundreds more, but that'll get you started.

By: EngineBeak

EngineBeak — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 20:26:15 -0800

Does anyone know what that old TI thing was that ran the space-game Parsec?

By: EngineBeak

EngineBeak — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 20:40:27 -0800

A ha. The TI99/4a.

By: daveadams

daveadams — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 20:43:48 -0800

I had one of those! It rocked. The graphics and sound were awesome for the time. That's the computer I first learned to program on, in TI Basic, the most screwed up Basic you can find. It ensured that I was continually confused by all succeeding Basic implementations until about two years ago.

By: hobbes

hobbes — Thu, 06 Apr 2000 21:38:58 -0800

What's the font he's using? When I read the about section, everything was kinda too small to read. Other than that, it's great Brent!

By: Markb

Markb — Fri, 07 Apr 2000 01:55:37 -0800

Looks cool, kind of Designer's Republic (those responsible for the look of the Wipeout series of games on the Playstation), and done by hand too, wicked! TI Basic was terrible, but the Pascal cart. was really good, I had a head start when I went to Uni. and they taught Pascal, and Parsec was the dog's danglies for ages.

By: Cavatica

Cavatica — Fri, 07 Apr 2000 04:28:51 -0800

Intellivision was great when it first came out, since there were so many companies trying to grab everyone's attention. You had that weird Vectrex machine, those little arcades you saw Gizmo playing Galaxian on in "Gremlins", and the Atari 5200. Once the Nes came out, it was mainly Nintendo vs. Sega, Episode One. Those were the great years in early videogaming. I think I still have a copy of Simon's Quest (Castlevania II) and the original Metal Gear laying around, though you can get roms of them.

By: dangerman

dangerman — Fri, 07 Apr 2000 07:17:21 -0800

Not to take anything away from such a great well thought out design but..... I can't believe so many people are impressed by hand coding ...what does that say about the current skill sets of todays web designers and developers...have web developing tools become such a crutch, that when someone actually takes the time to come up with original code we all sit and marvel at it?

By: jennyb

jennyb — Fri, 07 Apr 2000 08:40:01 -0800

Why not marvel at it? It's marvellous. Not just because it's hand coded, but also because it's neat. It would still be neat if it wasn't hand coded. Frankly, I am not as impressed by the fact that he was able to do it by hand than by the fact that he did. Do it by hand. Are web developing tools a crutch? Well, sure, sometimes but I don't think that's necessarily bad. I mean, just because you know how to get some where the long way doesn't mean you shouldn't take the shortcut. And besides, Dan, our reliance on code generating software just means code monkeys like you are always going to be in demand!

By: dangerman

dangerman — Fri, 07 Apr 2000 10:04:33 -0800

Like I said on RC...I think the site is really great. I was merely commenting on the fact that everyone emphasized the "hand coding". I myself...code-slut or not, still use DW and VInterdev for my pages...I just think with the introduction of newer better web tools, general programming skills are being lost and degraded. "...and the monkey flips the switch"

By: stopgap

stopgap — Fri, 07 Apr 2000 14:42:49 -0800

Hmm.. I thought everything was done by hand still. I guess I haven't used DW since very soon after it came (2, 3 years?) I'm surprised that everyone is emphasizing the did it by hand part. Especially if you're making a new design, I can't imagine not wanting to do it by hand so you know exactly how it works. Personally, I was impressed by the design only.