Would anyone be interested? Just like a photo competition and judged similarly. Not sure what we could use for prizes. What are your thoughts on this in general?

[ 08-11-2006, 09:25 AM: Message edited by: Sever ]

I htink it would be interesting [img]smile.gif[/img] Bring some life back to the Elder Scrolls section, at any rate.

Sounds good I think. But the problem with posting screenshots on a thread is that the thread will load very very slow. Now imagine what will happen if the entire thread is nothing but screenshots. :rolleyes:

It wouldn't be a problem if you used thumbnails [img]smile.gif[/img]

If that's the case, post a little guide on how to put in a thumbnail ;)

Sounds interesting, but I don't even know how to post pictures in general... I'm such a n00b :rollseyes:

There're a few details and guides that i'm fine tuning the details on (how-to take screenies, how-to remove HUD etc.). For the moment, let's just get an idea of how many are interested in taking part. [img]smile.gif[/img]

me!

And a very positive "me" it be. Keep 'em coming IWers.

If anyone has any photography experience and would like to participate in a judiciary fashion, now's the time to PM me. No Oblivion experience required. (Preferred ;) ) Moderators feel free to volunteer if you have no desire to partake.

I'm, also thinking that there's more than a few Morrowinders that can't run Oblivion. This little comp shouldn't exclude those who may not be able to swing a computer that can run it. All those interested in a Morrowind division of this screenshot comp, let me know.

Cool! Wouldn't mind to take my camera and ride around Cyrodril with Shadowmere looking for a nice spot to take a picture.

Okay fellas and fellerettes, just need a little of your input on a few details before we can start the happysnaps.

As you well know, pretty much all of Cyrodiil is snapshot material, but for the sake of the contest, i think pics should be divided into four very general categories: Landmarks, Nature, Action and Vanity. Landmarks being any building(s) or structure(s), in or out of town. Nature being any natural setting and Action being a pic of any magical or mundane combat scenario. Vanity, of course, is the category for your bestest 3rd person mugshots. Each person taking part in the contest will be allowed to post one pic in each category. Each category will be voted on and awarded seperately. I'm also thinking that there should be a few random awards across all categories such as "most humourous pic" etc. (ideas welcomed here..)

I was originally opting for a "judging" system as a measure for the snapshot contest. After some thought, i think that a voting sytem might be the better option. (This had nothing to do with the fact that no Joe Bloggs wants to be a smeggin' judge. :rolleyes: ) All IWers (irrespective of whether or not they've played Oblivion) will be eligible to vote.

Picture format will be bitmap files. No external software editting. 1024x768 game resolution. I'm still typing up some general guides (ranging from pic taking to pic posting) to ensure that even the n00bi35t of n00b5 has a fair shot.

I am keen to hear your opinions and suggestions on everything i've stated so far, but two issues in particular need some input. Firstly, mod content. I'm of the opinion that any mod that changes visual aspects of the game should be disabled for this contest. But since there's such a vast range of mods available for Oblivion, i'm aware that there will be legitimate exceptions to this. If you are running a visual-type mod that you feel should be exempt from this restriction, please detail it in this thread. Contestants posting mod changed images without detailing it in this thread first will be shaved, sterilised and destroyed. ;)

Secondly, image hosting. Obviously, to take part in this contest, web hosting of some description is essential. The site i have used for donkey's years no longer provides free web hosting and i'm somewhat out of the loop in this area. Subsequently, i can't recommend an easy to use site for contestants who have no uploading experience. IF ANYONE KNOWS OF A SITE THAT IS FREE AND EASY, PLEASE POST A LINK. (lest i be forced to trudge through the septic wasteland that is "trial and error" and find one. [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

In order to get a few more numbers for the contest, i'll post a link to this thread in GD. Once the ground rules have been decided upon, i'll start a new thread for the contest proper. Thanks peoples! [img]smile.gif[/img]

imageshack.us?

photobucket.com? <-- have to sign up to this one, but it's free.

Thanks Ivellis. [img]smile.gif[/img] It's beddy byes for moi, but i'll check them out tomorrow.

Actually, I think you might have some problems with imageshack. They only take images smaller than 1.5 megabytes. As far as I know, 1024x768 bitmap images are larger than that.

This, of course, would not be a problem should you allow some other image format. PNG is very good in my experience.

Yep, I'm in on this one, too. :D

PNG is probably the best format for this competition...it's a lossless compression algorithm, and decreases the file size, so that people trapped on dial up (me til the end of the month :( ) can view and vote on the pictures.

How to keep track of votes? Perhaps we should have one official in charge of that, and vote via PM?

Imageshack will take most pictures, I have taken screenshots at 1920x1200 and uploaded them to imageshack before ;)

I'm definately in on this comp [img]smile.gif[/img] But I think you should have a fifth category: Humorous [img]smile.gif[/img]

;)

You can't have a photo contest without a funny photos category, but instead of a stand-alone humour category, peeps can just vote for whatever photo they thought was the funniest across all four categories. This saves on the amount of pics that'll be posted.

Personally i think this one was nice enough to capture.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29...creenShot0.jpg

Taken from the terrace of my heroes hideout, a plugin that makes you the owner of a castle high up in the mountains north of the imperial city.

Needs to be bigger ;)

PNG it is. For the sake of the n00b tutorial, is there a better way of converting to PNG than opening with MS Paint and saving as PNG?

As for the votes, i was thinking much the same thing. Is there a moderator willing to volunteer?..

Before i forget, i'm busy this weekend (babysitting useless types :mad: ) and probably most of the next week. If all goes well, i'll have all the tutorial stuff finished and the actual contest thread up by next friday. In the meantime, register your interest in this thread (if you haven't already) so i have a good idea of how many are taking part. Thanks.

I was walking around closing Oblivion gates, and caught my Argonian looking wistfully at an open sea. Maybe he'll save the world. Maybe he'll chase slaughterfish for the rest of his days. I'm in. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Slight problem with hosting, guys. Imageshack has a maximum file size of 1.5mb for free hosting. Photobucket is only 1mb. Most of my test pics are about 2.25mb as bitmaps and around 1.7mb as .png files. The next best image quality/file size format is JPEGs. It's not as nice to look at, but for the purposes of this contest, it might just do.

Does anyone have any better suggestions for either image formats or sites to host 'em at?

[ 08-09-2006, 07:13 AM: Message edited by: Sever ]

Oh, and i appear to be losing pics (some pearlas too, dammit! :mad: ) due to Oblivion overwriting their file names in the default directory when i take new pics. Does anyone know why/how this is caused?

I've pressed PrtSc but nothing came out. No pictures in Oblivion folder. Anything wrong?

Kakero, have you edited the Oblivion.ini file in your My Docs/My Games/Oblivion folder? Not the one in your Oblivion folder?

If anyone is still unsure about how to take screenies, please be patient just a little longer. I'll have the thread up (with all the relevant How-tos) by tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 08-11-2006, 12:27 AM: Message edited by: Sever ]

You mean I should edit the one in My Docs/my Games/Oblivion folder? D'oh! :D

You have to enable screenshots in the .ini file in your my documents directory. A quick search should reveal how to do that.

I'll try and post a picture here in the next couple of days...it's a slow process, since I'm on dial-up, and my computer doesn't have a modem, so I run everything through my mother's slow sod of a computer.

When does the contest end?

The suspense is killing me. Y'all are still in, right?

I know, me too. I've been sitting on the edge of my seat rooting for my favourite. Unfortunately, so far I've seen one and it was then deleted : /.

Yeah...I was all set to figure out how to take one and post it...then I had a surprise reformat. Haven't dug the save game out yet.

I'll see what I can muster tonight. It'll be really bad and then you guys will be forced to beat me out of common decency :D

Same, I had heaps of great screenshots when i was paying, but I have since formatted :(

Gah, 1024x768?

Count me out then, its too hard to take a decent screenshot at that res, makes everything look crappy :(

You're playing on a widescreen aren't you Hive? I gave no small amount of thought as to how to overcome this problem but it seems there is no solution to be found. Screen resolutions make a big difference in the finished pic and most people who play Oblivion will play it on a 3:4 monitor. Sorry to be exclusive, mate. :(

Hey no worries! I will give it a go when I get time and we will see what happens!

So...you'll note that my prior claim went nowhere. I *really* hurt my shoulder...and I cant play any mouse/WASD-involved games for a bit (or type faster than 10 words per minute). I don't mean to be a screenshot tease, really!

[img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] You tease, you.

Bah! You're all a bunch of teases!

*walks off mumbling*