Design Contest 2 Week Reminder

[manikus]

This is just a friendly post to remind everyone that we have just about two weeks left in the design contest.

For a refresher on the rules, please see the original thread.

[Uatu]

Gulp! (Situation (in terms of having something ready by the deadline) is pretty bleak now...)

[manikus]

I had been hoping that it had been so quiet around here b/c everyone was busy working on their contest entries.

[Jadefang]

I think my folder might become too big, unless zip archiving would magically cut off 2-3 MBs or so.

[manikus]

There are some tricks to getting the size down, well I guess they are more like tips.
When the design is done, use the RegArt and ReqSound files as a guide to remove all of the unused art and sounds from the design folder.
Make sure all graphics are .png format and all sound is in a compact format (if a lot is going on in the clip, you'll probably want to use mp3, but if it's only a single sound, wav).
Consider using midi music instead of mp or wav music.
Consider for graphics other than icons, whether or not the image can be dropped down to 256 colors - the bigger the image, the bigger difference.
Use a good archiving tool, such as Win-Rar or 7-Zip, set on their highest compression levels.
I hope you can use some of these hints to your advantage.

[Jadefang]

Is there a way to get like...50% compression without having to split the file into separate parts? WinRAR can give me like 72% compression at most, which is good in itself, but still leaves my archive at like 4.83 MB. I've also done the other tips and removed extraneous graphics, made everything all PNGs, etc.

[manikus]

Sorry, I don't have any more suggestions. I've pretty much shared everything I know about compression and DC.

[Jadefang]

Well, I found out thumbs.db was a stupid space killer. Seems like I should be able to push out something less than 4 MB after all.

[manikus]

Sounds good.
Using the ReqArt and ReqSound files can help too, to make sure that you're not keeping any old art that is no longer being used.

[Uatu]

So, er, how many entries did you receive, anyway, Manikus? And can we play them, too?