New Icons

[Noah Ivaldi]

These have been in and out of the works for some time, now. I haven't been very pressing about them because they're not so important (mainly because you can generally tell what kind of thread something is meant to be at a glance), but we really should get them done sooner than later.

The requirements are very simple:
The pictures need to clearly represent what they are supposed to be. Duh.
They must be in GIF format. Since we can convert file types of pictures with about two clicks, this isn't an issue. I have the attachments here in JPG format, but can change them to GIFs in a blink.
They should be compact so that they're just little indication icons. I haven't sized down these pics yet, but that's about as easy as converting their file type. The icons that we presently have are 16 x 16 pixels. I'm pretty sure that we can have them bigger or smaller. I don't think that making much smaller icons would be a good idea, but what do you all think? I'm sorta' thinking that 20 x 20 would be about as big as we should go, and 15 x 15 would be the minimum. Whatever the case, all of them will be sized equally, so we have to make a blanket selection.

Here is the list from it of icons to make:

Pokémon: Just a pokéball picture will do. I'm sure that a bunch are just lying around, so you probably won't even have to make this one.
Battle: A sword crossed with a rod or staff is what I have in mind, and I also thought of incorporating a bow with an arrow knocked, but whatever suits you should suffice.
Training: One idea that I have is a picture of a human silhouette with a glowing aura around it, much like one would see on DBZ. If that's asking too much, a simple, green plus sign would suffice.
Docile: A small house would be ideal, playing off the common comparison of docile threads to "playing house," but a speech bubble would be acceptable, if a house can not be managed.
Mission: Preferably, this would be a picture of a piece of parchment with writing on it, representing a mission listing bill. However, I could imagine getting a picture of such a thing in which scribbles would be readily visible to be difficult, so a picture of a treasure chest is fine. Also, I wouldn't know such things, but, if it would be easier for part of the paper to have a monstrous silhouette on it, that would be equally acceptable to the first option.
Main Story: An open storybook, a closed book, even a series of papers or the like would do. I'm sure that you'll make it look good, so pick what suits you.

Anyone wanna' take a crack at it?

[Learpabru]

Thanks for all the input, guys . . .

[Ejio Tisco]

Well, they're not really high-class, 'cause I did 'em, but they're at least existent, now. Long overdue, but, then, it's not my fault that everyone who's better at this than me didn't want to help, and it's not like it's a great priority, either. Anyway, if you don't like the new icons, find or build me some that are better.

All icons should be used exclusively on the first post of a thread upon creation, and they should correspond to the author's intent at the time of creation; if a char heads out into a field to train, but is constantly pestered by random battles before eventually giving up on xir training when xe spots a highly desired pokémon, catches it, and calls it a day, there is no sense in changing the icon retroactively because the icon only signifies the author's original intent of the thread.

The house is for docile situations, those in which a char is just conversing, negotiating, explaining, shopping, hanging out, relaxing, and other play-housey stuff.
The human silhouette with a golden aura in a field is for training. You know, char development that isn't just storyline/personality/play-housey stuff.
The crossed swords over a shield are for battle, whether a friendly spar or a vindictive deathmatch.
The pen and paper are for missions.
You have three guesses for what the pokéball is for, and the first two don't count.
The storybook icon is for admin-generated/approved events that count as the "main" storyline of Houcm, which is not to say that everyone has to participate or anything, but it does refer to significant, potentially world-changing events that often yield high rewards for noteworthy participation in.
Note that, if your intent is simply to travel and you are thus subject to whatever events we do or don't throw at you, there's no icon for that. Should I add one more icon for travel intentions? It seems to be a little redundant when we generally assume that status, but, then, it could be a handy, "Hey, mods/admins, either come up with something and have it happen or let me go, 'cause I'm trying to advance my storyline, here," sign . . . Thoughts?

If you want to use these icons outside of Houcm for whatever reason, that's fine. Within Houcm, though, they should only be used as the neat tools that they were designed to be.
Of course, it's not like you have to use icons at all, if you don't want to. They're just available for those that do.

Unrelatedly, I switched the smilies to some chao smilies that I found. They're obviously incomplete, and work on them has apparently ground to a halt. Again, if you have a problem, build or find me some that are better.