SSC 2008

Community news posted by the SSC staff.
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SSCBen
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SSC 2008

Post by SSCBen » Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:57 pm

Months ago I planned out what I wanted to say, but now that we're here I figure whatever I say doesn't matter.

The new website has launched. The new website is about 80% larger in the number of pages. We've tried hard to make a very informative website while still leaving room for improvement in the future. Before the spring season, we are shooting for one or two new pages per week, and during the spring/summer season, we will try to get two or more new pages online per week.

Some sections are completely new. Check out the FAQ, which consists of answers to hundreds of previously asked questions. Check out the history section, which, while still under development, will explain the complete history of water guns. The modifications and homemades sections are finally at a complete state. The repairs section is comprehensive.

One thing you should note as well is that if we don't have something, we'll tell you who does. Nearly every page has links to other similar pages. We figure that if you don't like what we have, you might like what others have.

We also have a bunch of really neat individual pages. Check out the Marks Guide in the reviews, which is the most comprehensive Marks guide by far. Check out our interview with Ian Helfrich, the webmaster of the first Super Soaker website, in the Etc. section. Supercannon II has instructions. The new APH guide is by far the most comprehensive yet. There's so many new little pages I couldn't begin to write about them.

Note that the "Print this page" link at the bottom doesn't work yet. Also watch out for things like [link here] on pages. Let us know about those. They were notes for us to put links in some places. Some pages might have other things like [add video here]. Point those out too. If anything seems incomplete basically, let us know.

Let me know what you like, what you don't like, and so on. Thanks to everyone who helped make this our best update yet.
Last edited by SSCBen on Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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isoaker_com
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by isoaker_com » Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:44 pm

New site looks great! Lots of good new articles as well; good job! All that's missing now is an update to the forums to make the forum's header match that of the remainder of the site. Now, I'll go back to reading... :p

:cool:
:: Leave NO one dry! :: iSoaker.com / iSoaker.net ::

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SSCBen
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by SSCBen » Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:35 pm

Yeah, the forums are now lacking. I'm used to it being the other way around.

I'm relatively familiar with vBulletin skinning, but a skin will take a while. I figure that's fine because I have a while. Having something to build on would help a lot, but there's few vB skins like what I want.

sbell25
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by sbell25 » Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:22 pm

Man, there is a huge amount of interesting and useful information in this update, great work. I don't even know where to start reading! It's really good to see step by step guides on the homemades you've built over the years. Now like iSoaker, back to reading!

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Drenchenator
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by Drenchenator » Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:49 pm

I'd just like to point out that this update was a team effort. Ben did a lot of the work, but don't give him all the credit; SilentGuy and I busted out a lot of hours to do a lot of "dirty work"--specifically the FAQ--that gave Ben the time to work on the articles. I don't know if anyone checked it or not, but I know it has around 250 questions; we really went all out on this one. We also both wrote several articles of our own.

SilentGuy also read through everything and acted as a good nitpicker, pointing out inconsistencies, typos, and errors in coding.

I worked on several of the other "dirty work" sections, but I have to say I'm most proud of the work I did with the Reviews section and Marks Guide. The Marks Guide is extremely detailed; I recommend checking it out. I still needs a lot of work--especially in accumulating pictures of every mark--but it's all there, albeit in text form for most of it.
The Drenchenator, also known as Lt. Col. Drench.

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SSCBen
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by SSCBen » Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:56 pm

Yeah, I've tried to emphasize "we" when writing because this time around SSC is a team website. The website could not have gone online today without a team effort. I'd probably be working for several months more if it was just me. We have three people working steadily towards the new website, and we only can add more to our team. And while DX was busy, we have over 20 pages written by him here, which is #2 on the list of pages authored. So we really have four major contributors at the moment.

sbell25
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by sbell25 » Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:41 pm

Sorry, I didn't mean to give the impression that I thought Ben did all the work. Don't worry, I did notice all the names of the authors beside the articles I was reading, and am grateful that all of you guys put in such an effort. My apologies for the misunderstanding.

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SSCBen
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by SSCBen » Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:04 am

I don't think Drenchenator meant that at you directly. It was just a general statement. Most people assume SSC is me, when it's not, especially now. Now, I don't think they'll assume anything other than SSC is a team effort. ;)

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Drenchenator
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by Drenchenator » Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:08 am

Yeah, I didn't mean to direct the comment at you; I just wanted to make sure that people don't give Ben all the credit for the pages that don't list an author.
The Drenchenator, also known as Lt. Col. Drench.

sbell25
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by sbell25 » Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:16 am

Whoops. I looked back on my post and it sounded like I thought Ben must've done all the work. Never mind.

Drenchenator: That marks guide is incredible. How did you manage to get those pictures of Lonnie Johnson with the prototype CPS guns? Also, I have a couple of Max-D 3000's that aren't in your guide. I got them in a twin pack with an XP215:

The first one has a dark blue body, purple tank, silver pump and yellow detailing on the fake pipes.
The second one has a lighter blue body, yellow tank, orange pump and silver detailing on the fake pipes.
Also, the XP215 has a light green body, opaque purple tank, and blue pump.

Both Max-D's have no stickers whatsoever.
Last edited by sbell25 on Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Silence
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by Silence » Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:24 am

This project has been really fun and it's a relief to see the new website finally up. My part was trivial really, so kudos to Ben, Drenchenator, and DX, all of whom actually wrote content. :rolleyes:

The best part of the website is the new approach that lets it be a team project. It's now going to be a lot easier for us to add new content and do tweaks because the backend is so open.

Ben's backend did basically provide the impetus for quick development. Pretty much every single page on the current site was added in just the last month. That's mighty impressive and there's a lot to be learned from that.

You can tell that some people did way more work than others (heh...). But the point is that letting multiple people be able to work offers a lot of motivation.

As Ben has mentioned, the project is no longer done. Updates and polishing should be continual now. Just like revealing the site to the staff helped speed things up, finally revealing a site to the community should keep things going.

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Drenchenator
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by Drenchenator » Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:38 am

How did you manage to get those pictures of Lonnie Johnson with the prototype CPS guns?
Ben gave me a big load of images that he found and received so that I had stuff to work with. I believe that he said this one was from some university's site--it was just to perfect to leave out I must say.
The first one has a dark blue body, purple tank, silver pump and yellow detailing on the fake pipes.
The second one has a lighter blue body, yellow tank, orange pump and silver detailing on the fake pipes.
Also, the XP215 has a light green body, opaque purple tank, and blue pump.

Both Max-D's have no stickers whatsoever.
Ok, good, this is the kind of stuff I want. I had to look through what seemed like a billion eBay auctions, review sites, and arsenal pictures to list most of the color scheme differences. Thanks! I'll add it in a minute.

EDIT: Done. Also note that I added each gun's mark table to their reviews as well; you don't need to go through that huge page to find information about one gun.
Last edited by Drenchenator on Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
The Drenchenator, also known as Lt. Col. Drench.

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SSCBen
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by SSCBen » Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:57 am

I wasn't sure if that picture was online any longer, like the "Super Liquidator" photo I had, so we just used it. With information as scant as it is there, any examples are helpful. After a quick Google search about one site where I remembered I saw it (there was more than one, and I don't know which one was the original), I found it: http://www.tuskegee.edu/Global/story.asp?S=1147941

I don't know if they have the copyright on the image, but I figure it was too good to pass up, especially on the marks guide. Our use is fair use in this article, so I wasn't worried about copyright.

I am sure there are more prototype images out there, but I haven't been successful in getting them. I emailed Johnson R&D before and never got a response. If you're interested in prototypes though, you'd be interested in our history section, which I am saving for future updates. ;)

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Silence
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by Silence » Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:37 am

Oh, I don't think I saw sbell25's post. I see where this discussion of marks and images came from now. :)

Woah, I never new about Johnson R&D. It's funny - their website says they develop both Super Soaker and Nerf. I suppose the complaints regarding different attitudes from the Nerf and Super Soaker teams may be false...

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DX
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Re: SSC 2008

Post by DX » Fri Jan 18, 2008 7:04 am

Hehe, I did work without doing any work...

However, if you all were as busy as I am the moment, you'd probably jump out my 5th floor window. And it's still technically break. I have been gathering my homemade pictures and working on a local copy of the Tactics FAQ [it's woefully sparse].

@Ben: Feel free to strip Tactical Theory stats from the old articles, such as "Caliber" "Function" "Fighting Stage" "Player Caliber" etc. Passages that sound over the top or non-impartial can be stripped too. Only bother if you have time though, I can always do it at a later date when I resume a normal schedule. Interestingly enough, the return of classes will actually increase my free time.
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