Which one do you think looks better and is less confusing?
THis: http://tartarus.rpgclassics.com/~mm7/monsterlist2.shtml
OR this: http://tartarus.rpgclassics.com/~mm7/monsterlist3.shtml
Any suggestions on how I could improve them?
The second one is better, except maybe put slbg.gif in Angel/Angel Lord/Archangel slots and bgd.gif for the rest.
Personally, I liked the first one. I liked it going vertical instead of horizontal.
Second one.
PErsonally, I like the second setup better (Why you don’t see the original is because 2 is essecntially the same with some cosmetic editing), It just seems better to me.
Hmm do I have bgd.gif Have to check?
Right now, monsterlist3.shtml is aesthetically better, but I feel that monsterlist2.shtml provides better information as you have space for the special attack notes. With a little touching up of the code, mosterlist2.shtml can look just as good, if not better, than monsterlist3.shtml.
I’d recommend that you create one big table for each race, then in each big table create sub-tables for each unit class. I tried something similar with my System Shock 2 <a href=“http://tartarus.rpgclassics.com/~sysshock2/weapons.shtml” target="_blank">weapons page</a>, and I was impressed with the results. Simply substitute (In your mind) the race names for the weapon classes, and unit names for the weapons, and you should get a fair idea of how it can turn out. If you go this route, just make sure to set “border=0” for the big table, or you’ll get really funky looking results.
Also, before you get too far into coding your tables, I strongly recommend that you get a system in place for as to how you mark and layout the code for you tables. Don’t forget that in HTML extra spaces, tabs, and returns are overlooked, so it allows you to lay out your code in a logical orde. Down the road it’ll make it a lot easier to look back and make changes or to find and correct mistakes. If you check the code for my said weapons page, you’ll see that I have a very clean (In my opinion, anway), repititous pattern for how I code each table and cell. While I’m not saying that you should copy my format exactly, you should at least get a system of your own.
And I can’t tell you just how thankful I am for the <!-- Commentary --> tags. If you notice, I placed one with a weapon name in it at the start of the code for that weapon’s table. While it’s easy now to see where everything is in your tables, when you’re done, it might take 3 - 4 minutes just to find the code for a specific spot of your page, unless you take care now to label what each is.
Even if you decide that you like monsterlist3.shtml better, you should still take these tips to heart, they’ll save you a lot of pulled hair down the road. Take my word for it.
Yeah, I like the second one better, but it definitely needs some pics for the backgrounds.
The latter, with one change.
Stick slbg.gif as your background then make every cell except the headers with dbg.gif for a background