Hard Light Productions Forums

Off-Topic Discussion => Arts & Talents => Topic started by: RandomTiger on March 16, 2004, 10:39:20 am

Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 16, 2004, 10:39:20 am
I would like some new art for the front page of the launcher.
The image needs to be 278x57.

.... and it looks like it has to be indexed 8 bit colour :(
If thats a problem I could prehaps figure something out.

This isnt a poll, I choose.
Would like it to look professional.

(http://www.randomtiger.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/freespace/welcome.jpg)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: HotSnoJ on March 16, 2004, 10:47:42 am
Looking good. :cool:

How about some Setekh renders? Or maybe a thing so mods can specify the launcher art?
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 16, 2004, 10:54:06 am
Quote
Originally posted by HotSnoJ
Or maybe a thing so mods can specify the launcher art?


That would be really cool but I've got way to much other stuff to get done.
The art is compiled into the exe so that it can be distrubed as one file.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: HotSnoJ on March 16, 2004, 11:11:08 am
Quote
Originally posted by RandomTiger


That would be really cool but I've got way to much other stuff to get done.
The art is compiled into the exe so that it can be distrubed as one file.
I see. Well then, lets ask setekh for some of his renders!!
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: jdjtcagle on March 16, 2004, 11:12:49 am
I see you run a debug build... tell me why does mine crash uncontrollably when I run mine?

Anyway back on topic it looks very nice!!:) its coming together nicely:yes:
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: kasperl on March 16, 2004, 11:21:25 am
jdj: post a thread in the SCP forum with what build you;re using and what command line arguments.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: jdjtcagle on March 16, 2004, 11:26:05 am
thats ok...doesn't really bother me...just a little curious that all
so everybody admire random tigers "precious";) :D
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Fineus on March 16, 2004, 11:46:06 am
Oh.. uh, guys - one thing? Renders take up size and memory (they're big, detailed images remember?) I'm all for seeing pretty graphics stuck up wherever I look. But perhaps it should be limited to say... 5 images of that size - people are going to spend more time in the game than they are looking at the launcher remember, it needs to look pretty - but not to the extent that it adversly affects size/performance.

Other than that, it's up to Steaky! But knowing him I doubt he'll object at all :nod:
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 16, 2004, 11:54:37 am
I want *new* art because the old stuff is a bit dull.
I just posted a shot of the launcher so you can get an idea of how its presented in the dialog box.

Required image size 278x57
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: HotSnoJ on March 16, 2004, 12:12:04 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Kalfireth
Oh.. uh, guys - one thing? Renders take up size and memory (they're big, detailed images remember?) I'm all for seeing pretty graphics stuck up wherever I look. But perhaps it should be limited to say... 5 images of that size - people are going to spend more time in the game than they are looking at the launcher remember, it needs to look pretty - but not to the extent that it adversly affects size/performance.

Other than that, it's up to Steaky! But knowing him I doubt he'll object at all :nod:
Oh come on, an image that's an appropiate size for a launcher can't be that big of a drain on system resources...can it?
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Fineus on March 16, 2004, 12:24:21 pm
No, but lots can add to the size rather unnecessarily. If you just want one or two images to load (perhaps one randomly each time from a selection of 10) then that's fine.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 16, 2004, 12:34:05 pm
One image, one size, 278x57.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Fineus on March 16, 2004, 12:44:31 pm
Then forget it :rolleyes:
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 16, 2004, 12:54:16 pm
So you'd hit me if I said 'Short looping title animation'? ;)

Seriously though, I quite life the Source Code symbol, it just needs some jazzing up, I'll play around in Photoshop and see what happens, though there are people here who would undoubtedly do a better job :D
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 16, 2004, 01:22:51 pm
(http://www.aqsx85.dsl.pipex.com/images/emblem1.gif)

Shine, Glow and Specular added to the title as to the game ;)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 16, 2004, 02:00:41 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Flipside
So you'd hit me if I said 'Short looping title animation'? ;)


That would be very very cool but not really something I want to get into at the moment. Would that image work with a white background?

Or perhaps keep it back and add nebula and stars?
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 16, 2004, 02:01:32 pm
I'll take a look and post something a little later this evening :)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Shinobi on March 16, 2004, 03:26:30 pm
Quote
Originally posted by RandomTiger

Or perhaps keep it back and add nebula and stars?


Not to detract from Flips efforts, but something like this?

                                                 
(http://www.sectorfiles.com/ti-file-dump/Shinobi/Emblem.jpg)

EDIT: Actually, it doesn't look very good :)
Clicky (http://www.sectorfiles.com/ti-file-dump/Shinobi/welcome.jpg)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 16, 2004, 03:49:16 pm
Well, heres my own effort with the Nebula. White background is easy if preferred :)

(http://www.aqsx85.dsl.pipex.com/images/emblem1b.gif)

This was using one of Lightspeeds nebula backgrounds, just sticking in spirit with the game ;)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Fineus on March 16, 2004, 03:57:58 pm
I like both, but the lower edges of the icon look a little jagged....
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 16, 2004, 04:01:28 pm
Try chucking some stars in
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 16, 2004, 04:12:04 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Shinobi

EDIT: Actually, it doesn't look very good :)


I like it but it doesnt work being so dark against the rest of the launcher being bright.

Flipside, you should paste it in like Shinobi did to see how it looks in context. You might need to make the colour different or brighter.

Keep on going guys, if we end up with more than one good one perhaps we can have both alternate them by time or date.

Also remember I would prefer indexed coloured images.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Carl on March 16, 2004, 04:31:28 pm
no, you guys. thise are too overdone and flashy. they original one is perfect. it's a crisp, simple design. take a look at company logos some time. you'll see they usually have only a few colors, maybe 2 or three, and are flat, simplistic, and can be done in a vector based program. take it from someone who used to make logos for his job. the simpler, the better. RT, if i were you, i'd stick with the current image, if you want the scp to look professionally done.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 16, 2004, 04:34:19 pm
(http://www.aqsx85.dsl.pipex.com/images/emblem1c.gif)

It's a bit of a problem on those edges, it's to do with high contrast and 256 colours :( I've had a go at smoothing them a little here, I don't think you are going to get much more without starting to blur the line between the icon and the background.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Lightspeed on March 16, 2004, 04:38:09 pm
I'll have a go at it. Those edges are horrbile :)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 16, 2004, 04:47:19 pm
Carls got a point but I'd feel bad if I didnt use them now.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 16, 2004, 04:48:38 pm
In context:

(http://www.randomtiger.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/freespace/flipside.jpg)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 16, 2004, 04:52:47 pm
hehehehe It's your launcher RT, I think it looks fine either way, but use whatever you feel works best, I won't take offence :)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Lightspeed on March 16, 2004, 05:00:01 pm
Perhaps something along these lines?

(http://www.penguinbomb.com/lightspeed/SCP/scplogo.jpg)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 16, 2004, 05:03:41 pm
Nice gradient filling! :) Looks much cleaner than mine :)

The only thing I'd say is that you need possibly a faint glow behind the words, or just something to make them slightly more readable?
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Lightspeed on March 16, 2004, 05:06:01 pm
they're readable pretty fine. I wanted them to look really faint / weak as it's looking quite odd if they're there with high contrast.

On a side note, it's using one of my background nebulae as well ;)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 16, 2004, 05:10:04 pm
LOL Well, you're probably right, but my eyes aren't 100%, so I sort of struggle to read it ;)

Well, my vote goes to you to be honest, as I said when I started, there are people here who can do a much better job than I ;)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Lightspeed on March 16, 2004, 05:12:45 pm
that's the advantage with having the brain directly connected to the computer ;)

Might also be your monitor though, I kept it in the 'easy on the eyes' range. Makes it look a lot more professional than when using bright and lots of colours.

-edit: speaking of eye sight... Just noticed that our avatars look exactly the same if youre tired and looking at the screen without focussing. 2 Blue blobs + 4 identical ones.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Corsair on March 16, 2004, 05:24:41 pm
that last one there by Lightspeed was great. The others, the edges are all weird. That one looks good though...and not silvery. The silver bugs me.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 16, 2004, 05:42:52 pm
LOL Yes, I've always had a sort of deranged Magpie's taste for shiny things ;)

Yes, should have worked against a black background to the area around the image as well, I'm sure theres a way to do that in Photoshop, that light grey seems to make me way over-intensify the colours, so it looks lurid when I post on here :(
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Lightspeed on March 16, 2004, 05:49:51 pm
You know all my stuff is pure Photoshop, so yeah - everything's possible if you know how :nod:
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 16, 2004, 05:54:18 pm
Is that 8 bit?
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Lightspeed on March 16, 2004, 05:56:15 pm
nope.

8-bit JPG = no go, and I post all my images as jpgs :)

I can convert it to 8-bit for ya, though.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Lightspeed on March 16, 2004, 06:00:30 pm
Okay, here you go:

For comparison:

JPG (32-bit)
(http://www.penguinbomb.com/lightspeed/SCP/scplogo.jpg)

converted to

PNG (8-bit)
(http://www.penguinbomb.com/lightspeed/SCP/scp.png)

$1 to everyone who notices any difference. If PNG is no good for you, just tell me which format you need and i'll give you waht you want.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 16, 2004, 06:01:42 pm
Forget it, it's there now ;)

Yup, looks good to me :)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Lightspeed on March 16, 2004, 06:05:12 pm
I just paid myself $1.

There is a visual difference, but none that would produce colour loss artifacts. Actually, I almost prefer the 8-bit version :)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 16, 2004, 06:06:24 pm
Paste it into the launcher image now so we can see how it looks.
The text is a little difficult to read.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 16, 2004, 06:07:15 pm
:P hehehehe

Sorry, kneejerk reaction ;)

Edit : Ok, I'm going to bed.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Lightspeed on March 16, 2004, 06:11:14 pm
(http://www.penguinbomb.com/lightspeed/SCP/pasted.jpg)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Fineus on March 16, 2004, 06:12:23 pm
I like it. Maybe make the text in the image slightly more readable - or remove it. As it is it's a bit of a strain (although it doesnt take much to work out what it says).
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 16, 2004, 06:20:14 pm
I like it, fix up or remove the text and its in.
I've already put in Flipsides and I think I will call it a day there.
3 is enough for now.

Edit: I did like Shinobi's as a standalone image but it didnt really work inside the frame of the launcher.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Lightspeed on March 16, 2004, 06:35:04 pm
(http://www.penguinbomb.com/lightspeed/SCP/scp2.png)

'this fine with ya?

I've already saved it as an 8-bit PNG :)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: HotSnoJ on March 16, 2004, 07:00:20 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Lightspeed
Okay, here you go:

For comparison:

$1 to everyone who notices any difference. If PNG is no good for you, just tell me which format you need and i'll give you waht you want.


[edit] my bad... :D
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Rictor on March 16, 2004, 08:46:30 pm
(http://home.cogeco.ca/~llebl/LAUNCHER3.gif)
(http://home.cogeco.ca/~llebl/LAUNCHER2.gif)
(http://home.cogeco.ca/~llebl/LAUNCHER1.gif)

edit: Lightspeed is the Princess of Photoshop. Looks very nice man.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Carl on March 16, 2004, 08:51:24 pm
(http://www.randomtiger.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/freespace/welcome.jpg)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Taristin on March 16, 2004, 09:23:33 pm
I'm justglad you're keeping the cool paw-print. :D
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: HotSnoJ on March 17, 2004, 05:23:56 am
Quote
Originally posted by Rictor
Lightspeed is the Princess of Photoshop. Looks very nice man.
:wtf: Don't you mean Prince?
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: karajorma on March 17, 2004, 06:01:58 am
Probably confused Lightspeed and Icespeed there. :D
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Rictor on March 17, 2004, 10:48:11 am
I meant exactly what I said.

And it still looks very nice.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Lightspeed on March 17, 2004, 11:27:31 am
I dont mind :) :p
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 17, 2004, 07:32:26 pm
The bitmaps you provided will appear in v5 of the Launcher under a random selection process.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 17, 2004, 07:38:58 pm
Hey, RT, if I come up with something better, am I allowed to offer it up for suggestion as a replacement in version 6? ;)

Lightspeed got me thinking ;)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Rictor on March 17, 2004, 11:59:12 pm
Actually RT, no offense to any of the other submissions, but I think you should just go with Lightspeed's version (the one with the type more visible). More of a unified look to it I think, if we just have the one.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: RandomTiger on March 18, 2004, 04:41:07 am
Quote
Originally posted by Flipside
Hey, RT, if I come up with something better, am I allowed to offer it up for suggestion as a replacement in version 6? ;)

Lightspeed got me thinking ;)


I guess so.
Its more likely to get into v5.1.
It only goes up a whole version number when back compatiliblity is broken and Im hoping I've done that for the last time for a while now.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Lightspeed on March 18, 2004, 07:32:02 am
Quote
Originally posted by Flipside
Lightspeed got me thinking ;)


You killed my thread. Die! :lol:
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Sheepy on March 18, 2004, 01:07:51 pm
loose the type on lightspeeds and it will be all good, it just doesnt look right centered, and if it was it would go other the image a bit in the middle.

All the same, tis v good.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Setekh on March 19, 2004, 07:30:50 am
Looks like I was too late. ;) Actually, RT, I kinda like the vanilla one you provided initially the most... but you know, that's me. If you want me to cannibalise any of my renders, you're welcome to ask.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 19, 2004, 12:49:08 pm
hehehe Well, LS gave me a couple of pointers in this thread and I'm actually going to try wearing my glasses whilst working this time, much as I hate them, the more I see the aliasing on those 'wings' in my picture, the more embarrasing it is to look at ;)
Title: Bump
Post by: Shinobi on March 22, 2004, 12:42:57 pm
Sorry to bump this thread but I finally got around to posting my attempt. Its probably too late to be considered but any constructive critisicm is appreciated :) It's a bit 'off the wall' but...meh....

(http://www.sectorfiles.com/ti-file-dump/Shinobi/FlameEmblem.jpg)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Flipside on March 22, 2004, 03:23:15 pm
Damn, not another thread that's turned into flames ;) hehehehe

The flames are a bit too lurid, it makes it hard to see the symbol. Possibly keep the symbol in black?
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Ferret on March 31, 2004, 08:11:26 am
I personally think the symbol looks fine one the fire one, but it's the text again that is the burden.
I would demolish the text altogether and move the synbol up a tad.
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Ulala on April 07, 2004, 12:10:58 am
I like it. Looks cool. :)
Title: New Launcher art
Post by: Shinobi on April 07, 2004, 07:04:38 am
Yeah, problem is I posted it too late and RT has screwed off now, ne'er to return :)