AuthorTopic: Shoot em Up craft select, new Portrait!  (Read 8284 times)

Offline EyeCraft

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Re: Shoot em Up craft/weapon select

Reply #10 on: June 27, 2007, 05:29:46 am
I'm sorry about the conceptual crit, but could we for once, avoid the anime pilot cliches?

Good point. It'd be cool to see some chaos engine style portraits or something...  ;)

Regarding the latest mockup, I find that text difficult to read, I think lowering the value of the light blue around the white would help it alot.
« Last Edit: June 27, 2007, 05:31:45 am by EyeCraft »

Offline Jad

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Re: Shoot em Up craft/weapon select

Reply #11 on: June 27, 2007, 10:16:18 am
If I had something to say about the matter, I'd prefer some sinister colors and harsh lighting with a lot of contrast, and colder colors. I'll make you an edit if I get the time.
' _ '

Offline huZba

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Re: Shoot em Up craft/weapon select

Reply #12 on: June 27, 2007, 03:12:58 pm
I vote for no pilot at all. Why? Because shmups always present a great chance to have the player in the pilot seat, since there's no need to show the pilot upclose. Great stories have spots for the viewer to fill in. If the character you make isn't needed for expanding your universe, then don't make one, cause then it'll only be an empty shell taking center-stage instead of the player. I remember someone saying in your previous thread that the screenshots seemed to hold in some good story. Great many games take benefit of telling the story without language. It's always good to let the player define things for themselves, unless of course, you have something so spectacular that requires predefined aspects. R-type final is a good example. Every bit of graphics and sound contribute to a good story and only a sentence of written text is given between missions to give a hint of what the story is.

Not to get too off-topic, i really like the ships themselves as well as the silhouettes showing their weapons. Other than that, i agree with others, the user interface is too bulky and takes attention away from the ships. Try thinking in levels, then make an interface that doesn't rise too high above the ships and give the ships some subtle containers.

Offline Squirrelsquid

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Re: Shoot em Up craft/weapon select

Reply #13 on: June 28, 2007, 03:48:05 am
I kinda agree with you huZba, but still I'd like the player to give an impression on the pilot, like the pilot in Axelay where you see the pilot behind a helmet... a bit like the Master Chief.

so, I'm currently working on a new portrait with a helmet.

in the meantime, here's 4 new enemies! EDIT: now there are 5 enemies... converted the sprite from the 16 color thread here...


@ Jad: what do you mean by sinister colors? The blues are kinda a set standard since pretty all HUD elements are in these colors.
Still I'd love to see an edit from you.

Edit: ok redid the portrait. I think it is more an avatar telling the player: That is me!
think I've outdone myself quite a bit  :D
« Last Edit: June 28, 2007, 07:46:56 am by Squirrelsquid »

Offline Faceless

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Re: Shoot em Up craft select, new Portrait!

Reply #14 on: June 28, 2007, 01:15:08 pm
The new portrait has a really short neck, and really thin shoulders. The single red eye doesn't lend itself well to a character that is meant to be a blank slate.

Offline Helm

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Re: Shoot em Up craft select, new Portrait!

Reply #15 on: June 28, 2007, 01:36:11 pm
Your art suffers from broken outlines, banding and brittle vague-lighting highlights. The ships don't show this as much becase they're small spaceships, but the portrait(s) certainly does/do.

Offline PypeBros

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Re: Shoot em Up craft select, new Portrait!

Reply #16 on: June 28, 2007, 03:04:30 pm
well done portraits (both of them). The "robotic" one somehow reminds me of Power Rangers  :-\

Btw, if you're concerned by the argument "let the player be the pilot -- don't show him another figure", you could still show the guy/lady who's trying to sell you the ship -- or tips from your commander or whatever.

The font is a bit hard to read, with that glowing outline ... not so sure it's a good thing...

Offline big brother

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Re: Shoot em Up craft select, new Portrait!

Reply #17 on: June 28, 2007, 03:18:08 pm
Nitpick -- the colors of the enemy ships seem to blend in with the background too much. At a glance, it would seem they share the same color scheme (red, warm-gray), but some of the exact colors. You might want to tone down the background saturation or use higher contrast value ramps for the enemy sprites to make them pop.