Graphics offer

[warfighter67]

Hey nite if you need planet textures and stuff, I'm an avid graphics designer with Paint.NET and I could make some planets if you need.

[NiteHawk]

Hey nite if you need planet textures and stuff, I'm an avid graphics designer with Paint.NET and I could make some planets if you need.

Well we do not need planets, as Sandtrooper has been making some excellent planets, however, do you handle anything else? Explosions or gun/missile details, etc?

[warfighter67]

I can probably do explosions and gun projectiles, gun projectiles are usually small, and I can make missiles that look 3D, and explosions are pretty much effect after effect, not to mention there's a tutorial I can read on how to do them.

Edit:



As you see there, the 3D missile, the cannon projectile, and the laser. This was done in about 30 minutes and I can do way better in a bigger time frame.

[NiteHawk]

If you want, show me a missile you got and I'll talk it over with the others

[warfighter67]

Here's one I made in 10 minutes. Added a spacey backround and fire trail for effect. Yes, I know, the fire trail sucks, the spacescape could be more jazzy, and the wings could have logos and stuff on them, but this is just an example, so I'm keeping it simple


If you want, I have the full 500x700 I used to work on the missile.

Edit: Added another one with cleaner flame trail and blue color scheme

[Sandtrooper]

*FACEPALM*

[warfighter67]

::

[NiteHawk]

There not to bad, but similar as well to current. However, they don't seem to scale down nicely.

You have to remember you are designing for small images, so when you design, you can lose some of the quality in order to make it stand out/look nice. I'll show you what I mean via sizing your image down. I don't like the flame trail at all, but the blue heat trail is alright, and would be good to have it with/without, kind of like how ships use them. But for showing off, I would prefer no trail to determine how it will scale down.

Current:

Yours:

As you see, when you scale it down, it seems to be more like a arrowhead, and you can't see much of the missile itself. Though there are different sizes, this one was sized down to a generic 16x16, the largest missile we have currently.

[warfighter67]

Looks like I was making planet destroyers instead of missiles

I totally see what you mean. Maybe instead of slapping on a few effects, I could do it the pixel-artist way (with of course gradients and minor blurs to make it more flowing/shading) I'll see what I can come up with.

[warfighter67]

Okay, I've got some stuff! They each have different designs, color schemes, and wings. I did add a trail flame and I think this one looks fairly cool with the missile style I've got going.

I know I may not be the best artist, but I am working for free

I even got names for them!! xD

1 (orange): Stingray

2 (green): Javelin Torpedo

3 (blue): Nuke

[NiteHawk]

There still a bit huge, I'd disregard the missile trail for now, leave it as a addon for later. Those trails and the first blue trail you made (on previous images) are nice though.

Also aim for 16x16, without the thruster (thruster/trails/etc can be added later). These seem a bit pixellized, and not smooth enough. I am not trying to be a downer here or anything, but you can use transparent pixels/etc PNG wise to make it very soft/smooth if needed be, as its supported in SF 2.0 now. For example, when you size down a image, you'll see it become very smooth, but sometimes its too small in the end due to the sizing. I do like the first missile design though, but it needs to be soft. I would alsao think you are using a bit too much colors to look unrealistic I would stick to two or three matching colors. You are using orange, green, blue, a dark shade of red, white in the first one from what I can see.

Gotta remember, if you make them rather large, they'll be as big as a corvette ship, which is too large

I attempted to smooth out the first one a bit. I had to narrow the wings a bit and I changed the color a bit. I'm not saying I'm going to use it but smoothing it out a bit will help it feel less pixel and more real. It probably needs a reduction of the design in the actual missile because it looks kind of weird when its smaller, but you get the point. So now you see current vs yours which seems more similar in the way its designed... It's very tough to design a tiny 16x16 object and make it look good for sure

[warfighter67]

Okay. Don't worry, I am taking all your criticism constructively. I was using 20x20 because I didn't think It'd make much of a difference, but oh well. I'll use 16x16 or smaller for now. I also just realized that the trail I made would be a pretty nice looking "energy" projectile

[warfighter67]

Here's some more stuff. (look at post before for some)

[DarkSun]

Just some housekeeping: split this topic off from the Donations thread and moved it to the Development board.

Also, thanks warfighter for offering to help... it is much appreciated!

[warfighter67]

Welcome, and sorry for taking the donations topic on a different route