Arcen Games
General Category => AI War Classic => AI War Classic - Mods & Modding => Topic started by: HitmanN on November 04, 2010, 12:21:00 pm
-
This topic was previously titled 'AI Eye alternate graphics', but I'll be using it for other mods too.
Some of the new graphics in 4.0 look a bit too organic (mainly in materials used) for my tastes, so I'm spicing up some of them a bit, just for fun. Feel free to use 'em if you like 'em. However, unless otherwise stated, these are not open-source, since they're based on the official graphics and I hold no ownership over them, so use them only in AI War. :P
A recurring theme in these mods will be additional red lights. It's a colour that draws attention, has a 'security' feel to it, and is generally somewhat sinister and evil against a dark background.
If I get enough of these done, I'll make a compilation for easier download.
Installation Instructions
Just extract to the 'RuntimeData/Images' folder, the files should go to correct folders.
NOTE: if you're uncertain whether to keep these or not, make backups of the original images first. The folders in question are listed below the download links. If ever in doubt, just make a backup of the whole 'Images' folder first. ;)
----------------
AI Eye (v2)
I'm starting off with the AI Eye, which I felt lacks the feel of being a warp gate, or a mechanic structure.
I gave the Eye an eye, which is also the warp gate / wormhole the reinforcements assumedly spawn from, and possibly direct feedback to the central command of the AI. Also dropped the saturation on the whole thing and flattened a few surfaces to make it appear slightly more metallic in material. Well, I suppose it looks more grey rock than metal, but anyways. A few red lights and pipes to give it a mechanic, AI feel.
Ideally the 'eye' should glow between brighter and darker light, but since the official Eye only has one frame... no animated glow. :P
v2 has a blue tone for the rocky/metallic texture, to match better with the other mods (suggested by Wyvern83). Also decreased brightness and increased contrast slightly.
(http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/AIEye_spiced_up.jpg)
(http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/AIEye_icon.png)
Download here:
AI War - AIEye gfx mod.zip (http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/AI War - AIEye gfx mod.zip)
Images to be replaced are in following folders:
RuntimeData/Images/GalaxyView/AIEye
RuntimeData/Images/Ships/AIEye
AI MLRS Guard Post Included in official release in v4.037 :D
For this one I added some red lights, a shiny red light on top of the central 'tower', some tiny holes at the ends of the foremost 'barrels' to signify missile launch points, as well as changed the overall colour, with one string of tubes being different colour altogether. Supposedly it could be the part housing ammo, hardware or what have you. Couple of wires at the bottom too, though perhaps an unnecessary detail at that.
Icon remains the same.
(http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/MLRSpost_spiced_up.jpg)
(Distribution node sold separately ;))
Download here:
AI War - MLRS Guard Post mod.zip (http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/AI War - MLRS Guard Post mod.zip)
Images to be replaced are in following folders:
RuntimeData/Images/Ships/AIMLRSGuardPost
AI Short Range Guard Post Included in official release in v4.037 :D
Basic treatment for this I did cut off a few outings though, to attempt to break the repetitive pattern, and covered the gaps in the fan-shaped part on the top left with techy stuff and red lights. The reason for cutting the outings and changing the fan-structure is that the shape of the structure is nearly identical to Passive Guard Post flipped upside-down. So I figured it's best I try to separate them from each other in whatever ways I can. For the Passive Guard Post I'll probably keep the fan, and use some different kind of decorations and colours. Didn't really end up looking like something that shoots bullets, but oh well. Since it's short range stuff, we can just imagine there's more processing power and sensors than firepower in this one. ;p
Due to the shape of this structure changing somewhat in general, I made a replacement icon. It's not that different from the original, I think, for those who hate having to relearn icons. I could be wrong though, heh. At least it represents the shape of this version better than the original.
(http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/ShortRange_spiced_up.jpg)
(Silly scraps ruining the screenshot. Shoo, shoo.)
Download here:
AI War - Short Range Guard Post mod.zip (http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/AI War - Short Range Guard Post mod.zip)
Images to be replaced are in following folders:
RuntimeData/Images/Ships/AIShortRangeGuardPost
RuntimeData/Images/GalaxyView/AIShortRange
AI Missile Guard Post Included in official release in v4.037 :D
This one may look a bit odd, but I needed to do something drastic about it. The original is (IMO) basically a small asteroid, with thin bars of metal strutting about from it. I needed to give it some content, since it fires long-range missiles. I had no real plan what to do here, so I just started playing around with stuff and ended up with this. Basically, it now has a large tube running through it in the center, which could be long launch tubes or ammo storage. The remaining metal bars are probably there as some sort of support beams. The top end has transformed into something more mechanic, with a bunch of holes near the top, ideally being missile launch points. See, I figured long-range missiles could be like cruise missiles, so they're launched up (figuratively), then curve to their targets. I also decided to give the upper area some more random padding, and a few red lights, as per usual.
The overall shape is more like a cylinder now, so I had to make a new icon. It's pretty easy to learn though, like the original, since there are no other structures with similar figure, tall, straight, curvy ends.
(http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/MissilePost_spiced_up.jpg)
Download here:
AI War - Missile Guard Post mod.zip (http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/AI War - Missile Guard Post mod.zip)
Images to be replaced are in following folders:
RuntimeData/Images/Ships/AIMissileGuardPost
RuntimeData/Images/GalaxyView/AIMissile
AI Beam Guardian (v2) Included in official release in v4.038 :D
Today I've spiced up a Guardian. Beam Guardian to be exact. I wanted this one to be more symmetrical, since it's basically a ship. Ships tend to be mostly symmetrical in AI War. At least until 4.0. Rather than try to crop and mold the thing to be symmetrical, I opted to just mirror the half I liked, and go from there. Beam weapons also got their own barrels. I'm not sure if I like the 'red-eyed' front though, so feel free to share your opinion on that. I can still change that. Overall, no other red lights on this one. Let's keep that mostly a guard post feature for now. ;)
New icon, slightly different from the previous, what with the symmetrical shape and all, but I think also easier to identify from such as Artillery Guardian.
v2 edition has the cockpit-like front removed (thank the community for making me decide on removing it ;) ), and slightly increased brightness for the icon.
(http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/BeamGuardian_spiced_up2.jpg)
Download here:
AI War - Beam Guardian mod.zip (http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/AI War - Beam Guardian mod.zip)
Images to be replaced are in following folders:
RuntimeData/Images/Ships/AIBeamGuardian
RuntimeData/Images/GalaxyView/AIBeamGuardian
AI Passive Guard Post (v2)
Passive Guard Post is basically no guns, lots of weirdness. Need I say more? ;) This one looks quite a bit different from the original, mainly due to having a good portion of its outings cut in the bottom right area.
New Icon included, which has a very distinctive look to it. Despite needing a moment to relearn it, it's much easier to differentiate from other guard posts. Kind of like spread wings on top.
Version 2 has the telescope shortened to about 1/5 of the length of the original, to look less 'Dumbo'. Added a few new things under the central area to compensate for the loss of content. Icon updated too, and a preview of the icon is shown in the new screenshot below.
(http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/Passive_spiced_up_3.jpg)
Download here:
AI War - Passive Guard Post mod.zip (http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/AI War - Passive Guard Post mod.zip)
Images to be replaced are in following folders:
RuntimeData/Images/Ships/AIPassiveGuardPost
RuntimeData/Images/GalaxyView/AIPassive
-
I actually really like the current AI Eye graphic... but this is awesome too!
Maybe this could be the new AI Eye and the old AI Eye could be the new AI Supervisor?
-
Okay, that was awesome! Can we please beg Chris to make it animated (as in have frames)? That would be friggin epic!
-
I'll gladly make the additional frames if it ever ends up used officially, and/or with animation. ;)
-
Indeed, looks pretty cool. :) When we start doing AI Eye variants, I'll have to remember to snag this!
As far as animations go, I'm pretty much not doing much in the way of ship animations these days, for two reasons:
1. Most of the time, players are very zoomed out and it's not something they see, anyway.
2. Having multiple large frames really EATS up the ram. That's always been the case, but with the explosion of new ship types and such, it's going to be an increasing problem if I'm not careful.
My plan, when I have some spare time (whenever that is) will be to actually remove a lot of the existing frame-based animations that are just things like lights blinking or exhaust firing. Things like mechanical movement would stay, and obviously rotations are done on-the-fly rather than being frame-based.
BUT, in place of those frame-based blinking-light/exhaust animations that waste so much ram, what I'd then rather do is make a way for ships to get external animations for things like the lights and the exhaust. In other words, even if there are a dozen or two kinds of lights and exhaust, those graphics are individually tiny and can be reused all sorts of interesting ways on ships. It would actually look significantly better than now, while also being vastly more friendly to ram. The downside is that it involves more CPU/GPU load when you're very zoomed in, but I figure when you're at that zoom it's limiting what it's drawing enough that often that's no problem. Plus it's the sort of thing that we can automatically turn off when the game is running to slowly, or when players want to reduce visual stimulation.
That's a fairly big overhaul, though, so it's not for the moment and possibly not until the next full expansion. But that's where my head is at re: animations, I'm pretty much just not doing any new ones for now to conserve RAM and then that would be the ultimate solution later.
-
Sounds good.
Actually, the best things for this design would IMO be that the light in the eye is a separate wormhole-like effect, spinning like standard wormholes, either on top of the structure, or under it (in which case the center part would be a hole.) It'd look better than, say, 3-frame animation.
-
this one looks like an AI Core Eye (or Eye Core, whichever sounds better.)
-
this is mega, I prefer the sinister mechanical look to the organic stuff too thx
-
Regarding the other Eye types, the original Eye graphics would fit better for an Eye that is well armored, perhaps the (near) invincible variation. The description could mention that the Eye is covered in some exotic armor, hence looking like a pile of rock, with no visible mechanical parts.
The mod I made could on the other hand fit for an aggressive Eye, maybe one with very harsh player-to-AI ship ratio, as like superking said, it looks more 'sinister'. "Make one move and I'll...". ;D
-
what pile of rock is bright orange?
-
what pile of rock is bright orange?
(http://www.brandongomez.com/photos/bold/files/collage_lb_image_page17_44_1.png)
Thanks Google. :D
-
you realize that most of that is the sun, right? otherwise it would be more of a redish color.
-
Yup, and suns tend to be found in space, where the game takes place. :P
All in all, we could call it orange crystal if that makes you happier. Anyways, just saying that the original Eye looks like it's covered with something else than metal. Aaaand I did say 'exotic armor' earlier anyways. Wouldn't be very exotic if it was common to, say, our planet. It does look more like orange rock or crystal than metal by texture overall. Hence I think it'd be a fitting explanation as to why the Eye would be particularly tough.
-
*sigh*
*pulls out text book*
when the suns rays go through the atmosphere, they create a colorizing effect on the atmosphere. this is why the sky is blue. when the sun sets, the color of the sky near the sun appears to be orange and red instead of blue due to red and orange being the colors that travel the farthest. naturally, the suns light will then appear red and orange as well, making everything appear to have an orange and/or red tint to it, distorting their natural color.
*closes text book*
I shouldn't have had to do that ::)
-
You're a bit too fixated on our solar system, and the whole colour deal. ::)
But... suns come in varying colours, depending on their temperature. This range is apparently from blue to red, including orange. Once again, thanks to Google, and wikipedia.
Still, lighting aside, my other 'arguments' still stand. The texture is like rock. Doesn't matter if it's green, blue or pink, the surface has a rocky texture, so I reckon it's rock, or some sort of crystal at the very least. ;)
-
I..
Rocks are allowed to be orange. Its just a question of the amount of iron oxides that make up the rock.
That would be form my geology textbook ;)
-
I..
Rocks are allowed to be orange. Its just a question of the amount of iron oxides that make up the rock.
That would be form my geology textbook ;)
Indeed.
Aslo as far as I am concerned it look fancy :D
Tho the one posted in here is also nice.
From my expereince wiht Arcen, making your own graphics and donating it can get them in the game if you feel it is better then originals ;) (I happen to suck at graphics and never do it :P)
-
If only I would have the patience to hand-craft large graphics, I'd make my own suggestions for some of the guard posts and guardians, but I'm only really good at tiny sprites and fiddling with colours. xP Small starships is pretty much where my patience ends, size-wise.
From my expereince wiht Arcen, making your own graphics and donating it can get them in the game if you feel it is better then originals ;) (I happen to suck at graphics and never do it :P)
Yup, those be my flak turrets and heavy beam cannons in the game. I'm already honored to have 'em included. :D
-
Added a spiced up version of MLRS Guard Post in the first post, and switched topic title.
I'll be adding more of these as I find the time and interest. Again, use if you like, or don't. ;)
-
that MRLS post looks incredi-good, I hope chris considers using these in the main release :)
-
that MRLS post looks incredi-good, I hope chris considers using these in the main release :)
Aye, its very nice!
-
Also added a spiced up version of the Short Range Guard Post to the first post.
-
I love the Short Range post! It looks like it has a head and two evil, glowing eyes xD Excellent work, HitmaN!
-
Sweet!
These look pretty good! now you are making us expect more ;P;P;P
-
You're too kind. ;)
I'll be doing more whenever I have an inspirational moment or two.
-
For the next version:
The awesome modified version of the short range guard post and MLRS guard post that were created by HitmanN as a mod have now been integrated into the main game.
:)
-
Hey, thanks.
*Ego Boost Mk2*
I think I'll be working on some more of these. :D
-
;D
I certainly won't complain about that, but don't feel obligated. :)
-
See, this is why I love Arcen games. Chris, Keith and the rest of the Arcen gang + Awesome community = Epic winsauce of Epic Proportions!
-
Amazing group dynamic at
work play
-
Missile Guard Post added.
It's a bit weird, but then again so is the original. ;) Use if ya like.
-
Added. :)
-
actually I think the missle post is pretty nice!
suggestion: If you do the arachnid post, maybe a spooky green glow instead of the standard red
-
You know what this means? Someone's going to have to compile the original versions of these as a mod now! :)
-
I experimented on spicing up the Beam Guardian today. Results in first post. Feel free to chime in your thoughts, especially on the 'red-eyed front'. I may still tweak that part.
You know what this means? Someone's going to have to compile the original versions of these as a mod now! :)
I'm making backups of everything I change, so I could do that later on, once I'm mostly done with these. ;) That is, if a lot of them end up being used officially. Remains to be seen, I guess.
-
I really like it a lot -- but I'll wait until you're sure you're done before I include it. Very cool stuff. :)
-
Well then, let's wait what others think of the red-eyed front first. It's about the only part I've got mixed feelings about myself. ;)
-
Cool enough with me. :)
-
I like what your doing so far. keep it up!
-
I almost wish your AI Eye had some bluish-black to it, if you look at the guard posts you've done you can see you use two 'blacks'. I think it could use just a little of an accenting color.
I like your guard posts, but I much prefer the original Beam guardian.
I had to boot up my game to be sure why but I like it's asymmetry; your new version doesn't look right to me for that reason.
-
yeah, I think the AI eye could use a little tune up as well.
edit: sorta getting mixed feelings about the guardian. I like it, but it seems a little off somehow. It looks a little too much like a starship.
-
Good point about the Eye. I'll give it a blueish hue.
The way the Guardians are currently, they basically are starships, with a different name, but 90% the same behaviour. Can't deny that my subconscious probably wants them to follow the common setup; mobile ships mostly symmetrical, statics guard posts asymmetrical, to have a pattern, and more easily identifiable icons.
In the end, it's up to Chris to make the decision whether to include this or not. Aside from the red cockpit, I don't think I'm going to change it for now. And since no one objected the cockpit, I think I'll focus on other stuff.
-
I have a question: why does it need a cockpit? :)
-
So that it can have a place where the little robot AI pilot can drive. Duh. :D
-
I have a question: why does it need a cockpit? :)
Hehe, that just might be why I found it so odd. ;) Even though the AI needs some sort of sensors to 'see' where it's going, the cockpit does indeed seem somewhat excessive.
Ok, I think I'll do something about it afterall. I can be so indecisive sometimes, lol.
-
Always glad to be a further source of indecision!
It needs some kinda bristling sensor array or some such, I reckon.
-
Aside from the red cockpit, I don't think I'm going to change it for now. And since no one objected the cockpit, I think I'll focus on other stuff.
I didn't think that much of it at the time because I thought it was an exhaust port. I knew it looked odd but couldn't put my finger on it.
-
Ok, cockpit removed and replaced with a single small red light. Also shortened the beam cannons slightly, and increased the brightness of the icon. The download has been updated.
Now to tweak the Eye.
-
Eye have now tweaked the I!
-
Wow, the new Eye looks even better! I'm surprised the color change had that much of an effect. Hands down I approve of this version being used, great job.
Removing the cockpit for the Beam Guardian is definitely [a step in the right direction] however I still stand by my earlier statement that I much prefer the asymmetrical version we have currently. I know you don't like asymmetry in the Guardians but I happen to like them that way.
I also like green that the original has. I think it's nice that some of the guardians have different colors on them for variety as it makes them standout more. However, I would be interested in seeing what you could do color/detail wise with the Flak Guardian, I thinking some tiny red lights would do it, or the Vampire Guardian's coloring which I thought seemed a bit odd at first. (though admittedly its starting to grow on me a little.)
edit:
[I apparently had a brain lapse and didn't finish typing my thought there]
-
Glad to hear about the Eye.
I'm not planning on modding all the guardians to be symmetrical, but some anyways. I find that asymmetry needs to be striking, like in the guard posts, otherwise it just makes it feel like it's 'accidentally lopsided', so to speak, when it could look orderly instead.
Actually, looking at the original beam guardian, I'm guessing it actually is symmetrical, but viewed from slightly to the side. I wonder if the originals are some sort of 3D fractal art or something. Not that it matters, but would be neat to know. :)
-
So that it can have a place where the little robot AI pilot can drive. Duh. :D
Man that made me laugh. ;D
I do like the newer one, without the cockpit, a lot more. :)
-
Well then, I'm done with it at this time, so if you want to make it official, go ahead. ;)
-
you should probably redo the passive as well, it looks out of place now with the ones that looked like it having a new art style.
-
Yes, I will get to it sooner or later. :)
-
Added the beam guardian!
-
New Eye is definately sexy! *redownloads*
-
Keeps on delivering the good stuff! ;)
-
Added Passive Guard Post, aka 'Orbital telescope with metal wings...wait what?'.
Too weird? ::)
Hmm.. might need a bit more brightness. (edit: done. screenshot still original.)
-
the red glitter and lighting is cool, but that telescope makes it look a bit like an elephant, or somthing phallic. maybe a radar dish receptor would work better ;D
-
the red glitter and lighting is cool, but that telescope makes it look a bit like an elephant, or somthing phallic. maybe a radar dish receptor would work better ;D
We could call it the AI Dumbo! ;D
No?
-
Well, how about a less 'Dumbo' version?
Preview:
(http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/Passive_spiced_up_2.jpg)
-
looks OK now, top work like your other graphics imo :)
although not sure the purple of the telescope lens works with the red so well
-
Well, how about a less 'Dumbo' version?
Preview:
(http://www.hitmann.net/temppi/Passive_spiced_up_2.jpg)
Looks pretty good!
Not sure about the purple, but its up top taste ;)
-
Just adding some flavor here and there. :)
The Short Range guard post has its blue lens, and the Missile post a has purple-ish dome at the top.
I suppose I could tweak it to be slightly more blue though.
I'll upload the updated version in a moment.
-
What if you had more than one 'telescope', a cluster of 3 of various lengths angled to our left? (off-centered) That might help with the dumbo-like appearance.
-
Perhaps. The shortened telescope does help with the Dumbo-ness a lot already, I think. ;) Looks more like a security camera now.
The download has now been updated to v2, and an updated screenshot is shown in the first post too.
-
I like it, honestly. Nothing "dumbo" about it right now. But to make it more of a "listening post" kinda thing, it really needs a parabolic dish somewhere. It's so damn stereotypical and awesome :D
-
I like it, honestly. Nothing "dumbo" about it right now. But to make it more of a "listening post" kinda thing, it really needs a parabolic dish somewhere. It's so damn stereotypical and awesome :D
I agree, I did not think about dumbo at all.
Besides, its not a problem if anything happens to look like something else anyways :)
-
Besides, its not a problem if anything happens to look like something else anyways :)
Doesn't that rather depend on what the 'anything' and 'something' are? ;)
-
what next? spire gaurdpost?
-
I like the touch with the icon as well. Not that I disaprove of the new ones as such, but many of the new icons kind of seems the same to me, shape wise. I finally learned to distinguish the AI eye out of the rest, but I can never remember all of them without looking at them and seeing what it is :).
-
what next? spire gaurdpost?
Not sure yet. If you mean the Spire Shield Guardpost, then that's not particularly a high priority. It has a pretty distinctive shape, and the FF over it adds some flare to its appearance. I suppose I could add some glow in the center or something.
I might be touching on the Core Guard Posts at some point, though those will mainly get some lights and such. Their overall shapes are pretty unique each.
There's also a few guardians I want to work on.
Overall, it's hard to tell yet. I'll just pick something randomly whenever I have the time to tweak stuff. Right now I have other projects to work on, and LotS to play (finally started a game with it), so new stuff may end up scarce for a short while. Time will tell. :P
I like the touch with the icon as well. Not that I disaprove of the new ones as such, but many of the new icons kind of seems the same to me, shape wise.
That's one reason why I wanted to change the shapes of the guard posts a bit, to make each have a bit more unique shape. The changes will also be reflected in the icons.
-
heh, unique? most of them look like tangled masses of gigantic wire.
-
Shape and look are two different things, and we're mainly talking about overall shape and the way they appear in icons.
Think of it this way. You have three different ship types, each of them presented with a approximately square icon, each with a minor difference, like one has rounded corners, for instance. They're all certainly unique, but very hard to distinguish from each other at a quick glance, because they're essentially all still squares. It would be much easier to learn and browse them if each icon was more unique, for instance one is a triangle, and one is a circle.
That's essentially one part of this mod project. I cut away and mold the originals in a way that brings out more unusual (compared to originals) overall shapes, primarily for the icons, as the original guard post icons all look very much alike. There are no easily identifiable details in some of them. It's possible to learn them, yes, but if they could be made even easier to learn... no harm by adding extra detail. As an example, the Passive Guard Post mod. Tell me one other icon that has something resembling spread bird/angel wings in it. :P I can't think of any myself. You only need to remember one detail about that icon/post to easily remember and learn it. (Whether it makes sense for a guard post to have metal wings on it is a different matter entirely. ;) )
This all is of course my opinion and something I thought useful to address with these mods. It's not all just about modding the graphics for the guard posts themselves, the icons are important too. Or rather, the icons have muchly dictated the direction I've taken with the graphic modifications for the structures themselves. The more the icon needs distinguishable details, the more I've altered the structure.
-
uh... then why'd you modify the guardian?
-
Shape and look are two different things, and we're mainly talking about overall shape and the way they appear in icons.
Think of it this way. You have three different ship types, each of them presented with a approximately square icon, each with a minor difference, like one has rounded corners, for instance. They're all certainly unique, but very hard to distinguish from each other at a quick glance, because they're essentially all still squares. It would be much easier to learn and browse them if each icon was more unique, for instance one is a triangle, and one is a circle.
That's essentially one part of this mod project. I cut away and mold the originals in a way that brings out more unusual (compared to originals) overall shapes, primarily for the icons, as the original guard post icons all look very much alike. There are no easily identifiable details in some of them. It's possible to learn them, yes, but if they could be made even easier to learn... no harm by adding extra detail. As an example, the Passive Guard Post mod. Tell me one other icon that has something resembling spread bird/angel wings in it. :P I can't think of any myself. You only need to remember one detail about that icon/post to easily remember and learn it. (Whether it makes sense for a guard post to have metal wings on it is a different matter entirely. ;) )
This all is of course my opinion and something I thought useful to address with these mods. It's not all just about modding the graphics for the guard posts themselves, the icons are important too. Or rather, the icons have muchly dictated the direction I've taken with the graphic modifications for the structures themselves. The more the icon needs distinguishable details, the more I've altered the structure.
I very much agree. Most of the time I spend looking at the map in far zoomed out mode, and the galaxy screen. And easily identified icon is great! So to me they are an important part as well.
I bet Chris would want something like this in the long run also, but limited time to do it with all the other aspects of the game needing tweaking and building. Just wish I had any graphical sense at all and could help. But MS Paint is the closest I get ;)
uh... then why'd you modify the guardian?
Perhaps he just wanted to? To take a break som doing guard posts, and other stuff he must have going on in RL and online. I dunno, don't question artists. ;)
-
uh... then why'd you modify the guardian?
Perhaps he just wanted to?
That about sums it up for all of these mods. ;) It's still all based on my personal feeling towards them. I started making these mods for myself, but am also offering them to be used by others, or even officially.
Regarding the Beam Guardian, my personal preference is that guard posts and guardians shouldn't look alike, and making some of the guardians symmetrical helps with that, especially given their starship-like nature. I'm still planning to touch a few other guardians as well, so it wasn't a exception or anything. I work on what I feel like working on next. :)