Custom Ship Art Pack - What Do I Need To Know?

[Aklyon]

That little antenna on the front, is it supposed to be asymmetrical now?

[I-KP]

Yeah.  I have a thing for asymetrical space ships but the only ship that came with an asymetrical silhouette was the Thoraxian one.  Lots of the turrets and bases are asymetrical tho, but I've said I'm not doing those at this stage.

[lifehole]

That looks a lot better. It's enough to make the distinction between hydral tech - everyone elses, but it doesn't looks like a creature.

[MaskityMask]

That looks a lot better. It's enough to make the distinction between hydral tech - everyone elses, but it doesn't looks like a creature.

There was already pretty clear distinction though.

I still think that in case of hydrals it would make sense for their ships to be symmetrical and "clean" in sterilized way. Like, you know, I think they should stand out by looking way more advanced than other races' ships so it would make sense for them to look really really high tech. They ARE technically the "precursor" race even though their demise is recent thing. Also in this case the asymmetry looks weird on antenna. But yeah, the lack of mantis claws does look better now.

HOWEVER... I have to admit that new design is much more intimidating than old one. Old one is rather... Basic. New ship at least looks as scary as hydrals should be.

[I-KP]

Everyone will have their own accustomed mental image of what something should look like when they've previously only been given a very generalized hint of what something is, i.e., a flat TRON-like bitmap or a description in a novel.  (It's one of the reasons why film adaptations of books generally don't turn out so well; they directly challenge your established mental picture of the story regardless of whether or not that matches what the writer had in mind.)  This harks back to the disconnect I was talking about earlier in this thread, except this time it's a cognitive disconnect rather than a visual one.  (with the latter being far easier to resolve than the former.)  Of course, people who play the game seeing a biomechanical Hydral oppressor for the first time won't have any already established interpretations to be challenged, so they'll probably buy right into it at that instant.

There is also the adage of ask twenty people for their opinion on something and you'll get twenty different opinions; that's why things that are designed by committee most often end up being rather  anaemic.  Lines have to be drawn (pun intended) and there will always be those who think something doesn't quite match up with their own ideas, and to those folks I say pick up thy pencil and draw!   

Bottom line: unless Chris chimes in I'm sticking with the biomechanical Hydral style and the Sentinel will follow along similar lines, with a small amount of asymetry.  It's a shame that the Skylaxians don't have more ships because to my eye they are the race that has the slick, high-tech look to them.

[MaskityMask]

Heh, I maybe giving criticism, but I don't really mind your Hydral design. Like I said, its far more scary looking than old design which is plus. I'm sure I get used to it anyway, it is cool design, I just didn't think Hydrals would have biomechanical design. Then again, I have no clue what aquatic species living on ocean planet should have.*shrugs* Organic ships are usually bug alien stuff and aquatic aliens are really rare. However, you are pretty much right on that if these would have been first hydral ships I would have ever seen, I wouldn't have said anything negative about them.  Though I will stand by that antenna looks bit silly.

I'll just say it that I'm just stating my opinion here and not complaining that you should change them just because my opinion is different. While all designs are awesome, we are allowed to state our opinions anyway, right?

[I-KP]

Very much so.

[I-KP]

Team Hydral...



Golem (inactive/active); Wandering Sentinel (inactive/active)

[I-KP]

Nearly done.  Should have full supporting cast completed by the end of the week then the first bundle will be made available for testing.

[nas1m]

Nearly done.  Should have full supporting cast completed by the end of the week then the first bundle will be made available for testing.

Cool! Looking forward to it!

[MaskityMask]

I like sentinel design, golem is growing on me(because its scary) and looking forward to support cast designs

[I-KP]

Slight delay with these; they're not all displaying in-game for some reason.

[nas1m]

Slight delay with these; they're not all displaying in-game for some reason.

Are you saying that we might get to see your work ingame with the next update ?

[I-KP]

I'm saying that they don't all work and I don't know why -- yet.

[Blue]

I'm saying that they don't all work and I don't know why -- yet.

If I can assist, please let me know.

My email is [email protected]

-Blue
Arcen's Art Director