This will essentially be one of a couple of splashes used in the opening sequence. The star sucks, I know that, :D but the rest I'm mostly happy with. Any ideas?
(http://web.bvub.com/~azaron_flare/ship2.jpg)
(http://web.bvub.com/~azaron_flare/ship1c.jpg)
I'd say fewer stars, and far less around the sun as its bright light would render them invisible.
The planet is great though, good work on the blue corona (is that what its called?)
Looks really good, but fewer stars! Now, it looks more like tv noise than stars. And the blue thing(sun?) looks too non-circular. Plus, add some more details to the planet. :)
Actually, what I would change would be that the stars should be light blue. I think that makes it more beautiful. But it's just my opinion.
But what the heck am I complaining! It looks very good! The space-ships are especially cool!
Took out a lot of the background noise in the star field.
The system star is actually somewhat passable now ;)
The stars have a bit of color to them now, and the planet is closer to being the desolate, uninhabitable wasteland it should be :D
Great responses, btw. Any more out there, throw them in.
My 2 cents - spaceships don't hover completely horizontally in space - especially not in relation to each other :)
Wouldn't it look a bit crap if they were just pointing in any direction?
Also, this technology presented here far surpases any knowledge we currently have, so there!
Well, if the camera is aimed at the ship, the horizontal nature of that one is acceptable ;)
But the space station/satellite thing just looks very, very odd being at the EXACT angle (of 0% slant horizontal ;)) as the space ship.
I make sense, and you know it :P
I was just about to post the same thing about the ship ...
The spacestation-thing, I think would look better oriented to the planet it's meant to be orbiting (assuming it is meant to be in orbit), like this:
(http://www.geocities.com/whoismonkey/spacestat.png)
Other than that, I like it. You could maybe vary the brightness of the stars some more, which should make the field look less 'dense'.
I like this, except the stars. I'd advice to use fewer stars, as well as some starts bigger (and brighter) than the others.
What Guybrush said. And I'd also reverse the gradients on the space-ships. They kinda hurt my eyes
(http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/1618/hadagoatit8gy.jpg)
I had a go at it. For better or for worse i still don't know.
Fake edit: Damnit. I'm late
For an idea of how to vary the size/brightness/whatever of the stars, have a look at this tutorial by Greg Martin. http://gallery.artofgregmartin.com/tuts_arts/making_a_star_field.html
I tend to think his starfields are too OTT, but it'll give you an example of how you can vary it :)
Jesus, Haddas, it's space, not a discotheque :)
Altho I really like the new red-light (lol, not the famous district) space background looks very, very nice.. I don't think the spaceship fits in, I think you should keep the old background, I really liked the atmosphere of the spaceship witht hat background, really oldschool, like it..
So. IMO..
or..
keep old background with old spaceship, just make some less stars, it's a little too much stars on old background imo.
or..
keep new background and make new spaceship with some other angle and colors.. (this one got the right amount of stars imo)
Nice background. I think Haddas's background is perfect, just remove most of the stars, keep about 5-10% of the stars. Like Andail said, it's space.
(http://custardsclutter.com/ship2.png)
something like one of these perhaps, did different coloured stars :P and then white ones
Quote from: Becky on Sat 17/12/2005 14:00:22For an idea of how to vary the size/brightness/whatever of the stars, have a look at this tutorial by Greg Martin.
That's an excellent tutorial but I too find his star fields a little to "busy" for my tastes! But the technique should be noted! I'm glad somebody else has that link!
I think the main problem I have with this background is that I get no sense of "depth" ... space is so vast and I like space backdrops that convey that sense of incredible depth and openess.
Through a lot of experimenting (years literally) ... what I've discovered is that black just doesn't work. I use a very deep blue ...
Like this:
(http://www.twin-design.com/ags/help/azaron_help01.jpg)
- changed the background from black to deep blue
- altered the stars (adding some blurring to create depth)
- added some 'special' stars to give it more life
- changed the planet's glow. I think (may be wrong!) that the glow around a planet is determined by the color of the planet. Earth is 90% water, thus is glows blue? This planet seems "lava-y" so it would have an orange glow? I'm no astronomer!
- made the start have a bright corona as well.
- changed the shading on the space station slightly
- added a slight glowing cloud system
I know the deep blue background isn't technically accurate/realistic but, to me at least, it conveys vast depth better than black.
Hope it's helpful!
Thats amazing darth :o :D Try to do something like thing Azaron :)
EDIT: What happened to your jolly christmas avatar darth? :(
Allow me to explain. Darth is mourning the passing of John Spencer, the actor.
oh... well then... Dont mind my previous post... :(
Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Sat 17/12/2005 22:28:41
- changed the planet's glow. I think (may be wrong!) that the glow around a planet is determined by the color of the planet. Earth is 90% water, thus is glows blue? This planet seems "lava-y" so it would have an orange glow? I'm no astronomer!
I believe that the glow should be blueish, as blue light is scattered more than other colors. Color closer to the surface can get a different hue, as there is more gas and it may contain more chemicals, which add their color to the athmosphere color.
I believe the blue effect of the sky is called Rayleigh scattering. Water is blue on Earth, because it reflects the sky, not the other way around. The upper athmoshpere would be blue/white for any planet with an athmosphere. The lower layers could be different color. (Note: someone, please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm no astronomer either, just meddling with physics a bit.) For reference: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/atmos/blusky.html
As general c&c: if the planet has an athmosphere, it should have winds and visible currents of gas, because the planet is rotating which causes the air to move. This one doesn't seem to have an athmoshere (even though we see the glow) because we see all surface features very clearly.
I like the ship... It's long conveying a massive impending feeling. The only thing that really turned me off is the spacestation. It look as if stars are shining through the station! I'm sure you only intended this to be the space stations lights but it is a little confusing.
Sorry
If
To
Harsh Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, Ã, SITH
Quote from: Traveler on Sat 17/12/2005 23:59:27I believe that the glow should be blueish, as blue light is scattered more than other colors. Color closer to the surface can get a different hue, as there is more gas and it may contain more chemicals, which add their color to the athmosphere color.
I believe the blue effect of the sky is called Rayleigh scattering. Water is blue on Earth, because it reflects the sky, not the other way around. The upper athmoshpere would be blue/white for any planet with an athmosphere. The lower layers could be different color. (Note: someone, please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm no astronomer either, just meddling with physics a bit.) For reference: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/atmos/blusky.html
Duh! Yeah, I knew that. Not sure what I was thinking!!
I can't recall the last time I had a glass of blue water :)
One time I was asked, in an email, why the sky was blue, so I looked it up and sent this back:
"The blue color of the sky is due to Rayleigh scattering. As light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. Little of the red, orange and yellow light is affected by the air. However, much of the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed blue light is then radiated in different directions. It gets scattered all around the sky. Whichever direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue. "To me, this makes it seem like the color of a planet's "glow" would be determined by what the atmosphere is made up of? I still don't get it ... but I found this link:
Astronomy: Sky color on other planets (http://experts.about.com/q/1360/3850902.htm)
It's a fascinating read ... though I must admit most of it goes over my head a tad. I comprehend, just not understand.
Well, uhm, I did I some kind of paintover ... guess I ruined it.
(http://www.gwebspace.de/hassu-irc/andere/ship2.png)
- changed the planet
- adjusted the ship's lighting
- modified the space sight
cheers
nihilyst
Darth,
It IS a good reading, thanks for the link! :)
Wow. I go to work for a day and you guys go wild. ;D
Nice, Darth. That's a bit closer to what I was going for, I'll try to post another up in the morning. (it's 10 pm here)
I really appreciate all the feedback. You guys rock. :)
Alrighty. put the new one up under the second, removed the first. I like this much better. And, even if it looks like crap that's gotta be the most FUN I've had doing this in a while. ;D
I don't like the photoshoppish halo around the sun - other than that it's looking very good indeed.
Though I still believe the angles are too rigid as it is. Seeing as there's no gravity in space (no duh! :D) there's no real reason for both space-entities to be placed at exactly the same angle.
WOWzorz Nihilyst! There's something really ravaging going on in that picture of your's. It's like dusty sugar on a black glass :o :o Kind of intriguing and cool, in a way :D
But Azaron, I like Nihilyst's cruisers. They have spirit. Otherwise your newer edit is really nice, it has the infinite atmosphere in it. Good job.
Yeh Nihilyst, I really like yours, 2bad the little photoshop sun kinda ruins it a bit cause it's very different sort of painting (not pixelating like the rest).. it's such a nice piece of art without it,Ã, I also think the left spaceship ain't fitting in it tho, cause of the thin-lined, other styled graphic (logic, not made by you but by Azaron), the right spaceship you made a hell lot better then the original, that one fits in well!!..
Anyway.. Nihilyst, I like your background even more then Darth's or Haddas' paintover..
that says much.. but for Azaron I don't know if it will turn out working good for em..
I think Azaron better stick to Darth's paintover, since Nihilyst putted his own style in it, a very different style then Azaron got, if i look good.. and i like both styles!!
Keep up the good work guys!
Quote from: Andail on Sat 17/12/2005 15:17:05
Jesus, Haddas, it's space, not a discotheque :)
It's disco space!
Thanks a lot guys for all the input. I really appreciate it. I think this pic is going to be very close to final as it is close to the style I was shooting for originally and I can actually reproduce it fairly consistently.
(http://web.bvub.com/~azaron_flare/ship1.jpg)
Again, I really appreciate all the advice. I will definitely keep it in mind and use it as I get better. :)
Me rikey :) I couldn't tell you what else I don't like, as I'm perfectly content with it.
Quote from: ElementalWhite on Sun 18/12/2005 00:01:49
I like the ship... It's long conveying a massive impending feeling. The only thing that really turned me off is the spacestation. It look as if stars are shining through the station! I'm sure you only intended this to be the space stations lights but it is a little confusing.
I figured the dots on the station were meant to be reflected starfield, but station lights make more sense as an objective.
If they are reflections, it'd sell the image better having them follow the curvature as well as changing size/shape somewhat according to surface curvature.
If they're station lights, you might invest the extra pixels to make them a bit square-ish. The yellow does make them stand out from the white stars, but it still does give that transparent impression. Maybe a rough grid of "windows" with those not lit grayed out? Even a pattern following the shape of the station (a curved line) instead of the random arrangement. As soon as a recognizable pattern is shown, it'll be assumed that it's not a natural phenomenon.
Azaron, I really think you should keep this one indeed.. very nice redraw.. better perspective of smaller spaceship, lesser stars, all fits well together, good luck with the rest of your game!
I agree: The space-station should definitely be tilted like Ashen said
Quote from: Ashen on Fri 16/12/2005 13:20:03
I was just about to post the same thing about the ship ...
The spacestation-thing, I think would look better oriented to the planet it's meant to be orbiting (assuming it is meant to be in orbit), like this:
(http://www.geocities.com/whoismonkey/spacestat.png)
Other than that, I like it. You could maybe vary the brightness of the stars some more, which should make the field look less 'dense'.
Holy hell, Aarzon. That second pic in your first post is by far the best I've seen (though everyone else's pics were amazing too!). Keep the sun really... er, glowy like that! It's the thing that truly -makes- the picture.
But I do agree with tilting the space station.
There are obviously mixed opinions on this, but I'd say the sun is shining too brightly, making the flare seem like a cheap effect.
The problem with having something shine that brightly is that other objects in the foreground - like the big spaceship - would lose practically all values and remain a black body with only a bluish lining on the top.
Furthermore, the blue gaseous areas are too defined, and look like some sort of textile applications. Make them way softer, blur them, twirl them and have them just barely visible.
Lastly, the space station isn't very good. Right now it looks like someone tossed out a toy which hovers in the foreground.
Try to make it blend in with the background more, make it less plastic and more like the giant structure it is.