Joining forces to make custom graphics

[Gambit37]

Yeah, I wondered about that -- I've collected a huge folder of stuff. Some of it is excellent -- looking forward to getting some real progress on this, I haven't got far yet.

I haven't yet asked any of the original painters for permission to use their pictures, but I will do so! I'm pretty sure most of them won't mind...

Here's an example of a sexy half-naked typical fantasy woman. (I hope the ladies of the forum don't take offence: I'm following the Frazetta/Caldwell/Elmore/Vallejo/Bell/Cleavanger/Sperlonga aesthetic where female fantasy armour should be as impractical and indistinct as possible. Don't blame me, blame them!) This is a mockup blended with one of Linflas' screengrabs from Forest of Doom, as I haven't created my outdoor graphics yet (I hope you don't mind me using it for this demo)

The original source didn't have enough views to be able to make a custom attack frame, and as I'm rubbish at drawing, she won't have one. She'll just be a static player character you can interact with. Source is here: http://www.coolminiornot.com/184131

I didn't have to do much with her except finish off the boots for the back view and give a face that pointed forward, I also re-balanced the colouring. Other creatures I'm working on require a LOT more work...

[linflas]

hot girl but.. not my taste for the face


for the side view, i only moved the area of the mouth to the chin by 1 pixel on the left.

[Michoko]

Those first tries are really top quality! I love the knight and the "big-head" girl (and I am SURE I already saw her somewhere, but I can't remember!)

[Gambit37]

hot girl but.. not my taste for the face
for the side view, i only moved the area of the mouth to the chin by 1 pixel on the left.

Much nicer face indeed. I haven't really practiced enough with faces at RTC resolution.

See, this is what I was hoping for -- that we can help each other with our hi-res stuff -- just not in public!

Those first tries are really top quality!

Thanks -- though they aren't "first tries" -- I have a whole folder of this stuff for my custom dungeon...

[Crash.]

See, this is what I was hoping for -- that we can help each other with our hi-res stuff -- just not in public!

Is it possible to create a private developers forum? A few of you could decide who gets to have access.

Okay,. regarding those screenshots...Wow! great graphics! That's the kind of NPC I don't mind having to run quests for

Figurines are lead or plastic figures for table top gaming, or simply to be painted for fun. There are thousands of sites out there with some top quality paint jobs shown in high res photos... finding good examples, with all views necessary for RTC, at good enough quality is hard though... and much Photoshop work is required to make them usable...

I didn't realize you may have used a figurine. I thought they may have been borrowed from another game that I didn't know about. I even have a few figurines around here somewhere, but they don't look as good as the graphics you've demonstrated.

Has anyone (already) collected figurine graphics from the various web sites? Here's my first try.

Cheers!

[Crash.]

This dragon looks suspiciously like a roasted chicken.

Yeah, that's why I was wondering about the limitations of the Spore creature creator. I was hoping that these models could be tweaked a little. Chicken is a white meat, and we all know dragon steak is a read meat

[linflas]

See, this is what I was hoping for -- that we can help each other with our hi-res stuff -- just not in public

Now i see your point of view (and that is good to come back to the real topic of this thread).
So, I'd be glad to help and the best way for that is *regularly* seeing each other on the chat, showing our stuff, giving opinions, receiving, editing and sending back, etc.
This also means that we can share bitmaps for our dungeons, not the spoiling ones but some wallsets, items, icons, etc. and adjust them to fit in our own dungeon.
I think we can go faster in dungeon designing by modifying bitmaps that has already been adapted to RTC resolution, just like i did for your hot girl.

[zoom]

you can benefit from each other

[Gambit37]

Is it possible to create a private developers forum? A few of you could decide who gets to have access.

Yes. Good idea!

I even have a few figurines around here somewhere, but they don't look as good as the graphics you've demonstrated.

It really depends on what scale figures they are and how good the painter is. Some of the stuff on CoolMiniOrNot is only 25mm high yet is so detailed, it's amazing. I used to do lead figure painting as a kid but I never got anywhere near that quality...

Has anyone (already) collected figurine graphics from the various web sites? Here's my first try.

Oh, only a few hundred....

So, I'd be glad to help and the best way for that is *regularly* seeing each other on the chat, showing our stuff, giving opinions, receiving, editing and sending back, etc.

Yep, a very good idea!

This also means that we can share bitmaps for our dungeons, not the spoiling ones but some wallsets, items, icons, etc. and adjust them to fit in our own dungeon.

We would need to be careful here -- I wouldn't want to share anything too special, plus I think it would be annoying for someone to release copied work BEFORE the original artist had released his own dungeon. Shouldn't the original artist have the right to show off his stuff first? It's all about the "new" and "surprise" factor and being able to maintain it.

Having said that, most of the stuff I've got is "borrowed" from other games anyway, so it's not exactly original...

OK, I'm going to set-up a private designer's forum. Who wants to join initially?

[Soaponarope]

Are people mostly making their own graphics or are they borrowed from other games? I can understand not wanting to share graphics you made, but I thought most were borrowed. I haven't found many resources
for graphics that actually look good in DM, as I don't have many older games. Only thing I have played that is very DM like is the Eye of the Beholder 1 and 2. I saw these monsters on the RTC wiki site, but little else. Did people not like the idea of a custom graphics pool?

I would be interested in joining to make custom graphics though. I have not done graphic work, but it is something I'm interested in learning, and I'm artistic.

[zoom]

the thing is, would it help to have creatures like
in 3D

and then render different perspectives?

What is the way to go, what benefits most people here?

What gives the best results?
where to start?
I am asking this , because spore creature program had been mentioned here.

probably and most likely a 3d rendering would then have to be painted and tweaked to fit a graphics pack

big version here: http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/5747/snakewk.gif
have to do a 3d version anyway so .. in a few months there could be creatures in 3d!

I would say higher resolution is good
(you can still double size the old graphics. I doubt anyone -or the majority- will play with original screen size of 320 x240 anyway)

[zoom]

The problem with miniatures is the side views or attack view. I really think these have to be altered to get convincing results.
But this could depend on the creature.
THe deth knight is fine by having side front and back miniature-like static. But what if you need the attack frame?
You have to use another miniature for this to work, really.
Otherwise miniatures make for good talk to instances. Too little fierce for opponents

here another snake

and the bigger version:http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/1733/sevena.jpg

[linflas]

@zoom : try sculptris.

[MisterSushi]

Dude, I am so totally pool happy you don't even know- I can't do graphics perse, but I can do some concepts and designs for someone to work off of! I could even do up some side attacks and the such. Besides just portraits and compositional pieces I do like to draw stand alone figures- and I always did draw the monsters from DM way back when!

Are people looking for designs out there still? Go look at my mummy ~ It's not done yet, but I get there~!

[zoom]

Tested a bit around in sculptris, it is definitely nice.
The painting mode is especially cool. Thanks for pointing there, linflas

But I do think it bears the danger of getting lost in detail!
it crashed twice :/ also it seems you only have a single clay ball to fiddle with...have to get more into grips with it at some point there, but it seems impossible to have an elongated form like the snake built with it.
EDIT: found the add shpere button and that is what I came up with so far...looks more like a shark, really and there is the first one where I was wondering what to do.. oh well

or
http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/825/nnj2a.jpg
ATM, I think I do like box-modeling approach to building best or maybe with splines-there are a couple of ways...

I think I will head in that direction first, and build with blocks until the rough 3d form stands, detail tends to be contra productive now

The fine tuning is where sculptris shines I will get back to this approach..

EDIT2: building is quite intuitive , actually. I need to get a bit more control over what I am doing but worth some more tries

@Mister sushi:
We have the same preferences, it seems
You should try to do graphics. Or does it work for you this way? I for myself noticed, design alone does not help too much.Then again I never tried hard.

But often there has to be the next step. scribble - painting, concept - 3d figure etc..
sometimes the scribbling looks better than the inked version but the more refined the more appealing in a way.
Also, if you have some knowledge of these next steps, you can produce better initial work for people to work of off.
example:

you designed a mummy with all side views i.e. a turnaround, attack frame; maybe colour scheme and
emotional states or some notes on where to place and what the creature is like/moving etc.
You want this to be rendered in 3d.

The more you know about what the modeller needs and how this workflow is, to accomplish your vision of the mummy, the better and more easily she/he can progress and get results.
While I am at it: EDIT3: You do not need to be perfect in any of these fields but it does not hurt to know what to avoid and how things work...
I would say : continue to do designs, I do look at these rather willingly
We will see if couple of those get to the point of actually being in the game. Would be nice and probably doable, too

Edit4, and last one: some new snake! But it is rather arbitrary- building, not too focussed..

http://img151.imageshack.us/content_rou ... snakkk.jpg