Possible new icon?

Thinking about improving the Artwork in Vega Strike, or making your own Mod? Submit your question and ideas in this forum.

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dataset
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Possible new icon?

Post by dataset »

Hello everyone! This is my first time posting in the Vegastrike forums and just have to mention how awesome I find this game. Great work!

Well now back on topic. I have found out that the icon used for the game is back from 2003 according to this page. I'm using Mac OS X and kinda got tired of seeing this icon, it just didn't go along to well with all the other 'eye candy'. So I decided to create my own icon. I'm not a photoshop pro or anything, but I play around with it. Here are the results.
Image

I have also made a .icns version for Mac OS X.

I also have made the Photoshop file available if any of you want to mess around with it.
Photoshop .psd file

What do you peoples think? I know the icon isn't a priority or anything, and you may want to leave it as it is, but I just want to know what you all think. Insightful criticism is welcomed!
Last edited by dataset on Wed Jul 09, 2008 6:30 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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pyramid
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Re: Possible new icon?

Post by pyramid »

Welcome dataset. Nice icon. Reminds me of looking through a ship's bulleye into space. I'd just rather see the letters in VS font (Megalomania, to be found in /trunk/vega-proj/webpage/).
dataset
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Re: Possible new icon?

Post by dataset »

pyramid wrote:Welcome dataset. Nice icon. Reminds me of looking through a ship's bulleye into space. I'd just rather see the letters in VS font (Megalomania, to be found in /trunk/vega-proj/webpage/).
Thanks, thats the look I was trying to go for. I got the font and made an alternate version! At first I thought the letters looked a little too thin, but then I started to like it. Here are the results.


Image

I made the icon so large because Leopard supports icons of up to 512x512. I'm not sure what Vista supports, but I just thought it would be nice to have a large sized original image, so it won't have to be stretched if anyone wanted to use.

As always here are the links :P
The .PSD file
The .icns file (Mac OS X icon format)
The .png file (I love .png format :P )
UPDATE: I fixed the images top reflection which was too bright, it now looks much better. (I don't know why I'm so into making this icon look good :P Maybe since its summer vacation and I have nothing better to do.)
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Turbo
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Post by Turbo »

Nice! Good thinking on making it large.

Might I recommend making the border thinner? Your window onto space needs a frame, but currently that frame is thicker than the lettering and draws too much attention. You might try darkening the frame a bit for the same reason.

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dataset
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Post by dataset »

Turbo wrote:Nice! Good thinking on making it large.

Might I recommend making the border thinner? Your window onto space needs a frame, but currently that frame is thicker than the lettering and draws too much attention. You might try darkening the frame a bit for the same reason.

Turbo
Like this?
Image

.PSD Photoshop version
.PNG file
.icns Mac OS X icon

I like how doing this allows me to also practice my Photoshop skills. I don't usually use them unless I need to. :D
By the way I also took a screen shot of my dock where I have both versions. The thick border and thin border. Here's the sample.
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rigelan
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Post by rigelan »

I think your image website just ran out of bandwidth for you.
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dataset
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Post by dataset »

rigelan wrote:I think your image website just ran out of bandwidth for you.
No my host just sucks. Sometimes its unavailable for a minute and then everything comes back.. And the sad thing is I pay for the service.
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ace123
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Post by ace123 »

That looks like an awesome icon.

I have one request, however. Could you build 64x64, 48x48, 32x32 and 16x16 versions of this image?

64x64 should look fine just scaled, but you might need to tweak it some for 48x48, then scale that down to 32x32, and you might have to hand-create a 16x16 version.

The 32x32 and 16x16 icons are needed for Windows and Linux which aren't nice enough to scale the icon for you (and it would probably look ugly anyway at such a ratio).

Icons are a bit annoying because sadly most people are going to see the 16x16 version as that is the size in the Windows Start Menu... so that one has to look the best :-(
dataset
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Post by dataset »

That looks like an awesome icon.

I have one request, however. Could you build 64x64, 48x48, 32x32 and 16x16 versions of this image?
Thank you! I really liked the way it came out. I scaled it down to all the requested sizes plus some more (256, 128). I did have to make some slight changes starting at 32x32, but the they still look pretty good. 16x16 actually came out better than I would have thought. Image Image Image

I have uploaded a ZIP folder of all three versions of the icon (original, alt, and alt-alt) that includes all the sizes, both in PNG and Photoshop PSD format to my server. Here is the link.
ZIP of icons (19.3 MB)
If you would rather just browse through all the images in your web browser I also uploaded a regular folder for your browsing pleasure :D
Folder of icons!
Icons are a bit annoying because sadly most people are going to see the 16x16 version as that is the size in the Windows Start Menu... so that one has to look the best Sad
Yup, I totally have to agree with you there. I had completely forgotten about the Windows Start menu (I haven't touched my Windows box in ages) but I am still happy with the results. Thank you everyone for taking your time to see my icons. It feels good trying to contribute to an awesome project.
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Phlogios
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Post by Phlogios »

Why should there be an icon with "VS" written on it? With Vega Strike being the name of the engine, this doesn't say much. How about making an icon without text on it, and have the name of the file be "Upon The Coldest Sea" or UTCS? Then the icon could be different for the other eras, so that, for example, "Foundering Inheritance" could have its own icon.
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Post by bgaskey »

It definitely looks better with the general mac icon theme, and I think it looks cooler over all.

It should probably remain VS though because everyone is still calling the game Vegastrike and not Upon the Coldest Sea.

For the final release of UTCS, I could see a different icon, but until then, I think VS will do fine :wink:
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