New Cargo Pics

DirtyMagic · Post by **DirtyMagic** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 8:25 pm

PeteyG is revamping the cargo categories and collecting a bunch of icons for the trade screens. Thought I'd start doing some up as a "quick and dirty" way to get the VS interface looking sharp.

PeteyG's current stock of pics is here...
http://students.washington.edu/peteyg/b ... mages.html
and the list/description of cargo is here..
http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/phpwi ... trikeCargo

Here's a handful of original artwork that I've done up so far:

For artifacts or artwork category

For the electronics/musical instruments category

Construction supplies/Assembly tools

Intended as Rlaan liquor. I hear the temperature/functional shape war beginning to fire up already but that's what we're here for.

Three takes on artificial and enhanced limbs. By the description, I think the first two fit best. Enhanced limbs being Deus Ex and artifical limbs being industrial enhancements for the really, really dedicated worker.

All comments welcome!

[Edit #1] Post the right pictures this time

Post by **hurleybird** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 8:45 pm

I really like the first enhanced limbs picture. I think the rlaan liquer should seem more 'alien' though.

Silverain · Post by **Silverain** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 11:54 pm

The limbs pics are good. Enhanced is what I visualised when I wrote the description.

I'll admit that when writing artificial limbs, I was thinking more along the lines of a cyborg limb, but either will do fine.

peteyg · Post by **peteyg** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 10:25 pm

I seem to recall thinking the exact opposite thing as Silverain for the artificial limbs or something, but I could be wrong.

Someone still needs to put some energy into thinking up what to do about the Liquor/Aera and Liquor/Rlaan categories to make it jive with what JackS has to say on the subject. We can always use the cool bottle pics for exotic terran beverages, because the pics ARE cool.

Now back to my vacation. See you all later

charlieg · Post by **charlieg** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:06 am

Isn't this game supposed to be in the future with space flight being possible etc?

Why would we want pics of keyboards and electric guitars? This isn't buck rogers... I'd hope the future was somewhat more futuristic than that.

DirtyMagic · Post by **DirtyMagic** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:20 am

The limbs pics are good. Enhanced is what I visualised when I wrote the description.

Why thanks! I've always felt that someday my left arm would be famous.

I think the rlaan liquer should seem more 'alien' though.

Yup, it should. Hard to think like an alien with this poor little human brain of mine. And it's easier to get pics than model stuff.

That being said, I have been muddling over a bit how Rlaan items would look. I'm thinking probably four-sided and heavy on squares, with their intent to be "simple and elegant" being pretty much offensive to any non-Rlaan. Is this a reasonable start, do you think, for a simple container? More elabourite containers for more expensive product?

I also found a few minutes today to model some pics for the "alloys" section. They're all based off the same model with different skins, not unlike how the "gases" section is. I'll probably modify the model for the remaining few alloys for the sake of variation.

Steel

Tritanium

Obsidium

Transparent Aluminum

Carbonium

DirtyMagic · Post by **DirtyMagic** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:30 am

Why would we want pics of keyboards and electric guitars?

Just an assumption that since we've been using keyboards and stringed instruments for the last thousand years or so that we'll continue to use them in the future. Likely there'll be neural jam-helmets and random music generators but it's my hope that people will continue to actually play traditional instruments. Maybe, though, that one should go under "classical instruments".

Post by **jackS** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:54 am

I'd be more interested in seeing transparent alumina than transparent aluminum, as I'm given to believe the former more likely than the latter (sorry Scotty

)

Silverain · Post by **Silverain** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:58 am

DirtyMagic wrote:
Why would we want pics of keyboards and electric guitars?
Just an assumption that since we've been using keyboards and stringed instruments for the last thousand years or so that we'll continue to use them in the future. Likely there'll be neural jam-helmets and random music generators but it's my hope that people will continue to actually play traditional instruments. Maybe, though, that one should go under "classical instruments".

Classical Instruments was imagined more as acoustic instruments (guitars, drums, sitars etc etc), and your other typical pre electronic instruments. To the musician of the VS era, it would likely also include the electronic instruments of our age too. Consider, what where musical instruments of a thousand years ago?

Musical instruments of the VS era, well, I like the thought of neural jam-helmets and random music generators - but how would we picture them?? Maybe keyboard style box which is finger operated to create all VS modern sounds?? hmm....

Rlaan drinks
If remember correctly, aren't these supposed to be near frozen (from human perspective)? Maybe incorporate something to infer such coldness? Blue background?

Consider too, their need for environmental suits when in atmosphere not their own, gravity differentials etc.

For Aera, consider that with their body design, how would they drink?

Alloys
I like! Impressed by the Transparent Aluminum.

Only beef (minor) is it possible to vary the dimensions of the item in the pic a little from pic to pic? That way we avoid the 'same pic, different colour' thought? Example, steel bars (long & thin), titanium is plate, etc ...

pincushionman · Post by **pincushionman** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 3:13 am

jackS wrote:I'd be more interested in seeing transparent alumina than transparent aluiminum, as I'm given to believe the former more likely than the latter (sorry Scotty )

I was concerned about the same kind of thing. Transparent silver and titanium coatings have been made, but they aren't structural, they're interesting because they can be used as conductors on, say, windows or windshields. To make a metal transparent for thicknesses better than nanometers, you need to either play with the number of free electrons (which could have nasty electrostatic consequences) or make the material highly noncrystalline (which is bad because metals' strength comes from their regular crystalline structure) or some combination of both. So even if it could be done, in almost all cases you'd be better off using transparent glass or plastic; it'd be stronger and cheaper. But it's an interesting thought.

-pincushionman

Silverain · Post by **Silverain** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 3:28 am

Off the cuff science (to be refuted or accepted by JackS

):

Transparent Aluminum (alumina, or whatever it winds up to be), is the core material used in holographic applications and holovids. It is applied to create the focus casing. Each of the six sides projects its POV picture to the centre, with all POV's forming the 3D picture within.

The material is transparent to enable viewing from all points of direction.

Average Earthman · Post by **Average Earthman** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:41 pm

I have to ask - any particular reason that the titanium is that light purple colour? IIRC, pure titanium is a lustrous white, although the form you'd get hold of is more likely to be silvery in colour.

Transparent alumina? It's pretty cheap stuff nowadays...
http://www.insaco.com/Applications/wafers.html

dwsoft · Post by **dwsoft** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 9:01 pm

yeah, hurelys right, the limbs arnt that bad at all

Targon · Post by **Targon** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 12:47 pm

Hmm... why don't use some principles of the hieroglyph writing or heraldry instead of creating a lot of pictures for everything?
E.g.: picutre in picture. The lower right quad is the cargo subtype while the rest of the picture is the cargo type (or class, like OO inheritance). Example: alloys. Main picture: something metallic, like a T-beam or metal sheet roll. Subtype: chemical formula. Example: gases. Main picture: gas tank. etc. etc.

DirtyMagic · Post by **DirtyMagic** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 8:48 pm

Sorry for the silence there... had a bit of a hard drive melt down.

Feeling much better now.

I'd be more interested in seeing transparent alumina than transparent aluminum

No probs doing pics for anything you guys decide to make "official categories". This pic or something akin will do nicely for the Plasglass alloy, too. I can maybe just use a mini-screencapture of the hud for the transparent aluminum since it's mentioned in the description.

is it possible to vary the dimensions of the item in the pic a little from pic to pic?

Sure can. Gimme a bit o' time and I'll tweak what's been done so far as I find the time to do some new ones. I had considered other shapes like bars and pellets but they don't show off the texture/colour of the alloy as well. I'll probably change a couple to something like that since the interest is there.

Rlaan drinks
If remember correctly, aren't these supposed to be near frozen (from human perspective)? Maybe incorporate something to infer such coldness? Blue background?

As I was doing up the picks, I wrestled with similar questions. I finally came to the conclusion that I'd do up most of the pics as if they were cut from a native ad... a Rlaan photographer in a room air-conditioned to Rlaan body temp taking pics of a product presented the way it would be served to the intended Rlaan consumer. So it doesn't necessarily have to be presented as cold, depending on how the Rlaan like their liquor. I guess that's more a question for the powers that be. Do the Rlaan consume alcohol as we do, as a liquid or is actually frozen solid and eaten? Do they like it colder than their room temperature or heated like those other crazy aliens, the Brits? The whole alien thing brings up a lot of <ahem> cool questions.

I have to ask - any particular reason that the titanium is that light purple colour?

Artistic license, basically. It's actually "TRItanium" so I kinda tweaked the colour a bit to imply that the other metals changed the colour a tad. Then the ambient lighting modified the actual object colour and I liked it, so I went with it. It's not a big deal to tweak if it keeps the Metalworkers Union happy.

DirtyMagic · Post by **DirtyMagic** » Fri Mar 26, 2004 11:48 pm

Here are a few tweaks I whooped up to give the alloy section a bit more variety.

Steel. Now conveniently packaged in bars.

Tritanium. New! Easy-to-work-with pellet form!

Carbonium. Different angle, slabs moved around a bit.

And finally a couple potential formats for Obsidisteel:

Big-ass cubes

Pseudo-crystaline and freshly excreted.

Post by **hurleybird** » Sat Mar 27, 2004 1:07 am

cool, cool good work, i like the first two the best. The purple cubes seem a bit weird though. Maybe if they were also shiny or reflective they would look better.

peteyg · Post by **peteyg** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 5:12 am

Okay. This is what I'm doing: http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/phpwi ... argoImages

Images are still hosted off my webspace, but putting the actual organization of it into the wiki lets other people do some of the work.

Good or bad?

If good, perhaps one of the wiki wizards around here can come up with a decent layout or something.

Post by **hurleybird** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 5:26 am

looks cool. Good way of knowing what still needs pics.

DirtyMagic · Post by **DirtyMagic** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 10:52 pm

Like the list/pics in the wiki! Easy to see what's done and what's not. Easy to spot icons that may look awkward when shown with the rest of 'em.

What about something like this for boring droids?

Shark · Post by **Shark** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 11:17 pm

hurleybird wrote:cool, cool good work, i like the first two the best. The purple cubes seem a bit weird though. Maybe if they were also shiny or reflective they would look better.

If you mirror the third image, it will be better, too. The third image is too grainy, and doesn't have enough shadow. The fourth and fifth image are need to be brightened a little bit and have their contrast reduced, IMO.
If you could add a decorative border around the edges, it would look nice.

Shark · Post by **Shark** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 11:25 pm

DirtyMagic wrote:I also found a few minutes today to model some pics for the "alloys" section. They're all based off the same model with different skins, not unlike how the "gases" section is. I'll probably modify the model for the remaining few alloys for the sake of variation.

Two or three of these is ok, but if you make too many with the same shape, they become harder and harder to differentiate. There needs to be a greater variety of form.
The first images you posted are nice. But, I'll have to second the notion that the photos of the stringed instruments might not be entirely appropriate. The quality of the photography is great, but they seem a bit too contemporary.
Maybe if you could add some flashing lights or colorful displays, they'd fit a little better.

Shark · Post by **Shark** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 11:30 pm

DirtyMagic wrote:What about something like this for boring droids?

They seem exciting enough, to me

Shark · Post by **Shark** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 11:37 pm

[edit] Nevermind.

Post by **hurleybird** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 12:24 am

sweet, that boring droid is the coolest one yet!