Alien Artwork

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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Halleck
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Post by Halleck »

The Caduceus is actually the staff of Hermes, it represents commerce and has nothing to do with medicine. However, it is often confused with the Rod of Asclepius, the true symbol for medicine which is one snake wound around a staff. You may recognize it from the star of life symbol.

Anyway, whatever one you use, there are vector versions available. Wikimedia commons has a Rod of Asclepius SVG here, and a Caduceus that I vectorized myself here.
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Post by chuck_starchaser »

It also says there, in the Wikipedia:
The symbol's origins are thought to date to as early as 2600 BC in Mesopotamia, and there are several references to a caduceus-like symbol in the Bible, namely in Numbers 21:4–9, and 2 Kings 18:4. During the Exodus, Moses was instructed by God to fashion a pole upon which he was to position a serpent made of bronze; when looked upon, this Nehushtan, as it was called in Hebrew, would spare the lives of the Israelites stricken by venomous snake bites. The intent was that people would look upward and be reminded to pray to God, but eventually the meaning was forgotten and this symbol was apparently worshiped by the Hebrew people until the reign of Hezekiah as described in 2 Kings 18:4.

Walter Burkert has two figures in his book which show a rod with two intertwined snakes winding around a central axis from Mesopotamia in 2200 BC, and a similar image from Crete in 700 BC. 1

It was used by the astrologer priests in the Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece, and has been associated with the Gnostic Corpus Hermeticum and Kundalini Yoga, where it is thought to be a symbolic representation of the "subtle" nerve channels the "ida", "pingala", and "sushumna" described in yogic kundalini physiology.
.........

It has been suggested and could be reasonably inferred that the $ sign for US currency is a caduceus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus

Now, which is the oldest of the origins mentioned? IMO, it comes originally from India. Well, could have originated from Mesopotamia, but at least in Hindu traditions it has a preserved meaning.
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Post by Zeog »

chuck_starchaser wrote:I think Zeog wanted to pull away from the cross, not so much from red.
Thank you. :) The point was -- and maybe I failed to explain that -- we shouldn't take our already existing human symbolism and try to stretch and bend it in order to fit an alien race. Maybe it is too much, but inventing an analogous, unique symbolism for an alien race seems very desireable to me. Departing from the cross to the Rod of Asclepios could be a first step of departing from clichés and the ordinary casual day symbolism that doesn't make the viewer wonder anymore.
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Post by Sunfire »

true, unique symbolism is pretty kewl... and would almost be standard for an ailen race... (especially if they see a different spectrum!)
i think that if you get too far away from what we as gameplayers know however, most ppl will view it as 'squiggley lines' without any real meaning attached... the 'red cross' to me instantly means medical....

(of course, i look at chinese and think 'squiggley lines' tho... so maybe that doesnt count for much... :D )
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Post by DancesWithProtons »

How about something like a 12 (or whatever) sided asterisk shape, symbolizing the multiple tentacles that characterize the fact that they are, indeed, medical specialists (due to the tentacles of course). It would still be a recognizeable "shape", morphed a bit but pertinent to the race. Colors wouldn't matter as they were race specific. It would look sort of like a warning label for laser devices.

There could also be a military symbol in the shape of the sticks they used to pry stuff out of the mud and protect themselves or fight with. We have the sword as a symbol used everywhere, so why not an ancient weapon/tool for them?

Just my $0.02
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Post by Oblivion »

Well... I can't use the caduceus and I can't use asclepius' staff and I can't use the red cross, or the blue cross for that matter. Will try to make something unique. The subfaction is experimental anyway. lol

But there is one info I think you guys don't know... The Shmrn were a slave race to humans. They have NO culture of their own and everything (from speech to writings) is borrowed from their uplifters - the Lightbearers (though Shapers did help before they concentrated on the Dgn).

But I think they've forgotten most of their customs, etc, and they probably didn't have much to begin with :) . Years under slavery by a conceited human faction can do that. haha. So no stick symbols etc. :)

14 tentacles. Actually the Cyan thing in the middle represents the tentacles around a shmrn egg, still unsure wether JackS likes this logo. ;) But it already represents the entire Shmrn race. A medical symbol would have to be created entirely. :( Oh well... :D
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Post by Oblivion »

Well... I can't use the caduceus and I can't use asclepius' staff and I can't use the red cross, or the blue cross for that matter. Will try to make something unique. The subfaction is experimental anyway. lol

But there is one info I think you guys don't know... The Shmrn were a slave race to humans. They have NO culture of their own and everything (from speech to writings) is borrowed from their uplifters - the Lightbearers (though Shapers did help before they concentrated on the Dgn).

But I think they've forgotten most of their customs, etc, and they probably didn't have much to begin with :) . Years under slavery by a conceited human faction can do that. haha. So no stick symbols etc. :)

14 tentacles. Actually the Cyan thing in the middle represents the tentacles around a shmrn egg, still unsure wether JackS likes this logo. ;) But it already represents the entire Shmrn race. A medical symbol would have to be created entirely. :( Oh well... :D
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Post by Sunfire »

if they are a slave race that has an obliterated culture, then human symbols would be applicable id think... so maybe you could just come up with a medic symbol for the humans of the future and adapt it for the shmrn... personally, i liked what you had before of the shmrn symbol over the red cross....

*thinks that oblivion has more experience with obliterated cultures than most*
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Post by Oblivion »

*thinks that oblivion has more experience with obliterated cultures than most*
:D
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Post by Oblivion »

Ok here are some ideas on the SMC logo. Will refine it later. Sorry for looking like it was drawn on napkin. It's kinda hurried. ;)

Image

And two proposals for changing/enhancing the confed logo

Image

Image

Shmrn Fancy Clothing
Image

Shmrn semi-armored and airtight pilot uniform
(Perspective and side)
Image
Image
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Post by Halleck »

Very strong designs, Oblivion. Good work.

There was another logo submitted a while ago intended to be a game logo, but I thought it would serve better as a confed insignia. I thought I'd link to it for purposes of comparison.

I'm not sure... your logos have a "protective, war hawk" theme, while St_jack's is a bit more generic. Perhaps we can find another use for it, I still think it would make a great insignia.
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Post by Oblivion »

:D Hey thanks for the link. I was wondering what logos have been changed already since 0.4.3. Will check them out. ;)
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Post by Halleck »

Oh, keep in mind that's a page for submitted logos, not committed ones. :wink:

(AFAIK all the logos are still the same in SVN.)
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Post by Sunfire »

anyone else think cubofjudaslion's big blue banner with the planets is pretty awesome?

EDIT: @oblivion,

i really like the crescent-type logo for the shmrn... and the large eagle logo for the confed....

maybe the others could be used for other subfactions?

nice to see the alien progressing along quite nicely! :)
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Post by Halleck »

Yes everyone loves CoJL's designs (especially the oval "draft 2"), I don't know why we aren't using them.
I think we needed an accompanying graphical symbol, and he didn't have the time to design one. Still... :?
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Post by Oblivion »

Will find what you refer to. :)
maybe the others could be used for other subfactions?
Yep. Already have them for the navy and subfactions.

Anyway, here are new concepts! :)

For the Rlaan Briin. Human-loving subfaction of the Rlaans:
A proposed logo. An X is the Rlaan symbol for an Rlaan. Two X's is an ideogram for friendship/unity/cooperation etc.

Image

A sample of Rlaan writing. "Letters" touching each other form an ideogram. Just an idea

Image

And Human Concepts!

A Forsaken Male

Image

Andolian Female

Image

Andolian Male

Image

A Pirate

Image

A Highborn Royal Guard
Image

:D
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Post by Oblivion »

Refined the COnfed Logo Concept a bit:

Here are some pre-production images. hehe

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
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Post by chuck_starchaser »

Really nice stuff. With such gift from the Gods, one would expect they'd take away your slipper, at the very minimum; --something for nothing is not allowed... ;-)
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Post by Sunfire »

chuck_starchaser wrote:Really nice stuff. With such gift from the Gods, one would expect they'd take away your slipper, at the very minimum; --something for nothing is not allowed... ;-)
(lol.. SERIOUSLY! *pouts* the gods gave me the gift of snowboarding but my share of art and poetry i believe went to ppl like this guy)

@oblivion: NICE.... (and it seems i can always find some sort of nit to pic.... sorry!)

but... erm... not too fond of the feathers themselves... too rounded or something or possibly just too much space in between them...

sorry for complaining all the time :roll:
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Post by Oblivion »

Chuck:
they'd take away your slipper
I had my suspicions. I once lost one of a pair of my socks too. But I didn't take it too hard. The slipper on the other hand... is too large a price to pay. :(

Sunfire:
my share of art and poetry i believe went to ppl like this guy
I'll give you back your share of poetry (not the art probably. ;)), if you'll give me back my share of snowboarding. :D

Seriously, On the eagle insignia. I was mixing and matching. So the rounded feathers look bad? :? THough so too. I'll mix the background ellipse with wings with sharper swept back "feathers", probably. And a question:

Is this the accepted Confed standard logo? Because I'll be using it as the centerpiece of the ellipse. If not, please correct me.

Image

And for St. Jack's logo. The problem is there is no ship of this model ingame. :wink: So, if anyone wants to model a capship of this design... or we could change the ship silhouette to something existing currently in VS universe.

Image


And JackS corrected those human concepts above. As well as the Rlaan. And so... THOSE WERE WRONG! 8) The Rlaan writing system has already been defined. I'm sorry, I thought it was still open for inventions. :wink:

And so... aside from the pirate and the forsaken, the other human concepts are misleading and untrue. And they have a case pending in the supreme court for perjury and face a minimum of 3 years in jail if proven guilty. :)

So armed with new descriptions. I again attempt to present the Andolians. Hoping JackS won't mind if I post his description of the Andolians here (it might be useful for the wiki people :))

JackS:
The Andolians (and here I make a distinction between the Andolians proper and the non-Andolian human members of the Andolian Protectorate).... as I'd mentioned briefly before, the Andolian aesthetic is quite particular. Drawing Andolians will either be a very boring, or a wonderfully unconstrained experience, depending on whether you're drawing them as they'd be seen by the naked eye, or you're drawing them as they see each other, respectively.

Some background: the implants are oversized and anachronistic by Andolian standards. Andolians are all heavily augmented, but very subtly so. Only the hard-link connector at the back of the neck is usually discernable without scrutiny, and even that is blended in with the natural physique in a smooth and not unappealing manner. As an example, Andolians don't use viewscreens to view the datasphere - they activate the tap onto their optic nerve that overlays the data, etc. Of course, they don't usually ever de-activate this tap as much as alter what it's feeding them, so activating is perhaps not exactly the right word ;-) Many Andolians have their eyes replaced alltogether, but this can't be noticed unless, A) they intend it to be noticed, or B) one makes a very close examination or C) they're using non-standard sized parts for exceptional input purposes (science, military, etc.).

Now - why would drawing Andolians be boring? Because they all wear air-tight skin-suits (air intakes exist that are capable of sterilizing the incoming air, but the air supply is usually supplied by recirculation and scrubbers - these suits are vacuum rated, but not designed for space-walking of any kind - just depressurization) and hard-masks when in public, except in known sterile zones (this has been custom since the nano-plague destroyed their advanced artificial immune system enhancements over 600 years ago. The Andolians, especially on their capital world, have the highest average density of human habitation since the height of pre-nano-plague Earth, and they consider the possibility of epidemic (natural or bioweapon) a real and constant threat (despite the fact that, because of these precautions, and other aspects of Andolian society, purely Andolian worlds rarely even see significant numbers of the viral descendents of the common cold. Indeed, it's generally accepted that any Andolian floor not sterile enough to put lab samples on _is_ a lab sample). The exterior uniform, in addition to the shared memory, doesn't do wonders to make the uninitiated any more comfortable with the Andolians.

However, for anyone with access to the local datasphere (Andolian or otherwise, though the effect is best perceived by full optic-nerve implants), the Andolians are not limited in their appearance to what they are wearing. Just as the great stretches of white walls in the corridors of Kubernan might seem frighteningly sterile, but are in fact just a backdrop for all sort and manner of announcement, advertisement, messages, and virtual interfaces for the Adolians living there, so too are the sheer light-charcoal-grays and hard black-plastic exteriors of Andolian uniformity a blank canvas for the artistic endeavors of the individual within. What may seem to the data-blind a group of nearly identical fellows sitting idly may instead appear as a shifting swarm of butterflies, an window onto an oceanic mural in the shape of a human, an Andolian uniform with fiery dragons slowly crawling over it in tatoo fashion, and a crystal clear visage of the person within, in much more casual clothing.


The uniform tends to put some constraints upon hairstyles, which must be either easily compressible, or easily corralled into a rear-ward extension that can be fed through an orifice in the rear of the hard-mask to a flexible "hair-bag". The hard mask is multi-partite and sparingly padded, and therefore very form fitting (multi-partite nature allows it to overcome the inefficiencies of being a helmet or other such piece of head-gear. The hard-mask serves as the attachment place for the CO2 scrubbing system, and the air intake sterilizers, with connections to both these and power supplies running under the chin, ~along the jugular path, and then over towards the back. The collar seal hides some of the tubing, but it isn't particularly large to begin with.

As for how this would appear in-game, one imagines the easiest method is to work on some poses and slight variations of the standard uniform, and then have an array of effects that appear on mouseover. :)

The non-Andolian human citizens of the protectorate are a different lot, living, in some sense in the shadow of the Andolians, and we can talk about them a bit later, I guess - they all tend to be implanted too, so they can see the Andolian world, as indeed the Andolians welcome them to join them if they wish to, but they are not themselves quite fully a part of it. The Klk'k likewise have such an internal split, depending upon how they have integrated themselves into the Protectorate, but with very different population ratios (the non-Andolian human population of the Protectorate is a very small minority of the total human population, whereas the Klk'k population distribution is much more evenly split, with the additional split of heavily linked, but less Andolian integrated Klk'k, making the situation one of large minorities and pluralities instead of a dwarfing majority and tenuous minority).
And here is an Andolian Female. She's "browsing" a data terminal. There is no display (screen) of course. She just sees it with her "mind". Normally, Andolians would probably not need to do this, as information continuously flows in and out of their minds through their "mind-link". Like their occassional need to use their hard-link connectors. I thought they might use some other things as well. And so, again invented some things. The black bands on their suit, I imagined, would be data routes and receptors, enabling them to gain full access upon alignment with another such material. So Andolian lovebirds can seemingly hold hands while inside their minds, they're wildly...ahem... :roll: *holding hands*

Image

And a Logo concept for the andolians. The cog idea, I think is too "blatant" a concept for the Andolians. As they are quite austere in their art (as seen through the eyes of non-Andolians). So, pardon the small size, I thought of this. It represents an image of the Andolian hard-link connector at their napes. :) Still, it's just an idea.. it's kinda like a metallic flower too. And since the andolians are mostly eurasians...

Image
A Step Into Oblivion

Dreams of things that will never be,
Songs of thoughts only I can hear,
Leave me be to sleep forever,
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And sing my hymns,
Of things that will never be...
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Post by loki1950 »

looking good Oblivion but i find that your Forsaken male looks elfish ie Lord of the Rings

Enjoy the Choice :)
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Post by Halleck »

Cool!

I can't comment on the canonicity of your drawings but they are certainly spiffy. :D

I also love the logo renderings... again, can't comment on canonicity. (The last couple of renderings seem overexposed though, you might see if you can reduce the blown-out highlights for the final render.)
Dunno if it would be of any help, but pontiac modelled most of our logos in 3D a while back.

I forget where you can download them, but if you'd like a copy I think I have them in my vegastrike folder somewhere.
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Post by Oblivion »

Loki:
looks elfish ie Lord of the Rings
believe me, I know how elvish (eldar) would look like. :lol: I'm a Tolkien junkie. The "elvish" look might be ebcause of the arabesque designs I attempted to impart on the clothing. It's to add ethnicity to the character. :) And of course, the blade. JackS commented on its being anachronistic too. But it's supposed to be a rifle. 8) Though nobody seems to have noticed that. :wink:

... laurie lantar lassi surinen...

Halleck:
also love the logo renderings... again, can't comment on canonicity. (The last couple of renderings seem overexposed though, you might see if you can reduce the blown-out highlights for the final render.)
Dunno if it would be of any help, but pontiac modelled most of our logos in 3D a while back.

I forget where you can download them, but if you'd like a copy I think I have them in my vegastrike folder somewhere
Yeah. The lighting is glaring. :( Will fix that of course. But as of now, I need to know what the standard symbol is for the confeds (if there is such a thing), so that I could integrate it into the insignia. See the prior sketch I made of this logo concept, a few pages back. The triangle in the center is a placeholder for the confed logo. :(

If those 3d logos are approved, then I'd like a copy. (is it in .3ds format? or do you mean the renders?) But until they're not finalized, I wouldn't find much use for them, I'm afraid. :?

As of now, I'm making the Rlaan sketches as promised.
STill unapproved. but I'll post the worker here.

Image
A Step Into Oblivion

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Post by Oblivion »

Some more thoughts on the Rlaan:

Image

Image
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Post by Oblivion »

Revised Rlaan concept. :wink:
Image
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Leave me be to sleep forever,
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