Another cover critique...

[jdrakeh]

This time, completely free of possibly offensive conent (unless retro rockets and bronze age fantasy offend you). First up, the cover of my Bronze revision (the original game is available for free download at 1km1kt), a game of Bronze Age fantasy in a fantastic world of adventure...

Scrapped for Possible Copyright Infringement

Followed by my, as yet unfinished game of surreal space/soap opera, Outre Space (think Blake's 7 meets that wonderfully odd propoganda soap playing on the closed-circuit TV system in Doctor Who's Armageddon Factor episode)...

[Edit: D'oh! And, of course, I posted these looking for some more of the cosntructive feedback that I received on the previous two covers (Old School is getting revised, and the other was... dropped). Suggestions welcome]

 

[Dragon-Slayer]

These are not bad at all, both simple, monotone (I do mean that in a good way, a good one tone doesn't always transfer well) and visually sound.

That said, I really think that these are good pieces, will help accentuate the product, but would have a time on the bigger art forums (like ConceptArt) finding acceptance because of the level of detail in the first and the second looks a bit like a photo manipulation with filters. And this is something I don't understand a lot of the time. Visually pleasing works, whether you took 17 hours of blindfold work on a Wacom with one hand tied behind your back on custom brushes or you put together a simple, yet nice offering that does the job.

 

[sniffles]

You asked for it!

The Bronze cover doesn't quite read as anything to do with Bronze Age for me (and I love the idea of a Bronze Age setting). Not caring too much for the design. The skeletal figure is a little hard to read.

Outre Space is nice, if a bit too monochromatic for my taste. But it conveys the flavor of the game better for me than the Bronze cover does.

 

[jdrakeh]

These are not bad at all, both simple, monotone (I do mean that in a good way, a good one tone doesn't always transfer well) and visually sound.

Thanks.

That said, I really think that these are good pieces, will help accentuate the product, but would have a time on the bigger art forums (like ConceptArt)

Thank god I'm not designing free-press games for the artiste' audience

finding acceptance because of the level of detail in the first

Yeah, I realize the detail won't please everybody, but I tried it with less and it looks really cartoonish - which doesn't fit the tone of the game at all (the revision includes setting material that is essentially Swords & Sorcery meets Homeric Greece).

and the second looks a bit like a photo manipulation with filters.

Actually, that's exactly what it is - but that's intentional. The game is, essentially, a historical televised soap opera that airs in the distant future and is based on what that society pictures its past as being like (of course, they're completely wrong).

Thanks for the kind words and the feedback.

 

[Dragon-Slayer]

Hey, I am bulette on Dragonsfoot, you were very kind to me with the information on the book I was looking for (although the place hasn't gotten back to me yet).

Places like ConceptArt are great for feedback and you will encounter many excellent, down to earth artists there. And a lot of people dying to give you their opinion without looking at the work in its capacity, or sharing their own work, for that matter. I especially notice this in rpg art. Your covers transfer an idea and get the job done, and although I can see that the first cover doesn't convey "Bronze Age", it does say fantasy. Now if you altered the head to give it a Greek style helmet, I think you would be getting the point across without question.

 

[Conaill]

The Bronze cover doesn't quite read as anything to do with Bronze Age for me (and I love the idea of a Bronze Age setting).

I totally agree. If you're aiming for "Swords & Sorcery meets Homeric Greece", you may want to include some elements that actually reflect the bronze age. The little spiral is cool and could very well be based on an authentic bronze age design, but most people would probably associate it more with oriental than greek. (Seems korean to me. Taiko drums often have triple spirals as well.)

How about a classical bronze age sword or spear as part of the design? Or even a greek helmet on top of that skeleton...

 

[jdrakeh]

The Bronze cover doesn't quite read as anything to do with Bronze Age for me (and I love the idea of a Bronze Age setting).

Well, it isn't strictly historical Bronze Age roleplay, but fantastic Bronze Age roleplay. It incorporates a lot of cosmology from Homer's Greece, but isn't actually set there. It takes place largely in the city state of Haldoran, which is located in the land of Karthum (Kar-Thoom).

I took an Exalted-like approach to the setting, fleshing out the absolutes and leaving the rest of it open for a play group to define. The game actually creates stories during play by design. Much as Swords & Sorcery authors built their settings one story at time, so do Bronze players flesh out the lands of Karthum as they play (it's hard to explain - there are actually mechanics in place that facilitate this).

Not caring too much for the design. The skeletal figure is a little hard to read.

One vote for too detailed and one for not detailed enough! Duly noted

Outre Space is nice, if a bit too monochromatic for my taste. But it conveys the flavor of the game better for me than the Bronze cover does.

Yeah, the Bronze cover doesn't really speak to what the game is about as much as I'd like it to. I would have put a giant-ass barbarian on the cover, but I didn't want to draw comparisons to Conan (while it does draw from Conan, it's really not the same thing).

 

[jdrakeh]

The little spiral is cool and could very well be based on an authentic bronze age design

It's an Aegean Age triskel, but the the triskel is hardly unique to that era or culture, and has appeared everywhere from England to Asia in different time periods. Really, I'm not sure if there's a firmly established origin for triskels, but many generally associate them with Celtic myth (although, as I noted, they have appeared pretty much everywhere at one time or another).

Or even a greek helmet on top of that skeleton...

I'd love to do that, but the things that the game borrows from Homeric Greece are more along the lines of social structure (city states) and castes (based on wealth, rather than skill and prowess), as well as technology (save that the spring has been invented much earlier in the lands of Karthum (which leads to clockwork mechanisms appearing much earlier). The game doesn't actually take place in Homeric Greece, but it does take place during a Bronze Age and in a place closely modeled on Homeric Greece.

 

[jdrakeh]

Hey, I am bulette on Dragonsfoot, you were very kind to me with the information on the book I was looking for (although the place hasn't gotten back to me yet).

About that... if you email me (via my profile) and let me know how you contacted them (e.g., email, snail mail, etc), I'd be happy to put a bit of fire under their bottoms for you

I especially notice this in rpg art. Your covers transfer an idea and get the job done, and although I can see that the first cover doesn't convey "Bronze Age", it does say fantasy. Now if you altered the head to give it a Greek style helmet, I think you would be getting the point across without question.

Perhaps my further explanation in the previous two posts will shed a little bit of light on that. Thank you for the feedback!

 

[Sejs]

Concerning the Outre Space cover:

I like the monochrome and the aether sea type space suggested by the background. Concerning the ship, however, might I suggest something a bit more barroque in style? Like the submarine from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or the sort. As it stands, when looking at the ship the first impression I get is one of the space shuttle flying off carrying the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile.