Smuggled photos
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The Little Raven
First Post
Sojorn said:
"What is a developer? [throws down his glass] A miserable pile of secrets!"
pukunui
Legend
I agree. The use of negative space helps remove the "textbook" aspect of the 3e books. As a graphic designer, I think the 4e books are more aesthetically pleasing and well-designed than the 3e ones were.Mourn said:
I like a lot of the new art, but I will admit that some of it is just a bit over-the-top for me. Some of it's too obviously computer-generated for my taste ... the first image is a good example. Is there actually anyone in that picture who isn't wielding a weapon with a computer-game glowing aura on it?! The one guy at the top looks like his sword might not be glowing but I can't really tell because he's disappearing into the crease ... but then you've got a ranger with glowing green swords and there's all sorts of other images of people with glowing weapons or glowing armor or just a plain glowing aura all around their person (Character Visualizer, I'm looking at you!).
I think some of the best examples of 4e art are in the two preview books. I won't go hunting for links, but I'll mention that I really like the female elf warlock doing a ritual in the woods. I also really like the one of the village with the ancient ruined dragon statues and the setting sun ...
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ZetaStriker
First Post
I think(for whatever reason) Wizards has decided that everything magical has to glow. Which I disagree with wholeheartedly. But hey, it's not like that'll effect my game, so what do I care what their pictures look like?
I think you have to taken into account that this art is meant to be "generic" D&D. Without a setting attached to it, they have gone out of their way to emphasize the new high fantasy look of out-of-the-box D&D. Nobody is saying that your campaign has to look like a laser-light show.
Although, truth be told, with all the spell effects and magic weapons, this probably IS what a typical mid-level party looks like.
I love the white space. Yes, they are not filling every page to the brim, but they don't really need to. Design-wise this is much easier on the eyes and the brain. Plus it is an acknowledgment that the PHB is not the last word on these classes, races, etc. You know they are making more books with more options for these and other classes so why crush too much information into the first book? The 3.5 PHB is a very efficient tome. I don't think there is a single blank spot in the entire book. And reading it hurts. Do you realize that at one point in the book you can go more than 25 pages without a single illustration? There are maybe 6 bad pieces of art in the entire section of this book on spells in over 100 pages. That is crazy. Yes, they have given me the text, but they have given me NOTHING else.
Honestly until flipping through the entire 3.5 PHB right now, I had no clue just how ugly and utilitarian it is. Why would ANYBODY who wasn't already a player who flipped through this thing at a store take it home with them? This is a 316 page book completely lacking in AWESOME. I always liked the hand-made covers, but that is where the creativity started and stopped.
Design matters. Not as much as whether or not the rules are good, but an ugly book does not inspire me to play it no matter how good the system might be. These shots from the new book make me want to stop what I am doing and play D&D.
Jaime
Although, truth be told, with all the spell effects and magic weapons, this probably IS what a typical mid-level party looks like.
I love the white space. Yes, they are not filling every page to the brim, but they don't really need to. Design-wise this is much easier on the eyes and the brain. Plus it is an acknowledgment that the PHB is not the last word on these classes, races, etc. You know they are making more books with more options for these and other classes so why crush too much information into the first book? The 3.5 PHB is a very efficient tome. I don't think there is a single blank spot in the entire book. And reading it hurts. Do you realize that at one point in the book you can go more than 25 pages without a single illustration? There are maybe 6 bad pieces of art in the entire section of this book on spells in over 100 pages. That is crazy. Yes, they have given me the text, but they have given me NOTHING else.
Honestly until flipping through the entire 3.5 PHB right now, I had no clue just how ugly and utilitarian it is. Why would ANYBODY who wasn't already a player who flipped through this thing at a store take it home with them? This is a 316 page book completely lacking in AWESOME. I always liked the hand-made covers, but that is where the creativity started and stopped.
Design matters. Not as much as whether or not the rules are good, but an ugly book does not inspire me to play it no matter how good the system might be. These shots from the new book make me want to stop what I am doing and play D&D.
Jaime
Dunamin
First Post
It's not all glowiness.
The Feats intro page shows a group battling in what appears to be somewhere else than the natural world suggesting this party isn't completely green, though none of the members has a glowing piece of gear. Heck, even the single spell in the scene is depicted fairly modest.
The Feats intro page shows a group battling in what appears to be somewhere else than the natural world suggesting this party isn't completely green, though none of the members has a glowing piece of gear. Heck, even the single spell in the scene is depicted fairly modest.
Mishihari Lord
First Post
Looks pretty. I'll buy them.
That said I would _really_ prefer less whitespace. Since I carry around my books, smaller books with fewer pages are better, especially as the number of books piles up.
I suspect it's a marketing decision. People feel better about paying more money for bigger books even when there's less content per page.
That said I would _really_ prefer less whitespace. Since I carry around my books, smaller books with fewer pages are better, especially as the number of books piles up.
I suspect it's a marketing decision. People feel better about paying more money for bigger books even when there's less content per page.
Baron Opal
First Post
You can't write in the margins if there isn't any whitespace. This is an improvement over 3e where the border was too colored for me to read my notes.
While initially disappointed about the loss of word count to whitespace and graphics, on reflection it occurs to me that those page breaks and illustrations will, if used in a consistent fashion, make it easier to find the section I'm looking for in the rules when flipping through rather than using the index. (Please, oh please let there be a decent index in each of these books!)
As to the glowing weapons, they're obviously fully charged. Once their per-encounter powers are used, their glow will fade, and characters will need to take a minute or two to change the batteries (the newfangled ones use magnets, and require you to vigorously shake them for a minute or two). More powerful daily uses will require overnight recharging by plugging their trickle charger units into a power socket, found in most taverns, dungeons and under certain varieties of rocks.
... What?
As to the glowing weapons, they're obviously fully charged. Once their per-encounter powers are used, their glow will fade, and characters will need to take a minute or two to change the batteries (the newfangled ones use magnets, and require you to vigorously shake them for a minute or two). More powerful daily uses will require overnight recharging by plugging their trickle charger units into a power socket, found in most taverns, dungeons and under certain varieties of rocks.
... What?
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