May I make a request?

[Redcap]

Lately the graphics team has been pumping out quite a bit and have almost completed all the icons! It has come to the point that a lot of man power is being waisted;however, by multiple members working on the same graphic at the same time just to have one icon accepted. And generally this is fine because the more ideas and choices the better quality of graphics.

All the same, it would be nice/wise to get some more icons and technologies decided upon so the graphical man power can be more wisely allocated and also that by the time we do hit the current icon completion benchmark the graphics team has something else to do.

Final thought, when we had a huge list of icons to make; more members of the graphics team were working. The graphics forum was busier and we had more involvement, maybe people felt that they had something to contribute when there was 150 different things to work on.

I don't know if this is where I should have posted this, or if I am in line with requesting this, I just want to be efficient in our progress. Thanks for listening to my ranting

[Geoff the Medio]

Unfortunately there's only one of me, so I can't spend a lot of time making techs, specials, buildings, ship parts, etc. right now, as I have a lot of coding to get done, and a lot of neglected design discussions to work on after that. If you or other artists want more icons to work on, you might try designing some techs, specials, buildings or ship parts. Often a few techs will be needed to unlock a building or ship as well, so you get even more icons to work on that way.

(Although, note that some techs, buildings and other content may be reworked or replaced, and that also applies to anything new added as well)

There are also a number of icon-less buildings already.

I also haven't spent a lot of time thinking about what hulls to include. Right now there are just a few hulls with different size-based names, although eventually I don't plan to name hulls just according to size. Some 2D images similar to the one that's currently used for all hulls would be good.

Also, I think the ships tech category needs an icon. It's currently using some random tech icon I grabbed as a placeholder.

Also also, try to be creative and think of things in the UI that could be improved with some art, in icon or other form. Not all art has to be associated with a specific bit of in-game content like a tech or building.

I'd like to get a nice set of art-based icons for ships or fleets on the map that look a lot better than the current code-generated arrow / triangle icons. These can be associated with a particular type of hull, or can be chosen (in the GUI) by some other means. The details obviously need to be worked out...

... and being more self-motivated and working out / suggesting details such as these would be a big help to the project. Find things to work on for yourself, and think of new ways to improve the game, and suggest and start discussions about them. eleazar in particular has a lot of good posts and discussions of this sort with connections to art or graphics, for reference.

You don't always need to rely on someone else to provide a list of icons that are needed, with pre-written descriptions.

[Redcap]

Thanks, that is more than enough.

The reason I requested this was I didn't know what I could or couldn't work on. It just seems that everytime I started moving in one direction it was a dead end and nothing was used, the only graphics that have seemed to be useful (at least the stuff I made) have been icons. But with a list like the one you gave I will be fine Thanks.

With that said, graphics team leaders may want to put all of the above mentioned items on a to do list, veterians like pd, Josh, and Shrinkshooter probablly already knew about these, but think of all the new blood we are trying to recruit. Most people who want to help get scared by not knowing where to start.

I hope you don't thinnk I am being negative or lazy, heck the last two days I have made over 20 different mock ups of icons. I didn't know you were one of the only ones who worked on the new techs, so when I suggested it I thought it could be a community event of getting a bigger list, I didn't have any intention of throwing more on your plate Geoff the Medio. I appreciate your hard work and will be content with the huge list you gave. Thanks again.

[Geoff the Medio]

With that said, graphics team leaders may want to put all of the above mentioned items on a to do list ... Most people who want to help get scared by not knowing where to start.

If someone's willing to maintain it, a Graphics Work wiki page could be created, similar to the Programming Work page. This has the advantage over forum posts that anyone can edit it to add or remove or clarify tasks.

[pd]

Lately the graphics team has been pumping out quite a bit and have almost completed all the icons! It has come to the point that a lot of man power is being waisted;however, by multiple members working on the same graphic at the same time just to have one icon accepted. And generally this is fine because the more ideas and choices the better quality of graphics.

Keep in mind that this has partly to do with different experience levels. Some people may take a couple of attempts, while others might instantly nail down an idea or icon. That's the reason sketching is so important, because a 2 minute ballpoint pen sketch can tell you if an icon will work and if it's worth spending 2 hours(or more) in photoshop or blender on it.

All the same, it would be nice/wise to get some more icons and technologies decided upon so the graphical man power can be more wisely allocated and also that by the time we do hit the current icon completion benchmark the graphics team has something else to do.

Currently the Guidelines to Contributing provide information about what kind of work is available.There really is more than enough to do, if all the icons are finished: planet textures, backdrops(skyboxes), concept art, ship models and textures, combat UI, etc. - and that's just v0.4. Those tasks ask for different skills but that's just as it is. We can't keep on doing icons for ever, just because someone is good at it.

Final thought, when we had a huge list of icons to make; more members of the graphics team were working. The graphics forum was busier and we had more involvement, maybe people felt that they had something to contribute when there was 150 different things to work on.

I don't think the recent absence had anything to do with bringing icon creation to a near finish. It's just a coincidence of different people being busy at the same time.

I second what Geoff said. A Graphic Work page is a nice idea. I think I'll set up one this weekend.

[Josh]

Yeah, seriously don't worry about this. If you think about it, once your all done with the tech icons, there will still be plenty in store for you.

If your still stumped, here's a few things in the same vein of what your doing now.
Building icons
New tech icons
New Meter icons
Any Revisions
And any interfaces that will need buttons and indicators

[pd]

If someone's willing to maintain it, a Graphics Work wiki page could be created, similar to the Programming Work page.

Done.