New paperdoll art?

[Crowley]

Are there currently any plans to add new paperdoll art to Exult? It had been some time since I updated my copy of Exult and I was a bit disappointed that this hadn't been touched. The Death Scythe looks like an ordinary harvesting implement, hoods look like leather helmets... I'd really like to see some improvements here.

[Dominus]

We would like to see some improvements there as well. But we NEED artists for that. You wouldn't want us to do that...

[Crowley]

Hmm, I might actually take a shot at that. I'm not that great trying to make something big and wonderful in 16 million colors, but small stuff with 256 colors I can manage. I know I can make a better looking cleaver. What would I need to get started? I remember reading about Photoshop. What else?

[Dominus]

hmm, let me see. Either the Photoshop plug-in or if you like it open-source, grab the Gimp and use the Gimp plugin. All our tools (see the tools snapshot for windows, also include instructions) might be useful. I haven't been doing any editing in ages so I'm not sure what else you need. Just post questions here and I'm sure wjp, Dr.Code or me are able to help.

[Crowley]

Great. I've hit my first problem trying to unpack .vga files. Where could I find a list of shape numbers and the number of their frames?

[wjp]

What do you mean exactly?

[Dominus]

I'd use Exult Studio to get all those informations. Studio can also export frames to png.

[Crowley]

Ok, now I've got Exult Studio in working order with the latest snapshot. Where do I find the paperdoll art for Black Gate?

[wjp]

Most is straight from Serpent Isle's paperdol.vga. Our custom art is in .shp files in the data/bg directory in Exult's source.

[Crowley]

Odd. I have no bg directory under Exult\data, though I still get the additional paperdoll art in Black Gate (such as the red blade on Hoe of Destruction).

[wjp]

It's only in the exult sources.

[Dominus]

so if you have bandwidth to spare, dowbload the souece code of Exult from our snapshot page, unzip it and look into /data/bg

[Dominus]

or without downloading the source you can copy exult_bg.flx from your Exult\data dir to the patch dir and name it exult_bg.vga. Now start Exult Studio again.

[wjp]

I just tried to improve the death scythe a bit:



If somebody wants to make it look a bit more dark and ominous, feel free
(This is pretty much the limit of my artistic skills )

[wjp]

I also added art for the BG fire wand and the knife.

For anybody interested, the current list of items needing art:

Silver sextant
Gold sextant
Leather Collar
Dark-brown hood
Light-brown hood
Brown pants
Green pants
Brownish pants
Jaana's Hawk
Star bursts
Main gauche
Custom sword
Triple crossbow
Musket (+ammo)

[Gerry]

What about ordinary shoes? Have they been implemented?

[wjp]

Oops, missed those

Shoes indeed need art too.

[artaxerxes]

Why would there be a need for sextant paperdolls ?? It's not an item you carry on hand! Or am I missing something?

Artaxerxes

[wjp]

You can carry them on your belt too.

[Crowley]

I think it would be a good idea to show the hawk on your shoulder rather than belt.

[SB-X]

> I think it would be a good idea to show the hawk on your shoulder rather than belt.
Heh, agreed. I was going to do the hawk a long time ago, and did some placement finding exactly where it should go, but never got around to finishing it.

Since WJP posted the list of needed art here, it would be nice if everyone will post here what art they are working on/intend to work on, so you don't waste effort on the same objects (unless you want to compete and let the best art win).

[Crowley]

I would like to take a shot at the hawk and the musket at least. Don't really know when I'll have the time (and get off my lazy butt) to do that.

[wjp]

Hm, I'm afraid I've already made an attempt at hawk art:

[Crowley]

That's a nice start. I'd prefer a bit sleeker look. Looks like a fowl at the moment. Still, nothing would really stop me from making my own version...

[gruck]

not too shabby of a hawk...

[XxVenomxX]

*thumbs up* I likes it

[WishStone Dragon]

*got drafted last night* I'm no picasso, but I'll try my best :]

[Crysta the Elf]

if only i hadn't been drafted for another project already....

[Oblivious]

That's nice, but you need to make a couple of improvements to make it more hawk-like:

1. Make its belly a speckled gray/cream or beige/cream (this is how ALL real hawks and falcons look! Eagles are a different story) This won't require anything more than a palette swap.

2. Try to curve the tip of the beak. Look at the real pictures of raptors, they have curved tips on their beaks. Right now your hawk has a multi-purpose beak like a crow/raven/jay/magpie (combination insectivorous/nut cracking/meat tearing beak... the only thing they can't do with it is crack thick nuts and hull seeds like finchies and sparrows)

[SB-X]

Make it look like the hawk in the game...

[SB-X]

(colors)