[State of the Art] Best Sophont Presentation
- Thread starter DonM
- Start date
IMO:
DGP's MegaTraveller alien modules top my list.
FASA's books for Star Trek were also excellent (but their art was typical FASA - not very good art even for the era).
The Gaz series for D&D (BX/BECMI/Cyclopedia) - but note: as good as they are, the PC series are equally as bad - minimalist, and providing only mechanical definition.
DGP's MegaTraveller alien modules top my list.
FASA's books for Star Trek were also excellent (but their art was typical FASA - not very good art even for the era).
The Gaz series for D&D (BX/BECMI/Cyclopedia) - but note: as good as they are, the PC series are equally as bad - minimalist, and providing only mechanical definition.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
New artwork, or currently existing artwork, and is there any particular timeframe you are looking at?
Some of the fantasy artwork by Howard Pyle and also that done for the Andrew Lang Fairy Book series was quite good, and could be adapted to Traveller Aliens quite readily. Note, the Lang Fairy Book series are NOT your typical fairy tales. Some of them are quite dark, and have quite unhappy endings.
Some of the fantasy artwork by Howard Pyle and also that done for the Andrew Lang Fairy Book series was quite good, and could be adapted to Traveller Aliens quite readily. Note, the Lang Fairy Book series are NOT your typical fairy tales. Some of them are quite dark, and have quite unhappy endings.
GypsyComet
SOC-14 1K
That sounds pretty typical to to me. Fairy tales were not meant to have happy endings, though the ones that remain popular today often do.
When I think of Howard Pyle, I think of classic literature in leather bound editions with maybe a sketch of his just inside the dust jacket, or one of those really fancy picture book editions. His work is Rembrandt quality. Does that really fit Traveller?
I still like Dietrick's covers. Then again I'm very prejudiced in that regard.
*EDIT*
Sorry, to answer the question, ... there's lots of talent out there. But I can't think of any names off the top of my head.
I still like Dietrick's covers. Then again I'm very prejudiced in that regard.
*EDIT*
Sorry, to answer the question, ... there's lots of talent out there. But I can't think of any names off the top of my head.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
Hmm, have you ever seen some of the books which he also wrote as well as illustrated? Those can be quite interesting. I agree that his Pirate and King Arthur artwork is extremely high quality, with his Pirate artwork probably being the finest ever in the genre. And remember, Don is asking for artwork for a new Traveller Alien Race, so why not go for the best possible?
The is always Fuzzy Fuzzy Zarathutra Holloway. Could not resist that.
True.
Film school Anecdote; a class mate of mine (who wanted to become a stuntman) had this post apocalyptic "Mad Maxish" kind of film for finals. Part of his artistic hook was that he wanted an animated segment of Rocky and Bullwinkle starting World War III in a missile silo/bunker (his political comment on the Cold War and nuclear Armageddon). After which we saw another mutual friend of ours in the buff getting dressed and gearing up to fight mutants or something (he was a body builder, and the girls in the class loved this film...go figure).
He comissioned an art student who was an animation major to draw some cels for the animated sequence. Instead of getting a stocatto-animation of Rocky and Bullwinkle a la the original show, we, the audience, got three partially finished felt tip sketches that were supposed to be the big animated sequence that led into the film. It looked horrible, but then again, student films tend to be hit or miss.
The point being that I was looking forward to something really professional, and instead the unfinished product almost torpedoed his film (fortunately the ladies liked seeing Rick naked up on the screen, which kind of saved the film ... I guess).
I just don't want to see anymore amateur stuff, is my point. And CGI images don't make you a professional unless you can compose a good image with computer tools.
Just my opinion.
Film school Anecdote; a class mate of mine (who wanted to become a stuntman) had this post apocalyptic "Mad Maxish" kind of film for finals. Part of his artistic hook was that he wanted an animated segment of Rocky and Bullwinkle starting World War III in a missile silo/bunker (his political comment on the Cold War and nuclear Armageddon). After which we saw another mutual friend of ours in the buff getting dressed and gearing up to fight mutants or something (he was a body builder, and the girls in the class loved this film...go figure).
He comissioned an art student who was an animation major to draw some cels for the animated sequence. Instead of getting a stocatto-animation of Rocky and Bullwinkle a la the original show, we, the audience, got three partially finished felt tip sketches that were supposed to be the big animated sequence that led into the film. It looked horrible, but then again, student films tend to be hit or miss.
The point being that I was looking forward to something really professional, and instead the unfinished product almost torpedoed his film (fortunately the ladies liked seeing Rick naked up on the screen, which kind of saved the film ... I guess).
I just don't want to see anymore amateur stuff, is my point. And CGI images don't make you a professional unless you can compose a good image with computer tools.
Just my opinion.
If anything, the exquisite CGI of recent films (including the otherwise meh Desolation of Smaug) makes the comparatively poor CGI of even the best Traveller artists pale... Simply put, the CGI being used on covers looks either REALLY badly amateur, or looks really dated; perhaps both.
It's bloody hard to cross the uncanny valley - and the pro's have a HUGE learning curve they've overcome. And have the expensive toys (hard- and soft- ware) to work with that most amateurs and game artists cannot even think of affording.
I don't think so. I think like anything else it comes down to talent. If you know how to compose a good pic, know what details should be in it, then you're 90% done. You just need to execute it.
I have to agree with this. Plonking a stock model with poorly thought-out "futuristic" clothing or gear and a dead-eye stare on the cover really turns me off.
The black & white line art all through MegaTraveller is probably my favorite Traveller style. Probably because it is a "style" or a look that draws all the material together.
Possibly this is also why I like the comics or BDs from the series "Les Mondes D'Aldébaran". Clear line art of extra ordinary creatures. Very simple and very alien because they are slightly familiar.
Philippe Buchet who draws and inks the Sillage comics (BDs) does good sophonts. Simple believable body shapes based on understanding anatomy.
Sad to say I can't think of a single illustration from Traveller of a sophont that I've said "yep thats how I imagine them in my head".
Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
This.
Good, interesting art is always an aid to the imagination.
The depth about the Alien's culture is very much "Traveller". Most games give you a paragraph and a set of stats. From the time of the Contact articles in JTAS and the CT Alien Modules, Traveller has always made aliens real by going into depth about the alien culture.
Heck, Traveller made doggie aliens and cat aliens neat and and interesting, when other games featured more intriguing looking aliens.
One thing, though. I do suggest a "quick start" section with the alien presentation--for the Ref who needs a quick refresher on the main points about playing the alien, or to give players a quick look at what the alien is all about. Players and Refs interested in the alien from the short description can continue to dig deeper into the culture of the alien in question.
I don't know that the depth of the MT book is necessary. It's quite a bit longer than the CT Alien Modules. Instead of a book with two races in it to the depth of the MT works, I'd prefer several aliens to the depth of what we got in the CT Alien Modules. Six or eight aliens vs. two.
What do you consider typical?
Just what do you consider typical? Pretty much all the tales and warnings I have ever heard about the Fair Folk sounds like what the book you mentioned in their endings. Fairy tales are warnings, kids. Somethings are scarier, older and powerful in ways that humans can't understand or properly deal with, hope to break even, and ware the boon, for its price is high.
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Disney fairy tales are atypical in that they have neat happy endings. :CoW:
Mike Vilardi's work on the MT books were great, I thought. He also did artwork for WEG's D6 Star Wars rpg and the alien artwork in the Star Wars Scouts book he did was awesome.
Disney's treatment of Grimm's works probably have the Brothers Grimm spinning in their graves at 600RPM.
