This is the type of artwork we should see in Traveller materials

[GypsyComet]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by GypsyComet:
I'll echo these comments, with the additional comment that these still need to be accompanied by the simpler style of straight deckplan.

They serve two different functions. Clean, B&W, line drawn deck plans (and I favor the very good deck plans that DGP used to put out over the simple graph paper style we typically see in Traveller) over a grid are needed for game play.
</font>[/QUOTE]Agreed. I'm just trying to forestall those who think these would replace proper deckplans.

Originally posted by BetterThanLife:
Actually I have no issue at all with full color deckplans. After all both Snapshot and AHL came with color deckplans.

Full color is fine, if used properly. 3D work like the proffered example is typically not high-contrast enough for 2D if shaded properly for 3D. Two different goals and two different approaches to hue and shade.

 

[Spinward Scout]

That's pretty. I especially like the one where it's docked and people are floating outside. Gives a great sense of scale. Definitely shouldn't 'replace' deckplans, but I never really liked the X-Boat until I saw those rendered pics. That, I'm converting into a Scout. Space-based surveying only - that's not a lander. Replace the J-4 with a J-2, swap the extensive communications/data array with sensors, reduce the fuel compartment and expand the cargo space, then...

A new paint job!

 

[Rhialto the Marvelous]

Re. color deckplans, what Colin/Ted are doing for 2320 looks like a very good compromise of legibility and detail (bearing in mind that as Colin says these images are lower res than they will be in the book):

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=30;t=000240

Re. color vs. b/w: Hunter nailed it. A b/w image is not a color image without color. It's its own beast--e.g. you work with light and dark contrasts, and strong ones at that, not with color contrasts. See Bill Keith's work.

 

[atpollard]

Originally posted by Scarecrow:
I'm going to have to disagree here and say that I find that staggeringly mediocre 3D artwork. The modeling is okay. The texturing is weak and the lighting is abysmal.

If the ultimate goal of Computer Generated Artwork is to achieve photographic quality realism (so it looks like a photo of a real object - like movies strive for) then all CG images have far to go, and these more than some.

They do appear to be good quality technical illustrations (especially the cut-away views) which communicate the character of the spaces and their interrelationship. However, as others have pointed out, they do not lend themselves to use as a deck plan for miniatures (nor does most 3D artwork).

Personally, I have the most trouble with images like the original (Classic Traveller) Azhanti High Lightning plans which give little sense of the interior and no sense of the exterior form of the ship. My deepest congratulations to the 2320 crew for raising the bar above the old “Traders and Gunboats” style of plans.

 

[aramis]

3D views don't replace deckplans. They augment them.

 

[pyratejohn]

Originally posted by Rhialto the Marvelous:
PS: While we're at it, there's of course this Japanese website... old hat to most I guess, but not to all. I'm partial to the Close Escort:

http://kemkem-web.hp.infoseek.co.jp/hukkou/cef/CE.htm

Cool! I stumbled upon the pictures shown above the other day, but have never seen these Japanese pics! This stuff is so great my brain is going to pop just looking at it.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by pyratejohn:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Rhialto the Marvelous:
PS: While we're at it, there's of course this Japanese website... old hat to most I guess, but not to all. I'm partial to the Close Escort:

http://kemkem-web.hp.infoseek.co.jp/hukkou/cef/CE.htm

Cool! I stumbled upon the pictures shown above the other day, but have never seen these Japanese pics! This stuff is so great my brain is going to pop just looking at it. </font>[/QUOTE]The Japanese pic of the close escort is just a little too anime-looking for my tastes.

 

[pyratejohn]

That's cool. Too each his own as they say. I wish I had the talent to do this type of stuff. All of these artists are very talented, and their talent fires my imagination!