Informal Art Poll

Option 2

I think overall, it depends on how the changes are presented.

For instance, let's take a costume part that is probably near the top of the radar for a redo: The bikini. It looks TERRIBLE. It has jaggies, half-there coloring and literally is one of the worst examples of "painted on" costume bits in the game.

Here's how it looks now:



Now, what is the art team going to do about this? Are they just going to tighten it up and make it less jaggy, like so... (warning, bad photoshop manip ahead)



OR... are they going to completely reinvent the piece to have texture and bumpmaps and self-shadows and end up looking something like this (warning, REALLY bad photoshop manip ahead...)



?

See, if we're dealing with the first scenario, then I'd prefer Noble Savage's first option in the OP. However, if they were to completely reinvent the piece as in the second picture, I'd have to go with option 2. Making something too specific makes it lose versatility. Some people have it as a bra, some people have it as a bikini, some people use it with odd skin colors to create the illusion of nudity... you wouldn't have as many options if there were patterns and bitmaps and shadows all over the place. And therefore the old piece should be kept for those who want to use it.

But with the first picture, no one is "losing" anything. You can still use and re-purpose it for whatever you'd like, but it would just look BETTER. Second option though? Well, good luck finding a bikini pattern everyone likes.

I short, I'm withholding my vote until i know exactly how the art team plans on redoing the old costume bits.

PS, apologies again for the bad manips, I'm sure the actual art team would churn out something 100x better looking, but i wanted something quick and dirty to get the point across.

Wow that is actually a great post EmperorSteele.

Mainly because it really allows David to show what he means by 'sprucing up' the textures.

If I could +rep people still, I would.

out with the old...in with the new....option one for me

Option 1!

I'd especially like to see the faces touched up.

Option 1! we need to see updated versions of outfits. Seeing raised stitching and some outfits that have texture to them with some wrinkles added will enhance the new content thats comming down the pike.



-ghoost

ok this thread has understandably had massive hits but I want to throw a couple of points and questions here - though I may be at risk of repeating something I've missed not having read every single respone.

I've seen more votes for Option 1: this concerns me because that implies by default that all existing assets are broken. They are not and some items may work well... for example a blurry texture on a cossie item (head wings is a good example because comparative images are posted here): If I wanted to create an intangible creature maybe made of mist and air... I'd probably want something less well defined. That's an "off the cuff" example and adds flexibilty for very little cost.

Retaining the old items is only a database problem. They may well become unused over time, but if they aren't unused now, I'd suggest it's very bad policy to remove them unless there's a very pressing reason to do so.

Sure, I wholeheartedly support the concept of updating costume items to take better processing capability into account - but removing existing assets from the game should be avoided unless a clear case can be made for it.

I suspect that one of the main points for people voting for Option 1 is simply that as things stand there are too many options to search through easily. If we could get a better search function (PLEASE NOTHING LIKE THE AH GUI (just saying)) I suspect that would accommodate most peoples fears and not take up too much processing space.

Frankly I'm a bit surprised that some people would request the removal of costume assets - "new and shiny" doesn't always mean "better" so I'm a bit iffy about that and I wonder if some people have misunderstood the question.

"You got to dig it to dig it, you dig?"
Thelonious Monk

Also I'd love to see additional skin options... I'm thinking like shiny metal skins and maybe skin that looks like rock and crystal, and more colour & Effect options.

"You got to dig it to dig it, you dig?"
Thelonious Monk

Without reading the entire thread, my gut-reaction answer would be option 2, adding the new assets alongside the old ones.

This would give us the benefit of a slick, modern look for those characters we choose to upgrade or build new, while retaining the classic textures for characters whose look actually depends on the texture's blandness.

In particular, I'd like to see fully-textured/shaded/bumpmapped versions of ALL the "Tops with Skin" and "Bottoms with Skin" pieces, both female and male. Give them the treatment that was done for a few pieces a while back, like, say, how the Wedding Pack added "Angelic Plus", "Hearts Plus", and "Excess Plus" parts alongside the originals.

A few caveats are in order, however.

I would like the "modernized" parts added to the "classic" parts for ALL PLAYERS, not as part of a for-pay add-on/booster pack. (While you're at it, make the above three items available for all players. Purchasers of the Wedding Pack would still have other unique items to play with.) An upgrade of costume appearances would be unfair unless everyone had access.

Also, care must be taken that the "modern" pieces aren't SO heavily altered that certain combinations would no longer work. For example, all three "Bikini" bottoms for females should go together with just about any top option. Giving the three "Bikinis" three different texture patterns would be a bad thing! They should be differentiated by their shape alone. (This is especially true if you choose to go with option 1 instead, and eliminate the "classic" pieces.)

Oh, i also want them to get rid of the wierd warping effect on boots before making new costumes. This bug has existed since forever and it's terrible >_<