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Post by gliptitude on Feb 9, 2013 13:51:49 GMT -5
Well, I cut it out, opaqued the borders and threw it on the Vectrex this morning. It isn't a proper test yet because my room is overwhelmed with sunlight during the day, so it is hard see Vectrex graphics. But I can see that there is a problem that I did not anticipate. It works very well for the game graphics, (especially awesome actually for the mother ship sequence), but the new skyline interferes with the title screen and the "game over" screen. Some slight adjustment in the skyline design could remedy this (on my Vectrex), but it will be getting very close to interfering then with the mother ship game graphics, at that point. And as close as it will be to both of these, I'm afraid it would conflict on other Vectrex's. Perhaps, this will be less an issue when I test in a more dimly lit environment. At any rate I will probably tweek the design some more before I make/post the next video. In the meantime I would appreciate any suggestions or new ideas from anybody  |
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Post by fury on Feb 9, 2013 17:25:46 GMT -5
This wotw overlay was sent to me by the same guy who did the Sundance and Yasi overlays that vectrexmad has on his site. Attachments:
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Post by gliptitude on Feb 9, 2013 17:56:36 GMT -5
This wotw overlay was sent to me by the same guy who did the Sundance and Yasi overlays that vectrexmad has on his site. Thanks for posting that. Another cool design which I have not seen before. Does it work well? Do you miss the logo not being printed on it? The color fields are more true to the original than mine. Is that important to you? I try to avoid yellow and red because they don't seem to work as well as other colors, (in the existing GCE overlays). Also, the border is much thicker than mine. ... Doesn't that block the game graphics some? Is there an official WotW overlay otherwise in the works? I wouldn't want to delve too deeply into producing mine if there is already another one.  ... As you know, my real dream is to design a new Vectrex game and print an original overlay for it.  I really don't want overlay printing to be something that significantly slows down the production of my game. With this WotW overlay, it was my idea to go through this process successfully with my own printer, to establish that this can be done, so that I'm not doing it for the first time with my own game. ... WotW just seems like the most worthy overlay project at the moment... |
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Post by fury on Feb 9, 2013 18:23:54 GMT -5
Yeah, his overlays do work well, but as vectrexmad has pointed out before (I think it was vectrexmad), they are hand-cut and one-of-a-kind, and I know that the guy that makes them has no desire to mass produce them. Regarding the logo, and anything else, I don't care one way or the other because my version of WOTW was designed to be played without an overlay. That's not to say that an overlay wouldn't enhance it, but it was clearly designed without considering an overlay, so any decisions about layout is entirely up to you of course. The placement of the character at the very bottom of the screen was necessary for the game play to work well. Sundance lends itself more to overlay production because I designed it for an overlay, in case I decided to release one in the future...no promises at this point Overlay production probably will slow you down anyway, just because it's an extra step, and this will depend on how you go about crafting them (or having them crafted). The biggest slowdowns really come from mistakes made by printers, in my experience. I know that vectrexmad also ran into problems when he had the overlay remakes done. With Warrior, I ended up going with the best of both worlds, and that is to say that they are pro printed and cut, but finished through several steps by me. I think that for a good quality overlay, it will take time. Clearly, my technique is not the fastest, but the results are worth it. Of course since you're working on one project, you can probably have the overlays prepared ahead of time. I've spread myself far too thin as we all know |
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Post by hcmffm on Feb 9, 2013 18:27:17 GMT -5
A good effort, gliptitude! I like both the non-city and the city design. Perhaps the buildings of the city could be a bit more futuristic and less realistic. Great work!
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Post by gliptitude on Feb 9, 2013 19:18:14 GMT -5
A good effort, gliptitude! I like both the non-city and the city design. Perhaps the buildings of the city could be a bit more futuristic and less realistic. Great work! Thanks for the comment. ... Especially thankful for the SUGGESTION, as that is the sort of feedback I am really looking for. Regarding the logo, and anything else, I don't care one way or the other because my version of WOTW was designed to be played without an overlay. That's not to say that an overlay wouldn't enhance it, but it was clearly designed without considering an overlay, so any decisions about layout is entirely up to you of course. Hmm. Does that mean that you have no desire to ever associate your game program with any particular overlay anyone makes for it? That you probably will never be interested in approving an "official" one? Overlay production probably will slow you down anyway, just because it's an extra step, and this will depend on how you go about crafting them (or having them crafted). The biggest slowdowns really come from mistakes made by printers, in my experience. I know that vectrexmad also ran into problems when he had the overlay remakes done. Hmm, again. I have communicated directly on this subject with Mr. mad, and learned a bit about his process as well as himself. For one thing, he is quite the perfectionist. I am in possession of several of his Pole Position "rejects", which was all he had left by the time I made my inquiry. THESE REJECTS ARE AMAZING. I think it is possible that some of the "problems" he ran into would in fact be acceptable results for most people. ... For some reference here, I will compare vectrexmad's reject Pole Position overlays to Mr. Tuts' Vector Pilot overlays, which are also great and loved by many - My Vector Pilot overlays are more imperfect than these rejects!!! Regarding the printer and his possible mistakes, I should have a better opportunity be involved in this process than did vectrexmad, Kristof Tuts or yourself. This printer is a friend of mine, with a shop only about a mile from my home. It's likely that if we made an overlay together, I could be present and involved in any and every step of the process. Plus, in my situation, it's just me and the printer. There is no overlay designer or anybody else. Just like mad and tuts (and I think you/fury too), there will be some learning and experimenting for my printer to do. I know that both vectrexmad's and Kristof Tuts' printers also had never done anything like this before. But eh, you remind me of your past claims and warnings, that the overlay could be quite an ordeal. I appreciate that that will probably be the case in every instance. |
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Post by fury on Feb 9, 2013 19:34:25 GMT -5
No, not at all! I'm happy that you're making it I want one! I just wanted you to understand why you're having some trouble with finding room for the graphics at the bottom. That's right, you mentioned to me a while back by email about your printer friend, so perhaps your situation will work well. If so, consider helping the rest of us out in the future, please!!  |
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Post by gliptitude on Feb 9, 2013 20:42:21 GMT -5
No, not at all! I'm happy that you're making it I want one! I just wanted you to understand why you're having some trouble with finding room for the graphics at the bottom. Cool. But to be clear, my goal would be for this to be THE overlay for your game. That's why I'm interested in your design preferences and also that my design best implement as many expectations that others have as possible. I don't insist yet that my design is the best among them or that I have any claim to this project. It's just that I want to make a real overlay, and for it to be distributed. This project (screen printing a Vectrex overlay) isn't worth my investment otherwise. I guess now isn't the time and here isn't the place to settle this. I don't think I'm able to commit to anything myself yet anyway, since I don't yet have a handle on what this process would really involve. ... But I am looking for a reason and a purpose to bring something to the printer's shop, AND MAKE A VECTREX OVERLAY. War of the Worlds became my focus because: 1. I like the game 2. Other people like the game 3. The game doesn't yet have an overlay 4. Everybody wants an overlay for this game 5. I happen to have already had many communications with the guy who made the game. Although the game was not originally made to be used with an overlay, I don't see any prohibitive challenges in designing one to suit it. And I strongly feel actually that this game is a particularly good candidate for one. A reason for me not to do this though, would be that the game is a remake, and that the built in expectations people have might make it unreasonable for me use my own original designs, (I really don't want to make a yellow and red overlay). That's right, you mentioned to me a while back by email about your printer friend, so perhaps your situation will work well. If so, consider helping the rest of us out in the future, please!! That's the plan! ;D ... Though it would still have to proceed one serious project at a time. |
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Post by fury on Feb 9, 2013 21:57:29 GMT -5
Absolutely, all yours glip! I'm not going to make an overlay for this, and since you've now "claimed it", I'll support only your efforts...not that anyone else was jumping at this project Yes, the game will be enhanced with an overlay, just different than the others because I gave you no room for title + controller graphics at the bottom. You CAN fit the controller graphics alone at the bottom, as you've mentioned. I think it's a good idea to do that. There are also some neat graphics available from the original arcade game (below). Ultimately your decision on everything with this. Again, just happy you're doing it, and happy that you have the advantage of having a friend who does silkscreening (we should all be so lucky) Attachments:
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Post by fury on Feb 9, 2013 21:58:37 GMT -5
More... Attachments:
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Post by TrekMD on Feb 9, 2013 22:24:10 GMT -5
A lot of nice ideas and graphics for these overlays. Glip, how about fitting the controller graphics in a different style that normally done. Perhaps a narrow strip at the very bottom of the overlay? WotW is a great game and I definitely agree that an overlay would enhance the gameplay. The game can be played without one, as Fury has noted, but nothing wrong with giving it more spice. |
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Post by gliptitude on Feb 9, 2013 22:55:30 GMT -5
Absolutely, all yours glip! I'm not going to make an overlay for this, and since you've now "claimed it", I'll support only your efforts...not that anyone else was jumping at this project Excellent! That's enough for me to keep going, along the lines that I have been. I figured no one else was poised to do this, (another reason I "chose" this project) but even better to know for sure. It's nothing to get excited about yet. It might be beyond my printer friend's capacity, and we might fail. But going to all the lengths to embark on this, it's kind of a prerequisite to have a substantial end goal in mind, and for that end goal to be a viable one. Sounds like it is! |
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Post by gliptitude on Feb 9, 2013 23:02:14 GMT -5
Glip, how about fitting the controller graphics in a different style that normally done. Perhaps a narrow strip at the very bottom of the overlay? Yeh, that's what I meant when I was referring to the border graphics for the Spike GCE overlay, that something tiny like that might work. Basically, use the same (red) border that i already have, but printing "1 start 2 pause 3 shield 4 fire" inside of it, at the bottom. The numbers would have circles around them. |
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Post by TrekMD on Feb 9, 2013 23:18:22 GMT -5
Glip, how about fitting the controller graphics in a different style that normally done. Perhaps a narrow strip at the very bottom of the overlay? Yeh, that's what I meant when I was referring to the border graphics for the Spike GCE overlay, that something tiny like that might work. Basically, use the same (red) border that i already have, but printing "1 start 2 pause 3 shield 4 fire" inside of it, at the bottom. The numbers would have circles around them. I think that'll work well. It leaves space for other graphics on the overlay while providing the information for the controls. |
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Post by fury on Feb 9, 2013 23:28:08 GMT -5
Tell you what, you succeed at this, and I'll get boxes made like Warrior to complete it!
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I really don't want overlay printing to be something that significantly slows down the production of my game. With this WotW overlay, it was my idea to go through this process successfully with my own printer, to establish that this can be done, so that I'm not doing it for the first time with my own game. ... WotW just seems like the most worthy overlay project at the moment...
