Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Custom Skins => Topic started by: oboe on May 17, 2010, 05:29:30 AM
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Wondering where this one went. Been seeing lots of P-3s in the MA lately and don't recall when this skin went away.
(http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd148/tjlaven/98115.jpg)
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Too many skins? Rotated out for a while?
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I hope not... I'm still waiting for 'Uncle Cy's Angel' to be added.
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I'm still not convinced that was a yellow nose 38. The 370th history has no images of that particular bird. I have the diecast 38 in that paint, but it's always made me wonder if that was artistic license.
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I'm still not convinced that was a yellow nose 38. The 370th history has no images of that particular bird. I have the diecast 38 in that paint, but it's always made me wonder if that was artistic license.
I have a photo of that aircraft at home. I would say it is legit. :aok
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(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/p38370.jpg)
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lyric,
have you got any info a 370th 38 named "My Little Pig"? There is a great large scale profile of it at www.markstyling.com but I wonder how accurate it is.
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lyric,
have you got any info a 370th 38 named "My Little Pig"? There is a great large scale profile of it at www.markstyling.com but I wonder how accurate it is.
Yes & my profile has the invasion stripes you like :D.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/pig2-1.png)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/pig-1.png)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/Scan12-9.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/Scan9-13.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/Scan10-11.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/Scan11-8.jpg)
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Thanks lyric - is that from the 370th FG History book?
I like the way they hurriedly removed the invasion stripes - basically just scrubbed off the white stripes, leaving the black ones. Pretty interesting skin visually.
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Thanks lyric - is that from the 370th FG History book?
This one.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/BSC0764317792.jpg)
The yellow nosed P38 photo I got from here.
http://forum.armyairforces.com/370th-FG-f179.aspx
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I'm still not convinced that was a yellow nose 38. The 370th history has no images of that particular bird. I have the diecast 38 in that paint, but it's always made me wonder if that was artistic license.
I found a very old Osprey book with a small blip of info & a profile of this plane.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/p381-1.png)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/p382-1.png)
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Damn Lyric, nice photos!
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The one with the checkerboard nose looks pretty cool. Then again, Im a sucker for black/white checkerboard noses.
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The one with the checkerboard nose looks pretty cool. Then again, Im a sucker for black/white checkerboard noses.
P38 nose is too stretchy for checks.
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Yes & my profile has the invasion stripes you like :D.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/pig2-1.png)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/pig-1.png)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/Scan12-9.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/Scan9-13.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/Scan10-11.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/Scan11-8.jpg)
What dose the umbrellas and broom stand for? I am guessing the broom mean sweep.
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P38 nose is too stretchy for checks.
You sure? I just tested it and looks like with a little precision it might be able to come out decent enough.
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Well here is a partial picture of the profile. I don't think the old profile is correct based of the spinners & the nose looks like red checkered & not black based off of the two profiles I found?
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/P38CHECKA.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/P38CHECK.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/Lockheed_P-38J-25-LO_LIGHTNING_7FO_400x200.jpg)
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Here is a couple of good shots for you skinners when it comes to oil stains on a P38.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/P38stains.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/P38stains1.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/images21.jpg)
In fact I have a profile for the above aircraft as well.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/P38stains2.jpg)
Since I have 1ST fighter group on display & talking about checkered noses.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/88-1FGcolour.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/88-1FG-1.jpg)
Another first fighter group aircraft Bat out of hell would be a cool skin as well. It is an F model though?
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/p38batoutahellLtHagenback.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/P38BatOutOfHell.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/CopyofP-38H.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/p38flk_2.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/p38flk_1.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/p38flk_3.jpg)
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You sure? I just tested it and looks like with a little precision it might be able to come out decent enough.
I've looked in to it and it didn't look like it was possible without putting up with some real ugly parts on the top and bottom. I'd be happy to be proven wrong though.
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Wasnt there an issue with the P47's nose being too stretchy too?
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Wasnt there an issue with the P47's nose being too stretchy too?
look at larrys 353rd P47D25 skin, amazing.
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look at larrys 353rd P47D25 skin, amazing.
pfff
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Not to rain on any parades, but I think all the 38 slots are filled up, so any profiles made may not be in game for a long, long time.
=(
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Not to rain on any parades, but I think all the 38 slots are filled up, so any profiles made may not be in game for a long, long time.
=(
The G and J are but nothing like the P51s. Im sure they would be rotated in and out like the others are.
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I admire your work, Larry, and would love to see you do Bat Out of Hell.
What is special about the P-51s? I understand there have been tons of skin submissions for P-51s, and alot of the current skins ack detail and would look more at home in Warbirds 2. Why doesn't HTC rotate the '51 skins?
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What I meant was that the slots are full but don't have as many skins to rotate in and out like the pony's do. Which is unfortunate because I would love to see my 'Berlin Express' 51C skin in game but it looks like it will be years until it gets the chance.
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It takes twice as long to rotate a skin into the game as it does to insert a new skin. It is also difficult to rotate skins as there are many squads in the game who standardize on a skin, so we have to be cautious about which skins we rotate out.
Next worse thing is updating an existing skin. Almost as bad as a rotation, but without the need to be concerned if a skin is being used or not.
I have a hard enough time dealing with the fifty different ways skins are submitted. It is a wonder there are not more mistakes made than there are.
I have an idea on how to make this all work better, but I have to do it while working around skin submissions. Might take a year or two to get done.
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Skuzzy your efforts are much appreciated by the skinning community and those who enjoy flying all the different custom skins. They literally "make" the game for me; I don't think I could ever go back to flying only default skins.
The artistic talent and attention to detail put into many custom skins really make AH shine, and make historically accurate scenarios much more immersive. So even though swapping old skins out may be more work for you, rest assured it is appreciated tenfold by the community. It seems like such a shame that far better and more detailed skins sit unknown in the skin queue while early skins, many of which are by now quite substandard, put the "face" on AH for the public.
I'm sure there is alot of talent out there which would love to help streamline the skin submission process, or help share the workload if possible. I wonder, would you consider starting a skin discussion thread where we could talk about your idea?
Also, I've always wondered - can HTC determine which skins see alot of use and which don't, based on logs, or is this something you just know about through interaction with the community?
Give the skinner mafia a list of the squads that have standardized on a skin, and we'll send representatives to make them an offer they can't refuse. :t
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The quality of a skin has nothing to do with the determination as to which skin must be swapped out. It always has to do with usage. I have to contact all the squad CO's about what skin they are using before I can swap out a skin.
I missed on once and paid dearly for that one. I will never do that again.
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Skuzzy,
I have an idea. I am not sure how well it would work, but hear me out. What if you were to create an in game survey message? Meaning, when the user logs into an arena, a message pops up on their screen asking something looking like this:
Attention fellow AH pilots. We are conducting a survey for some skins for the P51D to be rotated. Please select two skins that you would like to see removed. Once the survey is complete, the top two skins with the highest votes will be removed from the game and replaced with a newer submitted skin.
Skin 1 [ ]
Skin 2 [ ]
Skin 3 [X]
Skin 4 [ ]
Skin 5 [X]
etc. etc. etc.
Conduct a survey once a moth. Each month is a different plane. After six months, HTC will tally out the votes, and rotate the new skins in game for the next batch.
I think this idea would probably be more in tune to the people who play the game and dont spend much time on the BBS boards to make any contribution. While a lot of people have BBS accounts, I would bet many more who play AH dont even pay attention to the boards. This is why I feel an in game message is more important, as everyone who plays will see the message sooner or later.
Just food for thought.
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The quality of a skin has nothing to do with the determination as to which skin must be swapped out. It always has to do with usage. I have to contact all the squad CO's about what skin they are using before I can swap out a skin.
I missed on once and paid dearly for that one. I will never do that again.
I am sorry to hear that. To my way of thinking you are far above any squad CO, and they really had no right to give you grief about a skin swap. Sure they could ask nicely for it to be returned to game but really shouldn't be demanding about it.
I do fear for the continous improvement of AH if you guys truly turn a blind eye to the quality of a skin when determining swaps. It does stand to reason that a poor quality skin *should* receive less use, though.
There has to be a better way to determine skin usage than for you to contact all the squad CO's each time you want to rotate skins.
I like Plazus' idea for a survey but the survey respondents wouldn't be able to see the skin they are voting on if done in an arena message.
It'd be nice if the Blue and Orange arenas could support different skins - that would effectively double the skin slots, and people could log into the arena that had their preferred skin.
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This is just my opinion but I think HTC should limit the number of slots a single skinner can fill on planes like the P51s that have their slots full and then some. It just seems unfair to me that someone would have to wait years for their skin to be rotated in while at the same time another skinner has 3,4,5,and sometimes even 6 slots taken up. Again that's just my opinion.
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A wait measured in years really is unacceptable and will discourage many skinners from submitting work, giving the subpar skins even more inertia to remain in game. I'm sure HTC didn't intend for it to turn out this way.
I would really like to see HTC introduce 3 more '51 models - the 51A, the coffin-canopy '51B, and the early '51D without the tail fillet. All the other popular planes - 109, 190, Spit, '47, F4U - have multiple versions and the ultra popular Mustang really seems short-changed in this area. Kind of surprising to see such outstanding work as Fester's 361st '51D LOU IV on the wrong airframe, too.
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This is just my opinion but I think HTC should limit the number of slots a single skinner can fill on planes like the P51s that have their slots full and then some. It just seems unfair to me that someone would have to wait years for their skin to be rotated in while at the same time another skinner has 3,4,5,and sometimes even 6 slots taken up. Again that's just my opinion.
I agree with this, to some degree. However, we do have a few skinners who do magnificent work and are very prolific as well. I would hate to see those skins lost to a skin which may not be done as well.
A wait measured in years really is unacceptable and will discourage many skinners from submitting work, giving the subpar skins even more inertia to remain in game. I'm sure HTC didn't intend for it to turn out this way.
I would really like to see HTC introduce 3 more '51 models - the 51A, the coffin-canopy '51B, and the early '51D without the tail fillet. All the other popular planes - 109, 190, Spit, '47, F4U - have multiple versions and the ultra popular Mustang really seems short-changed in this area. Kind of surprising to see such outstanding work as Fester's 361st '51D LOU IV on the wrong airframe, too.
If a skin is considered subpar, then why is it some other skinner would not take the reins and do a better version of that skin? It would instantly be included. That is how you fix that problem.
My best advice, to any skinner, is not to do a skin for a plane which has no more available slots. Or take an existing skin and if you want to make it better, then go for it.
Having different skins for different arenas is not going to happen. This would further coerce squads from moving from one arena to another, when it needs to be done. It would be a step backwards.
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I agree with this, to some degree. However, we do have a few skinners who do magnificent work and are very prolific as well. I would hate to see those skins lost to a skin which may not be done as well.
Okay I understand that, but right now out of the 15 P51B slots 8 of them are taken up by two skinners. At the same time there are three 4FG/334FS skins done by three different skinners one of which has three other slots taken up. One skinner has four skins in game right now that look almost identical with the only difference being the squadron markings.
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Larry, feel free to point out which skins are near duplicates. We do endeavor to make sure those do not happen. I know we have multiple skins from the same squadron/flight, but in the cases I can remember, they do look very different.
Then again, with over 740 skins in the game, I really cannot remember all of them.
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Skuzzy, on the subject of duplicates, there are two Fw 190D skins of the same plane done by separate skinners.
And just by a quirk of fate, I have a Fw 190D skin that would be happy to fill an empty slot.
(http://www.netaces.org/skins/190d9/skin8.jpg)(http://www.netaces.org/skins/190d9/skin9.jpg)
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My JG6 and JG26 skins on the dora are outdated and poorly done. Removing those two to free slots up or replacing them would be nice.
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I agree with this, to some degree. However, we do have a few skinners who do magnificent work and are very prolific as well. I would hate to see those skins lost to a skin which may not be done as well.
I hope that is the gist of what we are saying - that HTC would not want a magnificent skin to sit out while lower quality skins remain in the game. (Not to imply I think I'm capable of magnificence)
If a skin is considered subpar, then why is it some other skinner would not take the reins and do a better version of that skin? It would instantly be included. That is how you fix that problem.
That strikes me as a sort of a cutthroat tactic. I'd prefer to just do my best on a skin and leave the decision to HTC - redoing an existing skin which is not my own seems like an affront to a skinner who I'm sure made his best effort. I'd like to keep the skinning community friendly and helpful to each other, rather than being out to one-up each other's skins. Also, I lot of the skins I'd like to see replaced I find to just be not very interesting skins. There are just too many great-looking possible skins out there - and I'd much prefer a dynamic, evolving skin-set to a static one, if it's within HTC's ability to maintain one with reasonable effort.
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The quality of a skin has nothing to do with the determination as to which skin must be swapped out. It always has to do with usage. I have to contact all the squad CO's about what skin they are using before I can swap out a skin.
I missed on once and paid dearly for that one. I will never do that again.
Any chance of creating a permanent thread in the Skins or Squadrons forums, where COs who have settled on a squad skin 'register' them, so you don't have to contact all the COs each time you consider swapping out a skin?
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Any chance of creating a permanent thread in the Skins or Squadrons forums, where COs who have settled on a squad skin 'register' them, so you don't have to contact all the COs each time you consider swapping out a skin?
Great Idea!
Also, I know that most if not all the A6M5b, A6M2, N1K-2J and Ki-61 skins are made by one person, and some look almost identical.
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Great Idea!
Also, I know that most if not all the A6M5b, A6M2, N1K-2J and Ki-61 skins are made by one person, and some look almost identical.
Your right but in all fairness who else has taken the time to skin any of the planes you have listed? Granted nearly all of those listed are old skins & people are waiting for updates to redo the new skins with the exception of the NIK2-J. Take a look at the NIK2-J outside of the default skin no one else but Busa01 has stepped up to do another skin of this plane. Or for that matter the B25H only Greebo has done any of those out side of the default & I know he could easily fill that entire roster just with examples I have given him,but he wont because he thinks it would be wrong for him to do so.
So where is the problem? I would say there is not one. People of different nations simply will do their country of origin first for the most part so Busa01 of course filled nearly all the Japanese positions. BE THANKFUL HE DID otherwise the Japanese skins would be very thin. The new Mosquito MK-XVI will be no different just as the MK-VI before it. How so? Well the Commonwealth skinners will fill the spots with Australian, English, Canadian,New Zealand skins & since the XVI has some American choices this time I am sure the US skinners will jump all over those options.
Where as no US skinners have done any of the MK-VI Mosquito to date simply because there is no USA skins to be had of that variant & their interest is just not peeked.
So long story short I would not worry to much about one skinner filling up all the postions of one aircraft type if some one else came along & did one I am sure it would get in the roster.
Here you go if any one wants to do this Zero be my guest.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/zero-2.png)
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/a6m2/2666.html
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To be fair, the N1K2 was filled up immediately after it was put out by Busa. The next skin update filled it up.
With the lack of rotation no one is going to do a skin and have it set. I know I had plans to do a couple but since I didn't get it done before he submitted his.
I have plans to do Zeros when they get remodeled, but the same thing will probably happen.
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There are quite a lot of skins on certain models of planes that almost look exactly alike...maybe weed these out and open up the slots for new creative skins. :bolt:
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The Japanese planes have very few skins available, and that is why we were more forgiving abd allowed similar skins into the game. If someone did a really different skin, it would find its way into the game instantly as I have no qualms about dropping a skins which is identical save for the serial number on the plane.
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I've looked in to it and it didn't look like it was possible without putting up with some real ugly parts on the top and bottom. I'd be happy to be proven wrong though.
I fooled around with it for a bit and this is what I came up with.
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The Japanese planes have very few skins available, and that is why we were more forgiving abd allowed similar skins into the game. If someone did a really different skin, it would find its way into the game instantly as I have no qualms about dropping a skins which is identical save for the serial number on the plane.
The Japanese planes have very few skins available, and that is why we were more forgiving and allowed similar skins into the game. If someone did a really different skin, it would find its way into the game instantly as I have no qualms about dropping a skins which is identical save for the serial number on the plane.
Fixed. :aok
:neener:
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I fooled around with it for a bit and this is what I came up with.
Not to bad at all :aok
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I fooled around with it for a bit and this is what I came up with.
That doesn't look too shabby. :aok
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I can't say I really have a place in this discussion other than the fact that I run through here every so often and see the absolutely amazing work the skinners do. Trust me gents when I say I have a lot of respect for not only your hard work, dedication to detail, research, and artistry. But also your continuing contributions to the community and the game.
I'm probably going to get punched in the head for this but I'm curious. We have a volunteer staff for almost everything in the game why not pick a volunteer staff of skinners to keep on top of not only needs to be done but the skin rotation?
Sure the staff and HTC will catch some grief but what change gets made to the game without some wailing and gnashing of teeth?
Skinners I can't speak for you guys but it's just an idea in passing..
And no I don't have a skin in mind I want made. I'll fly anything so long as its not predominately pink. Highlights are okay ;)
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I can't say I really have a place in this discussion other than the fact that I run through here every so often and see the absolutely amazing work the skinners do. Trust me gents when I say I have a lot of respect for not only your hard work, dedication to detail, research, and artistry. But also your continuing contributions to the community and the game.
I'm probably going to get punched in the head for this but I'm curious. We have a volunteer staff for almost everything in the game why not pick a volunteer staff of skinners to keep on top of not only needs to be done but the skin rotation?
Sure the staff and HTC will catch some grief but what change gets made to the game without some wailing and gnashing of teeth?
Skinners I can't speak for you guys but it's just an idea in passing..
And no I don't have a skin in mind I want made. I'll fly anything so long as its not predominately pink. Highlights are okay ;)
Sound idea, Dichotomy. Wouldn't have to be just skinners, either. Guys like Guppy and lyric really help skinners out alot and have great WWII aviation knowledge. +1 on this idea. :aok
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I don't skin anymore and just did that to see if it was possible. If one of you want to use it for a skin Id be more then happy to send it to you.
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I don't skin anymore.
So did you get done with this one though?
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/14ThAirforceJackWilkes.jpg)
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,235048.0.html
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I have but Iv just never gotten around to submitting it.
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Skuzzy,
If you really want my honest opinion, I think that every customer should be able to download as many skins he/she wants in their computer. I would make every possible skin available to download- no limit whatsoever. Take it from a MS Flight Sim perspective. There are hundreds, if not, thousands, of skins and planes to download from the Internet. I think the player should have the choice of downloading any skin they would like. Less pressure on your part, as you don't have to worry about squad COs bickering and whining because their favorite skin got rotated out. In this regard, all skins would be made available from the downloads page of the website.
It really is not fair that many great skinners have beautiful plane profiles submitted, only to hear that their skin submission will take years to be rotated in the game. And that's IF it does.
Yes, you may hear people whine because their game is running like crap because they have every possible skin ever made downloaded in their computer. But seriously, who's fault is that? It's their fault. Not HTC's. They can delete any unused skins that they don't want. It's common sense. It would improve their computer performance that way if they took a little bit of time to carefully select which skins they would like downloaded.
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Skuzzy,
If you really want my honest opinion, I think that every customer should be able to download as many skins he/she wants in their computer. I would make every possible skin available to download- no limit whatsoever. Take it from a MS Flight Sim perspective. There are hundreds, if not, thousands, of skins and planes to download from the Internet. I think the player should have the choice of downloading any skin they would like. Less pressure on your part, as you don't have to worry about squad COs bickering and whining because their favorite skin got rotated out. In this regard, all skins would be made available from the downloads page of the website.
It really is not fair that many great skinners have beautiful plane profiles submitted, only to hear that their skin submission will take years to be rotated in the game. And that's IF it does.
Yes, you may hear people whine because their game is running like crap because they have every possible skin ever made downloaded in their computer. But seriously, who's fault is that? It's their fault. Not HTC's. They can delete any unused skins that they don't want. It's common sense. It would improve their computer performance that way if they took a little bit of time to carefully select which skins they would like downloaded.
Hey Plaz,
I see what you're saying, and a large part of me does agree with you, however, when I put my "IT" hat on, I have to side with HTC in having limits. Now, how those limits are done are completely up for discussion, but the type of "free reign" you describe could cause some serious negative side effects. Here are some examples :
#1. Technical Support. You mention some computers running slow. Skuzzy already gets quite a few of these performance issues "trouble tickets". By opening up any # of skins, not only will the support needs rise, but the difficulty in troubleshooting the performance issues arrise. You may just think that it's as simple as make one of the trouble shooting steps "delete the skins folder", but in reality, people will sometimes lie about things they do / do not do during a troubleshooting process (especially if they don't see the benefiet to doing so) which increases the complexity greatly. Also, even if you ignore possible performance increase of trouble, you also have the increase of trouble requests due to people improprly installing skins, installing bad skins, etc.
#2. Uneven playing field. Putting this control in the hands of the end users means it's garunteed that people will use this to gain unfair competitive advantage. People would be making opponent skins completely bright and neon visible, and possibly even alter the textures themselves with a fully transparent alpha channel allowing them to see through their cockpit, for a "guncam" like view.
#3. Inconsistency in visibility. You explain one reason you want this is so that COs no longer would have to be upset their skins aren't in the game. Well, technically, NO ONE'S skins will be in the game. You'd be able to pick your own aircraft skin, but how would someone else's computer have any idea what skin you're using? Try to match file name? What if two skinners used the same file name accidentally? use some sort of file hash? Introducing added complexity. As it stands right now, if you're flying a P38 of the 475th, EVERYONE that sees skins other than default sees the exact same aircraft.
#4. Image hit to HTC / no quality control. With no "central method" of administering skins, yes, a lot more people would be able to see their stuff in game. But there's also the problem of quality. Lots of low quality (or as above stated, "cheated") skins would make it into circulation, and youtube videos and such would be made with these low quality skins hurting Aces High's reputation.
#5. Development resources. From the way I understand things (and I could be incorrect), the way skins are tied into aircraft right now is a very tight/integrated system, that's far beyond just a database saying skin P51D-#12 = xxxxx skin. Skuzzy has alluded to this in statements describing the difficulty of replacing skins and rotating them through rotation. This would require a complete revamp of their current aircraft and GV texture structure, which I would venture a guess would be a large undertaking for a relatively small team.
Like I said Plaz, I don't completely dissagree with you, but you have to weight the benefits against the detriments (and I've only given quick examples I can think of), and I'm not sure enough benefit would be there.
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I like Plaz's idea too, but Knite points out some significant issues. Though as far as quality goes, the current system rewards those who rush to complete skins and can effectively lock out those who take more time to develop and submit a higher quality skin.
I understand HTC wanting to keep skin management and control centralized, but it appears the current system is overwhelmed. A delay of a year or more to get a skin in the game is sure to drive away skinners who don't want to or are unable to rush through skin creation, and that will be everyone's loss. Even when submitting skins for an a/c with open slots, a time lag of 6 months or more after submission to get it in game can be just agonizing. And if errors occur in the submission process, it can mean re-submitting and waiting for the next skin release - again discouraging.
I'd like to see Skuzzy be given the time to implement his proposed changes to streamline skin management, so hopefully it will be very easy for him to rotate skins in and out of the game, maybe on a quarterly basis. I'd like to see a facility where "Hall of Fame" quality skins, or those that see consistent heavy use or are used by squads remain permanently in game. I'd like to eliminate email as a submission method and go to uploading/downloading skins from HTC's website. Here, skinners could upload their skin with promo screenshots, and HTC could download and evaluate (and even track progress of the skin at the website - e.g. "Under Review", "Rejected-reason xxxxxxxxx", "Accepted", or "Currently in-game"). Everybody could see what skins have been submitted and what their status is.
And I think it'd be cool to see a couple more P-51 models in the game alleviate the competition for slots and make the current 51 skins more historically accurate. I think the '51 particularly suffers in this regard.
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<--- Still think HT Skinners Staff is the way to go
anybody approach them about it yet?
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Maybe it's just me but I think sorting through the skins, and making sure that they are all of the highest quality and getting rid of the ones that aren't would make a significant difference in the game. Some of the work I've seen done here recently is simply amazing, and it's a shame it's not a priority to get it into the game.
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You stray into a totally subjective field, whereas one person on a jury can sway 11 other people one way or the other, a single person on a "skin approval team" can for any myriad of personal reasons reject an otherwise perfect skin.
I don't like the idea.
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I disagree Krusty.
Unlikely? Improbable? absolutely... there's no way on the green earth that you could get six or seven guys to agree to the rotation. And yes you would probably have some drama. You'd have to have a teflon don leading the team. And, quite frankly, you would probably rotate some drama queens out of the game. *feces occurs*
But it COULD be done? Yep. Will it? Nope.. thanks to the lack of willingness of anybody to leave their 'comfort zone' and try something different in an effort to improve the game.
But I'm of a mind to either offer a solution or shut up instead of b%%ching about it. But that's me and all..
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First of all there is a minimum quality standard that HTC has in mind. So, all skins that are in the game currently meet that.
Arguing which skin is "better" than another is just going to cause problems and drama and quite frankly just isn't worth it.
The problem is that there are skins which people want to use are in a "drawer" and will never see the light of day with the current system.
IMHO the best thing to do is work with the current system. A basic skin package should be available as auto download and on their website. Any other skin which has passed the grade should also be converted to a "res" file and
available for download on the site. Then people can download whatever skins they like, and rename them as required to fill their desired 15 slots per type. Anyone incapable of doing so, well tough.. learn to run your PC.
This way JG11 could have 10 Fw-190D9s all historically correct for use in their unit. They could post in their forum that "such and such" skin is "190d9_1" etc so they all see the planes the same for "photo opportunities".
Also people who don't like a particular skin, rather than whining about it could just simply choose another.
The one problem this might have is the "auto download" settings and how it checks to see if someone has the current files. People could just disable this and avoid any overwriting with the basic plane set.
HTC is not a huge company and their personnel are no doubt spread thin on various tasks which we are not privy too.
Yet we KNOW Skuzzy handles the skins, bless him for the crap he goes through with this and other tasks relative to this board.
I often wonder what would happen if he didn't have to spend 10s of hours each week patroling these forums moderating the lack of decorum and inability to self police that some people are constanly incapable of exercising.
So those of you who want skins rotated, think of that before you post everytime. :devil
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But if I'm flying a red-and-white striped Dora, or a coral pink Airacobra.....
I want the OTHER guy to see it too!
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You stray into a totally subjective field, whereas one person on a jury can sway 11 other people one way or the other, a single person on a "skin approval team" can for any myriad of personal reasons reject an otherwise perfect skin.
I don't like the idea.
OK I volunteer to be the jury of one, deciding which skins are OK and which aren't. I promise to be objective :)
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well put Fencer...
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Hmmm. So combining the ideas from Fencer's and Krusty's posts, we have a state where we can all download whichever skins we prefer, and everybody else views our aircraft in the skins we have chosen. Is this desired state completely unfeasible technically? (I'm wondering about the increase in broadband transmission speed and the amount of video and system memory available when custom skins first came along in AH compared to today, and also the difference in theoretically what you'd need to support this vs practically (you'll never be in an arena with a random distribution of all plane models and all skins).
Regarding Fencer's proposal, maybe the skins wouldn't have to be renamed by players to the 190d_1 - 190d_15.res format, but each approved skin would have it's own forever unique .res name (190d_0 - 190d_999?) and we create skin "playlists" from these to populate our skin selection dropdown list?
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I was actually offering a counter-point. I want OTHERS to see what skin I choose. I don't want to pick the coral pink P-39Q and then have somebody else's front-end display it at RAF camo, for example.
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I was actually offering a counter-point. I want OTHERS to see what skin I choose. I don't want to pick the coral pink P-39Q and then have somebody else's front-end display it at RAF camo, for example.
Yep, but I don't think that would necessarily have to be counter to what Fencer proposed, since Fencer's plan still had HTC as a skin gatekeeper. I would guess memory and bandwidth are the traditional limitations.
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Fencer was saying the exact opposite, that any given person's front-end would be their own choosing and not really reflect what's on the other person's front end.
There's no easy answer to this issue. I don't think unlimited skin slots is the right path. I don't think a "committee" is the answer either... To be honest I don't HAVE an answer, I just don't think those suggestions work.
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Krusty, I don't want to upset you. But you realize that alot of people don't download the skins now, nor do all those that do download them set "see other people's skins" as one of the options. You cannot force them to see what you are flying.
There is no way that the current skin setup is going to allow more than 15 skins in game per plane, we have asked this question before and been told that. HTC has already stated that the total number of skins in the game are already pushing the limits of what people's machines can handle.
Therefore the only way to get more skins available for people to enjoy is to work within the current system.
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I was actually offering a counter-point. I want OTHERS to see what skin I choose. I don't want to pick the coral pink P-39Q and then have somebody else's front-end display it at RAF camo, for example.
Yes, but right now I could delete the Coral Pink skin from my skins and you would be default green.
Just saying...
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Maybe it's just me but I think sorting through the skins,
Well here is my two cents worth. I say we get rid of skins that can be proved were not acceptable per HTC rules & those that are identified incorrectly & so on. As an example the black P38 that was evicted out of the game. I can think of three or four that I can prove that should not be in the roster.
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But those 3 or 4 are a drop in the bucket (assuming hypothetically you get 'em removed)... It's not much of a help for the P-51D for example, which probably has as many out of rotation as it does IN rotation.
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Well it's good to see people talking about what can be done to get more skins in rotation or available.
As stated I appreciate your hard work and the awesome skins that are produced regularly. Talent in something I could never learn to do well is something I respect.
Krusty.. good talking to ya, as always, even if we disagree on the surface level.
I see, and get, everybody's pov's, and I never said a solution would be easy but I think you guys can figure something out that's workable even at the risk of compromising something you hold dear. But, as my overall knowledge of this subject is extremely limited, this is where I step out :bolt:
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I'm with Krusty on this. I choose a skin for others to see, if they have skins enabled. Maybe the cammo will help me out. Maybe I'm cocky enough I'll fly a garish paint job. After all, I cant see anything but the wings.
The main point everyone seems to be missing, re: a rotation committee, is:
It takes twice as long to rotate a skin into the game as it does to insert a new skin.
Next worse thing is updating an existing skin. Almost as bad as a rotation, but without the need to be concerned if a skin is being used or not.
It apparently isn't so easy. If anyone could do it, they sure, volunteers would be dandy.
And, although updating a skin also seems difficult, Skuzzy did stare his willingness to do so.
It's not a matter of quality, otherwise the skins wouldn't be there in the first place. The lack of rotation seems more to be an issue of time, workload, and priorities.
wrongway
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whoa i just drifted by this thread after getting bit by the fly aces high bug again...
You might want to stop complaining and thank skuzzy for taking the time to let your less than amazing texturemaps in the game. not to put to fine a point on it but just about all of them are awful.
devoid of realism and detail and smooth transitions with bad colors and small amounts of research. little attention paid to the variations of the surface of the aircraft. perhaps this is more than could be asked of most though and thats understandable.
but don't try to wrap your sub par skin in indignation over it waiting a year to be in the game. if its taken that long its teribad anyway and no one will use it but you. and yes there are rare exceptions to this but they are rare and ussually don't apply to you.
want your skin to stand out? want to get it in the game? stop sucking and make it amazing.
pack it full of more detail and more vibrant and compelling color schemes of historical significance.
can you see the metal fatigue and stress points in the surface of your aircraft's texturemap?
have you found a way to simulate flush and raised rivets from the pilots perspective in the cockpit? and then drop highlights and shadows around said rivets and fasteners to reinforce this illusion?
have you baked in some shadows and subtle reflections of a bare metal project? did you research the airflow patterns across the fuselage and wings and wrap oil and exhaust stains along these patterns? did you subjectively fade the paint of your aircraft to indicate it is clapped out and war weary, full of dirt, grime, dust scratches dents and dings and stains?
stop with the spam make one amazing skin not eleventhousand bad ones. anything without greebo's name on it can be destroyed imo. its all awful and a waste of ram
so just be thankful.
be thankful that my critical lazer beam eye is not the one deciding if your skin gets in the game at all because if you think you have it bad now you have no idea what an individual like myself would demand to be subjected to your texture maps clogging up my computer.
-yours truly
The Skin Nazi
"NO SKINS FOR YOU ONE YEAR!"
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Welcome back, Fester!
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Would be nice to see some more of your work back in the game. I have plenty of B25-H's to choose from since you are the only person with any in game out side of Greebo. I think I kind of burnt him out on that particular aircraft. :D
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Would be nice to see some more of your work back in the game. I have plenty of B25-H's to choose from since you are the only person with any in game out side of Greebo. I think I kind of burnt him out on that particular aircraft. :D
I'm going to do a B-25H eventually. I'm hoping to do a 823rd BS 38th BG scheme, but I haven't been able to research one completely yet. It looks like they flew the G mostly, rather than the H.
Might be able to do another one or so if everything works out.
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snip
Fester was this directed at me?
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I'm going to do a B-25H eventually. I'm hoping to do a 823rd BS 38th BG scheme, but I haven't been able to research one completely yet. It looks like they flew the G mostly, rather than the H.
Might be able to do another one or so if everything works out.
I know that you have that 71ST Bomb squadron profile I have the same DVD as you. Also waiting for that new book to come out as well on the 38TH bomb group.
I would like to get more on this 42ND bomb group B25H. The four squadrons in this group seemed to paint all there planes in the same format per squadron. So it may be left up to an artistic guess for the rest of the aircraft based on it's squadron that it belonged to?
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/b25hlighthorseharry-1.png)
http://www.box.net/shared/iz64a75tdn/1/6282668/58400860/1
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,808579-2,00.html
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Another first fighter group aircraft Bat out of hell would be a cool skin as well. It is an F model though?
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/p38batoutahellLtHagenback.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/P38BatOutOfHell.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/CopyofP-38H.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/p38flk_2.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/p38flk_1.jpg)
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/p38flk_3.jpg)
Found a complete picture of this aircraft I was a little dubious as to the accuracy of the profiles & models I have found. However that aside it is legit. :aok It would add some colour to the P-38 stable.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af142/barneybolac/P38F.jpg)
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Fester was this directed at me?
late reply sorry...
no truekill/Larry
your LW skins are best in game and I use your 190a8 skin and 190d9 skins (the newest ones) exclusively
now if you could whip up a good 109k4 and 190a5 with colors like that 190a8? :)