Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Custom Skins => Topic started by: Vraciu on September 05, 2018, 09:47:57 PM
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Updated to reflect the correct markings (original thread here: http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,393832.0.html).
Many thanks to Guppy35, Lyric1, MisterFork, Devil505, etc. for help with the photo hunt. Glad we found some of this old gal. I think this may be the best skin I've ever done. I hate that the pics lose something in the upload.
(http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=394476.0;attach=30727)
(http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=394476.0;attach=30723)
(http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=394476.0;attach=30725)
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She looks really good now.
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She looks really good now.
Thanks, man. :salute
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:aok
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Very nice skin Vraciu.
I'd suggest just posting bigger screenshots if you want more detail in them, I usually go with 1280 pixel wide images as its a nice trade off between detail and image size (about 130-150kb per image usually).
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Thanks guys.
I’ll look into that, G. I wish I could find a way to make it where folks didn’t have to scroll to view the picture while maintaining quality. I guess that’s just the nature of the beast. I may try Oboe’s idea about bumping up resolution as well.
You and Devil always have amazing screenshots. I’m curious to know what settings you run the game in.
:salute
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She's purrdie. I also see we're sticking with the black stripe on the wing. :aok
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She's purrdie. I also see we're sticking with the black stripe on the wing. :aok
Yeah. You guys were right that it was not removed. Guppy35 found some photos of it that showed it clearly. :cheers:
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You and Devil always have amazing screenshots. I’m curious to know what settings you run the game in.
I'm running the game with all graphics options on/max except for the environment slider is set to one notch. Its running on a 1440p monitor but that doesn't really affect the quality of screenshots compared to a lower resolution monitor. As I mentioned before my screenshots are all 1280 pixels wide which is the minimum screenshot width for the AH skins page and also a good compromise between viewing size and file size for the forum.
I have worked out that 1280 pixels on a screenshot equals 30 centimetres wide (one foot) on my particular monitor. So I use the zoom keys and a ruler to get the aircraft as displayed on the screen to this width and then take the screenshot. That way when I crop the screenshot in an editor to 1280 pixels wide the aircraft pretty much fills the width of the cropped image without me having to resize the image. Resizing a screenshot is something I try to avoid as it tends to blur detail.
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Excellent. I'll try that.
I am cropping a lot of my image out thus I'm clearly not filling the screen with the airplane. Thanks for sharing that.
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Some minor tweaks. This one needs a redraw but for now I've toned the markings down, adjusted the spec map, and updated the normal map.
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=394476.0;attach=34867)
This version may be clearer:
https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/skinadmin/stream.php?floc=4&sfile=fullsizeimg.jpg&stype=1&pindex=p51d_9
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Another fine update.
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:aok
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Thanks fellas.
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Sweet-looking update, V. The canopy base, upper-rear deck surface and leading edge of the tail seem a little over-exposed; I haven't been able to get a handle on that problem without darkening the shade of the metal texture; Power and Spec values didn't seem to have an effect once a certain lightness of shade is reached - whether it's white, silver, or yellow.
The nose art figure pops even at this medium-distance view. Very nice!
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A nice improvement Vraciu.
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(https://www.photofunky.net/output/image/7/9/e/6/79e6f9/photofunky.png)
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:aok
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Thanks all.
Lol Arlo.
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Sweet-looking update, V. The canopy base, upper-rear deck surface and leading edge of the tail seem a little over-exposed; I haven't been able to get a handle on that problem without darkening the shade of the metal texture; Power and Spec values didn't seem to have an effect once a certain lightness of shade is reached - whether it's white, silver, or yellow.
The nose art figure pops even at this medium-distance view. Very nice!
Thanks, Oboe. Yeah, this one is my older metal version. The newer metal mitigates that some but at the expense of being too dark when not in direct light. This one is still optimized for shadows and reflections off. If I could ever find a way to get THAT look with them on I would be set, but there is just something a tiny bit screwy with the graphics engine I cannot pin down.
Ultimately this one will get entirely new metal, but that may be awhile. I fly with shadows and reflections off which makes the metal on all skins look better in my opinion. That’s certainly the case here.
Some of my older metal skins will be stuck that way for awhile as I don’t know when I can take the time to redraw them. :/
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That nose Art was a b*t h, btw. It needs a 2048 x 2048 to prevent bleeding of the colors. It’s the best I could do given the resolution.
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The newer metal mitigates that some but at the expense of being too dark when not in direct light. This one is still optimized for shadows and reflections off. If I could ever find a way to get THAT look with them on I would be set, but there is just something a tiny bit screwy with the graphics engine I cannot pin down.
That pretty much nails it. I continue to experiment, but same results here - if I get it to look right in direct sunlight, it seems too dark in the shade.
The nose art was worth the extra effort, IMO. Looks great.
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Thank you, sir. Much appreciated.
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The black stripe and invasion stripes seem a different shade than the fuselage markings. Maybe it is me or the pic.
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The black stripe and invasion stripes seem a different shade than the fuselage markings. Maybe it is me or the pic.
They probably are. I honestly can't say. That will be revisited when I draw it all over again down the road, though.
:salute
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It might actually be a transparency setting difference come to think of it. I'll look when I get back to my computer.
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I did some experimenting with the tail section. Darkened it up. I still need a complete re-draw.
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=394476.0;attach=34916)
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Here is a comparison with similar angles.
BEFORE:
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=394476.0;attach=34867)
AFTER:
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=394476.0;attach=34918)
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:aok. Looks great!
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:aok. Looks great!
Thanks. For fun I experimented with my older metal version just to see if I could make it reflect properly. It is definitely a case of darkening it. That's the only thing I did to tone down the flare up.