Project officially started

EVNoir Homepage

The galaxy is a black place with dark people living dim lives. But every so often, an adventurer will make a difference that will change the universe...

If you are at all interested in helping make a new TC with a new spin on graphic design, come check out EV Noir. Even if all you'd like to do is shout out some ideas, create your own character, or request your own features, feel free to make yourself heard.

This TC is very open-ended right now, but it will be locked down to a focused line once a definite plot is developed. So come in now, and let me hear what you want to do!

I invite you to share your ideas, and help shape the art-noveau TC that is Noir.

Those sprites look really awesome, very cool idea! I wish you luck.

The sprites look quite intriguing. Cool.

Bird of War

So far poofy107 and Ericthered have joined up. I've updated the spins gallery, and will continue to do so, so keep checking up!

Those sprites are neat, but some of the masks are inside out. I would think the masks would look very similar to the images themselves, with the possibility of the inner parts white too, but the outer area definately has to be black, or the sprite will superimpose a black box over whatever is behind it.

Ahh, thanks Neb. I remember now why I tried reversing the masks- the smaller spins looked better, because the mask cut off the inner part of the glow. But you're right, I'll have a bunch of black boxes flying around if I leave 'em like that.

I don't get why everyone thinks those sprites are so great. I don't. As an EV fan and a 3D artist, I'd be pretty disappointed if I got a TC and the graphics looked like that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of the noir concept and appearance, but your graphics fail to capture it. I think a better way to get the effect you're looking for is black-and-white high contrast versions of regular ship sprites. See the attachment for what I mean; it's one of my own designs for Sephil Saga done in what I consider a good noir style.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your project.

Attached File(s)

• noirsprite.png (47.55K)
  Number of downloads: 218

This post has been edited by Neon Soldier : 23 May 2005 - 07:31 PM

I fully appreciate the appeal of your style, but one of the main principles behind EVNoir was that the graphics would come secondary to the plot- in terms of time expended. Secondly, I'm just beginning to learn 3D apps capable of decent texture-mapping and nurbs modeling, so while you could call the Noir look a cop-out, I'm trying to do something interesting with the modelling skills I have.

This is certainly not the last Noir project I have up my sleeve...

Neon Soldier, on May 24 2005, 12:28 AM, said:

I don't get why everyone thinks those sprites are so great.

Agreed. I don't like them either. I don't like the concept and it looks badly executed. (The lines have jaggies and inconsistant weight.) Greyscale ships with colored lights and engine glows would look better.

Hamster, if you going to go with a good plot, though, it could make up for it. I wouldn't instantly quit if I saw these as your graphics, anyway. Just make sure not to led the player around by the nose like the default ENV scenario does...

Here's an example of the NoirShip shaded in dark grey:

Ship Spin

Meh. I cant do texture mapping worth crud right now, as I'm using Strata Vision 4.0 running in classic environment. Once I transfer over to Blender, I should be able to make decent looking ships.

The plot is coming along nicely; as long as the team members carry their weight, we should be in no trouble in that department.

This post has been edited by Hamster : 24 May 2005 - 02:29 PM

Needs highlights. In noir movies, it isn't just all dark. There are some pretty bold highlights too. Its the contrast between them that makes the style.

I have to say I'm watching this project closely. I anxiously await future developments...

For those who are interested, there is a rough draft for a backstory on the Noir Board, along with some comments and editions. The very first draft is here. My latest draft can be found here, though at the time of this posting, the go ahead had not been given to this specific example. You can, however, see the progression.

Hamster, on May 23 2005, 10:56 PM, said:

I fully appreciate the appeal of your style, but one of the main principles behind EVNoir was that the graphics would come secondary to the plot- in terms of time expended. Secondly, I'm just beginning to learn 3D apps capable of decent texture-mapping and nurbs modeling, so while you could call the Noir look a cop-out, I'm trying to do something interesting with the modelling skills I have.

This is certainly not the last Noir project I have up my sleeve...

I think Neon's point was that the graphics aren't all that great as everyone keeps implying, and I'm inclined to agree - the idea is cool, but even if you keep those graphics, I don't think the graphics specifically should be hailed.

I do have an idea that I think might be cool... I'll test it out anyway:

I'll try including shield graphics of reflectivity on the ships. This means, whenever a ship is hit with its shields up, you can see light reflecting off it for an instant. Kinda like lightning flashing off a surface.

Sprites for this should be up within the next few days.

So, with every shot a ship takes, we could see the details of the ship? That sounds pretty cool to me.

Progress Report:

Major plotline background done, mission writing in progress.

Completed ship count at 8.

High-contrast shield graphics added to all ships.

Galaxy map in progress.

Hamster, on May 24 2005, 05:56 AM, said:

I fully appreciate the appeal of your style, but one of the main principles behind EVNoir was that the graphics would come secondary to the plot- in terms of time expended.View Post

The main problem behind vapourware is that people don't get the story done, not the other way round.
Without graphics, you can make a cool quasi-TC. Without a story not the same.

Luckily, we have some very skilled and very dedicated writers on the team. Our story is becoming teh pwnz.

Attention members of Noir:

The project is starting back up, so let's pick it up where we left off. EV Noir