:D I took a little break from fixing bugs to play around in Photoshop. I hope you guys enjoy. If anyone feels a burning desire to make some for the other civilizations or religions (or if Chalid wants to put together a dragon one for us) then I will be happy to include them.


The Calabim: (1280x1024 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHCalabim1280x1024WP.jpg)) (1024x768 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHCalabim1024x768WP.jpg)) (800x600 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHCalabim800x600WP.jpg)) (640x480 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHCalabim640x480WP.jpg))

The Balseraphs: (1280x1024 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHBalseraphs1280x1024.jpg)) (1024x768 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHBalseraphs1024x768.jpg)) (800x600 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHBalseraphs800x600.jpg)) (640x480 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHBalseraphs640x480.jpg))

Title Screen: (1024x768 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHTitle1024x768WP.jpg)) (800x600 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHTitle800x600WP.jpg)) (640x480 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHTitle640x480WP.jpg))

The Infernals: (1024x768 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHInfernals1024x768.jpg)) (800x600 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHInfernals800x600.jpg)) (640x480 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHInfernals640x480.jpg))


Wallpapers by Miloe:

The Ashen Veil: http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/ashen_veil.jpg

The Order: http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/theorder.jpg

Keelyn: http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/Keelyn.jpg


Wallpapers by Hexagonian:

Red: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153076&d=1179340882

White: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153079&d=1179341338

Blue: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153078&d=1179341157

The Ljosalfar (made by Coca Carola): (1024x768 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHLjosalfar1024x768.jpg)) (800x600 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHLjosalfar800x600.jpg)) (640x480 (http://kael.civfanatics.net/images/Wallpaper/FfHLjosalfar640x480.jpg))

Very nice Kael. :goodjob:

Awesome.

Could you make one for the Balseraphs involving perpentach, loki, and a gypsy wagon? Also the background could be a darkened carnival.

i made a wallpaper for my favorite civ, ljosalfar. i'm still new at ps but i'm learning. kael, if you need artwork i would be happy to help with something!

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads11/ljosalfar.jpg

New Wallpaper added. Cocoa I want to work some resized versions og yours then I will move a link to it into the frist 2 posts too. Thanks for making it!

Obviously the Calabim with Alexis rocks!

edit - Can you make me a button of Alexis? Kind of OT, but at least loki would know what it was this time! ;)

Nice work Kael. :)

Kudos! :goodjob: The Balseraph wallpaper looks excellent! Thank you! :D

Added a new wallpaper for the Infernals.

Great wallpapers!!:goodjob:

The Hyporean one is very scary and also very awesome.

I have to admit when i first played FFH2 and his diplomacy face popped on my menu i almost crapped myself from the music and his sight! :lol: :eek:

He is scary looking! :goodjob:

The infernals wallpaper if definately located on my desktop and looks GREAT on my 30" LCD/Monitor.

The infernals wallpaper if definately located on my desktop and looks GREAT on my 30" LCD/Monitor.

30!!! Your goblins are practically life sized!

:eek:

I'm terribly jealous of that monitor!

I tell you what, try playing FfH2 on this 30" and for sound try my Logitech Z-5550, 500 watt (PC)speakers, with the sound you'll have on the game, and simply put, "WOW"


I had the Klipsch 500 watt but i blew that out, LOL.

What font is that in the Ljosalfar wallpaper?

wow 30" i thoguht my 19 inch LCD was big...

wow 30" i thoguht my 19 inch LCD was big...


It's not the size of your monitor that counts, its how you use it.

Qes Monitor size 17" non-lcd ghettofabulousness.
-Qes

It's not the size of your monitor that counts, its how you use it.

Qes Monitor size 17" non-lcd ghettofabulousness.
-Qes


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Need alot more wallpaper pics from this MOD. ANY good ones out there?

Have you upload the wallpaper with elven female (loading screen). I like her :) Or tell me, how I can take this picture from FfH2 pak?

Can you add a wallpaper with Keelyn when you get a chance?

Love the wallpapers! Any more would be great too :)

YOOOOO!!!
This is my first post, and I hope it's a good one. ffh2 is my favorite mod (even better than the vanilla civ), so I created a background for it. Please rate it for me, ok?

152758

Thx,
Soberirish

YOOOOO!!!
This is my first post, and I hope it's a good one. ffh2 is my favorite mod (even better than the vanilla civ), so I created a background for it. Please rate it for me, ok?

152758

Thx,
Soberirish

try taking a screenshot of the coast while zoomed in, then use that as the background

Have you upload the wallpaper with elven female (loading screen). I like her :) Or tell me, how I can take this picture from FfH2 pak?

Found it.

I want the Crusader image.

Is there anywhere I can get (or extract from my FFH installation) the cover page (Kael's wallpaper#3) without the text on it? That image would make an awesome wallpaper, if it was just the image (something that would make people ask WTF is that?)

heres my contribution, its kinda artsy and abstract but hope you dont mind :)

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/ashen_veil.jpg

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/ashen_veil.jpg

heres my contribution, its kinda artsy and abstract but hope you dont mind :)

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/ashen_veil.jpg

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/ashen_veil.jpg

WOW. Can you do more art? There is/was a general call for more stuff like this. Check out the video threads.
-Qes

Hey Miloe,

I just downloaded your artwork to my hard drive. I love it! :goodjob: I hope you will do more.

Have fun.

i'll do more asap when i get inspiration :)

I like the camels in Hell terrain, they're funny :lol:

heres another one [NOTE: not suitable for the youngest viewers due to violence]:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/theorder.jpg

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/theorder.jpg

heres another one [NOTE: not suitable for the youngest viewers due to violence]:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/theorder.jpg

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/theorder.jpg

Again. WOW. Keep...making them. More and more and more! It wont be long before you find them in game if you keep it up - I'd wager.

Why not look up some FFH lore (after you've done the religions :D ) and get some "epic scenes" made.
-Qes

The Order, yeah.

Why did you make two? Now i don't know which one to have as my desktop...

Wow, I see Kratos as an Angel ? Humm I tought more of him like a demon than a angel... =x

But, your pics are very well made, keep doing them if you have the inspiration.

Wow, I see Kratos as an Angel ? Humm I tought more of him like a demon than a angel... =x

But, your pics are very well made, keep doing them if you have the inspiration.

wow you noticed such detail :) i havent played that game before though so i had no idea first who were you talking about

Again. WOW.

I will second that. Keep them coming!

I am already afraid what will you do for the Octopus Overlords.

A-w-e-s-o-m-e !!

_Valis;5443814']I will second that. Keep them coming!

I am already afraid what will you do for the Octopus Overlords.

Heh, what about Cult of the Dragon?

heres my contribution, its kinda artsy and abstract but hope you dont mind :)

Great job on both of these! I added them to the first post to make sure they don't get lost in the thread. Im excited to see more of your work.

i think someone requested keelyn long time ago :) :

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/Keelyn.jpg

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/Keelyn.jpg

I'll throw my hat into the ring...

(from the upcoming FFHII movie...)

...another from the upcoming movie.

and one last one for today. ;)

I tell you what, try playing FfH2 on this 30" and for sound try my Logitech Z-5550, 500 watt (PC)speakers, with the sound you'll have on the game, and simply put, "WOW"


I had the Klipsch 500 watt but i blew that out, LOL.

Wait... You live in my state. That means there is someone playing FFH2 on the coolest set up I've heard of NEAR BY!

You may or may not be getting a stalker. Fyi.
-Qes

i think someone requested keelyn long time ago :) :

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/Keelyn.jpg

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/Keelyn.jpg

I believe that was me, and it was a long time ago! Sweet!

Thanks :goodjob:

Nice work Miloe and hexagonian. My wallpaper library is filling up. :goodjob:

@Miloe and Hexagonian:
How often did you play or look through the whole game stuff (texts, art) before you created those pics?

@Miloe and Hexagonian:
How often did you play or look through the whole game stuff (texts, art) before you created those pics?

i dont understand what you mean but any critisism is always welcome :)

i dont understand what you mean but any critisism is always welcome :)

it was just a question :)

well in my Keelyn picture i spent hours trying to make her face features to look as similar as in her original picture. i just realized now that she looks a lot older in my pic than she does in the original one. wiki didnt provide exact age but it suggests that either she is teenager or acts very child-like.



i also developed little background story for the pic:

ts the aftermath of event that occured when she decided to hold a grand dance in the palace with guests all over the country. too bad the guests had a little too much fun with eachother and they forgot to ask Keelyn to dance too. so she had to watch other couples dancing and she waited whole night for someone to ask her but without success.

enraged by this treatment, she set the palace's curtains on fire and stormed out. the fire quickly spread to other nearby buildings while she was running away holding tears inside. she went to a nearby hill to watch the city while the flames made it glow beautifully below the midnight sky.

Miloe
I like your little background story for Keelyn as much as I liked the picture you did. Keep up the great work.

i like your dark style and was not talking about the keelyn pic.
I just want to know how much people know about ffh2 when they start creating wallpapers.
Is that so hard to answer?

i remember most of the themes and concepts by heart and i have been playing for about few months i'd say. so yeah ffh2 is pretty familiar to me :)

i think it'd make drawing significantly harder if i didnt knew much about ffh2, theres often so much details in everything that you could just go on and on with drawing and never run out of stuff to put in there.

Hey Miloe, your wallpapers are amazing!! :goodjob:
I hope you'll make also some for the other religions and leaders respectively.
I for myself really love the Order wallpaper. I think it catches this final battle of good and evil pretty good.

Yeah, Justin Sweet (http://www.justinsweet.com/) is one of my favorite artists and Miloe's wallpapers remind a lot of his style.

To answer the question...

...about a week or so.

My son had my civ4 disks at college this past year - he came home a week ago, and since ffhII does not work on 'Warlords', I only just started to play.

I had mentioned to Kael in the past that I would be willing to create a video for him for ffhII, so I went to the wiki and pulled off the leader pics there for the first draft last week - after a couple nights of playing the Mod.

Kael liked it - I requested some additional artwork from him that he used in the game, and two of the three desktops are the result of that artwork (and are also in the video). Both the hellscene and the blasphemy scene are several images that he provided for me merged together with some added stuff of my own (coloring, image placement, fades and glows, figure interaction - and in the video, backgrounds).

I do not claim creation of the figures, but the merging of the images together into a unique compostion is my own design - as is the logo. And as it has been pointed out, much of the ingame artwork of ffhII is borrowed in some form.

The winter scene is my own creation though.

Simply put, I enjoy the game, and my lack of time in the ffh universe does not mean that I cannot bring a particular viewpoint to the world. After all, human culture has diverse artistic stylings... ;)

No stress, your work is definitly appreciated. As far as I know there is still one member of the FfH team that has never actually played the mod.

Nah, I'm really enjoying the creation process.

You should have a video tomorrow. ;)

Actually, it's done, but I still have to lowres it so I can post it here. It's rather big... and I think you will like how I handled your suggestions. Just look at the desktops I posted to get a feel for what is going on.

Does that mean I'm on the team... :lol:

Nah, I'm really enjoying the creation process.

You should have a video tomorrow. ;)

Actually, it's done, but I still have to lowres it so I can post it here. It's rather big... and I think you will like how I handled your suggestions. Just look at the desktops I posted to get a feel for what is going on.

Does that mean I'm on the team... :lol:

Technically everyones on the team. The particular "team members" are merely the sacrificial lambs to ridicule, angst, and my shananagins.
-Qes

I decided there needed to be a Cult of the Dragon Wallpaper, so I made one. :p

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/7968/CultOftheDragon1024.jpg

Other sizes
CultOfTheDragon1280x960.zip (http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/7968/CultOfTheDragon1280x960.zip)
CultOfTheDragon1280x1024.zip (http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/7968/CultOfTheDragon1280x1024.zip)
CultOfTheDragon1600x1200.zip (http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/7968/CultOfTheDragon1600x1200.zip)

I didn't draw the dragons, I just compiled them, and drew the rest by copying/painting. I used these three dragon images:
Red Dragon (http://snimki.animes-bg.com/data/media/9/Dragon2.jpg) - by Paul Jaguays
Black Dragon (http://tn3-2.deviantart.com/fs10/300W/f/2006/325/6/2/king_black_dragon_by_Midnight_Lonesome.jpg) - Someones Avatar in a Polish(?) Dragon RPG (http://dragonrpg.mojeforum.net/-vp5927.html) (I think...)
Gold Dragon (http://www.ffoundation.com.tw/bu_data/commercial/dragon_12.jpg) - From Fantasy Foundation (http://www.ffoundation.com.tw/modules/news/article.php?storyid=137), a site about Fantasy, from Taiwan.

I used this image (http://www.draconian.com/body/wing.jpg) as reference when I needed to complete the red dragons wings.
Also used some cloud/lightning images I found through Google.

No stress, your work is definitly appreciated. As far as I know there is still one member of the FfH team that has never actually played the mod.

Is it Roland? :)

@Miloe and Hexagonian:
I have to say I appreciate every Work that is done connected with FfH!!!

So, sorry guys, I did not want to insult or criticize anyone. It was just strange to see the Orhus pic dublicated infront of Vampires and "Some Warhammer High Elven fighting Scaven" -Screenshot titled with the order. (the pic looks absolutely great, colours, composition and especially the meteors! and I know Ploe introduced the warhammer Bloodthirster as Hyborem, too)

And I can`t demand from anyone to draw everything himself, cause I try that (or at least use ingame shots as base) and cause of that I know that it uses up a lot of time and is not worth it, if you dont feel like its necessary. (And this is not sarcasm or irony or something, your Pics look absolutely great and thus prove that a good composition is art on its own)

I would simply like to see more stuff directly connected with the game (thats why i preferred the ingame movie over your slightshow). And I have the experience, mainly from friends who play FfH II, that they always accuse us (the team) of "here you used guildwars icons"... "here you used Warhammer stuff"..."here you used Magic tG card stuff".
So, a Wallpaper with stuff from other games, titling it FfH is just... not right, i think FfH gives the opportunity to create new stuff or in future make use of its original assets for Wallpapers and the like.

So, i am waiting for comments making fun of my pathetic, overestimating-the-whole-thing view ;)

Feel free to ignore this post.

Original art would be cool. But keep in mind that all of the wallpapers I started this thread with aren't original either. There is no original 2d art in FfH (except for a few very basic leader flags).

I get the mean posts and pm's for it too. Anyone here whose been around for a while has seen a post or two from someone revealing the deep dark secret that we didnt origionate some of our art assets (this "revelation" despite the fact that its stated with the original artists in the main thread and readme).

But for now we concentrate on game design, writing, and 3d models. Those are the highest priority needs. Once we get done, we may go back and try to remove all copywrighted material from the mod, but for now we have enough work just getting it done.

Besides why create origional 2d artwork when we may just replace that asset later on. Consider everything a placeholder until we are finished.

i think its a question where to draw the line between un-realistic and realistic game art. someone might draw a picture of Hannah the Irin with tentacles, i'd still consider it a good picture because thats the artist own view of her. in the other hand, someone might think its not good because its too off from the real Hannah.

i think one thing we all can agree is that all the pictures have genuine ffh2 "feeling" to them, and thats the main point to me atleast. whether the art actually falls into category of pure self-drawn unique art, is a question of skill, time and will. unless you have all those three, you cant make "perfect" ffh2 pictures, and not everyone can afford all those but nevertheless they still want to contribute.

some facts from my pics:

every pic has something that is borrowed from other pics.
everything i borrowed, i changed in some way so its not straight copy from anything.
it took me 4 hours to make ashen veil pic, its the one with least details and least own art.
it took me 18 hours without breaks to make keelyn pic, the one with most self-made content. almost half of that time was spent on looking for suiting background for the pic because starting from scratch would have been too much work.

as i told you i like your pics!
so no offense here.

I just want our mod to reach its full potential regarding originality, because i think the great universe Kael and the writing team has created, deserves this.
But what about getting some ingame shots of Battles, cut out the figures, set them in a cool background and put your filters on them, which give em such a great look. (I mean you could have easily some Bannor and angel units fighting demons or other Infernal guys as a base and then some colour adjustments and environment would create a more ffh feeling than mark of chaos pics :) )

I say that, because I simply miss those kind of Wallpapers, those actual game stuff :)

But I support you doing any kind of wallpaper, dont feel anyway demotivated or unwelcome, I am just triing to get you into a direction of content i would prefer (your style rocks!) to see as a representation of FfH.
So dont understand me wrong.

And I hope you can understand some of my points at least.

Keep up the work.

-seZ.

i highly appreciate your notes and i'll get back to the working on that pic, change the units looks and maybe add some infernals. maybe cut the tails from the ratmen and make them look like goblins instead :p

i highly appreciate your notes and i'll get back to the working on that pic, change the units looks and maybe add some infernals. maybe cut the tails from the ratmen and make them look like goblins instead :p

I can tell you its great to get some ingame screenshots (with flying camera) of battles or stuff and then cut it and put them in a good environment, then you can paint over it, using it as a great base. (no one demands that you do everthing from scratch)

Hope to see some more awesome styled art with actual ffh content :D
That would be really really awesome and could inspire some others to make stuff like that.

(i especially liek the flamy glow effect around the ffh text)

I decided there needed to be a Cult of the Dragon Wallpaper, so I made one. :p

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/7968/CultOftheDragon1024.jpg

Other sizes
CultOfTheDragon1280x960.zip (http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/7968/CultOfTheDragon1280x960.zip)
CultOfTheDragon1280x1024.zip (http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/7968/CultOfTheDragon1280x1024.zip)
CultOfTheDragon1600x1200.zip (http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/7968/CultOfTheDragon1600x1200.zip)

I didn't draw the dragons, I just compiled them, and drew the rest by copying/painting. I used these three dragon images:
Red Dragon (http://snimki.animes-bg.com/data/media/9/Dragon2.jpg) - by Paul Jaguays
Black Dragon (http://tn3-2.deviantart.com/fs10/300W/f/2006/325/6/2/king_black_dragon_by_Midnight_Lonesome.jpg) - Someones Avatar in a Polish(?) Dragon RPG (http://dragonrpg.mojeforum.net/-vp5927.html) (I think...)
Gold Dragon (http://www.ffoundation.com.tw/bu_data/commercial/dragon_12.jpg) - From Fantasy Foundation (http://www.ffoundation.com.tw/modules/news/article.php?storyid=137), a site about Fantasy, from Taiwan.

I used this image (http://www.draconian.com/body/wing.jpg) as reference when I needed to complete the red dragons wings.
Also used some cloud/lightning images I found through Google.

IMHO the gold dragon should be bigger than the others to emphasize its power. Just my opinion, no more.

I have a request for a wallpaper. I think a battle scene between Valin Phanuel and Rosier the Fallen would be great. If you read their pedia entries, especially Rosier's, you will hopefully see what I mean. :D

i think one thing we all can agree is that all the pictures have genuine ffh2 "feeling" to them, and thats the main point to me at least. whether the art actually falls into category of pure self-drawn unique art, is a question of skill, time and will. unless you have all those three, you cant make "perfect" ffh2 pictures, and not everyone can afford all those but nevertheless they still want to contribute.
Which is what it all boils down to...and since the project is primarily supported by volunteers, it also entails that respect is shown to those who contribute anything to the world being created - even when their particular (artistic) style is not what you may like.

At least everyone should have the courtesy to keep those opinions to themselves if they do not like something. ;)

Besides, I am contributing images that are my own creation.



I would simply like to see more stuff directly connected with the game...thats why i preferred the ingame movie over your slightshow.
Nothing wrong with liking one or the other... ;) but I am scratching my head over the logic and reasoning behind your preference.

In the realm of online Modwork - whatever the game - unfortunately there is always a lot of 'borrowing' going on. And the groundrules of FfH are not any different, so I merely worked off of what was given to me and presented artwork in the slideshow that is actually within the game. So forgive me if I do find the above statement a little petty and ironic.

Oh well, can't please everyone. But I am happy with it, and if the fanbase likes it, I'll keep doing it.

Perhaps if I were paid... :lol:

Which is what it all boils down to...and since the project is primarily supported by volunteers, it also entails that respect is shown to those who contribute anything to the world being created - even when their particular (artistic) style is not what you may like.

At least everyone should have the courtesy to keep those opinions to themselves if they do not like something. ;)

Besides, I am contributing images that are my own creation.




Nothing wrong with liking one or the other... ;) but I am scratching my head over the logic and reasoning behind your preference.

In the realm of online Modwork - whatever the game - unfortunately there is always a lot of 'borrowing' going on. And the groundrules of FfH are not any different, so I merely worked off of what was given to me and presented artwork in the slideshow that is actually within the game. So forgive me if I do find the above statement a little petty and ironic.

Oh well, can't please everyone. But I am happy with it, and if the fanbase likes it, I'll keep doing it.

Perhaps if I were paid... :lol:


I think you missed my points.

And, well no one of us gets paid ;)

Here's some original artwork FfHII desktops for seZereth...

...and this.

I think you missed my points.
Let's see...

- I do understand your desire for artwork that is not pulled from other sources...
- I'm using artwork that is actually in the game for the video. (leader pics)
- I am also creating artwork that is consistent with the themes of the world and that is not being pulled from other games or even other fan-created art. I also know from personal past experience with you of your penchant to be somewhat critical if an artistic style does not match up with your own preferred style, which is based solely on a personal like/dislike.

My postings on this topic reflects this request to you - if a fan posts artwork that you do not personally like, do not question their time spent playing the game as a not-too-subtle attempt to be funny or cute, and at the expense of the person who put their personal time into creating that artwork, even if the source of the artwork is not original. Because the game iself uses non-original artwork - and there is plenty of room at the table for people to provide their own visual interpretation of that world.

Simply keep your comment to yourself. And to give you credit, you do make the effort to praise what you do like.

Or post a general request for non-borrowed fan art that is not directed at a specific person.

Is it Roland? :)

Nah, as far as I know Rabbit has never played FfH. But I may be wrong.

Please give others the benifit of the doubt in their posts, sometimes its hard to tell a persons meaning through a internet forum but we all know seZ is a great guy who works hard to make the mod look at nice as possible. I will agree that seZ's initial post did sound a bit harsh, but I don't think that was his intent.

Rabbit needs to play the Kurios to see how cool the Centaurs are and how disapointing when they upgrade to chariots.:p

Please give others the benifit of the doubt in their posts, sometimes its hard to tell a persons meaning through a internet forum but we all know seZ is a great guy who works hard to make the mod look at nice as possible. I will agree that seZ's initial post did sound a bit harsh, but I don't think that was his intent.
Yeah, I took it as a criticism...Sorry if I did seZ. I'm just looking at it from the viewpoint that I am using the ingame art as it stands now. :crazyeye: so I was a bit confused by the comments.

There is no original 2d art in FfH (except for a few very basic leader flags).

Let me guess...Bannor?

And, speaking of flags, what's with using Aleph for the Grigori? I can see the Aleph-Luchuirp connection (Golems) but Aleph--one of the most mystical characters in the Hebrew language--as the standard for the "Forsakers of the Gods?" What's up with that?

And couldn't we do better than a chesspiece for Hippus' flag? Give us the whole horse, man!

Ljosalfar and Malakim: I think your flags should be a little more complicated. Seriously, I don't think there's enough going on there...

Elohim. Ok, the owl is pretty awesome.

I think the Amurites must've all been busy with arcane research or something on the day flag submissions were due. Is this supposed to be some kind of Rorshach test?

What, do you have to be evil to get a decent flag in this game?

:joke:

Yeah, I took it as a criticism...Sorry if I did seZ. I'm just looking at it from the viewpoint that I am using the ingame art as it stands now. :crazyeye: so I was a bit confused by the comments.

That was when i said You did not get the point, I did not want to criticize you, not your style, not your decision to use Art from the game.
I was really interested in how long people play it, before they want to contribute (I also have personal past experience with you :)), just out of curiosity, which went into the right direction.

I do appreciate every sort of Fan work, i would like to see even more!!!!!
And I hope you continue your work.

Sorry for disturbing the nice atmosphere with a strange comment. I`ve definitely learned something :)

Now everyone get back to fun! :)

OK :goodjob:

There is no original 2d art in FfH (except for a few very basic leader flags).

Where is the Order symbol from? I really like its design (especially in Miloe's wallpaper with the fire under it)

IMHO the gold dragon should be bigger than the others to emphasize its power. Just my opinion, no more.

Maybe, I didn't think of it that way but you may be right. I was trying to make the black and the Golden Dragon take the same amount of space, while also considering the golden ratio with their positions and scale.

And did everyone else miss my Cult of the Dragon wallpaper? I want more comments on it.

And did everyone else miss my Cult of the Dragon wallpaper? I want more comments on it.

i like it very much. the positioning of the objects are perfect.

constructive critisism: the transition between blue sky and black sky could be little more smoother, just to reduce the contrast between left and right side of the image :)

i like it very much. the positioning of the objects are perfect.

constructive critisism: the transition between blue sky and black sky could be little more smoother, just to reduce the contrast between left and right side of the image :)

Yeah I know, I'm not totally satisfied with it either. I did smooth it some since it was a total sharp border before.

I'm maybe a bit offtopic because the interrogation is not on this page :D but I have played the mod. I already said that I don't have time to play it often (maybe a game each month (and those last month it was more a game each 2 month with my school, job, girlfriend and all ;) ) but I take the time to play sometimes.

Here is a pic I grabbed from the main thread about the time Fire was released. Unfortunately, I do not remember the artist.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that picture. C.Roland put it together.

Hopefully C. Roland won't mind that I dressed this pic up a bit...

That looks cool.

Hopefully C. Roland won't mind that I dressed this pic up a bit...

No problem ;)

Another desktop for the collection...

One more for today...

One more for today...

Ask any of the team...that's my favorite! :wow: and :drool:

Yeah nice one :)

Ask any of the team...that's my favorite! :wow: and :drool:

Even without the goth music?

Even without the goth music?

I have that on my iTunes already. ;)

I have that on my iTunes already. ;)
:goodjob:
...i do too ;)

So you are into psychotic, bloodsucking girls... :lol:

Here is an original creation of mine for the FfHII universe.

...another original creation if you like clean and simple imagery.

...the last original one for today.

I like that last one :goodjob:

Yup, me too.

Ask any of the team...that's my favorite! :wow: and :drool:

Here's what you said over a year ago, before we had version 1.0 out:

One thing worth mentioning....Alexis is seriously hot. And her music is super smokin! :drool:

Here's what you said over a year ago, before we had version 1.0 out:

That's funny. I couldn't remember exactly what I said.

I'm no artist and even if I was I'm going on a Eurotrip in a few days \o/ but have you considered doing a wallpaper of the Tower of Complacency or the Tower of Necromancy or something cool like that? That one of the towers/castle with mountains in the background inspired this thought btw.

I'm jealous hexagonian. I can't even draw a stick man.

...have you considered doing a wallpaper of the Tower of Necromancy or something cool like that...
Not exactly a tower, more like a gate... ;)

Home of the Infernals.

I'm jealous hexagonian. I can't even draw a stick man.

Photoshop makes drawing and compositioning extremely easy, you just need patience and creativity.
But, well,... I think thats why it is so expensive, but if you are a student, its effortable.

nice pics hex.

Or if you are poor (like me!) you can always get GIMP. It's not as powerful as photoshop, but it's free!

...another original creation if you like clean and simple imagery.

I like this one very much, it's very suggestive for the "Fall" part in the mod's name, and the fiery wings are great. Reminds me of the opening sequences in Myst. Though... those legs look kind of goofy.

Anyone making wallpapers for widescreen? Just got that nice shiny Samsung SyncMaster 226BW, and thought it could use a nice wallpaper ^^.

For those not used to widescreens: it has 8/5 dimensions instead of the usual 4/3. So the best wallpaper size for me would be 1680x1050.

What does 226BW stand for? I'm still using a 19" CRT monitor.

Anyone making wallpapers for widescreen?
If you have some sort of photo manipulation program (like photoshop) you can easily edit the size of the images.

This morning's offering...

Hex did you see my pm about the website art?

226 BW stands for a 22" widescreen TFT. Widescreen meaning 16:10 instead of 4:3 size.

Essentially it comes down to the equivalent of a 20" standard TFT with a 3" longer baseline. Very handy if you try to compare two documents in WinMerge or such. A reaction time of 2ms and a dynamic contrast of 3000:1 doesn't hurt your eyes either. ;)

I am on a freakin' ROLL!!! :D

heres Meshabber of Dis from me :)

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/Meshabber_of_Dis.jpg

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/Meshabber_of_Dis.jpg

That is really sweet!

I wish i had an operating system that allowed me to have a rotating desktop :(

I just downloaded this:
http://www.download.com/Automatic-Wallpaper-Changer/3000-2336_4-10658260.html?tag=lst-0-4

Gonna try out all these wallpapers now! :)

Today's offering...

(actually I have a total of 3 done today, but I'm going to save them 'til later)

hexagonian,

I love your work as usual. Can you title the art so we understand your vision?

Have fun, :) :) :)

Can you title the art so we understand your vision?
Titles...hmmm, haven't really thought about that yet.
But here goes.

Ruined Temple

Strafing Run

Biting Off More Than We Can Chew

edit: removed helmet.

Heh i thought your art was fine without the titles.

Btw in that last one the firey guy's helmet seems a little bit off.

pheow after gallons of blood, sweat and tears this came out. heres falamar and hannah the irin posing for a picture :)

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/Falamar_Hannah.jpg

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/113337/Falamar_Hannah.jpg

Hannah in a good mood? :)

Hannah in a good mood? :)

yeah she just picked up new pearl collar from a kuriositate tailor but shes trying not to grin in the pic :D

Jewel of the Malakim

On a freakin' roll, pt 2...

The Raiders

Could some more of Hexagonian's wallpapers get linked in the first post? They're so good i hate having to search through the thread to find them.

any thoughts on my lanun pic? it took me a week to make so its kinda discouraging when no one wants to share their opinion about it :(

i dont know if i should maybe make more or give it a rest for awhile

any thoughts on my lanun pic? it took me a week to make so its kinda discouraging when no one wants to share their opinion about it :(

i dont know if i should maybe make more or give it a rest for awhile

I like it a lot, their faces are a bit chubby in a weird way though.

I liked your keelyn and AV ones better personally.

They just do not seem as rulers of a powerful nation, more like kids.

So you are into psychotic, bloodsucking girls... :lol:

Let's try to avoid being redundant. Mmkay?

;)
-Qes

And did everyone else miss my Cult of the Dragon wallpaper? I want more comments on it.
I'm actually using that one - and since I very, very rarely use something other than photographs (i.e. of my girlfriend) this is a big compliment! :P

I also love Hexagonians wallpapers and thin Miloes are great artistically!

I'm actually using that one - and since I very, very rarely use something other than photographs (i.e. of my girlfriend) this is a big compliment! :P

I also love Hexagonians wallpapers and thin Miloes are great artistically!

Im thinking of touching that Wallpaper up a bit, any suggestions?

_Valis;5505321']They just do not seem as rulers of a powerful nation, more like kids.

From reading Hannah the Irin's pedia entry, I imagine her as a bratty teenager.

shouldnt kael add all the walpapers in the thread to the first post?

I'd prefer him to be busy with other stuff :p

Im actually probably going to move them all out to the website when I get a little time.

someone could create somekind of section for FFH2 fan-art where people could upload their art. they dont necesserily have to be wallpapers because i think calling them wallpapers adds certain restrictions to artistic freedom, like people and structures already have certain predefined look.

someone could create somekind of section for FFH2 fan-art where people could upload their art. they dont necesserily have to be wallpapers because i think calling them wallpapers adds certain restrictions to artistic freedom, like people and structures already have certain predefined look.

good idea actually

Strafing Run

Art request! ;)

Could you make the black dragon look more bad-ass? Also maybe the fire could spread a bit more and perhaps there could be innocent elves or someone underneath?

any thoughts on my lanun pic? it took me a week to make so its kinda discouraging when no one wants to share their opinion about it :(

i dont know if i should maybe make more or give it a rest for awhile

Is Falamar wearing an eyepatch that isn't actually covering his eye?

The only thing is that F and H look different to the in game pix but those ones grew on me after a few seconds.

Inspired by the discussion in the 'Tower of Mastery' thread.

Ascension

That is really cool. :cool: New desktop.

wow.. your my hero lol

wow.. your my hero lol

:confused: :confused:

:confused: :confused:

that was to hexagonian (for the professional photoshoping)

Where is the Order symbol from? I really like its design (especially in Miloe's wallpaper with the fire under it)

I repeat my question :P

I repeat my question :P

Its the symbol of Tempus from the Forgotten Realms.

Valley of the Balseraphs

I think you are starting to overuse that light from/towards the sky.

The cliffs are lacking some kind of Jester or Acrobat dancing on them, making saltos, etc. Only a black profile exposed by the moonlight.

Oh, and a cow flying over the city :D
;)

You're fond of your minarets, huh? :lol:

Although they do make good mage towers, I'll agree.

Inspired by the discussion in the 'Tower of Mastery' thread.

Ascension

OK - seeing this reminds me of an old (and awesome) scenario that came with the "fantastic worlds" expansion pack for Civ 2. This was the single most fun bit of gaming I ever had (till now).

There were floating ISLANDS in the "Tragic history of midgaard" and I messed with the units and modded it almost more than i played it. It was grand.

Now that i've seen your floating islands graphic - ..i... i wants them.

We must have them!

I'm not sure how it could ever be implemented - perhaps only in the scenario phases - or such. But floating islands, reachable only by air units would be grand.

Of course.... we'd have to get air units first. <Sigh>
-Qes

Now that i've seen your floating islands graphic - ..i... i wants them. We must have them!
Glad you liked it...it's probably my favorite pic so far...

Today's offering...from the 'Wonders' movie thread
Network of the Eyes and Ears

Glad you liked it...it's probably my favorite pic so far...

Today's offering...from the 'Wonders' movie thread
Network of the Eyes and Ears

It appears grainy - is that on purpose? or the fault of my computer?
-Qes

I've been working on some future images for 'Ice' - here is one of them...

Orthus

Pulled from the ingame sprite art thread...
Buboes

Hexagonian, could i suggest to make Orthus face a bit more evil, actually he seems to me too much a good guy ;) except for the bleeding axe.

Pulled from the ingame sprite art thread...
Buboes
Nice! I'm really liking my collection of FfH wallpapers that my desktop cycles through randomly...

Hexagonian, could i suggest to make Orthus face a bit more evil, actually he seems to me too much a good guy except for the bleeding axe.

Hmm, kind of reminds me of that hybrid alien baby from Alien: Resurrection. It has soft, almost cute, eyes, but will bite your head off in a second.

to be true i dont like orthus as he is right now, w have two images of orthus, the one popping up when he enters the world and the one with his skull helmet as a unit model in game.
Yours looks a bit like Jonas, not like the Orthus I have the impression to be in the game. But its just my thought :)
I like the Buboes so :)

I'm getting no love with my 1440x900 resolution...

I'm getting no love with my 1440x900 resolution...

I have the same on my laptop :)
I will create one when Buboes is actually finished, using this resolution :)

How about some good guys? :) Like a Crusader killing a Infernal or barb.

Hexagonian, could i suggest to make Orthus face a bit more evil, actually he seems to me too much a good guy ;) except for the bleeding axe.
I did some revisons on the face...see the original post for the new file

I have the same on my laptop :)
I will create one when Buboes is actually finished, using this resolution :)

Cool. I'd prefer either Ruined Temple or Valley of the Balseraphs, but anything is fine really. :)

How about some good guys?
OK, here's one...
Mercurian Warlord

And I'll add some Age of Ice desktops...

Mulcan Victorious

Kylorin Casting

OK, here's one...
Mercurian Warlord

Cool. Thanks. :D

Priestess of the Calabim

Very nice. I'm glad your back to making these, I missed getting new ones for most of July. (I know, it sounds selfish, but I like it when you do work for our enjoyment)

Priestess of the Calabim

That one is impressive :) well chosen colours here

P.S:

here is a wallpaper for all those 16:9 1440x900 laptops :)
http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/4563/bubosfinish2ln2.th.jpg (http://img170.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bubosfinish2ln2.jpg)

The text is a nice touch. ;)

Malakim Adept

Wow, the Calabim priestess is really wicked and hot ;)
I like her!

Another psychotic female leader for the collection...

Os-Gabella

she seems quite nice for a psycho, evil, man-hater...

I'm playing her right now and getting my butt kicked Maybe she doesn't like the idea of a guy taking on her character. :lol:

she seems quite nice for a psycho, evil, man-hater...
You tell her that as she rams the sword she's holding into your guts... ;)

Hannah

lol :)

but she still looks more a good-paladin avancing slowly into the dark against some vilain demonic tree hugger ;)

and hannah's a beauty !!!
I can really imagine her at her rightful place in FFH lore
bravo..

I like how you have managed to put a hint of age-old wisdom in Os-Gabella's relatively young and beautiful face. At least, in my opinion that's what it looks like. :)

I'm using the original leader pics as my jumping off point.

At least to try to come up with something close, without blatantly copying them.

I will raise this question though...since my recent leader pics are falling in the realm of original art (as opposed to the ones in the game), is there any fan interest to start using my stuff as the actual ingame leader pic art? (Since one of the goals is to have all original artwork)

Just wondering...it would be Kael's call though.

Capria

Personally, I dont favor using real life pictures of people in FfH. Id rather it looked more like a painting than a person. The problem is that there is no other photo quality work in the mod and the use of it in a single place is somewhat jarring and out of place.

Secondly the use of real people detracts from the fantasy aspect and always looks like larpers (live action role players) rather than real fantasy characters.

I think work can be done to make real backgrounds match the artistic theme, and you have some amazing examples of that. But not the people. For those I am more partial to works like seZ's Buboes and Epona/Belenus/Caerbulin wallpapers that match the games art design more closely.

Thats just my opinion, Im interested to hear others.

I'm using the original leader pics as my jumping off point.

At least to try to come up with something close, without blatantly copying them.

I will raise this question though...since my recent leader pics are falling in the realm of original art (as opposed to the ones in the game), is there any fan interest to start using my stuff as the actual ingame leader pic art? (Since one of the goals is to have all original artwork)

Just wondering...it would be Kael's call though.

Capria

So, you or your company owns the rights of your base images? or is there a regulation how much you have to alter an image until you can consider it not copyrighted any more?

So, you or your company owns the rights of your base images? or is there a regulation how much you have to alter an image until you can consider it not copyrighted any more?

Incidently, according to copywirght law, there is no amont of modification that will ever make a copywrighted work non-copywrighted.

I've had a lot of free time lately at work, so usually when that happens, I go on an art binge. It keeps me busy, and it allows me to finetune my photoshopping skills. When I work, about 50% of my job is photoshop-related.

If you have been following my work, you may note that my skills have progressed, because I'm doing a lot of experimenting.

At least, I think they have progressed.


So, you or your company owns the rights of your base images? or is there a regulation how much you have to alter an image until you can consider it not copyrighted any more?
I'll repeat what I said in the video thread... ;)

I assemble my own compositions. I do depend on online images, as well as as images that I have inhouse at my job - as well as my own personal collection of created images to build these compositions. I will use multiple images (sometimes 6-8 separate images...sometimes only a small piece of an image too), layered to create a final image that is totally distinct from the originals.

A final picture of mine may contain a cliff from one pic, a rock from another pic, a tower from another pic, a building from another pic, and so on. A single building may be cobbled together from 2-3 pics, it may be darkened, color-altered, obscured by fog or clouds...the figures may include several body parts.

The question may still come up...is that original, or infringement?

In the strictest sense of the word, yes, it is infringement, as pointed out by Kael.

My thoughts on this...

When I studied art in college, one of the mediums we used and learned about was collage. (cutting apart and taking images out of magazines to merge them into a new, distinct image - you may have done this in elementary school...) In the world of art, it is considered a valid means of creation too. What I am doing now via photoshop is not any different.

Here is the crux though...I think that collage is accepted as legit mainly because elements within a collage are normally altered to the point where they are not recognizable from their original intent and use. And this is what I try to do with my creations - because every item that I do use is heavily altered in photoshop.

I want to emphasize that last statement.

We all agree that to create strictly 'original' artwork for ffh2 is a good goal, but it is also probably out of reach. I'd like to wait for the rest of the art team to provide me with leader and unit images, but I realize that they all have lives to live, real-life jobs to do, and there is a vast amount of work to be done in other areas of the game.

So I do what I can with the skills I have, for the enjoyment of the fanbase...

I could set up all my images with original landscapes/buildings/figures that I create in Photoshop completely from scratch (drawing all the images by hand), but it would take me months, if not years to do so.

Doing it via the 'collage method' takes me anywhere from 1/4 to 2 hours per image for most of them.

ok, but thats not the point :) you wanted to replace it with original art, but with yours we would strictly speaking still not be copyright legal. In this case I prefer using the leaderheads everyone is used to (and to be true they are amazing as they are).
And suggest you spend your skills on the rest of the stuff which needs to be done anyway, like ice phase images or more elaborate wondermovies. my best friend after seeing the wondermovies for example told me i should do movies where you see thousands of slaves building the wonder and not only an abstract picture of something. well i said, thats not my part :)
So, you see, your skills could be needed elsewhere. I suggest not tackling leaderheads, but improving movies. because thats what i think you can do best. movies :) nobody else of the team can do that and it could add tons of atmosphere if improved.
Hope you don´t misunderstand me again :)

Personally, I dont favor using real life pictures of people in FfH. Id rather it looked more like a painting than a person. The problem is that there is no other photo quality work in the mod and the use of it in a single place is somewhat jarring and out of place.

Secondly the use of real people detracts from the fantasy aspect and always looks like larpers (live action role players) rather than real fantasy characters.

I think work can be done to make real backgrounds match the artistic theme, and you have some amazing examples of that. But not the people. For those I am more partial to works like seZ's Buboes and Epona/Belenus/Caerbulin wallpapers that match the games art design more closely.

Thats just my opinion, Im interested to hear others.


I totally agree with this statement.
Personally i find the actual painting of leaderheads far superior even to 3d portraits or other art representation.The leader paintings give a lot more personality to them than other form of arts.I actually like a lot more these FfH2 leader paintings than the 3d leaderheads which are in vanilla.
I also agree that movie, wallpaper, units should match closely art design....it gives definitely more flavour.

I like the smile on Capria's face. The background makes me think of a basilica.

I must admit I like the original leaderheads and they have grown on me. However, uniformity in style would be best in the long run. I'm not sure whether they should be like the the movie images or renderings of the in game units yet.

And suggest you spend your skills on the rest of the stuff which needs to be done anyway, like ice phase images or more elaborate wondermovies.
Which is what I have been doing lately. But at this point of time, there is little info for me to go on. (Not that I can expect things to be fleshed out at this stage either)

I've already worked up base backgrounds for all of the planned 'Ice' videos.

So lately, I've been creating 'people' images. They do not have to be specific leaders either - (though I have been creating them for that possibility...thus they are being introduced that way in the desktops I post.) Since the leaderpics are established in everyone's minds, using my pics in other contexts should not be an issue.

As for the photo-realism approach, that is a minor issue, because creating them in a photo-realisic setup gives me a lot more flexibility to alter the style (through photoshop art filters) once the figure is finalized.

I am also trying to set up these 'people/leader' pics for the primary use of the videos.

However...The one issue I do see has to do with the possible planned usege of our current set of leaders in the videos...and I'm going to try to look at this from the viewpoint of the artist who originally created the art we use.

Remember this...every time every time we remove the current leaderhead pics from the original background, (and cutting it into an 'Ice' or desktop-intended background), or crop it, we may be further bastardizing the intent of the artist. This becomes especially messy if the figure used is instantly recognizable from it's original context. Please note the italicized bolded type because it is the main issue for me.

This is what I am trying to move away from for the 'Ice' stage.

To be honest, this is something that I did for the ffh2 videos...but in the same vein, using a ten-second clip of a copyrighted music track in ffh2 is the same exact thing. The track is being cut apart and used in a context that may not have been intended by the artist.



...my best friend after seeing the wondermovies for example told me i should do movies where you see thousands of slaves building the wonder and not only an abstract picture of something. well i said, thats not my part :)
What I provided for the wondermovies was a simple solution to add some atmosphere that the game was lacking at that point in time - with the skillsets I have at my disposal.

I hope you do not misunderstand me on the following statement...I'm not trying to offend with it, but to clarify where I stand. ;)

Unfortunately, I'm not inclined to start learning to create straight animation through 3-d rendering (like the programs you use for your units), or a cell-by-cell rendering technique. I do not have the interest, or the programs themselves, or even the money to invest in those programs.

I provide artwork for the Mod mainly because I enjoy the programs I use (as well as it sharpens my skills for my actual job), as well as the process. For volunteer work of this nature, once it becomes work, then it's time to move on. And if you want to kick some money my way, then perhaps I will decide to explore 3-d rendering. :lol:

So it can be your part if you want to do it...and I am not going to stop you either. Or if anyone else has the talent or time, or desire (see if your friend would be willing to learn how to do it...), they can jump in and join the team and create those types of images.



In this case I prefer using the leaderheads everyone is used to (and to be true they are amazing as they are).
I do not have a problem with the continued use of the existing artwork - (but some of the pics are also very pixelated/muddy).

I merely brought up the possibility if the team wanted to move into a different direction as the game continues to evolve. And if so, I would be willing to pursue it in the format that I am using for all the artwork I create for the team.

As games evolve, everything about them usually evolves, including artwork - and there is nothing wrong with that. (Look at the difference between civ3 and civ4.)



ok, but thats not the point :) you wanted to replace it with original art, but with yours we would strictly speaking still not be copyright legal.
There still seems to be a lot of concern about copyright and infringement on your part, as you have brought this topic up multiple times (...third time's the charm I'm hoping...).

Again, I hope you do not misunderstand me on the following statements...

Realize this...this issue of copyright legality crosses into everything I do for the team...So I really need to clarify what is expected from me by the ENTIRE team.

1. Understanding the team's desire to create 'totally' original artwork for the game and...
2. Giving full disclosure about how I create my artwork (see my last post)...
3. which may include images done through an online search...(do an online image search for anything and be amazed how many items come up - it's in the millions for many subjects)
4. and limited to photos that do not have a copyright tagline...
5. which does not include any existing game or fantasy artwork...
6. and if ANY image is used, it is heavily altered by me, to the point of non-recognition...

I am asking point blank...'Is my approach acceptable for the 'Ice' stage of the game?'

If so, great. I thoroughly enjoy what I am doing for the team.

And if so, I am also going to ask Sez very nicely not to continue bringing this particular issue up... ;)

Today's offering...
Ljosalfar Huntress
or Thessa

Take your pick ;)

Sept 5 EDIT 1..softened facial features

I am asking point blank...'Is my approach acceptable for the 'Ice' stage of the game?'

Yes! Although I would love to be copywright legal on everything, there is absolutly no mandate that art has to be copywright legal for FfH2. Quality trumps copywright in my opinion. And we have a ton of copywrighted material in FfH2 that isn't goign anywhere anytime soon.

So don't stress copywrights Hex. As much as we might love to have FfH2 be all legal, it isn't going to happen anytime soon.

My concern is more with style. You do amazing work, but its all about finding a way to make everything seem consistent rather than having a mix of very cool work that clashes with each other. My favorite screens of yours continue to be the ones without leaders. We use the work of Brom, Justin Sweet and other fantasy masters for leaderheads and I dont think we can do justice to their work by remaking them. The result is bound to be dissapointing just because they are so good.

You are correct about the Ice slides, we have a ways to go before we have real specifics on them. I love that you are tweaking and working on concepts for them though, its all great stuff.

Priestess of the Calabim

River Tam? :hmm:

as it seems i am not able to convey my views in a way that you understand what i want to express, perhaps its the lack of english skills or whatever :)
You are completely right, i will not bring this topic up again, just let me do a final statement on this particular one, as it might be good for your future ffh art:

Originally Posted by seZereth View Post
...my best friend after seeing the wondermovies for example told me i should do movies where you see thousands of slaves building the wonder and not only an abstract picture of something. well i said, thats not my part
What I provided for the wondermovies was a simple solution to add some atmosphere that the game was lacking at that point in time - with the skillsets I have at my disposal.

Originally Posted by hexagonian
I hope you do not misunderstand me on the following statement...I'm not trying to offend with it, but to clarify where I stand.

Unfortunately, I'm not inclined to start learning to create straight animation through 3-d rendering (like the programs you use for your units), or a cell-by-cell rendering technique. I do not have the interest, or the programs themselves, or even the money to invest in those programs.

I provide artwork for the Mod mainly because I enjoy the programs I use (as well as it sharpens my skills for my actual job), as well as the process. For volunteer work of this nature, once it becomes work, then it's time to move on. And if you want to kick some money my way, then perhaps I will decide to explore 3-d rendering.

So it can be your part if you want to do it...and I am not going to stop you either. Or if anyone else has the talent or time, or desire (see if your friend would be willing to learn how to do it...), they can jump in and join the team and create those types of images.

I was not talking about any kind of 3D or animation (while Blender3D is still a free program ;)). With your technique, i thought, it would be very easy, to get a pic from somewhere with workers, which you can then mix with a pic of the wonder in a half finished form and after that the wonder is finished in the next slide and it shines or whatever. you see, no need for a 3D program, just use your technique to make the wonders a bit more "wonderlike".

And use whatever you like, like Kael said, we will not be copyright legal on the 2D side for a long time, anyway.

cheers

So don't stress copywrights Hex. As much as we might love to have FfH2 be all legal, it isn't going to happen anytime soon.
Thank you for saying that (publicly too). Now let's never speak of copyright again... :lol:

No offense taken SeZ. I just wanted to clarify my viewpoint too... ;)

Your stated goal was to have original artwork for the game, so I am also working toward that goal.

I consider my stuff original because of the care, groundrules, and methods I am now using to create my final images for the 'Ice' phase. You may have a different opinion of that, but since Kael does not have a problem with how I arrive at my final product, I hope this issue can now be tabled.

As for the wondermovies, I created the wonder movies with a template, limiting the images to one per wonder, to keep down the number of pics I needed. All told, there were about 80 clips (wonders and palaces) I created, (hopefully all will make their way into the game eventually). With your proposed setup, I would also need 80 additional images of half-built wonders (and those would be a lot harder to find and create), as well as a variety of worker pics, that would also have to visually tie all the videos together in a consistent style.

Personally, I also wanted them short and to the point. The longer the video, the greater the urge to click out of it after a few plays.



My concern is more with style. You do amazing work, but its all about finding a way to make everything seem consistent rather than having a mix of very cool work that clashes with each other.
Actually this was one of the main reasons I started creating some leaderpics...to try to give the game a consistent overall graphic style.

I see the artwork of the denizens of the game falling into several categories.

1. Unit (sprite) art - It is actually very easy to give the units a consistent look from unit to unit because everyone on the team is using 3-d modelling programs. There is also a lot of margin for discrepancies, because most of the times, those units are not intended to be viewed in zoom-mode while playing the game. Most players will not be viewing them that way too.

And the main limitation with that type of artwork is that the units will look blocky and boxlike when blown up to a large size - thus it does not translate well into other areas. This is not the fault of the artist, but a limitation of the program. It will have a gamesque feel, not the look of Brom or Justin Sweet, who are more along the lines of high fantasy artists.

2. Leader pics - I do like many of the pics, but some of the pics are also poor quality, when held up in comparison to the others. The ones I posted over the last few days are my attempts to tackle the ones I think are the poorest-quality pics.

And I would not take some of the current ones out either...like Faeryl.

Look at the Faeryl pic and compare it to the current Os-Gabella or Thessa pics. Fearyl has an almost photo-realistic, hyper-crisp style, while the Os-Gabella and Thessa pics look very pixelated and blurry. Again, this is not the fault of the artist, but the source where you pulled those images to use in the game.

And actually, I do not want to do all of the leaders because there are so many of them. But I can provide higher quality pics for the ones which are poor quality.

3. Videos - My thought was to try to closely align the videos with the leader pics in a visual style. (Remember that you had me pull several leader pics out of my original video because the image qualities of those leader pics was poor...)

Both image types (videos/leaderpics) appear in the game in a large format that take up a sizable amount of screen real estate, so if those elements have a similar graphic look, it actually does a better job of tying the elements of the game together. And I do think that we will need to have some leader or people pics in the videos to give those videos more personality. It's just that I'm of the opinion that cutting the original leaderpics out of their current backgrounds, as created by the artist, might be something we should try to avoid in the future...to honor the original intent of the artist.

offtopic: Kael, just noticed you are from Ohio. Did you get nailed by the recent flooding? I live in Chicago and we got nailed with rain last night. My neighborhood looks like a bomb went off, with all of the fallen trees.

We still do not have power at home...

Doviello Battlemaster

I like it, but his left arm looks unnatural. Maybe he could hold the axe with both hands.

What is really disturbing are his eyes, they are on his forehead :)

Also I do not think such a weapon would be any good in a fight. The upper axe end should be like a dog catchers 'lasso' or something.

those are the eyes of the wolfskin... I think it looks good.

Great pic for AoI...

I like it, but his left arm looks unnatural. Maybe he could hold the axe with both hands.
Adjusted...see original post. ;)

Lord of the Sheaim

Amelanchier

Aug 30 EDIT 1...adjusted face and facial hair
Aug 31 EDIT 2...sharpened facial features

His nose and chin are aligned... oddly.
And an elf with a moustache? Odd.

Fixed the face on Amelanchier a little more...I've in the process of finetuning many of the desktops, especially the figures. All of them are works in progress.

New image for today...
Varn Gosam

Would it be possible to soften Thessa's facial features?. She is my favorite elf. :)

Valledia the Even

Sept 5 EDIT 1...fixed mouth

Hm, her lips look like they're flowing into each other...
Otherwise nice job as usual!

Would it be possible to soften Thessa's facial features?. She is my favorite elf. :)
Adjusted...and she looks hot! ;)

Hm, her lips look like they're flowing into each other...
Fixed...

Hexagonian...all your artwork looks awesome! When I create my own artwork, I find I use a similar method as you...find images and heavily edit them until they no longer are distinguishable from the original image. Keep up the good work :)

(Do you take requests for other mods? or are you exclusive to FFH2?)

Hexagonian...all your artwork looks awesome! When I create my own artwork, I find I use a similar method as you...find images and heavily edit them until they no longer are distinguishable from the original image. Keep up the good work :)

(Do you take requests for other mods? or are you exclusive to FFH2?)
I'm open to it. Though it depends on the quantity of items you want...and I do need to take a look at what you have going on in your Modwork, to see what I can offer to it.

PM me with some details too...what specifics you want, that sort of thing.

Right now I'm somewhat in a holding pattern for new ffh2 stuff. Most of the future work I do will be tied into the 'Ice' phase, which is only in the early planning stages.

So there really isn't too much I can do until I get more concrete details from the team.

The batch of ffh2 desktops are really for setting up some groundwork for potential backgrounds and figures, which can also find a home elsewhere and in other projects. Photoshop gives me a great deal of flexibility to alter elements. ;)

Your Capria looks ALOT like the girl from "Lost" Can't spell her name but her last name is Lily. Just curious as to if that was inspriation or not.

Evangeline.

Awesome artwork!

*gets blown away*

For anyone that has posted wallpapers here, I'm asking for permission to post these on a myspace page for FFH2. I'll give you credit for them of course. Already have Kael's and Hex's permission so thank you 2..

For anyone that has posted wallpapers here, I'm asking for permission to post these on a myspace page for FFH2. I'll give you credit for them of course. Already have Kael's and Hex's permission so thank you 2..

take from me what you need, only have 1 here and three in the AoI thread, but you have permission to use any kind of image i uploaded if you need.
cheers.

For anyone that has posted wallpapers here, I'm asking for permission to post these on a myspace page for FFH2. I'll give you credit for them of course. Already have Kael's and Hex's permission so thank you 2..

A bit late perhaps but you have my permission to use the one I've posted here.

Sorry for the thread necromancy, but I guess there's plenty of folks who haven't seen this thread anyways.

again, a bit of thread necromancy (i hadnt seen this thread before and was surprised to find such a long one :p)

Hex, i honestly love you leader heads. any chance of you doing some for the WH mod? (ours are all currently really bad :( ) unfortunately there are a lot of them...

Yes, some are reallly nice. Infact, I've saved most for use, and i'm using hte Cult of the Dragon one now.

dude um im not sure who to go to or what to do but could you please, please help me i want to learn how to use mods and make them but i dont know the first things to doing this man please help me

I was wondering if there is any Faeryl Viconia wallpapers floating around?

Hello

I'm looking for the Picture in the Main Interface from ffh2 as wallpaper

I cannot find this

can everyone posting this picture here?

thanks

Hm, okay... So if I may have a wallpaper request... Well four of them actually.

- Hemah
- Duin Halfmorn (a pic of a half-transformed Duin would be nice)
- Mardero
- Rosier battling Valin; I think this had been requested earlier, though I don't remember who requested it

I'm sort of a collectioner of FfH pictures ;)

Are there never to be more FFH wallpapers? :(

I would like to see a Clan of Embers wallpaper.

I used the Amelanchier wallpaper for ages. But, alas, I like calendar wallpapers for notes and reminders but 13 months with one wallpaper is a record for me.

oh hey i think you replied to my post......um.....why?...i was asking if someone know how i can learn to make mods.......

dude um im not sure who to go to or what to do but could you please, please help me i want to learn how to use mods and make them but i dont know the first things to doing this man please help me

oh hey i think you replied to my post......um.....why?...i was asking if someone know how i can learn to make mods.......

Please keep responses to threads on-topic. This thread is for wallpapers.

If you want to learn about modding, try the Creation & Customisation forum (http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=158). There are a couple of stickied threads there that provide some guides on modding.

Beautiful Artwork!

I was wondering if there is any Faeryl Viconia wallpapers floating around?

This is win, and I second it.

May have to use one of those, because those are freaking awesome. Keelyn looks like Michael Jackson though, just saying.