Tzeentch Chaos Space Marine

[Footman16]

An interesting idea and the freehand is appreciated. In terms of the quality, the texture overall looks quite flat with 0 shading or highlights. The details are nice, but I feel like there needs to be more blending to make the whole thing feel cohesive and less stark in terms of contrast. There's nice variation in the details and the TC is cool too. In terms of colour choice, it is quite dark so might be hard to see under some circumstances. The theme has been executed well enough although holistically more thought needs to be put into how each part comes together in the final skin. Right now the gun details seem quite random and whilst I like the difference between the armour plates and the exposed sections of wires etc underneath and at the joints, in general the whole thing lacks clarity. I am borderline on this but with some simple shading work this could easily be recommended; but as it is right now, Approved as Useful/Simple.

 

[Misha]

hm.. how many textures have you done from scratch, rather than from a base? Oo

 

[AnyNameYouWish]

An interesting idea and the freehand is appreciated. In terms of the quality, the texture overall looks quite flat with 0 shading or highlights. The details are nice, but I feel like there needs to be more blending to make the whole thing feel cohesive and less stark in terms of contrast. There's nice variation in the details and the TC is cool too. In terms of colour choice, it is quite dark so might be hard to see under some circumstances. The theme has been executed well enough although holistically more thought needs to be put into how each part comes together in the final skin. Right now the gun details seem quite random and whilst I like the difference between the armour plates and the exposed sections of wires etc underneath and at the joints, in general the whole thing lacks clarity. I am borderline on this but with some simple shading work this could easily be recommended; but as it is right now, Approved as Useful/Simple.

I'm curious as to what you mean by shading and highlights because like the majority of the skin was doing that at minute levels, making it so the blue runes look glittering and the wires have dark and light parts that make contours. If you mean the standard Warcraft 3 style shading, yeah this does lack that because this skin is not made for a standard Warcraft 3 setting.

hm.. how many textures have you done from scratch, rather than from a base? Oo

I don't know and I don't care, frankly. If by 'from scratch' you mean a new blank document then none because I need to see where the different parts will map onto the model so I always start with the default skin. I often put down a faint black layer over the original texture and work off of that, I guess that's from scratch.

I don't know why it matters. The dominant attitude on this site seems to assign inherent virtue to techniques like freehand but high ratings are freely awarded to skins that admit they break the 75% freehand rule, like the Flickering Light pack or my Undead Buildings, if they look good enough, or are just assumed to be mostly freehand work even if the moderator doesn't know, like my human-ish Naga siren. Maybe more feedback should be focused on how the skin looks as a piece of art rather than how it fits on a checklist.

 

[Misha]

I'm curious as to what you mean by shading and highlights because like the majority of the skin was doing that at minute levels, making it so the blue runes look glittering and the wires have dark and light parts that make contours. If you mean the standard Warcraft 3 style shading, yeah this does lack that because this skin is not made for a standard Warcraft 3 setting.

I don't know and I don't care, frankly. If by 'from scratch' you mean a new blank document then none because I need to see where the different parts will map onto the model so I always start with the default skin. I often put down a faint black layer over the original texture and work off of that, I guess that's from scratch.

I don't know why it matters. The dominant attitude on this site seems to assign inherent virtue to techniques like freehand but high ratings are freely awarded to skins that admit they break the 75% freehand rule, like the Flickering Light pack or my Undead Buildings, if they look good enough, or are just assumed to be mostly freehand work even if the moderator doesn't know, like my human-ish Naga siren. Maybe more feedback should be focused on how the skin looks as a piece of art rather than how it fits on a checklist.

you are interesting to talk to, because you have my type of.. i'm not sure how its called exactly, but you are forward with your opinions :b however, your texture quality could be more refined. perhaps just with time ^^

 

[Footman16]

I don't know why it matters. The dominant attitude on this site seems to assign inherent virtue to techniques like freehand but high ratings are freely awarded to skins that admit they break the 75% freehand rule, like the Flickering Light pack or my Undead Buildings, if they look good enough,

Yes we assign more value to freehand and artistic works that take time and skill. Flickering Light is freehand, I think your misinterpreting the description where Mr Goblin says there are shared elements between some of the textures but that they are all freehand. Also whilst we accept other artstyles the art itself still has to be "good" (within the bounds of subjectivity) or to a particular standard.

or are just assumed to be mostly freehand work even if the moderator doesn't know, like my human-ish Naga siren. Maybe more feedback should be focused on how the skin looks as a piece of art rather than how it fits on a checklist.

I am one person, I don't have time to investigate every resource unless the description states or it's obvious. So yeah sometimes I make assumptions, all Hive staff operate on a volunteer basis and we dedicate some of our spare time to maintaining the site, it's resources and standards. I'm also inclined to being nice and generous to people. But if you want I can go back and downgrade the rating of the Naga Siren, if it would make you happier.

I do put a lot of effort into some reviews as you can see on the reviews I've left for free-hand pieces of work. However, I will not dedicate the same amount of time for works who's effort comprises of CnP and re-colouring/filtering.

I'm not trying to be harsh here, but to try and make you understand that our rules and standards aren't crazy or outlandish but rather seeking to appeal to a broad audience of artists and modders. I think we can both agree that skill and effort should be rewarded more than other works that take less time, skill or effort.

 

[AnyNameYouWish]

I'm not trying to be harsh here, but to try and make you understand that our rules and standards aren't crazy or outlandish but rather seeking to appeal to a broad audience of artists and modders. I think we can both agree that skill and effort should be rewarded more than other works that take less time, skill or effort.

Taking time, skill and effort clearly does not automatically result in a better finished piece, as you proved in your opinion of my Sorcerer skin. My disagreement with your and the site's guidelines is that 'CnP' textures also take time, effort and skill. If you want to test this, get a freehand artist who only does freehand to try and make a skin like my Necropolis. I bet they will find it rather difficult to make something that looks good. It's not like I just slap pictures on there, there's a lot of adaptation and editing of each element plus the choosing of the elements.

However, I will not dedicate the same amount of time for works who's effort comprises of CnP and re-colouring/filtering.

This, in my opinion, is unfair. You're deciding that certain artistic techniques mean that some skins are worth less of your time, and therefore receive less thorough moderation, regardless of the final result (what people will ultimately see in game) looks like.

I appreciate you're not trying to be harsh, and I'm not trying to be combative either- It's just frustrating that my artistic style seems to be considered by default of lower quality and and worth than others, especially when I've made an effort to try more freehand and push the envelope in what I do. I appreciate the transparency and time you took in answering me, btw. Maybe the skin section should have more moderators. Didn't it used to? It's clearly a big job.

Your rules and standards are not crazy or outlandish, in fact they seem to be the norm among most people in English speaking countries. I just happen to disagree with those norms.