Pet Overhaul

should we have options to buy pets in normal mode and siege mode?

or maybe even in burrowed mode...lol

 

I like it, since the shop needs redone (again) anyways I say go for it. I aalso like the yellow being replaced with a gray frame, less ugly. I liked the Blue frame better than the turquoise though.

 

Turquoise frame looks very nice - blends with the forum style but is still bright enough to be noticed, but the grey is still kind of an eye sore. Perhaps a green similar to the SC:BW wireframes? Or perhaps a desaturated version of the 1st edition color...

Vikings, Tanks, and DTs...DTs have two different models, so making one for each seems like a given. The Viking...meh, I'd prefer to just have ground mode as opposed to two models, but I have a feeling I'm alone on that one. I don't see why Siege Tanks would need two pet options though, might as well keep the siege mode portrait for it.

 

That's perfect. There's a clear distinction between them and they look great. Awesomeness.

And yeah, maybe not for Siege Tanks, but I still reckon there should be separate ones for the Viking. Unless you're able to come up with a solution for it, maybe?

 

Well a solution would be to have the images transition to make it the only animated pet... It could be very slow to avoid being distracting, but I'm also fine with only ground form.

Currently I'm playing around with unit sizes a bit. For example I shrank the drone and probe so they don't take up the whole space to somewhat reflect their relative sizes... I also intend to shrink infantry, zergling, maybe roach and zealot... but I'm not going to go overboard because detail is more important than proportionate sizes.

Kaaraa, I think most people would prefer a desaturated frame for regular pets because what colours look nice is entirely subjective. Hence if someone is in love with green then they wouldn't even consider buying 1st editions. Although it could be argued that that's true for 1st editions as well and that neither of the frames should contain colours... for the time being I'm sticking with the latest variant. Thanks for the input.

here's the tank... I think it's barely recognisable, so I'm open to ideas... plus I'm looking for feedback on the shine on the 1st ed. frames to make them more special:

 

My suggestion would be a bit darker frame for the first editions (similar to the old first editions). Also, while I am not an expert you could try editing the width of the frame in different places to give it some kind of special look.

 

Do you mean put 'knots' in the frame? I kind of like the elegant, clear-cut ones in my previous post, and I think most people would opt for a simple, yet effective frame. It's 1:1 for the colour so for the time being I will use the second frame because the colour transitions liven it up a lot, and further creates contrast to normal frames.

 

Yeah, I prefer the clean-cut frames as well. Having some variation does look good for things like avatar frames and the like, but I don't think it would work for stuff as small as the pets.

As for the shine, it looks great, but you don't want to go overboard with it. For example, I reckon just having the shine in the top-left corner is better than having it at the bottom-right corner as well, because even when there's no pet to look at, it's harder to notice. Just having it in one corner makes for better contrast and therefore makes it more noticeable, which is important when it's not going to end up being the centre of focus.

As for ways to get more feedback, I think simply posting the pets you've done so far would be more beneficial than asking for people's opinions on individual aspects.

 

Since we are talking about icon work I figured I would show you guys what they currently look like in the postbit (and how they are likely as far as arrangements go).

 

Hi Vryth, you must be the person in charge of the new shop. For the icons I'd prefer space between them - see first post on approximations. Secondly, since I reckon a second row is out of the question without looking cramped, could pet display be dynamically extended to as far to the left as possible? As in, with racial icon only ~10 but without it ~12, or something like that.

Saving each and every one of them,then drag&drop them into a single image (because of the 4/post limit) and then arrange them is not too much work for a one-off occasion, but I wanted to get common things like zoom and frame straight to cut down on redundant work. I will create the full list shortly though and probably put it in the first post.

 

If there's a limit on the maximum number of pets, which there obviously would have to be, I'd say it's preferable that the ones displayed and the order they're displayed in should be customisable, if that's possible.

And sorry, I didn't mean you should have to post all of them, but I think showing what would otherwise be the final pet icon would be more beneficial than individually asking about the second edition borders, shine on frames, etc. It doesn't matter if there are only four, or even if there's only one, or maybe two for comparison, but I do think it'll get people more interested than purely discussing technicalities would.

 

Kuvasz the side-by-side setup is one of the two or 3 downsides of the new shop code. I'll take a look tomorrow but I am 99% that there is nothing that can be done to fix it. Also, the number of pets allowed in the postbit can't be dynamicly changed on a user by user basis (and it really can't be dynamicly changed period).

EDIT: I didn't catch your post before making mine Itza but the pets displayed and their order are fully customizable.

 

Is there a fixed value for the dimensions of the icons? If not, is there any problem with the pets actually being a slight rectangle, with a couple of columns on pixels that are the same colour as the background on the left hand side of each icon? It'd look the same as if they were spaced out along the row, but the actual icons would still be right next to each other.

EDIT: Also, on the topic of stuff like this, not that it's to do with the shop, but what are the thoughts on the current faction logos? Personally I prefer the older faction designs, but they are still outdated. Plus, there are some nice high definition ones for the new designs, here and here, whereas a couple of the current logos aren't of that great a quality.

 

That could work here but if the shop has a different background then it'd look fuggly.

I'm creating all the pets that are ready into 1 image so everyone can see them. But I have to go out soon so I'll only post it in about 9 hours' time.

 

Yeah, at the moment they're definitely different. Is there no way that could be changed? It would be worth it if it means the icons don't have to border one another.

 

I'm thinking about creating pets in about 44x38 with a transparent border on each side and see how that turns out.

As for the logos, if we adopted using .pngs everything would be solved. I could also create those if need be.

edit: added collection of pets in first post

 

Is the sixth one Carrier? I don't like it

 

There is 1 unit i can't work out:

the alternate DT model (9th protoss) needs to be improved, i couldn't work it out.
14th zerg pet

 

I know the Lenassa DT is crap... I can't do much about it though. The 14th is a larva, according to... can't remember which site I ripped it off of.

Meee: complain to Blizzard then

 

I still think it's just the angle that makes it look bad