Concept Art Thread

Ascension gates's size would really depend on the player, and logically, bigger size means exponentially bigger energy requirement. I doubt the gate would be as big as on Andry's concept, but many gates would be big enough to allow massive ships to go through.

Also, as you said, Rex, more creative concepts than Stargates would be nice. Gotrol's one is awesome, and from all gate concepts I would stick with his, however from engineering viewpoint making it circular would be a huge bonus (because of the portal/vortex/rip/whateveritis).

Commander Keen wrote:

(because of the portal/vortex/rip/whateveritis).

It's a tear in space-time caused by the black hole in the center of the galaxy, a source of great energy and allowing the physics-defying god machines to work. No particular shape, though, so it can look however people want, including 3D (It isn't technically a tear, it is a fault in the structure in the universe, it generally wont be flat). The ascension gate itself is the means of stabilisation, allowing people to pass through without having their every atom torn apart and obliterated. It is the kind of thing that you sound like a complete strange nerd (AKA The Doctor :P) when you talk about it, that's how immense this thing is!

And one thing I've noticed about quite a few of these concepts is... Well... While they all look great, the actual gate's structure looks a lot like a big boring metal hoop - it doesn't seem to have any sense of great purpose, for something that is channeling a huge amount of energy through a ultra-rare phenomenon in the center of the galaxy to stabilise it. I'd like to see ascension gates with a bit more power, and purpose, if you know what I mean.

Oh, and, reasons the ascension gate should be bigger:

• The tear is powerful and dangerous, the builders of the ascension gate wont want to get right up close to it. As I said earlier, get to close to the unstable tear and you'll get your every atom torn apart and obliterated.
  
• Bigger size allows more people to pass through.
  
• More size allows all this energy to be emitted from the surrounding gate structure more safely.
  
• If this thing is big enough, entire planets could be sent through, meaning less vessels need to be constructed and so less time and resources.
  
• Epic size = Epic occasion. Not really a reason but you see my point with this... Point.

And I managed to make bullet points work properly this time.

And going on what I said about it being 3D, this does mean it doesn't have to be a huge donut - It could be a dyson sphere-ish thing, with a gap in it for entry, like a giant eye.
Or whatever else you could imagine a structure passing incredible energy through a 3D tear (A fault in the structure of the universe, actually. ~The Doctor in my mind) allowing safe passage through (Ascension) would look like.

Artistically wise, it is much more interesting to make ascension something which is frightening and painful to undergo rather than “en-masse” easy happening, at least in the earlier tech stages.

Your first game ascension must be something you will never forget, and something that changes your feel of the game. For that pivotal point it would be interesting to show the creatures discomfort and pain as it undergoes transformation because it is not easy to die.

Maybe for the first couple ascensions we should have a success percentage mechanism, as in, for example, you have a 10% chance to survive ascension and 90% you fail and the creature dies painfully, etc… no? Am I being to sadistic? Stop me if I am =) anyhow…. This is offtopic.

The Uteen wrote:

If this thing is big enough, entire planets could be sent through, meaning less vessels need to be constructed and so less time and resources.

I agree especially on this!

Mine will be a crack on the skin of the universe from doctorwho !!!!!!!!!!!

Gotrol wrote:

Artistically wise, it is much more interesting to make ascension something which is frightening and painful to undergo rather than “en-masse” easy happening, at least in the earlier tech stages.

Your first game ascension must be something you will never forget, and something that changes your feel of the game. For that pivotal point it would be interesting to show the creatures discomfort and pain as it undergoes transformation because it is not easy to die.

Maybe for the first couple ascensions we should have a success percentage mechanism, as in, for example, you have a 10% chance to survive ascension and 90% you fail and the creature dies painfully, etc… no? Am I being to sadistic? Stop me if I am =) anyhow…. This is offtopic.

That's not a bad idea at all, it really makes the player get attached to the Idea.

Gotrol wrote:

Artistically wise, it is much more interesting to make ascension something which is frightening and painful to undergo rather than “en-masse” easy happening, at least in the earlier tech stages.

Your first game ascension must be something you will never forget, and something that changes your feel of the game. For that pivotal point it would be interesting to show the creatures discomfort and pain as it undergoes transformation because it is not easy to die.

Maybe for the first couple ascensions we should have a success percentage mechanism, as in, for example, you have a 10% chance to survive ascension and 90% you fail and the creature dies painfully, etc… no? Am I being to sadistic? Stop me if I am =) anyhow…. This is offtopic.

That is actually a very beautiful depiction of it, though I think we should have a higher chance of successful ascension.

And why does it have to be so big? I mean, artistically speaking, you hit a point where size is no longer awe-inspiring.

Douglas Adams wrote:

Actually, he did not see infinity. Infinity is too large to comprehend, and is therefore flat and uninteresting. What he saw was merely something really, really big.

If it's the size of a very large building, only able to ascened one or two people at a time, (Though still towering over them) then the effect tends to be far more dramatic.

IMHO.

Also, there's only so many things you can do with a free-floating mechanism. There's actually a lot more possablilities for something sitting on the surface of something.

Props for the Adams quote, Rex.

Spoiler:

A creature speedpainting- nothing spectacular, but it thought you might want to see it.

Wow.... That's actually amazing...

Thanks. Facebook and DeviantArt agree with you.

~sciocont wrote:

Thanks. Facebook and DeviantArt agree with you.

Me too.

I don't like the idea of one in ten surviving, that would get annoying, but I agree on the thing about making it big - constructing it would be a huge thing, with all the resources, energy, and time needed. But going through that gate in organism mode is something we really should make our player do. This thing is going to be... At least almost the size of the moon, to safely channel all the energy without creating a huge explosion due to too much energy, and to keep builders a safe distance from the fault. Going through that in organism mode would be huge thing, any ideas why they would need to, though?

I've got it: They need to go through in organism mode because the citizens are all fearful of going through themselves, incase it doesn't work and they die.

Just imagine it:

Ascension

The species would have past experience - the discoverer of the mysterious fault in the structure of space-time would have tried to go through and died - been completely obliterated from existence, every atom torn apart - people would have researched it later on, but that fear of it's power would remain. The player must go into organism mode, and offer to go through themselves. Then, they approach it, alone - no crew would offer to join, they are terrified - and the gate gets bigger, and bigger, becoming a vast disk, they pass through the safety line, the dead zone, the power in the ship dies, due to the effects of all the energy being channeled through the gap, something which also emits incredible amounts of radiation, and with the controls down, there's no turning back. Everything's dead, and silence falls, as the organism drifts towards the huge disk. Light fills the ship as it enters the energy field, and slowly the ship begins to vanish into whiteness. You pass through the gate, and the Thrive theme begins to play.

And after that? I'm leaving that up to you.

I think at ascension, the theme playing again, just like at the start of the game, would really people think of this as the real end of the game, making the player feel how important the occasion is. Inform the music team - the music must be INCREDIBLE!

Please, continue the ascension discussion in the appropriate thread.

Commander Keen wrote:

Please, continue the ascension discussion in the appropriate thread.

QFT

Spore had a dream

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlwhCFLHhAg

ThriveVisitor wrote:

Spore had a dream

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlwhCFLHhAg

And that dream became a nightmare

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVH9Q8M8eaQ

Very nice concept art video there

So heres a lazy throw together of a concept I've been visualizing. Perhaps someone with more graphical skill should take a better approach to the concept, at the moment I'm thinking something like this for box, concept or main menu art :]

Cytokinesis

Spoiler:

Basically the merging galaxies; among the larges things we will come across in Thrive are meant to be symbolic of dividing cells; the smallest things we will come across in Thrive.
But this was a rushed, unpolished job. I may try make it look better but it wont be great which is why I have suggested for someone else who wants to take a more artful approach to it :]

'Tis good stuff, however there is one thing that bothers me. Why are there stars spread on their own at REGULAR density outside the merging galaxies? I'd asume the star saturation would be denser closer to the galaxies and more sparse closer to outer space. Correct me if I am wrong, just trying to put constructive criticism into smth that looks good already =)

Wow, looks great Scio!

Commander Keen wrote:

Wow, looks great Scio!

What is it?

Nature.

Tenebrarum wrote:

Commander Keen wrote:

Wow, looks great Scio!

What is it?

It's a waterfall.

A waterfall, do you think there could be creatures like angle fish in the game?

MassimoV wrote:

A waterfall, do you think there could be creatures like angle fish in the game?

Ooh, you just gave me an idea!

And in my opinion--yes, I do think we should include creatures finding a way around dark places.