Back to the drawing board

[morton]

I need your help.

So after an attempt at some art I (and im sure others) deemed undeserving of a Lowboy Cabinet, I am back at the drawing board. It plays Classics and SHMUPS on a vertical CRT, and have had a few different ideas in passing, not all arcade related. Be warned I have a penchant for bad word play:

- retro arcade machine... a play on the Nine Inch Nails album 'pretty hate machine',
- To Live and Die in M.A... play on the 1985 classic film 'To Live and Die in LA',
- Jr. First... mash up of Junior Pacman and Juno First.

The first two I have mocked up and think they look pretty good but dont have access to the files ATM... will post later, not good with clouds    The first one I liked because its intentionally minimal, and may integrate with the house better (read: less likely to be hated by picky spouses).

I tried the Junior First a few different ways... always better in my head than in reality. I had kind of a Juno First meets Roadblasters side art drawn with Pacman characters. I had the hardest time conveying the Pac Jr. aspect of the ship... how do you put a propellor hat on a spaceship? 

Having followed many of your threads, its easy to see what does and doesnt work... I know art aint easy which is why I am taking another shot at it, but it seems that spark of creative inspiration is lacking following my earlier thread as seen here:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,154856.0.html?PHPSESSID=0eu3l5dlqttp0b9lpt3bs82111

Next week I plan to begin priming my cabinet and would like to get a start on the art if possible as I will be away from the shop this week. I havent drilled anything yet in my control panel because I am planning on using my art to line up the holes. I have always been a fan of some of the artists Stern works with like Zombie Yeti and such, and find that the Stern art for Scramble and such is very cool, but probably out of my abilities. The colours and such really make them pop and remind me of old pinball backglass. This had me considering a Scramble build with a slightly modified stenciled side art to better suit the Lowboy shape. Its easy to think of stuff... just hard to decide.

tl:dr - I am having trouble coming up with good classics/shmups themed art.

[Malenko]

Just make a pun/parody of an existing game. My Mortal Kombat themed Cab was Mortal Kabinet.

I'd suggest focusing on A game and go from there.

Like DoDonPachi? MoDonPachi!
Like Panzer Dragoon Orta*? Panzer Dragoon Morta!

Or just just make up a fake game name that sounds like a shmup, use this: http://stormoid.com/shmupgen.html
It feel like you're over thinking it.


*I know Panzer Dragoon Orta is a Console rail shooter and not an arcade smhup, just citing a parody example.

[morton]

Thanks Malenko. I value your input. Some of your projects have really inspired me... mainly to build a Toronto Maple Leafs edition 2 on 2 one day 

These are the few I was farting with, just rough drafts, would have to redraw them. I am thinking White or Black T-Mold - it's what I've got on hand. The first one is based off one of my favourite 80's movies. The visual design of the film has become an inspiration for several games that are current, so feel the art has that "retro but still new" kind of vibe (original film credit shots - http://b.cdnv2.artofthetitle.com/assets/sm/upload/ib/0h/lf/xr/tladila_c.jpg ). The colours will definitely need tweaking, as the second one isn't really close to the more Pink and Blue art of the original Pretty Hate Machine album by Nine Inch Nails (http://nothing.nin.net/gif/halo2.gif). I am partial to it because under any other circumstance "retro arcade machine" is an awful name, but that's kind of the beauty of it.





The problem with parody IMO, is that to do it any justice, you gotta truly appreciate the original. And that said, some originals, I just wouldn't mess with. DDP is too serious to take so lightly. Either way, it's cutting T-mold grooves and fine tuning a cabinet door with euro hinges this weekend, so art is still a few weeks away. Measure thrice, think about cutting twice, and maybe get some work done by Sunday 

[Malenko]

Pretty Retro Machine has a nicer ring to it. 

[thomas_surles]

Or just just make up a fake game name that sounds like a shmup,

I plan on making a shmup cab called
Assblaster II: A blast from the Ass