The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Artwork => Topic started by: jfunk on April 05, 2005, 02:29:22 pm
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If you've been following my 'INVADER' threads, you may have noticed that my dad and I actually built 2 UAII cabs.. One for each of us.
Anyways, my dad's great at the building stuff, but doesn't care much for the art aspect. He'd probably be happy with a generic MAME marquee, plain cpo, and no sideart..
However, his birthday is coming up, soon, and since he gave me SOOOO much help with the cabinets, I'd like to at LEAST design him a nice marquee.. Maybe even some sideart...
But, I'm not in the LEAST bit creative.. I'm not one of those who likes 'MAME' or 'CADE' in the cab title.. He probably wouldn't care, though.. Some things to think about:
- Last name: Funk
- Profession: Mechanical Engineering prof, specialty - machine design
- Hobbies: Restoring/Modifying cub cadets (see his not-so-oft updated website: http://www.cubcadetman.com)
He's got quite a game room in his basement, too. 4 arcade games (Frogger, Donkey Kong, OutRun, and SilkWorm), 2 pins (Hi Dolly and Monte Carlo), Air Hockey, Bumper Pool, Paccinco (sp?), and all my bro and my old consoles :)
Anyways, I can't think of much. I'll give it some more thought and post my ideas here. What I'd love is to come up with a creative name, design a marquee, ask him if he likes it, and have it printed for him.. :) I _might_ be able to design the marquee, but just need help getting the creativity part started.
Maybe something mech-sounding.. Hrm...
Any help will be GREATLY appreciated! THANX!
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*sigh* Theme chosen.. Please see below! :)
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Professor of Funk
theres your name of your cab.
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Best.Last Name.Ever.
-Ace-
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Well, I was hoping to avoid the more 'cheesey' names, but..
Been talking with my Mom to get her thoughts on what he'd like. She says he's pretty much decided to go with the theme... wait for it..
FunkyTown
Oh, well.. Not a choice I would've made, but fits him, in an odd way :)
Anyways, now that I've got a 'theme', I guess I need to come up with some art direction.. My only thoughts, as cheesey as it sounds, is sort of a "70s disco" type setup.. Mirror ball.. lights.. classic arcade characters dancing..
No way I could pull that off, though.. Other thoughts? Please? :)
THANX!
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Disco-themed cab art isn't a bad idea, and shouldn't be too hard to pull off well. I'd suggest using Google's image search for "Disco" or maybe even "Funky Town" and see what comes up. Maybe you'll see something that will inspire you.
-Ace-
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http://www.big-club.com/funkytown/70s_night_front01GIFFF.gif
Marquee? Youll need to do somethings to it but its FUNKY TOWN forsure.
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Been talking with my Mom to get her thoughts
::)
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Been talking with my Mom to get her thoughts
::)
Yeah, yeah :P But I'm not going to do all this to surprise him if I'm not even sure he'll want it!!
:)
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http://www.big-club.com/funkytown/70s_night_front01GIFFF.gif
Marquee? Youll need to do somethings to it but its FUNKY TOWN forsure.
LOVE IT! How's this for a marquee idea (beyond my reach, artistically, but I may give it a shot if no one else can help out..?)
Put "Funky Town" across the front in big, colorful, "funky" (*sigh*) letters.. Then, have a mirror ball above it giving off color light beams.. Then, in the background, have colorful silhouettes (like in the linked image) of various arcade characters in dance-like positions.. and maybe some of those fun 70s light squares on the "dance floor".. Thoughts?
And maybe for the side art, a simple, large one-character silhouette under a spotlight in a travolta-like "saturday night fever" pose..?
Man, I wish I had some artistic talent :)
THANX!
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what size marquee do you need? Ill do some work on it im not as good as some of the people on this board but Im at work and need something to do.
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The marquee is
24.5" x 7.25"
but, about 1/2" to 5/8" strips along the top and bottom will be "unusable" because of the marquee retainers..
I've found some pretty good "character poses" in the AAL, but have no time to mess with it right now :( Work and all :( SO THANK YOU!!
Looking forward to seeing what this boards creativity can generate!! It's never failed to amaze me, yet :)
Does the layout I've described seem reasonable/doable/cool?
THANX!
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what charaters were you wanting on there?
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You could use a Simpsons type cabinet with Disco Stu on the marquee!
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Mario would be identifyable:
(http://www.nesretro.com/wallpaper/Super_Mario_&_Nintendo_1280x960.jpg)
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what charaters were you wanting on there?
Well, I'm looking at very 'iconic' figures.. Ones that can be easily identified as the arcade characters they are, even by their silhouette...
Ones I found in the AAL (under character art) that I thought kinda looked the part are:
Donkey Kong
Frogger
Pac-Man
Pengo
Robotron robot
Invader ("electricity-like guy")
Mario (like above)
I like "Disco Stu" but he's not as arcade-y as I want.. I can provide links to the characters I found.. I already dl'd them, but am not sure how to use the ai files in Paint Shop Pro.. :)
Thanx!
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Well, Christmas is coming up, so I've decided to give this another go.. Here's my attempt at some sideart.. This is NOT final draft.. Just a rough idea.. Attached is the image (on white, now, but eventually on black).. Mario is a super-modified Dr. Mario from the AAL :) I'm vectorizing the disco ball (source image attached as well)..
My vectorizing is pretty bad right now. A graphics-designer friend may look at it for me and help me clean it up. But she might not have time, as well.. So, we'll see. I'm pretty happy so far. Just looking for comments :)
THANX!
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Here it is in black.. Hrm.. May have to figure out some way to make the outline stand out.. Also, the poster that's inspiring it :D
Thanx!
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Well, I got no responses about the sideart I'm working on, so either it sucked and y'all are too nice to say anything or it didn't merit comment :) SO, I've decided to post my work-in-progress marquee, as well.. :D I'm not sure where I'm going next with it. I like it but it seems to be missing something. But I don't want to make it too busy.
Just looking for thoughts and ideas.
Thanx!
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I like disco Mario! As far as making him stand out, how about creating the beam of light that is making the circle below him on the floor.
Make it translucent or lighter than the yellow circle.
You could then add a yellow glow behind his black outline or add some colors to the background.
Hope that helps and makes sense.
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Disco Mario Rocks!!
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Been talking with my Mom to get her thoughts
::)
So you're too embarrassed to ever talk to your mom? Even when it is concerning a gift for your dad? Might want to consider some therapy...
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As for the thread topic... the Gamecube game "Pac-Man Fever" seems to contain some elements you might want, not sure all the places the disco theme applies, but here is one pic I found on the web:
(http://platinum.cheatcc.com/images_htdocs/imagesngc/pacfever1.JPG)
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Bobby, great idea! Maybe a couple of light sources (like from the pic TurboC provided) shining across each other.. DEFINITELY something to look into...
I'll be stretching my very limited Illustrator knowledge... But it'll look awesome if it works! :D
THANX, ALL!
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Maybe like this.
A couple things I think would help:
Lights should have some kind of sparkle or burst effect so that they look less like polka dots (no pun intended).
Maybe some sparkles on the disco ball. There's actually probably even enough room to add the text on the top.
If you're willing to share the Illustrator files I could probably get them cleaned up within the next week and maybe add some tweaks and develop the marquee. Just PM me.
One other thing that might be cool...maybe if mario was surrounded by a crowd of game silhouettes similar to what you were doing on the marquee. Might be too much.
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Looks kinda similar to what I've been messing with :)
The polka dots still need to be 'fixed'.. And there's going to be a glow around the disco ball..
Other than that, I've cleaned stuff up a bit.. and things are looking better..
I'm actually really enjoying doing this one myself :) But thanks for the offer! And please, the comments are great and I really appreciate the help!! To get it in time for Christmas with my family, I really want to send it off by the end of the week.. So.. crunch time!! :)
THANX!
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OK, these are REALLY close to my final images for sideart and marquees.. I think...
I'll probably ditch the 'sparkle' on his finger.. And may add a little more color to the disco ball..
Other than that, what does everyone think?
THANX!
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Ya, that's what I'm talking about!
Looks great!
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This is what I'm having printed.. What does everyone think?
Woohoo!
:)
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Got the artwork back from MAMEMarquees! I think they look great.. Gonna make a fantastic Christmas present :)
Thanx all who provided suggestions and ideas!
Let me know what you think!
(sorry the flash washed out some of the colors and such...)