Artist's Corner > Universal Game Case Covers
1st Attempt at Covers; Feedback Please!
Antwon:
On the NBA cover there are some left over bits right under the By Hitmen text and on the Batter Up there is a grey square the the left of the batters arm. Maybe try to find a higher res image for super batter up. Here is one that looks a little brighter and more clear:
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gH8dxWz33bQ/maxresdefault.jpg
OhhNoYouNintenDidnt:
Some good stuff in there Jboy32, nicely done.
As Arseen says though, there are some elements that are a little off, which for me are (be prepared for the minute levels of detail required for covers being hostable on the site! it has taken me a while to get things right, and there are still debates surrounding certain things) =
Also, there is perhaps an overwhelmingly long list ahead here but please take it as it is intended......which is purely constructive feedback and really trying to prepare you for the detail required if you want to be able to have these at a standard where they will be approved to be hosted on the site
Plus, Im not a cover admin or anything, just a relatively new person here who has recently gone through a learning curve and developed to the point of having covers published, so I want and feel obliged to both pass on tips and pointers like people did with me, and do that in as much detail as possible for someone starting out with this like I was not that long ago - so........here goes! ;D
NBA Live 95
1 - The blue box on the back looks like its leaning a little and also like you cut too much off on the left side of it, feels like there should be a bit of blue to border those red squares instead of them being flush to the edge like that - perhaps just use the shape tool with the same blue colour to add in a little bit extra to give it a border instead of looking like its been lopped off.
2 - Also within the blue box, just a couple of little blemishes of white in there, easy to go over with the pain brush or clone tool.
3 - NBA logo on front and spine has a couple of blemishes under Jerry West's arm, again, really minor but easy to fix.
4 - Front image looks like its leaning a little as well, as evidenced by the distortion (not sure what to call it, lol) down the bottom right area......easy fix as well, just free transform and rotate the image (hope you have kept your layers! lol) or colour over it.
5 - In the top left corner of the whole cover there is an grey......mark.....or missing piece of the image of the ball.
6 - Little tiny white blemish to the left of the NBA Live logo on the back - plus, that logo looks little squished and/or leaning funny.
7 - For me the EA logos look a little squished too, plus they have lost some integrity (like the tops and bottoms of the "C"'s and "S"'s)
8 - The front image of the players and the screen captures are a little rough in spots but there may not be viable replacements without playing the game on an emulator or finding a HQ Youtube playthrough to re-capture them - could go over them with the clone stamp tool though.
The good stuff is, well, anything not mentioned really! lol, like the idea of the ball in the background although some may not in terms of consistency with the other vertical cover style.....same perhaps with the blue box, obviously coming from a retail scan, some may simply just want the text in white (like the Batter Up one) for consistency's sake).
Batter Up
1 - Main, and huge issue with this one (as Antwon points out) is the front image......which is way too low a resolution. Also, within it as well, there is a grey bar down the bottom left and also a crease (obviously from the original box) that would need to be covered up.......but again, even if that was done, the overall image is way too low res, so just pointing those things out as stuff to be on the look out for).
2 - Maybe just me again here.....but the Namco logo's look a little squished as well, just slightly off and making them not look familiar if you know what I mean......like when someone resizes a Capcom logo and doesnt quite get it right, as you know the logo so well you perhaps notice even the slightest change in its angles.
3 - The MLB logo on the front has some blemishes in there, like the top line of text not being quite filled with colour and the bottom "CMLPA" part having some issues with bleeding and colour filling as well.
4 - The barcode has lost some lines of its code and a couple of the numbers are faded.
Nothing else for me on that one! so well done, really good text, nice screen caps on the back, like the polishing of the game logo, really crisp.
Yeah..........so there we go man! you asked for feedback! and you sure got some huh!? ;D
The general point here is that literally every pixel counts.......zoom in as much as you can handle whilst doing them, and when finished, zoom in again and comb over the whole thing looking for those tiny little blemishes and missed details..........as that is what the cover admins who approve them for publication will do.
Good luck man, anything you need, advice, tips, scan sources, anything really, feel free to hit me up with a PM.
jboy32:
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE FEEDBACK! :)
I noticed a few things too after my first submission, so I've spent more time on the minute things lately then I did actually putting the thing together. As for the NBA back cover, I think I'm going to keep it the same, since that is what the actual back of the box is (I had to use a different basketball picture though)
I'll repost the redone versions just as soon as they're done!!!
jboy32:
Here they are, new and improved! I think the EA logo could be lowered a little bit but I'm done with these for the evening. Again, thank you all for the feedback! :)
NBA Live '95
Super Batter Up
OhhNoYouNintenDidnt:
Nicely done Jboy, and glad you took that (potentially maddening level of) feedback as it was intended. 8)
- Like what you have done with the back of the NBA Live cover, incorporating the ball image but not the whole thing so as to potentially appease anyone not liking that because of consistency with other cover issues.
- The blue text box is now perfect, and I see what happened with those red tabs (I didnt know what the actual box looked like but it just didnt look quite right) and it now looks great.
- Blemish nicely gone from the front bottom right, and from under The Logo's arm.......plus I like the addition of the EA logo on the front.
- EA logos in the grey bar look MUCH better, really good job there.
Unfortunately though, and you may kill me here, as I wanted to throttle a new born child when I made this mistake the first time............the screen caps on the back do not match the text that is describing what is going on in them! lol.
They look great quality wise.......but when it says "Penny makes mid-air decisions..." and you can see its a Lakers player against Houston, "Payton throws the sweet lob to Kemp..." and its Atlanta vs the Magic, "Use the turbo button and KJ (Kevin Johnson of the Suns)..." and its the Bulls vs the Magic........plus the text talking about Sprewell throwing down, and there is no accompanying image for that.....
You see what I mean? lol, this is something I got caught out on with a RETAIL cover, as in making covers PRECISELY match the original retail box........so perhaps where this is a custom cover, it might be over looked that the text effectively makes no sense in relation to the images but I doubt it to be honest.
Sorry, youve done such a good job with those as well.
Also, there is a new blemishes (compared to the original you posted) on the spine, right between the "LIVE" part of the logo and the NBA logo.
Youre gonna get sick of looking at this cover......and me as well probably! ;D
On the Batter Up cover, whilst that front image is better.......Im still not sure a cover admin would be happy with that but I am sure there are not really any viable alternatives, so might just have to be.
Also, you swapped out the game logo's didnt you? not sure why as the ones before looked really crips and sharp vs now they look blocky and pixelated.
Everything else on that one is now great, the MLB logo looks good (apart from very slight left over white on the copywrite "C"......sorry, lol).
Feel really bad right now.........but this is what its like man, trust me! anyone who makes covers with the idea of them being hosted by the site goes through this, and many (so I hear) get annoyed, take it personal, fed up, and give up at the point of approval where these kinds of things are pointed out........so hopefully you wont be discouraged (you dont seem like the person who would).
If you want to carry this conversation on via private message, instead of my long ass list of annoying "flaws" being posted in here, then more than happy for you to do that.
But again, these are very good first covers and all the issues have been really minor and absolutely NOTHING that a first time cover maker does not go through in terms of a learning curve.
Look forward to seeing what you come up with next! ;D