PC game covers thread (was: Official PC game template)

[The Warlock]

I just did a Splinter Cell cover from a 600 DPI scan I found. Working in 600 DPI taxed my system to the limit. The cover took like ten minues to start to print. Then I did the math. 11.5 inches times 7.5 inches times 600 DPI times 32 bpp equals over two hundred megs of RAM. Came out really crisp, though.

Anyway.

I'll convert to jpeg and upload it (and the 600DPI PC-CD template) tomorrow, as it's midnight right now.

[The Warlock]

Well I guess technically it's the day after that post up there.

Sorry for the lateness. Splinter cell cover ahoy:
(I only posted the 300DPI version as I didn't know if this site took 600 dpi scans and besides the spine work was an effective 300dpi due to resizing)

http://www.thecoverproject.net/uploads/The%20Warlock.custom.win_splinter%20cell.jpg

[KaiserWAVE]

Say, what are the official dimensions for the double wide stack packs? I grabbed about 4 or 5 PC covers from the ftp to add them but they are all different in size. Most are 3360x2146 but some are 3366x2150 or something between these two.

[The Warlock]

Say, what are the official dimensions for the double wide stack packs? I grabbed about 4 or 5 PC covers from the ftp to add them but they are all different in size. Most are 3360x2146 but some are 3366x2150 or something between these two.

We're talking 300ths of an inch here. It doesn't need to be pixel-accurate. I'd say 3365x2150 plus or minus ten in either direction is more than accurate enough.

I'd rather download covers that are 1/32 of an inch off than covers that have lost some detail due to stretching or cropping.

Anyway, it's hard to tell because the official template recommends a 1/2 inch bleed or something like that.

[KaiserWAVE]

Alright. You're more experienced with PC covers so I trust you on this.

[The Warlock]

Alright. You're more experienced with PC covers so I trust you on this.

I've just found that the glue holding the plastic sleeve on varies enough from one case to the next that you can't really have pixel-accuracy here.

EDIT: Oh, by the way, what's the policy on 600 DPI covers? I found a great scan of Max Payne 2 that I'd love to throw up there without cutting the resolution in half, but if it's too much of a strain on the server to have people downloading 600 DPI covers, then I'll downsample for you.

[KaiserWAVE]

300dpi is preferred. Some people use 600dpi because it's easier to edit the images but the finished cover is always daownsampled to 300dpi.

[The Warlock]

300dpi is preferred. Some people use 600dpi because it's easier to edit the images but the finished cover is always daownsampled to 300dpi.

Can we make an exception just this once for Max Payne 2? This one cover came out really nice, has remained 600 DPI throughout (no resizing of the spine like on my Splinter Cell cover), and compressed to a smaller file size than most 300DPI covers because of the color scheme (mostly black-and-white). Plus it's probably my favorite cover art of any game ever.

Tell you what, I'll upload it and you do what you will with it.

(sidenote for anyone else: I've also finished and uploaded covers for Max Payne 1 and Morrowind, but there was nothing really remarkable about them so just download them whenever they get put up)

EDIT: Uploaded here. Original scan uploaded as well, for people who don't like my template.

[KaiserWAVE]

Your covers are online:)

Max Payne
http://www.thecoverproject.net/view.php?cover_id=3070

Max Payne 2
http://www.thecoverproject.net/view.php?cover_id=3071

Morrowind
http://www.thecoverproject.net/view.php?cover_id=3069

I left your Max Payne 2 cover at 600dpi this time, like you requested. I looked great and it really wasn't any bigger (as for file size) than the other covers.

[The Warlock]

By the way, for Max Payne and Max Payne 2, since I had an actual PC scan to work from, I also uploaded the originals.

I've got no idea what region the Max Payne 1 cover is from, though. It doesn't seem to have any ratings on it at all.

[The Warlock]

Okay, so I was at my folks' house for vacation and I stumbled across a copy of Diablo II at the local Goodwill, complete with (slightly tattered but still in pretty good shape) box. I never got around to playing Diablo II back in the day, so I picked it up, and I used my parents' (crappy) scanner while I was there. The box was a bit scuffed and the scanner was a cheap Canon LiDE, but after a lot of time and Photoshop work (cleanup, despeckling, etc, etc), I came out with a really good cover. I've uploaded versions with and without my template, since I understand some people might want to stick close to the original. This is the first cover that came from a scan that I did myself (and I don't see myself doing too many more, since I can only use the scanner at my parents' house and I'm not there that often).

Since it came in a cardboard box and not a STACKPak, the cover bears some fold marks, even after cleaning up with Photoshop, but with this particular cover art I think they actually fit in well. I had to do some minor scaling to make the cardboard box art fit the slightly smaller STACKPak template, but I didn't skew anything: all aspect ratios remained the same. I wouldn't want to mar Diablo II's wonderful boxart.

Without further ado:
Without template
With template

Enjoy!

Oh, and if anyone sends me a free copy of Lord of Destruction, I promise I'll do a cover for it. 

EDIT: Oh, and in case you're worried: yes, Diablo II's gigantic, inch-thick manual will fit inside a StackPak along with the game discs.

[The Warlock]

Cover for Warcraft III uploaded. I had to work from a really crappy scan for this one, but god damn, whoever wrote the Reduce Noise filter in Photoshop is a fucking genius. Despite the sub-par scanner and horrible JPEG compression that was undoubtedly used, the front and spine now look beautiful.

Not much I could do for the back, though, between the compression and the Photoshop filters, the text didn't come out too great.

Original scans have been uploaded to the raw scans folder in case anyone else wants to take a crack at it.

My final version is here:
http://www.thecoverproject.net/uploads/The%20Warlock.custom.win_warcraft_3_template_final.jpg

[The Warlock]

Far Cry cover also posted.

I actually had a decent scan to work from, so it was kind of boring.

http://www.thecoverproject.net/uploads/The%20Warlock.retail.win_far_cry%20final_gb.jpg


This one's particularly useful since Far Cry came bundled free with a bunch of Athlon 64 processors a couple years ago and only came in a paper sleeve. At least, that's how I got my copy.

*looks around*

Hey, is anyone else doing DVD case covers any more?

[tiktektak]

Hey there!
I'd love to make soime DVD covers because I once bought many PC games, but old ones like Bad Mojo, Warcraft 2, Diablo 1 and and and....

The problem is I allready try to contribute(which means do myself ) N64, SNES, Genesis, Dreamcast, Mega/Sega Cd, etc covers so the PC section is in the line....
BUT I could provide you with some raw scans if you want that weekend....

Anyways you should not look around questioning if you're alone out there... We're all in the same cover creating boat and I believe, no better is I know that every PC cover you create is highly appreciated!!!!

So keep up your fabulous work!

Regards Seb

[SMMM]

I'll get into this, but mostly older PC games, since that's all I have.  Expect Full Throttle, King's Quest 6, and Dino Crisis 2 sometime.