Of more than passing interest

Gaming is a big enough part of my life that I'll take some snapshots of it and post it up here. Today continues my look at resurrecting Aliens vs. Predator the CCG.

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Aliens vs Predator CCG resurrection continues

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26 Aug 2011

(awakeneddragon)

Japan

Tokushima

Most language free systems aren't this clear, or easy to learn! Awesome!

I'm back, and ER is STILL #1 in my book!

DONE: Organizing card list. Had a list of cards for the Atmosphere expansion. Organized it according to type of card, which will make plugging the info into templates easier.

DONE: Templates. Here are those templates, carved from the first (and only) expansion to the original game:

Note that I added an "expansion icon" to them (a globe). One thing I've noticed is that the rarity of the cards doesn't seem complete. So scratch the idea of designating rarity with coloring the icon.

Of course, now that I have these done I wonder if I shouldn't just whip up something after all... transparent boxes of info floating over some image representing Marines or predators or predator items... Ah, well.

NEXT: Plugging in info from the card list. This shouldn't be so bad. Will play with fonts (which, again leads me to wonder if I shouldn't just do up my own templates if I'm going to do fonts different from what approximates what was used...).

Well, maybe I'll open up a poll... Considering all the Aliens and Predator movies, can you think of a single image (that can be used for recreating all of the cards, even from the first set) representative of:

-Barrier (A closed door in Aliens IV?)
-Condition (?)
-Event (An explosion?)
-Items, Human (The lockers in Aliens II?)
-Items, Predator (The rack of skulls form Predator II?)
-Items, Vehicle (The garage cieling chains from Aliens vs Predator I?)
-Locations (A shot of Earth from space from Aliens vs Predator II?)
-(Locations, cross) (?)
-Main character, alien (A closeup of the alien hive wall)
-Main character, human (A closeup of a human wall)
-Main character, predator (A closeup of a predator wall)
-Supporting character (A different closeup of a human wall)
-Vehicle, human (The garage floor with flashing lights from Aliens II?)

I'll chew on this over the weekend.

Aliens vs. Predator

11 Comments

Fri Aug 26, 2011 6:35 am

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John Snyder™

(CapAp)

United States
Fresno
California

You and the Cap'n make it hap'n

Hey! I checked and I do still have all the stuff from when I was doing this.

I had images and full spoilers for each card (about 240x180 standard, 390x180 cross-location), mostly screen grabs from my copies of the Predator, Aliens, and AvP franchises (done personally by me), but also some well-researched photos from comics or the internet when I couldn't find an appropriate image (see the 'advanced hive' pic below).

I also had templates designed for each card type (though it looks like you did the same thing). I'd also made Vehicle and Vehicle Item card subtypes, so it would be easy to distinguish the new card types visually.

If you're interested in this stuff, PM me. I'd be happy to see it put to good use, or help you work on it!

"Condition" template

"Vehicle" template

"Vehicle Item" template

"Ain't Got Time To Bleed" card art

"Mortal Wound" card art

"The Elders Are Watching" card art

"Advanced Hive" card art

Posted Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:08 pm
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John Snyder™

(CapAp)

United States
Fresno
California

You and the Cap'n make it hap'n

For comparison to your templates, here's one of mine (Alien character).

As you can see, the way I had it set up was that I could simply lay the template layer over the card art layer, and voila, finished card.

Template

Art

Voila

Because of the way CCG Workshop functioned, card text and stats were displayed by the system rather than on the card, so you'd have to go in yourself and add those. But it might be an easier project overall. What was the resolution on your original templates?

Posted Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:20 pm
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John Snyder™

(CapAp)

United States
Fresno
California

You and the Cap'n make it hap'n

I just realized that these were created for display on a computer screen, meaning the resolution might be way too low for cards you're going to actually print out and play with.

Posted Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:27 pm
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(awakeneddragon)

Japan

Tokushima

Most language free systems aren't this clear, or easy to learn! Awesome!

I'm back, and ER is STILL #1 in my book!

(^_-) That's alright. They certainly look awesome on screen! And provide some inspiration!

I have a layered approach too. My card frames are sitting over a black field in my images. The text is it's own layer, and the image is it's own as well, etc.

One bad thing is that my video player cranks images at a pretty lousy resolution. I'm trying to figure a way to increase that. As it is the images I capture are too small so I have to blow them up 150%, which pixelates them a bit. They look ok with some photoediting, but I'd rather just capture larger images!

DONE: Finished entering all the text for the Event cards! (Ugh, will now check myself into a carpal tunnel syndrome/eye strain clinic) Was playing Predators during the process, so it wasn't TOO painful... or... was it?

Posted Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:28 am
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(awakeneddragon)

Japan

Tokushima

Most language free systems aren't this clear, or easy to learn! Awesome!

I'm back, and ER is STILL #1 in my book!

For some bizarre reason, when I hit this card I just HAD to go get an image.

Now I wonder if I really shouldn't upgrade to Blue Ray and a better way to capture!

For lack of inspiration I also changed the expansion symbol to a simple III.

One thing that bugs me about the Atmosphere spoiler are the quotes provided for the Predators. Rarely does it actually pull a line from any of the movies (there are few enough things that people actually say about the Predators, true), but these really irk me for some reason.

Here's my solution:

Quote Sun Tzu.

Edited Sun Aug 28, 2011 2:47 pm
Posted Sun Aug 28, 2011 2:11 pm
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(awakeneddragon)

Japan

Tokushima

Most language free systems aren't this clear, or easy to learn! Awesome!

I'm back, and ER is STILL #1 in my book!

And here's what it looks like with my own background, which, yes, needs work, but it's a start:

5 GG if you can identify the movie and event I captured to create my own background!

Posted Tue Aug 30, 2011 4:52 am
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David Gonzalez Rice

(comandantedavid)

United States
New London
Connecticut

awakeneddragon wrote:

And here's what it looks like with my own background, which, yes, needs work, but it's a start:

5 GG if you can identify the movie and event I captured to create my own background!

Don't give away your gg so easily, friend!

That would be my wife's favorite Alien franchise movie: Alien vs Predator, when the young initiate marks his mask with the blood of his first kill!

Seriously, I require no gg for having seen that film too many times.

Posted Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:55 pm
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David Gonzalez Rice

(comandantedavid)

United States
New London
Connecticut

Seriously, I hope to see this project continue.

Here are some customs I did to bring the Alien card images closer in line with the movies:

You'll notice one or two more in the gallery.

Maybe if you share your specs this could be more of a collaborative project?

Edited Tue Sep 13, 2011 12:01 am
Posted Tue Sep 13, 2011 12:00 am
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(awakeneddragon)

Japan

Tokushima

Most language free systems aren't this clear, or easy to learn! Awesome!

I'm back, and ER is STILL #1 in my book!

Nice!

As for the GG award, it's not for the image of the card (you called it!), but the orange background used for the card frame (-_^) Not impossible to identify for a fan! The GG is waiting! (^_^)v

Posted Tue Sep 13, 2011 12:03 am
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John Strong

(cruehitman)

United States
Ocala
Florida

Just curious what program you guys used to create these templates? I've been REALLY interested in creating some of my own cards and actually getting them printed up. Can you give me any insight or pointers? Would be MUCH appreciated!!

Posted Wed Nov 9, 2011 4:24 pm
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(awakeneddragon)

Japan

Tokushima

Most language free systems aren't this clear, or easy to learn! Awesome!

I'm back, and ER is STILL #1 in my book!

No problem (^_^).

I use both Gimp and Paint.net, with a preference for the latter because it's a bit simpler to use and still has quite a bit of power. I mostly use Gimp if I have to deal with .pdf or some other wierd format (like .ico). Both are free and I highly recommend both. You don't need a tablet, but if you do branch out into drawing then it's highly recommended.

1) Basically, create an image at 300bpi. This is pretty much a minimum if you want a decent print-out. The image should be standard card size (2.5"x3.5"). Don't worry about the rounded corners: You can just punch those out later when you cut. But doing it in-software is just a little extra fun. Color the image with your background color; in this case, black.

2) Create a new layer. This layer can have the card image. You'll play with the image in a different file, but you'll paste it here.

3) Create a new layer. This layer can have your frame. You can do a bit of playing in a different file and paste here, or just play with the options in the Effects tab (at the top of the toolbar in Paint.net).

4) Create a new layer. This layer can have the text.

And that's basically it. Have fun!

Now, if you want to use the backgrounds of the pre-existing cards, then you'll need a scanner. I recommend selecting a card with a minimum amount of text and/or an image with the most uniform/boring edges. This will make cropping much easier later on.

1) I recommend scanning at the maximum level (mine goes to 600bpi). This will make the file a bit huge, but the end image will be MUCH better. MUCH. BETTER.

2) Crop the existing picture and text.

3) You can use the Stamp tool (found on the toolbar to the right) or just use the eyedropper (also found on the same toolbar) and then filling the box.

4) Resize the image (at the top of the toolbar, accessable through Image, I believe). You'll knock it down to 300bpi. Note that the size will be huge. Now adjust the size down to 2.5"x3.5".

5) I take a minute to color-correct the image. I'll basically deepen the colors. You can do this in Adjustments (at the top of the toolbar). If you go as is the colors can look a bit washed out.

6) Select the entire image and cut and paste it into your card creation file.

That's it! You can, of course, do the steps in a different order, like resizing first and then cropping. But I find that if I do my edits before I resize down that any choppiness goes away better.

Enjoy!

Posted Thu Nov 10, 2011 12:31 am
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Of more than passing interest

Aliens vs Predator CCG resurrection continues

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