LONG POST AHEAD AHHHHH
I quite like the first two, but I've got something to say about all of them. Now sit back and watch some constructive criticism in action!
On #1 I feel like the green is kind of unnecessary. It looks good with or without, but I think another cold color, like a dull cyan, would have brought the whole thing together more effectively. The green doesn't look bad, but it's not ideal either. Not in my opinion anyway.
There's also a random red line going down the middle of the helmet, but I'm going to assume it's not intentional.
#2 looks pretty nice in concept, but I think it'd look better if you toned down the saturation on the green and made the kind-of-almost-grey green just plain black. I don't have anything against green but with three different shades of green going on there, it's a greeny overload and could look better with some adjustments. I like the general look a lot, but it's just...a lot of green. yup. lots of green.
#3 & #4 are too bright. #3 has potential, but ultimately will look too similar to the original goddess adamas if you keep the orange color scheme. That being said, it looks like it's on fire and that's kinda cool out of the context of the game.
#4 just reminds me of bubblegum. Not to sound harsh but it's easily the worst of the bunch.
#5 I THINK I can see the general idea of what you were trying to do with this and if executed correctly it'd look alright, but as it is, the black is too solid. It's just black. With darkness. It has no texture to it. This is understandable because Jewel is white, and doesn't really have much texture to begin with, but it did have some and I'll explain in a minute how you can retain the texture while darkening the color.
If you've no intention of updating the ones you've posted here, I'll give you some tips for the ones you're yet to finish.
- Something to keep in mind is that even though you're recoloring the armor, you can't just slap on colors and say "kay this looks great".
The textures in Shaiya are meant to emulate real materials. What I mean by that is that armor, typically, is made of some sort of metal, and I'd recommend keeping that in mind when you do recolors. If the end result doesn't look like metal (in which this pink mirage resembles taffy instead), then something is wrong. Seeing as it's metal, it should look metallic. That doesn't mean it has to be colored silver or whatever, but someone should be able to look at it and say "I can tell that this armor is meant to look like actual armor".
- As others have mentioned, you've got some plastic shine going on with some of the sets you've posted already. This gloss is more often than not caused by a faulty or nonexistent alpha channel. When you're saving the .dds files make sure you're saving them in the proper format:
Quote:
Originally Posted by castor4878
The format of the DDS files (the DXT format) is:
- DXT3 for gears, because DXT3 offers sharp alpha (smooth transitions)
- DXT5 (or DXT3) for weapons
none should use DXT1 since it does not contain alpha data (and may be your files were saved in this format).
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Seriously, if anyone tells you to actually delete the alpha channel, slap them with a fish. Twice.
- C-c-c-color schemes! I personally am against tutorials and such that go beyond the general technique of recoloring gear, because anyone who can read a guide can learn the technical process of doing it. But to be frank, I just don't believe that creativity, originality, and sense of whether or not something will suit its environment can be taught. I don't think a sense of color can be taught beyond the basic color wheel either, but luckily that's an acquired skill that one can teach themselves with a little help.
I like how you're experimenting with colors, and all in all, you have a general grip on what colors go with each other. But I'd like to suggest you explore a bit more because black + random color is not the only color combination in existence. To get you started, have a look-see here: [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
It's a color schemer. You can pick if you want complimentary color schemes, monochromatic schemes, or whatever else would float your boat then hit the randomize button and go nuts till you find something you think you could make use of. It's a good tool for when you're shot for ideas or want to try something different.
- Retaining textures. I'm seeing in a few of your examples that you're changing the colors and the texture loses its...texture and becomes a blob of color. I'm going to assume you're working with layers (and if you aren't, you really should start using them because they're the best thing since sliced bread and the ice cream maker).
If you're trying to darken a light color (like the white on jewel, which you made black), first go over it on a new layer with black, with the layer blend mode set to Saturation. It might not look like it does much but what it does do is provide you with a nice, neutral color to work with. Duplicate this layer and change the duped layer's blend mode to either Darken or Multiply - most of the time these will essentially do the same thing, but that's not always the case - and lower the layer's opacity so you can see the texture through the dark color. You want it to look like black armor and not a black blob, so it's pretty important that the texture shows through.
On the flip side, if you're trying to lighten a dark color, then instead of a black saturation layer, use white. And when you dupe the layer, set the new layer to overlay and lower the opacity.
And looking at your green and pink Mirage, while I realllllllyy don't suggest trying to recreate it, if you're trying to change the color while keeping the texture intact, try setting the layer blend to Color or Hue and see which you like better.
There's always the Hue/Saturation shortcut, but it doesn't offer as much flexibility in the different effects and stuff you can achieve by playing with layer blend modes.
That MIGHT be a bit too vague or rushed-sounding, but I this is already a massive wall of text so uh. yeah. If it didn't make sense I'll try again.
Hope that helps a bit :) looking forward to seeing what else you come up with