Which (Duality ZF) 1UP icon do you like better?

[Xonatron]

Which Duality ZF 1UP icon do you like better?

Please leave your thoughts.
Does it fit our art style, or doesn't it?
Is there a better option we haven't thought of? Etc.

Computer rendered font:


Hand Drawn font:


Keep in mind this is the only in-game text found in the game, aside from computer rendered UI fonts.

[ncp]

The hand-drawn one, actually because it doesn't look so uniform, so it sticks out more.

[Xonatron]

The hand-drawn one, actually because it doesn't look so uniform, so it sticks out more.

Thanks for explaining why you voted. It's important. In testing they both stick out enough, so the poll was really for what fits the best. Something that does not fit could stick out more, and maybe by definition when you do not fit you stick out more. What we wanted to avoid was something that sticks out in a bad way (not the good way I think you are talking about).

One of us found a contrast between the fonts that were seen in the game menus and scores (UI fonts) versus the in-game hand drawn fonts (only in the 1UP icon), whereas the other one found a contrast between the computer rendered nature of the font versus the hand drawn nature of the game graphics. Game making is always the balance between pros and cons. We just want what's best.

[Xonatron]

Maybe the ones who voted could reply, that would be best, but why do you think anyone chose the rendered font?

[Rozyrg]

The rendered one by far. I can see how the other one fits into the art style; but I think it's just as important to maintain the futuristic 'cool' factor.. this is a shooter after all.

[TodayIsForgotten]

I like the bottom one because it looks reminiscent of other 1ups in games. Plus, 1up looks better than 1UP. The top one looks like LUP. So ya.

[Xonatron]

I like the bottom one because it looks reminiscent of other 1ups in games. Plus, 1up looks better than 1UP. The top one looks like LUP. So ya.

I could take the rendered font and make the "UP" part smaller and raised, so that's no big deal. More interested in the style of one version the other, but thanks for the input. We'll definitely have to do that for the 1UP no matter what we choose.

[Battlesmurf]

I didn't vote- but food for thought:

Looking at the pics it'd be easier for me to pick up the smaller hand drawn one up- the lowercase 'up' and thicker black border around it make it pop a little more to me.

[worstplayer]

The bigger one because it's...bigger (and it's more "hi-tech" which is always good). Add some subtle animation and it's perfect.

[Xonatron]

Interesting: The first game to have "1UP" mean an extra life is Super Mario Bros., and they draw the "1" and the "UP" the same size:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUx66ZEDjnQ

Same with SMB3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VsLVefGEIs

[Xonatron]

Ok, I just designed two more 1UP logos, computer rendered font, with the "UP" smaller. One case, it's raised, the other case it's lowered. I would have thought 1UP with the UP raised would be more popular, but a quick Google Image search shows 1UP with the UP lowered is more popular. So funny as the original (probably due to resolution restrictions) in SMB1 had 1UP all the same size as my previous post shows.

I won't bother changing this poll now, but it's cool that those who have voted explained why they like each one.

The gist of it seems to be, the computer renedered font looks "cooler" and is more "professional" (both pros), and the hand drawn font stands out more because of the differentiation between the "1" and the "UP" (pro), as well as looks "amateur" (con). Seeing that the pros to the hand drawn font can be replicated in the computer rendered font (as I have just done, sorry no screenshots yet), the computer rendered font appears to be the winner here.

Odd that nobody commented on the art style of the font, as the professional vs. amateur idea dominated over that.

[WarBovine]

Personally, I like the rendered font better because the straight-edges go better with the overall style of the game. Most of the game graphics are pretty symmetrical, very 'clean'; straight lines and circular explosions. By contrast the hand drawn feels a bit out of place, it's like having a sentence in Comic Sans in the middle of a mathematics journal. If, as you say, you can differentiate the one a little bit more (having a line a long the bottom of the glyph like the hand drawn version would help), it would be perfect.

[emphatic]

I voted for the hand drawn one, as it gives me a nice Bubble Bobble feeling. If I could suggest something, a smaller version of the plane is a nice 1up-icon, and it could have the 1up text flashing on top, or flying behind it on a litttle flag. I really like comic icons for the rarer items in shmups. When you get an extra life for your efforts, putting a smile on your face by just looking fun is nice.

[Herr Schatten]

Personally, I like the rendered font better because the straight-edges go better with the overall style of the game.

[Jason]

I've just realized that the screen shots above are littered with procedural artwork: the explosions and bullets are all computer rendered. They contain almost none of the hand drawn artwork that normally fills the game. Explosions and bullets move and animate quickly, so you don't 'see' them like you do in a frozen screen shot. What you 'see' during gameplay are the enemies, the ground (notably lacking in the Space stage 6), and the players' fighters -- all hand drawn artwork. The procedural artwork that is frozen and filling the screen in these shots just flicker by, and are not as pronounced as what the above indicates.

The artwork of the game was not supposed to look computer rendered...

My procedural artwork was supposed to mimic the hand-drawn artwork of the game. The explosions are inspired from Robotech and R-Type. However, the bullets and explosions are pretty near perfectly straight or circular, so I didn't achieve that goal. I'd fix this if it were a pressing issue (and if I had time).

[FIL]

Rendered because the hand drawn one looks too much like comic sans.

[MADEIRA STEVE88]

Rendered because it looks more professional, the hand draw one looks out of place with the games art style as mentioned on a previous post.

[captpain]

The hand-drawn one reminds me of Comic Sans. It looks low-rent and goofy.

The rendered one, on the other hand, looks cool and shmuppish.

[WarBovine]

The artwork of the game was not supposed to look computer rendered...

My procedural artwork was supposed to mimic the hand-drawn artwork of the game. The explosions are inspired from Robotech and R-Type. However, the bullets and explosions are pretty near perfectly straight or circular, so I didn't achieve that goal. I'd fix this if it were a pressing issue (and if I had time).

It's not just a case of hand-drawn graphics vs computer-rendered. Even with other screenshots, the ships are all fairly symmetrical, the backgrounds are somewhat simple with high-contrast elements, the score fonts are the same style, etc. It's not that the explosions don't fit the game or the hand-drawn font, it's that the hand-drawn font doesn't really fit the game or the explosions. If you were to take a more 'stylized', existing, computer font, like Lucinda handwriting or pretty much anything with serifs, it probably wouldn't fit the game either.

That being said, I think most of us would be happiest with whichever option lets us put our money in your bank account and play the game sooner

[lilmanjs]

the hand drawn 1up sticks out more and gives me more of I did something feel, where as the rendered for some reason makes me think I'm just playing a run of the mill shmup.

[Xonatron]

Thank you all for your input. Dream Build Play in 5 days. Wish us luck.

[Kaspal]

Thank you all for your input. Dream Build Play in 5 days. Wish us luck.

the best of wishes in the contest guys... just remember, if you get one of the prices home, keep me in your "game code giveaway" list

[monkeyman]

Hand drawn seems more in keeping with the art style - and good luck!

[Elixir]

The problem here is that your 1up is not delicious enough. The second one has a furry feeling to it, sorta a "oh, I might wanna touch that" feel, but that's about it. Here's what you should do:

Take a lovable, delicious kind of food

Now make it GIGANTIC

And shove "1up" on it or some variation of



Pro-blem moth-er-fuck-ing solved.

[TodayIsForgotten]

^^ this guy is on to something. Maybe even a balloon! everyone loves balloons!

[Xonatron]

You guys are hilarious. If only we had more time to tweak everything just right. We have stayed away from the "fruits are good" arcade gaming law. We hope everything we have decided will make sense when you get to experience the game as a whole.

[captpain]

^^ this guy is on to something. Maybe even a balloon! everyone loves balloons!

Or bubbles, bubbles that you can hop on

[Elixir]

You guys are hilarious. If only we had more time to tweak everything just right. We have stayed away from the "fruits are good" arcade gaming law. We hope everything we have decided will make sense when you get to experience the game as a whole.

Why do you hate virtual food?

[Xonatron]

You guys are hilarious. If only we had more time to tweak everything just right. We have stayed away from the "fruits are good" arcade gaming law. We hope everything we have decided will make sense when you get to experience the game as a whole.

Why do you hate virtual food?

Never said I hated it. I've never minded fruits, fairies, etc. in shmups. But this is my own game, and it just never stood out as a "must have" to my brother or I. I guess this game is our claim that we know how to make a shmup (and a video game period for that matter), as many people claim, and we want to test our ideas and not totally "give in" to what everyone else wants. It's made me quite happy to know that despite all the help and guidance we have received from these forums, we were already on the right track, and almost nothing (nothing major) was changed in our game from the feedback. Not to say you guys didn't help, but just to say this is still our game and our test.

[Xonatron]

To add to the previous post... The feedback I receive from these forums I view as more valuable than almost anywhere else. For us to pass here is one of the toughest tests to pass anywhere. One of the standout advantages that Xona Games has, in my opinion, is the devotion to care about what the true fans want, and the ability to listen and change, as well as the ability to not commit to a release date (although some of you may hate this, I've only recently come to realize this is a positive attribute, ala John Carmack).