Working on some shmup cabinet artwork, need ships

[opt2not]

I've got a cabinet that I'm dedicating to shmups, and am planning on dressing it up with some custom side art. I want the art to feature 5 or 6 ships from various shmups but I can't decide on which ones.
It would be ships from games that transcend arcade history, so any classics to more recent ones are welcome.

I've got a few in mind, but what ships would you pick to represent the shmup genre?

[trap15]

Honestly I find the idea of "busy" side-art that isn't original fairly off-putting. If it was my project, I'd go for a nice mild solid color, with maybe some nice looking text in the middle. I find "less is more" for stuff like that.

[null1024]

Raiden ship, DDP type A, R-9, Vic Viper, Twin Hawk.

Probably the most famous set of ships I can think of.

[Gespenst]

Hope this could give inspiration?
http://i.imgur.com/eUIo6.jpg

[opt2not]

Raiden ship, DDP type A, R-9, Vic Viper, Twin Hawk.

Probably the most famous set of ships I can think of.

Raiden and DDP is definitely in my list. Considered R-9 and Vic, but I want to stick to vertical games since it's going host mainly that.

I was thinking of a simple 1942 plane, or perhaps Galaga as a throwback to the early classics. But still unsure. Twin Hawk, on the other hand, I didn't think of!

Hope this could give inspiration?
http://i.imgur.com/eUIo6.jpg

Cool image, but it's going to be 2D drawn art, that is going to be somewhat "retro" looking, but still have enough details as a re-imagined representation.

Honestly I find the idea of "busy" side-art that isn't original fairly off-putting. If it was my project, I'd go for a nice mild solid color, with maybe some nice looking text in the middle. I find "less is more" for stuff like that.

I get what you're saying, and believe me, it won't be busy. I am used to creating artwork for cabinets and I do share your less-is-more mantra.
This is a stand-up woodie not a candy (saved a centipede cabinet from being chucked in the heap), so I plan on having it look like a classic cabinet with side-art, marquee, and CP art. Here's a snap of it restored and re-painted, it had a bit of wood damage and the CP and wiring was hacked to shit. It's going to be converted to Jamma.

The side-art is going to be a decal, that will be about 20" tall and sit aligned to the monitor's horizon.
I just can't decide on what ships to feature.

[emphatic]

The Flying Shark bi-plane showering the enemy with growing bursts of asskicking, Tiger Schwert from Ketsui using lock shot, A-Type Laser from Do-Donpachi (shooting laser of course!), red Twin Cobra heli shooting a maxed out blue shot, Raiden ship equipped with toothpaste laser.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Or you could have an artist do some custom shmup artwork for you, making for a unique sideart one-off deal. The real question is: how much do you the artist for his or her time/effort/skill? Perhaps some bartering oughta do the trick if a monetary agreement couldn't be reached.

For some cool eye-catchy effects, why not do a bit of layering up for that stand-out dimensional effect of a main shmup fighter craft popping out from a background scenery type of effect. Some double-side sticky tape works wonders for those type of effects -- could be used for a POP standee type of display if so desired.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[opt2not]

Or you could have an artist do some custom shmup artwork for you, making for a unique sideart one-off deal. The real question is: how much do you the artist for his or her time/effort/skill? Perhaps some bartering oughta do the trick if a monetary agreement couldn't be reached.

You mean like this guy?

hmm, I might have to go with the count of 6...there are so many good ones to choose from!

The Flying Shark bi-plane showering the enemy with growing bursts of asskicking, Tiger Schwert from Ketsui using lock shot, A-Type Laser from Do-Donpachi (shooting laser of course!), red Twin Cobra heli shooting a maxed out blue shot, Raiden ship equipped with toothpaste laser.

While I'd love to incorporate shooting, the artwork is going to be showcasing these planes flying towards you in perspective, a radial composition outward from the center. So I'm not too sure I can put in their shot abilities but I will play with the concept a bit.

Flying Shark is a good one, I'm going to add it cause it'll be recognizable to the layman. I'm not sure about Tiger Schwert 'cause I'm sure only hardcore shmuppers would recognize it, but I feel like we need another bullet-hell representation.
The cabinet is going to be placed in my work's break-room, and I wanted it to be something that represents shmups as a whole. So perhaps a type(s) from each sub-genre of shmup?
Twin Cobra would be nice to add a heli into the mix. Good suggestion!

So far my list consists of:

- Raiden
- DDP type A
- Flying Shark
- Twin Cobra

These are the maybe's:
- Galaga
- 1942
- Battle Garrega: Silver Sword
- Ketsui: Tiger Schwert
- Ikaruga

[Softdrink 117]

I don't know if you'd consider Ikaruga to be a different 'sub genre,' but both the Ikaruga and Ginkei are very visually distinctive.

Although now that I think about it either of them is probably too visually distinctive compared to the rest of the ships you have selected.

[RaidenViper]

Silver Hawk.

[opt2not]

I don't know if you'd consider Ikaruga to be a different 'sub genre,' but both the Ikaruga and Ginkei are very visually distinctive.

Although now that I think about it either of them is probably too visually distinctive compared to the rest of the ships you have selected.

Ikaruga is a good one, especially with it being more popular with non-hardcore peeps since its been ported to the last few console generations. The ship design is a bit different, but I plan on working on the art-style so that it's a bit more contiguous, and it's good to have design variety.
I'll throw it on the "maybe" list for now.

Silver Hawk.

Thanks, but I'm going to keep it to vertical games.

[chempop]

Wow, I love your designs! My advice would be to draw 8-12 ships, and then see which work best together. The extra sketching might be worth it in the end, also would give you more options figuring out a balance with the color scheme.

[null1024]

The Silvergun is a nice pick if you're doing vertical only. Distinctive, pretty simple, recognizable to quite a few [but not as many as the Ikaruga].

It's my favorite ship design in any vertical shooter.

[Captain]

Putting in the Vic Viper would show that non-bullet hell games are OK as well.
Remember, there are games with the VV where at least some levels are Vertical.

[opt2not]

Wow, I love your designs! My advice would be to draw 8-12 ships, and then see which work best together. The extra sketching might be worth it in the end, also would give you more options figuring out a balance with the color scheme.

Thanks chempop! This is a great suggestion, I'll see what I can do.

The Silvergun is a nice pick if you're doing vertical only. Distinctive, pretty simple, recognizable to quite a few [but not as many as the Ikaruga].

It's my favorite ship design in any vertical shooter.

I love the design of the Silvergun too, but Ikaruga would definitely get more recognition, and the designs are similar in shape and originality.

Putting in the Vic Viper would show that non-bullet hell games are OK as well.
Remember, there are games with the VV where at least some levels are Vertical.

You make a really good point, but the thing is the cabinet is in vertical orientation only, so I'd never actually get to play that game on it.

Along with placing this cabinet at work, so that my shmup-ignorant co-workers can play, I want to swap in boards every few months and keep a high-score list going. So I'd like it to be games that might actually be featured in the cab. Let me put more thought into the VV.

[Ryglore]

Heya Opt2Not,

If I were to base it off of Aircraft/Ships from games I play the most often and had to limit myself to vertical only... I'd say:

Raiden's ship, P38 Lightning, Daioh Ship, DoDonPachi ship, Batsugun Type A, Ikaruga, possibly Galaga (maybe updated to Galaga Legions style?)

Look forward to seeing the build progress, much like the rest of your builds! Plus, thanks to showing me this forum, when I get a chance I'll need to take a look around!

[opt2not]

I'm keeping a project log over at BYOAC:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.p ... 074.0.html

Ryglore convinced me in doing 2 different side-arts, one per side, featuring a larger number of ships now.

The current list stands at:
Galaga
1942
Raiden
Gyruss
Flying Shark
Twin Cobra
DDP type A
Battle Garrega: Silver Sword
Ketsui: Tiger Schwert
Ikaruga
Xevious
Daioh
Vic Viper
R-9