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A look at some genuinely excellent Star Control 2 fan-art.
When fellow gamers ask what my favourite game is, I always say Star Control 2. On occasion people have assumed I meant Starcraft 2, and subsequently ask if I really love my RTS games. What follows is a serious case of MANRAGE (pronounced mun-rah-geh) and what most would describe as murder, then me trying to hide the very large body of a dead nerd. Star Control 2, such is its universal excellence, should never be confused with anything but itself. But I digress.
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As Jansson explains:
“Star Control is a game derived from Starflight. In both games you travel around in space, talk to aliens, trade and shoot stuff with your spaceship. They take quite a bit of patience to play, especially Starflight. I think it's mostly an UI problem though. With an improved UI, the games could be made even deeper and more complex. Some day I want to do an space game engine which can plug-in (data driven) different species into a persistent universe simulation. Kind of like making the entire game universe one big RTS-game map (like Warlords), but with trading, exploration and all that. Potentially a Zero-player game, the player would be a Starship captain doing the usual stuff, but the universe would go on without him.”
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYDCEhRDKBY6LLtsUbBM0Y87rDBFTxxUnJg169DOT5J7b_XRcfIxkJmDQ4oNGrh9L7DnDtO4S9Cx2qbXelENcvaChvG9GPSxp4x_NdZc1l5qR92Px-4ULAElXAExyOj2eBvqnTADx534A/s400/supox_roughs.jpg)
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To achive likeness, I'm trying to take the following into consideration:
* Communications image
* Melee pilot image
* Printed images (manuals and guide books if canon)
* Communications text and conveyed feel
* Printed text
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REALLY AWESOME YOUTUBE VIDEO
The Thraddash in the opening picture are drawn based on their dialogue art, and their melee artwork, which has them appearing to wear a space-suit of sorts. Jansson's take on what the Umgah looked like before genetic modification is also interesting - though maybe they look a little too cute and anthropomorphic when considering their genius with biological manipulation? His other designs are equally excellent, and I like the reasoning behind certain style decisions.
UTWIG
I based their anatomy on the word 'Twig'. Balls for head.
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SHOFIXTI
These little creatures could vary in appearance just like house cats do. Maybe they have a lot of latent/dormant genes to prevent inbreeding. They'd have to, since their entire species is repopulated by just one male and 6 females. I made them pretty small because they can produce new adults in just a few months. To grow from single cell to adult in that time would require a lot of food and energy. Another reason for their small size is that I want to stay away from doing too many human sized (and human proportionate) aliens. With drawn stuff, one has the liberty to avoid the 'man-in-suit' feel which sci-fi often presents.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUu1E9ndptKSVjsyJvtbyeR_NmlfOdUf8oe6Ro2ujTHpamBw8_W0oJuqLUi85qJXr8A3HqPgEo7TvIJiFua7kzcwvO9Vs1bqZkqCcSQJ-pkirRxYP4dYVFdRpIyz5LVsTyVWZ9c6F4Ns/s400/shofixti_08.jpg)
ILWRATH
This is just my way of solving the problem with the differing melee pilot portrait.
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Syreen:
Not buying it this time guys!
Little black spider controlling the giant red puppet:
But... but... we're evil! Look how scary it is! Argarak, do the mandible thing again!
Second black spider:
*Clac clac clac*
Niklas' website, Android Arts, has other fascinating things, including an emulation page and ideas regarding Exile, and other classic games.
Cool stuff. I WANT to say there was a line that said that Spathi had shells, which I assumed to mean like a tortoise, below its eyestalk. It's been a good eight years since I played it to completion, though, so I may have just made that up.
ReplyDelete1) Star Control 2 is my "what's your favorite game?" answer, too, so cheers for that.
ReplyDelete2) The Shofixti are so freakin' cute! Combine this look with their great accents, insults, and suicidal tendencies, and I think you have a winning new design.
3) When will we see Star Control covered on HG101? :)
I've been a HUGE fan of Niklaus Jannson's work for a while now - I practically learned how to paint on the computer from his tutorials! Its nice to see his works being covered here!
ReplyDelete