New track loading screen for next release?

[Akien]

I like the desaturated wash. I still think that the screen is just too bold with a normal-coloured screenshot. It just needs something to background it a bit, and the edited version by GunChleoc seemed to be about right.

I think ideally it should be done as a shader, but that's getting into programmers' territory.

I also like the desaturated version. Alternatively it could be a sepia/old photo/film effect, with a characteristic border effect like e.g. http://s665.photobucket.com/user/trinit ... m.jpg.html

[GeekPenguinBR]

Just an idea passing by...
Well, not being pretentious of course, but I would like if they used my logo somewhere. Note that this is based on the ArDanWol suggestion. This doesn't make null the ArDanWol idea. Look:

[ArDanWol]

That might look cool GeekPenguin!

[GeekPenguinBR]

Thank you, ArDanWol. I thought you could dislike...

[tuxkartdriver]

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[ArDanWol]

I'll work on a concept using your logo. My only concern is that it is slightly too large and will use up a large portion of the screen.

[GeekPenguinBR]

I'll work on a concept using your logo. My only concern is that it is slightly too large and will use up a large portion of the screen.

The png file with transparent background:

[Tuxfan]

@GeekPenguinBR: I am impressed by your image skills. I really like the Tux kart in your logo. However I am not sure about the text "World Kart League". On the one hand having a global community of STK players is a great vision. On the other hand there is no reference to this in the game so far. A world kart league might be created, when online playing is being integrated in the game. In general text in an image is a problem for translators. They need to create a whole new image for each language.

@ArDanWol: I need to confess that I am a poor artist. But I can do all the rest of the work to add the splash screen feature to STK - once I have the splash screen image. In order to start, I need the background image that will be shown in the splash screen. The background image is the first and in my opinion the most important step to create a basic splash screen feature: A single, static image that is displayed while the game is loading a track. In a next iteration further features might be added. Maybe a random splash screen image, maybe a splash screen image for each track. Maybe something totally different. But in order to create a new feature I will again require the basic images (or any other content) to start my work.

[XGhost]

The png file with transparent background:

What happened to the wheels on the right side of the car? They look like they're on the wrong layer (one layer up, so that they are above the kart body).
Otherwise, the logo looks very nice!

[GeekPenguinBR]

@GeekPenguinBR: I am impressed by your image skills. I really like the Tux kart in your logo.

Thank you, very much!

However I am not sure about the text "World Kart League". On the one hand having a global community of STK players is a great vision. On the other hand there is no reference to this in the game so far. A world kart league might be created, when online playing is being integrated in the game. In general text in an image is a problem for translators. They need to create a whole new image for each language.

The logo it's not new here. I have uploaded it some months ago and Samuncle gave me his impressions about it. It's true that there's no World Kart League in the STK universe until this moment, but, since it's fictional, I see no problem. I believe that every gamer can realize that this league is fictional league with fictional teams and drivers. The drivers are the characters (Tux, Nolok, Sara, Xue, etc.), not the humans who play STK.

The text can't be automatically translated into each idiom, since it's a picture, but I think that english is known all over the world and the text is so simply, so most gamers will have no problem to understand what I mean in the image.

What happened to the wheels on the right side of the car? They look like they're on the wrong layer (one layer up, so that they are above the kart body).

Definitivelly, not. The wheels are in correct perspective hidden by the Tux/cars bodies.

Otherwise, the logo looks very nice!

Thank you!

[capricom45]

the only fault I see with the logo is the checkered flag - it is a bit dark.
but otherwise, it looks good

[GeekPenguinBR]

the only fault I see with the logo is the checkered flag - it is a bit dark.
but otherwise, it looks good

Hi! Well, basically, it's the screen capture of the official checkered background. It's a drawing made over the official flag using the same shades of colors.

[XGhost]

What happened to the wheels on the right side of the car? They look like they're on the wrong layer (one layer up, so that they are above the kart body).

Definitivelly, not. The wheels are in correct perspective hidden by the Tux/cars bodies.

Are you sure? I made in Photoshop a little (very bad) addition to your image, just to compare both...

[GeekPenguinBR]

The left wheel (on the right side of the drawing) was too much fat.

[ctdabomb]

Not sure what about it, but I must say I'm not a big fan of this latest logo. Sorry if I burst any bubbles. I'm unsure of how much weight my words carry.

[GeekPenguinBR]

Not sure what about it, but I must say I'm not a big fan of this latest logo. Sorry if I burst any bubbles. I'm unsure of how much weight my words carry.

Did you dislike this one (the last) or did you dislike the idea of the STK logo? In the case the bad one is just the last (what seems to be the problem), what's the reason? The name of the league or something related to the drawing itself? What is not good in your opinion?

[Wuzzy]

Well, I kinda like current loading screen.
Maybe keep it as fall-back option (i.e. if using custom track or the track has no screenshot yet)?

Anyways, I don't like any of the screenshot-based examples so far, but I like the basic idea.

The raw screenshots serve poorly as a background. They need to be desaturated a lot and have a much lower contrast. Overall, they should be just a really subtle background IMO.

Also, the screenshot quality itself is low. There is a clearly visible aliasing. I think the screenshot should be taken of a game scene taken at the highest quality level. Anti-aliasing is a must.

About the “World Kart League” thing: Well, it is an interesting logo, certainly, but it doesn't fit at all to the existing logo in style. It would only make sense of the official STK logo is changed as well.
I also agree the text “World Kart League” does not make much sense.

There is no such thing as a World Kart League, neither in the real world, nor in the fictional world of STK. And STK is lacking any sort of an actual “League” or “Championship” mode. There are also zero references to such a thing throughout the game, so it just does not fit at the moment.

Back to the loading screen:
Maybe also include additional information about the upcoming race:

• Track name
• Track direction
• Race type
• Total number of karts
• If normal race or time-trial race: Number of laps

But to be honest, I don't thing any of this loading-screen stuff is really that important and high-priority. It's nice to have, but I don't care much about it.

[ctdabomb]

Did you dislike this one (the last) or did you dislike the idea of the STK logo? In the case the bad one is just the last (what seems to be the problem), what's the reason? The name of the league or something related to the drawing itself? What is not good in your opinion?

I couldn't quite put it into words then, but artistically it isn't bad at all. What bugs me is probably just the concept of having it in the loading screen seems odd and out of style. It could make a cool decal in places... :/ I'm explaining very well.

[GeekPenguinBR]

What bugs me is probably just the concept of having it in the loading screen seems odd and out of style.

Ok. As I said, I don't have a defined opinion about this subject (a new loading screen). It was just a suggestion (I mean, to use my STK logo as a "big icon" on the loading screen), but I'm not sure if this is a good idea.

[Auria]

Hi, while this looks very good, there is no immediate plan to do big changes to the loading screen. The main reason is that any non trivial change to the loading screen would probably require significan changes to the engine, and at this just we just have so many other areas of the game where developer time would be better spent that I don't see anything like this happening short-term

The visual could be changed a bit of course, though I don't foresee anything track-specific being implemented, and progress indicators are also pretty unlikely at this stage

[GunChleoc]

I like the logo idea too - and as Auria said, it might be easier to do with the current engine.

@GeekPenguinBR: I am impressed by your image skills. I really like the Tux kart in your logo. However I am not sure about the text "World Kart League". On the one hand having a global community of STK players is a great vision. On the other hand there is no reference to this in the game so far. A world kart league might be created, when online playing is being integrated in the game. In general text in an image is a problem for translators. They need to create a whole new image for each language.

This could be done with an overlay, like Battle for Wesnoth does with the maps. However, since this will require engine changes like Auria hinted, developer time is probably best used somewhere else. Or we could have text rendered over an image - we would need to make sure that the text will fit into the image for all languages though.

Also, the screenshot quality itself is low. There is a clearly visible aliasing. I think the screenshot should be taken of a game scene taken at the highest quality level. Anti-aliasing is a must.

These were just some quick mockups - mine was 2 of the images posted here overlayed, and they didn't even fit properly. Of course, the final product will need to be high quality