Paint, paintjobs, Livery and Decals discussion thread.
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Pfft.. I don't want someone else's art... I want my own!
I wanna be different. Just like everyone else!
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It would be a challenge to implement something like that I think. Current paint jobs are on everyone's account already, only activated once bought, thus you can see them on other ships even if you haven't bought them. To have something custom, say it would work like you were painting in a uvw unwrap of the ship, then that paint job would have to be uploaded to anyone who is in visual range with you. I don't know how large the maps are for the ships in ED but it could become problematic for those on slow internet, and if it's a large sized map and a lot of people are using custom paint jobs it could become problematic for high speed internet users as well.
A way around the upload time would be to make a painting system within outfitting that has pre-colored unwraps, pre-made decals, custom base color, bigger designs with transparency. There would be a limit to just how custom it would be.
Coming back to true custom paint jobs by painting an unwrap, you'd have anacondas with a badly drawn purple pecker stretched across the top in no time. Then you'd see entirely black paints, and then maybe black with stars on it for "Silent Running Stealth Redefined" type of thing.
A way around the upload time would be to make a painting system within outfitting that has pre-colored unwraps, pre-made decals, custom base color, bigger designs with transparency. There would be a limit to just how custom it would be.
Coming back to true custom paint jobs by painting an unwrap, you'd have anacondas with a badly drawn purple pecker stretched across the top in no time. Then you'd see entirely black paints, and then maybe black with stars on it for "Silent Running Stealth Redefined" type of thing.
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I was going to suggest a painting contest as well. There's a good reason not to give everyone free rein. Can you imagine the sort of pictures the youngsters would draw on the sides of their spaceships if they were given digital spraycans?
We already know how it works, and just cause you dunno how it would be implemented doesn't mean it would be difficult, and the response to the upload/download is how APB does it. When someone is enroute to you, or within a certain distance the data is already transfering prior to even meeting. By the time they get to you the texture has already loaded and if for some reason there's too many to load well.. you're not losing anything.. They just won't load till they can.. We're talking like maybe 200k worth of data. I'm sure it won't be a big deal. It doesn't bother APB any and people in that paint their cars, cloths, items, tattoos from scratch, it gets saved in multiple resolutions in a low data image format. So there's Low res when they're far away and can barely see them to give time for the higher res to load, but with Elite Dangerous you can't see squat till you're practically ontop of someone anyways.. The moment someone hits the star systems they should already be transferring their info. Chances are you'll download their 200k worth of data before you ever see or meet them outside of the FSD.
Way I was thinking of it all, is do it the Ace Combat: Assault Horizon way. We get a gigantic color palette, and a set amount of pre-set patterns. Profit. Easiest thing to do really. With what's in the Game Extras store, most of the patterns currently are already in the game and shouldn't be too difficult to get UI going for customising patterns. In fact that'd actually be beneficial if you think about it, though it might be micro-transaction galore if its to pay for a certain pattern or a bundle of patterns. But honestly, I wouldn't mind that at all, just means more capital to use for the game's development.
As much as everyone likes the idea, they won't -ever- do this. Frontier needs the microtransactions from skins to fund the company and further development of the game.
Paintjob quick-repair toggle.
I've been thinking (I know, don't hurt your brain) about something which I think might be liked.
Some of us like that rough, used look of a scuffed paintjob. Hell, I once came into dock after an exploration run with over half of my paintjob scratched off and -loved- it. Made the ship feel -very- used, homey even.
So, Devs, please, let us turn off automatic quick-repair on paintjobs.
I've been thinking (I know, don't hurt your brain) about something which I think might be liked.
Some of us like that rough, used look of a scuffed paintjob. Hell, I once came into dock after an exploration run with over half of my paintjob scratched off and -loved- it. Made the ship feel -very- used, homey even.
So, Devs, please, let us turn off automatic quick-repair on paintjobs.
+1 to the OP
and +1 to this .. for one, very real reason, you might be returning a mission, low on cash (giving engines priority over scanners). There's another thread here, talking about other ideas (which you can tell I'm keen on) for developing small playable complexites into refueling and repair.
and +1 to this .. for one, very real reason, you might be returning a mission, low on cash (giving engines priority over scanners). There's another thread here, talking about other ideas (which you can tell I'm keen on) for developing small playable complexites into refueling and repair.
Michael posted recently that they are looking at this and a fix is in for 1.2 update. The skins show on other ships, so no reason they can't on our own.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=118907&p=1850785&viewfull=1#post1850785
"Yes you can see paintjobs and decals. No pilots for now. "
I wasn't against the idea by the way, I would very much like to have full control over the entire texture.
InMemoriamSirocco
Banned
Before we get any new paintjobs, I would like to have every currently available paintjob be purchasable for every currently (and soon coming) ship.
Anybody with me?
Anybody with me?
InMemoriamSirocco
Banned
I want a pink camouflage paintjob with Hello Kitty decals. 
It would be cool if they did something along the lines of what Warframe did with the color palettes that effect certain parts of your Warframe. But they could even take it a step further and add a second variable to it for instance.. "metallic" or "matte". Maybe even something that would look amazing near stars a "Pearlescent" look. As far as the emblems.. they could add ifinite. Crap, why not let players create there own from a tile set of shapes and or numbers like a good amount of games are now doing. Obviously, if they did that though, you'd be getting some raunchy emblems.. where there's a will, there's a way. hah
The real question for me is: will there be Day 1 FdL and Vulture paintjobs?
Because if there aren't, well, I may be left with no choice but to moan about it. You have been warned, Frontier.
Because if there aren't, well, I may be left with no choice but to moan about it. You have been warned, Frontier.
I've been thinking about pitching a long-deliberated idea for an implementation of custom skins and decals in light of the monetised skins for a while now, but, alas, I procrastinate a lot. However, now, that a thread on this matter is present, I might as well get my fingers in motion. Warning: this pitch is kinda lengthy.
The Premise:
Since Frontier have chosen to follow a business model akin to that of games like Guild Wars 2 and Evolve - that is, to implement secondary monetary sources by offering purely cosmetic items for sale and thereby avoiding the oft-decried "Pay2Win" aspect of certain games on the market - this needs to be considered for the implementation of custom cosmetica. A secondary monetary source like this is paramount to the longevity of the high-maintenance endeavour that this game is (for comparison, see Guild Wars 2 for an example of another game that has developers & authors actively and continuously maintain, rather than pre-scribe, the story for its universe, including tangibly experienced effects on the concrete game world). Therefore, to let the ability of the player to customise cosmetic items dry the skin (and future decal?) market up, is to be avoided.
Thusly, this pitch treats skin & decal customisation as a feature that has to be bought and works in conjunction with the skins presently on offer as its own actual product.
Please note, that this is a pitch for a very basic level of skin & decal customisation, which only allows you to see the custom skin on your own client - other players would likely just see the default skin of the respective ship. (There are ways this could be remedied via the usage of unique identifiers for skins; but this thing's gonna be long enough as is. For a quick glance at what this might involve, let me redirect you here.)
The Products:
1.) The custom skin feature as such: One slot for a customisable skin per ship class, bundle pack for a slot each for a set number of ship classes.
Downloads: a rarfile containing the default or a "paper-white blank" bitmap & the specular map in a common, workable file format for the respective ship for use as a template. Listed under "My Downloadable Products" on the ED store. You can buy multiple of these.
2.) Addition to skins sold presently and in the future: Offer a download of the respective skin's bitmap & specular map, so bought skins can be used as templates, too. This way, monetised skins retain some of their value, even if the customisable skin slot has been bought.
Personal note: More of an example, really. I'm an owner of the Chrome Skin for the Cobra. What I would do, if both the aforementioned points were met, would be to download the templates of the Chrome Skin and tone the specular map down a bit, to then put this alternate skin in my custom skin slot. The Chrome Skin is a bit too reflective for my taste. I expected something closer to the blackest spaceship ever from the Hitchhiker's Guide books.
3.) The custom decal feature: One/a number of slot(s) for (a) custom decal(s). Downloads: bitmap+specmap of the skull decal from the Merc. Pack for a template.
The Technical Side:
I'd like to describe the actual usage and implementation of what I've got in mind in a step-by-step manner.
In this example, I want to turn my Adder into a proper rainbow-coloured hippie bus!
1.) I buy a custom skin slot for the Adder.
2.) I download the file adder_default_template.rar.
I find this file among "My Downloadable Products" in the ED store.
3.) I unpack the two files adder_default_bitmap.tga and adder_default_specmap.tga.
(The .tga is pure speculation; I don't know which file format would be optimal for the means by which this pitch proposes custom skins to be implemented. Read on, I'm getting to that.)
4.) I paint away in the bitmap and specmap.
using The Gimp or Photoshop or whatever else suits my fancy. I use colours on the bitmap gratuitously and keep the specmap "dimmed down", so it doesn't look too metallic or plasticky, but rather like painted with a brush.
If you don't know what a specmap actually is: It's a greyscale image defining the reflectiveness of a texture. If you look at some of the sold skins in outfitting, you'll notice that they make ample use of specular highlighting.
5.) I start the launcher.
On login the launcher detects that I own a custom skin slot. It generates the folder "C:\users\Ketzerfreund\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\ Elite Dangerous\Options\Custom Skins\Adder\Slot01".
6.) I save my edited files in the aforementioned folder.
As long as no files are found there by the game, the default skin will be used for the custom slot.
7.) I restart the launcher.
When the launcher detects the custom texture images, it converts them into texture files as ED uses them.
8.) I start the game proper and go into outfitting.
That custom skin slots are sold per ship model makes sure that my custom skin is only listed when I go into outfitting with an Adder.
9.) ...Wait a second, something's missing...
10.) I buy a custom decal slot.
Creation and use analogous to the skin, though a custom decal would be available for all ships.
11.) I create a Peace Sign decal.
12.) The result as I vividly imagine it:
Pricing:
Now, this is a bit difficult. I don't know how to allot a price to this in an objective manner. Also, I don't know how exactly Frontier arrived at the prices they set for their custom skins, so far. So, this is strictly what I personally and absolutely subjectively would be ready to pay for features as pitched above:
- One slot for a customisable skin for one particular ship class: I'd say, something like "price of six-skin-pack" x 1.5.
- One slot each for a set of ship classes: Mostly analogous to how ship skin packs relate to single skins.
So, what would this be worth to you?
~ On the fair implementation of custom skins & decals
vis à vis the monetisation of cosmetic items ~
vis à vis the monetisation of cosmetic items ~
The Premise:
Since Frontier have chosen to follow a business model akin to that of games like Guild Wars 2 and Evolve - that is, to implement secondary monetary sources by offering purely cosmetic items for sale and thereby avoiding the oft-decried "Pay2Win" aspect of certain games on the market - this needs to be considered for the implementation of custom cosmetica. A secondary monetary source like this is paramount to the longevity of the high-maintenance endeavour that this game is (for comparison, see Guild Wars 2 for an example of another game that has developers & authors actively and continuously maintain, rather than pre-scribe, the story for its universe, including tangibly experienced effects on the concrete game world). Therefore, to let the ability of the player to customise cosmetic items dry the skin (and future decal?) market up, is to be avoided.
Thusly, this pitch treats skin & decal customisation as a feature that has to be bought and works in conjunction with the skins presently on offer as its own actual product.
Please note, that this is a pitch for a very basic level of skin & decal customisation, which only allows you to see the custom skin on your own client - other players would likely just see the default skin of the respective ship. (There are ways this could be remedied via the usage of unique identifiers for skins; but this thing's gonna be long enough as is. For a quick glance at what this might involve, let me redirect you here.)
The Products:
1.) The custom skin feature as such: One slot for a customisable skin per ship class, bundle pack for a slot each for a set number of ship classes.
Downloads: a rarfile containing the default or a "paper-white blank" bitmap & the specular map in a common, workable file format for the respective ship for use as a template. Listed under "My Downloadable Products" on the ED store. You can buy multiple of these.
2.) Addition to skins sold presently and in the future: Offer a download of the respective skin's bitmap & specular map, so bought skins can be used as templates, too. This way, monetised skins retain some of their value, even if the customisable skin slot has been bought.
Personal note: More of an example, really. I'm an owner of the Chrome Skin for the Cobra. What I would do, if both the aforementioned points were met, would be to download the templates of the Chrome Skin and tone the specular map down a bit, to then put this alternate skin in my custom skin slot. The Chrome Skin is a bit too reflective for my taste. I expected something closer to the blackest spaceship ever from the Hitchhiker's Guide books.
3.) The custom decal feature: One/a number of slot(s) for (a) custom decal(s). Downloads: bitmap+specmap of the skull decal from the Merc. Pack for a template.
The Technical Side:
I'd like to describe the actual usage and implementation of what I've got in mind in a step-by-step manner.
In this example, I want to turn my Adder into a proper rainbow-coloured hippie bus!
1.) I buy a custom skin slot for the Adder.
2.) I download the file adder_default_template.rar.
I find this file among "My Downloadable Products" in the ED store.
3.) I unpack the two files adder_default_bitmap.tga and adder_default_specmap.tga.
(The .tga is pure speculation; I don't know which file format would be optimal for the means by which this pitch proposes custom skins to be implemented. Read on, I'm getting to that.
)4.) I paint away in the bitmap and specmap.
using The Gimp or Photoshop or whatever else suits my fancy. I use colours on the bitmap gratuitously and keep the specmap "dimmed down", so it doesn't look too metallic or plasticky, but rather like painted with a brush.
If you don't know what a specmap actually is: It's a greyscale image defining the reflectiveness of a texture. If you look at some of the sold skins in outfitting, you'll notice that they make ample use of specular highlighting.
5.) I start the launcher.
On login the launcher detects that I own a custom skin slot. It generates the folder "C:\users\Ketzerfreund\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\ Elite Dangerous\Options\Custom Skins\Adder\Slot01".
6.) I save my edited files in the aforementioned folder.
As long as no files are found there by the game, the default skin will be used for the custom slot.
7.) I restart the launcher.
When the launcher detects the custom texture images, it converts them into texture files as ED uses them.
8.) I start the game proper and go into outfitting.
That custom skin slots are sold per ship model makes sure that my custom skin is only listed when I go into outfitting with an Adder.
9.) ...Wait a second, something's missing...
10.) I buy a custom decal slot.
Creation and use analogous to the skin, though a custom decal would be available for all ships.
11.) I create a Peace Sign decal.
12.) The result as I vividly imagine it:
Pricing:
Now, this is a bit difficult. I don't know how to allot a price to this in an objective manner. Also, I don't know how exactly Frontier arrived at the prices they set for their custom skins, so far. So, this is strictly what I personally and absolutely subjectively would be ready to pay for features as pitched above:
- One slot for a customisable skin for one particular ship class: I'd say, something like "price of six-skin-pack" x 1.5.
- One slot each for a set of ship classes: Mostly analogous to how ship skin packs relate to single skins.
So, what would this be worth to you?
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