Creating new ship art

[tex]

Hi, I just got this game a couple of weeks ago, and yesterday I added my first "never was" ship, the USN´s proposed 1885 armored cruiser.

As this ship looked very similar to the Chicago, I used the Chicago´s bitmap and altered it a bit (using photoshop), then saved it as AnSide0500. I then opened then replaced the water and sky with that nice pink color used in the transparent art files, remembering to paint over the black frame as well, saving it as AnShil0500.

Now in the game the ship is there, but when I click on her the game crashes. Any ideas of what I am doing wrong? I have searched the forum but there doesn´t seem to be a tutorial on how to add artwork, is there such a thing out there somewhere?

Sorry for all the newbie questions, but I would really appreciate if anyone can give me a hand. Thanks!

[Rysyonok]

I think you're out of bounds with the file name. I think the upper limit is somewhere around 460+... you'll have to give up an artfile to give your ship one, numbered prior to 460.

[tex]

Thanks, I will give that a try. I noticed that numbers 23,42-49, and others are free, is there any reason I can´t use them?

EDIT: The number was the problem, thanks very much for the help! When I used number 023 there was no problem at all. This makes me quite happy, as I can now add some older ships. Guess my wife won´t be too pleased though [:D]

[Rysyonok]

Hm, I don't know. I guess you can try and see if it works

[tex]

I tried it, and it worked fine with no side effects (that I can see!). Thanks again for the help.

[Rysyonok]

ORIGINAL: tex

I tried it, and it worked fine with no side effects (that I can see!). Thanks again for the help.

Can you post some of your work? I'm curious - I've never heard of the 1885 design.

[tex]

The art wasn´t anything special, just some experimenting. But the cruiser is interesting. She was never built but was part of the designs proposed during the selection process for what later became the Maine and Texas. Based on a rough sketch of the plans, she looked very much like the Chicago.
Here is the information I have from US Battleships: An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman:

Displacement 5000 tons
Length 305
Beam 65
Main Battery 2x10"
                  8x6"
Secondary 14 Hotchkiss
Belt 10"
Belt Width 5.5 feet
Speed 17.5 knots

Not a bad design, but certainly rather small, and not enough protection from torpedo boats (though that wasn´t too much of a concern in 1885).

[Rysyonok]

Very interesting. Can't say I've heard of this one (although Conway's fighting ships does hint at 12 other designs besides 1880s Texas and Maine).

[tex]

There was also a 7500 ton battleship with four 10" guns and six 6-inchers, but unfortunately Friedman says the sketches have been lost.

As for art, is there any kind of tutorial to guide you through creating ship art? I have searched both this forum and WiTP but couldn´t find anything. I did run into an interesting thread where someone had done up the Majestic, but it seems nothing came of the project.

What Conways do you have? I would love to lay my hands on the 1860-1905 edition, but they are difficult to find, and quite expensive when you do!

[Rysyonok]

I don't know of any real tutorial, but this is what I use.

1. Get a background. http://mathubert.free.fr/witp_files/Chi ... rounds.bmp or http://mathubert.free.fr/witp_files/Chi ... ds_1-2.bmp

2. Cut out the 200x60 fragment of choosing.

3. Decide on length of waterline. Usually each 4' equal a dot. A 172' ship will be represented by 172/4=43 dots. Say, 22 to the left and 21 to the right of the center.

4. Draw the ship

I got 1860-1905, 1906-1921, and 1922-1945. Ended up being about $200 off Amazon. I did wait until I could see a better deal - I bought each one separately over the course of a few months.

[tex]

Thanks for the links, they are great, and the info on size is very useful as well.

I can do everything on your list with the exception of number 4 Do you have any tips to pass along? I am using photoshop, and based on the work I have done so far I can see why I am not an artist in real life. How do you do the details? Do you make the image bigger and then scale it back down? What about layering?

When (or maybe if) I finally master this game I would like to try my hand at making a pre-dreadnought mod. But since I mainly game with 1/3000 scale miniatures, getting the hang of this computer game my take a while (which isn´t such a bad thing).

I envy your Conways collection!

[Rysyonok]

Well, I zoom in using MS Paint and just do one dot at a time... my images come out very rudimentary, though...

[Rysyonok]

Same, but at maximum zoom in MS Paint.

[tex]

Thanks for the sample, I will give it a try and see what happens. I hope I can get something that looks like it might float!