CN Medals need you!

[Disciple of Nagash]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to see if there had been any further updates on the medals? I have a medal plugin for the new software, so would be great to do some testing.

 

[Raven Torrid]

Been somewhat busy lately (with hobby luckily!), so haven't been working on medals yet. As of next month I'll be concentrating on graduating from college, so again I can't promise much work on this, but hopefully I'll manage to squeeze something in.

I must say again tho, I'm not very skilled in digital art, but I can come up with mockups, general looks and ideas. Oh...and I totally suck at anatomy related stuff, so I'll keep away from designing skulls, hands, etc, etc. I'll probably be concentrating on things like chalices, swords, and so on.

One question - do the additional Golden Bat medals require designing as well (Master Medal, The Spanktastic Award, The Mods Choice and others) or is that sorted? Just to know that we can throw ideas for those as well, if it isn't.

 

[Monkey's_Uncle]

I've not done any work since my last post unfortunately.
This is due to a combination of being ill, power outages and loads of other non-college work. Fortunately that's all done now (I hope!).

I'll try and get some more stuff done this week, though a mate of mine has been over from the other side of the pond and this is his last week here, so we intend to do a huge game of some sort (sorry...)

Sorry about that guys, but I should be able to do more now.

 

[Raven Torrid]

Made an initial design for the Golden Bat medals. It's very WIP, so tell me what you think of it as a basic concept?

Another idea is a side view of a flying bat, with the wing aligned to one of the borders of the shield.

Here are the proposed medal-size files:

The head can be a bit re-sized to be more visible.

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

Wow, they are really great Raven - superb work! I would be very happy to have them as the GB medals

Monkey's_Uncle - no worries I fully appreciate how difficult things can be with real life - I just appreciate the work and effort that you guys can put in.

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

Just used one of the GB medals as a test on the new software - looks really good Keep them coming

 

[Raven Torrid]

Glad to hear that.

Here's another one - The Joker. Found a skull drawing online, outlined it in AutoCAD, made some adjustments (eyes, open jaw)...and drew a hat.

EDIT: Should swap the green and yellow, so that the transition from skull to hat is more distinctive.

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

Very good again

 

[Raven Torrid]

Few more design suggestions:

Grammatical Headache award for those who insist on post legibility.

Witch Hunter's hat or symbol of the Imperial Inquisiton or Sigmar's Hammer.

TVC Member of the Quarter - Every three months vote for somebody who you think has made an outstanding contribution to the TVC roleplay.

A dagger with blood dripping from it.

Best GM - For best roleplay GM. / Fallen Aristocrat: Great role-playing contributions.

Skeletal drama masks

The Beast - maybe for outstanding contribution in The Beast Within sub-forum?

A Werewolf head.

Reputation medals - let's say bronze, silver and gold, for acquiring 10, 20 and 30 reputation positives

Three types of crowns - standard crown (10), elaborate crown (20), exquisite crown (30). Maybe with heads that wear them as well.


Can you give me some feedback on those so that I know if I should start designing them?

 

[Monkey's_Uncle]

That's looking good.
I'm having further electricity problems over here, it's looking like we might need to totally rewire the house! Power seems to be stable half the time and then cuts the other half.

I'll do some bits and bobs when I can though!

EDIT:Raven, do you have the original file for the skull with a hat (minus the shield), I'd like to have a play with it when time allows and try fitting it onto a shield in Blender.

 

[Raven Torrid]

Aye, wanted do ask if you want the original files so you can do your Blender magic. Reckon that's easier to import than raster images. Working on it.

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

Some more great ideas. In regards to your question:

Grammatical Headache (may need a more catchy name) - I think a version of the inquisition symbol would work great

TVC Member of the Quarter - not sure this is needed, as we will have a special award for those who post in chapters of the TVC. We need one silver, one gold, or alternatively one minor, one major for the TVC. We then need a variant of that same medal for the TVC 2. Ideally the pic could do with something that ties it in to a roleplay, maybe a book with a skull or something similar.

Best GM - Yes there is a roleplay forum award, normally nominated yearly (we didn't do it this year). Skull versions of the masks sounds like an excellent suggestion for the forum award instead. We probably need something else for the best GM?

The Beast Within - Wolf head sounds perfect.

Reputation award - hold back on this one as I need to check the reputation function on the new software.

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

Ah, finally sorted out the new medal plugin for the new software. It is quite good, in some instances we can automate the allocation of the medals.

On that note the medals will now be called Trophies

 

[Monkey's_Uncle]

I've got the electricians coming over later today and I'm away for the weekend, but fingers crossed should be available after then.
I'll have a play with some of the ideas and see what I can come up with.

 

[Raven Torrid]

Grammatical Headache (may need a more catchy name) - I think a version of the inquisition symbol would work great

An attempt at this. Not yet sure on the colours.

 

[Zhatan]

Grammatical Headache (may need a more catchy name) - I think a version of the inquisition symbol would work great

An attempt at this. Not yet sure on the colours.

Yeah the colors me it kinda blend together in the smaller version.

 

[Monkey's_Uncle]

...and on the 20th Day the Lord said unto Monkey's_Uncle "Let there again be light so thou can see in the darkness and let there also be hot water so thou can again wash off the dirt of the road from thine body!"

Ahem... My electricity is now working again after nearly 3 weeks of intermittent faults! I had the sparks over and they fixed it, I am currently celebrating by having everything on at once and running up a huge electricity bill!

YAY!

This means I'll be able to do stuff again, I hope.

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

I agree that when scaled down the skull etc becomes a little bit of a blur - perhaps just enlarge the I and skull section?

Great to see you have joined the modern age once more Monkey

I am just cleaning up the list of the trophies and will update the first post.

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

OK,

So this is the new list I have come up with, there may be others but I think this is enough to be getting on for now.

There will be other smaller trophies, but they won't have special trophy designs like the ones you guys are doing, they will have smaller generic ones - like minor and major awards.

Golden Bat Competition
Gold - For winning first place in one of the Golden Bat Competition categories.
Silver - For second place in one of the Golden Bat Competition categories.
Bronze - For third place in one of the Golden Bat Competition categories.
Master - For winning first place in two or more categories in the same Golden Bat competition
Spanktastic - For having the most perveted entry in a Golden Bat competition, as decided by Disciple of Nagash
Mods Choice - A recognition award granted by Carpe Noctem's Dark Arts Moderators, to a member whose entry in the Golden Bat competition deserves special recognition
WTF?! - For having the the most 'WTF' idea behind their entry in the Golden Bat competition, as voted for by Carpe Noctem's members.
Nightmare - For having the scariest entry in the Golden Bat competition, as voted for by Carpe Noctem's members.
Living Doll - For having the most realistic entry in the Golden Bat competition, as voted for by Carpe Noctem's members.
Joker - For having the funniest entry in the Golden Bat competition, as voted for by Carpe Noctem's members.

General Forum
Dread Scholar - For members who have contributed to Carpe Noctem either by helping others or providing ideas and working to improve the forum itself
Vaults of Lahmia - For members who donate to Carpe Noctem's ongoing development and maintenance
Banshee For members who are quoted in Carpe Noctem's Random Quote Generator
TVC Thrall - For members who successfully completed five chapters of the Vampire Council roleplayer
TVC Lord - For members who successfully completed fifteen or more chapters of the Vampire Council roleplayer
Dark Transmuter - For winnng the monthly "Turning the World to Darkness" competition
Scribe - For contributing to Carpe Noctem's magazine - The Invocation
The Black Coach - Granted to those retired members of staff who have retired to their coffins, waiting for the energies of the Black Coach to ressurect them once more…..
The Long Night - A long service award to member's who have achieved the following - 500 posts and have been registered for at least 2 years on Carpe Noctem. They must have posted in the last six months to be granted this award
Welcome to the Night - For member's who regularly welcome new member in the Fresh Blood section
Tome of Blood - For members that write indepth articles, this can be tactics, painting or other subjects - subject to review and acceptance by Carpe Noctem staff
Chosen One: Council of the Night - This medal is for those members who have done something to earn recognition in the Council of the Night! Section, from great advice to indepth writing. To receive this award members must have at least 20 likes on a post, or nominated by a Staff member or True Blood
Chosen One: The Beast Within - This medal is for those members who have done something to earn recognition in the Beast Within Section. This section is specially rewarded for its adult and sensitive nature.To receive this award members must have at least 20 likes on a post, or nominated by a Staff member or True Blood
Chosen One: To War! - This medal is for those members who have done something to earn recognition in the To War! Section, from great advice to indepth writing. To receive this award members must have at least 20 likes on a post, or nominated by a Staff member or True Blood
Chosen One: Dark Arts - This medal is for those members who have done something to earn recognition in the Dark Arts! Section, from great advice to indepth writing. To receive this award members must have at least 20 likes on a post, or nominated by a Staff member or True Blood
Chosen One: Chronicles of Death - This medal is for those members who have done something to earn recognition in the Chronicles of Death! Section, from great advice to indepth writing. To receive this award members must have at least 20 likes on a post, or nominated by a Staff member or True Blood
Insani Grammaticae - Granted to member's who OCD on grammer and correctly worded posts is legendary. To receive this award the member must be nominated by other members.

Forum Awards
Supreme Lord of Undeath - A trophy granted to any member that manages the achievement of being granted all the standard "Forum Awards" trophies.
Master Vampire - An trophy granted in the yearly "Forum Awards", as voted for by Carpe Noctem's members. The winner of this trophy has been selected for their overall contribution to Carpe Noctem, someone who has made that extra effort, etc
Chosen of Abhorash - An trophy granted in the yearly "Forum Awards", as voted for by Carpe Noctem's members. The winner of this trophy has been selected for their superb tactical contributions from answering questions to providing tips on army lists
Painting Log - An trophy granted in the yearly "Forum Awards", as voted for by Carpe Noctem's members. The winner of this trophy has been selected for having a fantastic painting log, perhaps one that has helped and inspired others
Painting and Modelling Advice - An trophy granted in the yearly "Forum Awards", as voted for by Carpe Noctem's members. The winner of this trophy has been selected for their superb painting and modelling advice from answering questions to providing tips
Unholy Chronicler - An trophy granted in the yearly "Forum Awards", as voted for by Carpe Noctem's members. The winner of this trophy has been selected for their inspiring writing, ingenious plots and believable characters. Does not include roleplays
Phantom of the Opera - An trophy granted in the yearly "Forum Awards", as voted for by Carpe Noctem's members. The winner of this trophy has been selected for their fantastic roleplaying, someone who has given in their all, constantly posted and spurred others to do the same

 

[Monkey's_Uncle]

I've made a quick mock-up for the Golden Bat trophies, what do you think?

 

[Monkey's_Uncle]

Well.. I've been out of touch for quite some time. I really sorry about that, college has been keeping me really busy at the mo' and I've been doing some webmastery etc. that's been draining time. On the plus side it's now Easter and I've got 2 weeks of mostly free time!

I've reworked the golden bat template so it looks a little less cartoony, what do you think?

I'll have a go at some of the other designs later.

Cheers, Monkey

EDIT: Fixed an issue with the skull. The only area I'm really not happy with now is the wings... and suggestions?

 

[Lynks]

That's looking pretty good Monkey's uncle, are you talking about the wings around the skull? if so, perhaps making the edges a bit more pronounced would help? The eyes also look quite white, perhaps they could use some shading around the edges of the whites just to make it a little less sharp?

thanks for your work so far

 

[Monkey's_Uncle]

Ok, I've done a few more tweaks with the Golden Bat design and I'm pretty happy with it now. If you guys like it I can proceed to make all the variations necessary. I've added glowing eyes to the skull, I personally like this, but it may not be to everybody's tastes. If not I can remove them, or change the colour.

 

[Adam_Barrow]

Dude, that looks seriously cool! Thanks for the work on it.

 

[Monkey's_Uncle]

Allrighty then etc.
I've done the Bronze, Silver and Gold Golden Bat medals. They're uploaded here for your delectation and delight. I've also rendered smaller versions which are the right size for the final medal (80px high). If you guys all like them, I can email them to DoN for integration.

If any body else has any skills in the art department assistance would be greatly appreciated. I can do the 3D stuff, but my 'flat work' skills are a little rusty, so some of the designs on shields might be rather rough.

Hope you all like them, any suggestions or criticisms are more than welcome.

Cheers, Money

P.S. The Gold and Silver images are rather large. That's because they are encoded at 16-bits rather than 8. if you can't see any difference between the Bronze image and the others I'll re-encode them all as 8-bit and save masses of server space.

P.P.S. When we do start uploading to the website, I'd like to produce both the larger and smaller versions. I seem to get a better quality image if I render direct to the small size from Blender rather than resizing in Gimp etc.