Hello
I have been looking at the current underworld site and what is available there and thinking about how unuseful it was to me as a GM or a player.
What I would like to see is a section like what used to available at The Pinnacle site where Fans could submit such interesting things as Monsters,Vilains new, char classes, adventures, Chargen progs etc.
This would be a great thing to see for underworld Firstly providing impetuous to return to the site regularly. secondly while the official forums are good I Think that actualy being able take somthing tangible for your game and have a chance to give somthing back would realy help build a comunity.
anyway what do other people think about this.
Oh BTW the link to the Underworld character generator on the site is incorect - Current site is http://www.inkwell.za.net/gaming/uwutilities/uwcg.html
expect to see V2 out sometime after the we get hold of UW 2nd ed
Jeremy Norton
---
There is no chaos only Patterns to large for your simple mind.
Well, actually, I just redesigned the site with an announcement and promo image for UW2, and right now there's not much else....so this is a good thread to start right now.
I do think that Pinnacle's model is a good one to follow...although, honestly, Adamant would need someone with better web-chops than we currently have on staff, to design a user-submitted format for that kind of stuff.
GMS
GMS, if you're looking to put something like that together, I'd be willing to donate some web expertise.
Alternatively, you might want to ask Clinton about the system on the Sorcerer site, no point re-inventing the wheel after all.
Matt
(unemployed web designer of the month)
I still have all the framework and data for Radiance kicking around. With 2e coming out this fall and John McKane's [spelling?] site having gone down last year, I was considering putting it back online anyway.
BTW, if the "UnderWorld" text on the new page is the actual logo for the second edition, I must say it's very very nice compared to the first edition logo.
I agree with Adam on the logo. I think the mock-up pic you have on the site is a lot more evocative of what _I_ thought of when I read your columns moons ago than the 1e cover. If this is indicative of Adamant's visual approach to UW, I say "Rock the fiznuck on, yo."
Yes, that is going to be the logo for UW2. With as many people complaining about legibility as there were, it was the first thing on the redesign board for me.
The image is a digital piece from UK artist Jon Hodgson, who I'd like to make the signature artist for the line. Samples of his work can be found at http://www.jonhodgson.net ---although his digital stuff isn't up there. He's got some more stuff visible at RPGnet's Freelancers forum, on this thread: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2083 , or this one:
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2380
So, yes---that is an example of Adamant's visual approach to UW.
We will hereby continue rocking the fiznuck on.
GMS
Yeah, I checked out Hodgson's stuff a while ago. Nice choice, man. I think he'll represent the UW line well.
Rocking the fiznuck, indeed.
Damn, I'm so white, I can't say that outloud without giggling.
Gareth, drop me a line if you're interested in seeing Radiance return - I seem to recall you liked the concept when it was first launched. It could be re-worked to fit in as part of the official site without too much work, or return as a plain ole fansite, or something.
New image: interesting. The lettering style makes me think more of Neverwhere and (for some reason connected to the semi-archaic look) Dark Cities than the previous one did. I actually liked many things about the old cover... I don't think you're intending to use the whole image for the new cover - if you are, note that there are no clues to what the game's about - no, that's wrong, there are no clues to the *weird* bits.
"A promotional image does not a new cover make" or some other such useful phrase. It is pretty sweet though, isn't it? :)
I especially like the W. Something fairly Escheresque about it.
The new logo is nice, although I liked the old one better.
Jürgen Mayer
Just thought I'd stick my head round the forum door and say thanks to the folks that complimented my promo image for UW2.
And a big thanks to GMS for the link - much appreciated!
If you would like to see more digital work, I have a brand new gallery at
Epilogue.net - Apparently I'm supposed to able to give you all a direct link to my very own gallery, but I'm too much of a troglodyte to work out how to do it! (Sorry!)
Anyhow, it's there, if you can summon up the energy to take the trek! "Editor's picks" is the quick way to find my gallery.
And its having new pieces added as fast as they can approve them.
Right, enough shameless self-promo out of me, except to say I'm really looking forward to working on such a cool game, and I hope I can live upto expectations!
Cheers all,
Jon Hodgson
Sorry to be a gadfly. The revised logo just doesn't do it for me. While some might argue that the "classic" logo lacked clarity, I'd counter by asking what better way to identify a game of urban fantasy than with a uniquely urban art form? Graffitti resonates with the Underworld--energetic, organic, inappropriate and sometimes plaintive. Its swirling textures draw the viewer in but defy easy assimilation. The classic logo created a distinctive connection, a map (as it were) between our world and one more magical, dangerous and alive. In a more practical sense, the logo created a product identity that deserves to be carried into the second generation. Certainly, the original design could be tweaked to accent legibility; abandoning it completely in favor of a font that doesn't convey a sense of "New York-ness" and that owes more to Viking runes than inner-city synergy moves away from the heart of what's going on beneath the mean streets. Don't be too hasty; new in this case is not necessarily better. [/i]
I think OddBodkins has some valid points there...
QuoteIts swirling textures draw the viewer in but defy easy assimilation.
Hmm, I'd go for "is too damn difficult to read for a prospective buyer to bother with" myself. It's also brown and yellow, on a background which is mostly brown, it doesn't stand out enough.
Yeah, I'm in favour of the logo looking all graffitiesque, but just cos it's graffiti doesn't mean it should be illegible.
Just my opinions.
Matt
The graffiti elements will still be there....just not on the front cover. We had too many retailers hit us with a valid complaint: the game's title should be visible and decipherable from across the store. It should make a prospective customer cross over and pick it up...the old title was too arcane.
As far as Matt's comment goes, that "just cos it's graffiti doesn't mean it should be illegible"....well, actually, I don't know what the situation is in the UK, but here in NYC, the entire point of graffiti *is* that it's unreadable. It's a code (several codes, actually), readable only by those "in the know." The graffiti fonts that we used on the first edition are actually WAY more readable than actual graffiti!
I will be keeping the graffiti elements on the interior (chapter headings, etc.), but for the cover, readability is more important than style.
GMS
Quote from: GMSkarkaI will be keeping the graffiti elements on the interior (chapter headings, etc.), but for the cover, readability is more important than style. GMS
I guess that means the cyberpunk angle is right out.
:p
Quote from: GMSkarkaI don't know what the situation is in the UK, but here in NYC, the entire point of graffiti *is* that it's unreadable.
Well, to be honest it depends on the graffiti artist. There's some truely wonderful art out there, which also happens to be some guys tag. There used to be some run down industrial sites you'd pass on the way into Birmingham on the train with some wonderful murals on. Course, because it was all "just graffiti" it got cleaned off, shame.
Come to think of it, back when I did art at school, one of the teachers had a book filled with pictures of NYC subway trains which had been muralled (is that a word?) by taggers. Anyhow, that's what I was thinking of, rather than the "scrawled on bus shelter in felt tip pen" look. Big, brash and bold, and still legible.
Anyway, the issue is really: does the logo evoke the background, and is it readable to average joe game shopper.
Matt