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Here's the first version of the cover for RUN: a game of artificial intelligence.

I'm a little concerned it's a bit too dark, but I'd like to hear what people think in general.

According to your website,

"RUN is a martial arts, wire-fu, bullet-time bonanza inspired by The Matrix, Snow Crash, and anybody who's ever said "Whoa, I wish I could do that!" "

I dont see any of that in the cover. It sort of looks like a dull business software manual.

Quote from: NNAccording to your website,

"RUN is a martial arts, wire-fu, bullet-time bonanza inspired by The Matrix, Snow Crash, and anybody who's ever said "Whoa, I wish I could do that!" "

I dont see any of that in the cover. It sort of looks like a dull business software manual.

I can see that. :)

Okay then, what would you expect to see on the cover of a game described like that?

a martial arts, wire-fu, bullet-time bonanza !
somehow dissolving round the edges into digital data

I like it just fine the way it is.  It is, however, really reminiscnet of the Matrix.  Although, that sounds to be basically what you're going for.

Heya,

One thing I might suggest is that with a dash over the U, people might think it is suposed to be pronounced "rune" and therfore get it confused with another genre or game.  Asthetically, I like it, but it might cause some confusion. /shruggs

Peace,

-Troy

Quote from: Troy_CostisickHeya,

One thing I might suggest is that with a dash over the U, people might think it is suposed to be pronounced "rune" and therfore get it confused with another genre or game.  Asthetically, I like it, but it might cause some confusion. /shruggs

That's what I thought too. Hm. I might see how it looks without it.

I agree that there's no sign of the "wire-fu bonanza" on the cover. That said, the pattern and font are pretty good; setting that background and title text along the top, banner-style, might work nicely. I see about two inches of title, with a ragged edge as though from a torn page, then the rest of the cover art below.

That said, the font looks extremely similar to that of Uplink, a (very cool) computer game. I'd change it. See: http://www.uplink.co.uk/

MDK

Quote from: RossumI agree that there's no sign of the "wire-fu bonanza" on the cover. That said, the pattern and font are pretty good; setting that background and title text along the top, banner-style, might work nicely. I see about two inches of title, with a ragged edge as though from a torn page, then the rest of the cover art below.

That said, the font looks extremely similar to that of Uplink, a (very cool) computer game. I'd change it. See: http://www.uplink.co.uk/

MDK

that's actually a very cool layout idea; I might even go with it.

As for Uplink, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a fan (or influenced by it for that matter).

I see nothing about the cover that would make me want to take a closer look, apart from the tag line. It's just, well, bland and empty.

It doesn't imply the wirefu-ness to me either. You could perhaps add a kung fu combat silhouette/highlight into the background data? If you made it from brighter data it might solve your worries about darkness too.

-Matt

I like the bland, empty cover. But, I'm kind of a computer nerd so that would make sense. In fact, I think you should take it a step further and make the cover look like those old computer manuals or japanese game manuals. Except keep the corporate logo, i really like it. It looks cool.

-MisterPoppet-

I'm with Troy on the accent over the "u." I looked at it and the first thing I thought was, "Oh, Rune -- I thought it was Run." Then I looked back in the threads on the game and I realized it was supposed to be Run, not Rune. And it really was the first thing that hit me, but then I'm a word person, not a visual person.

All told, I really thought it was a slick looking cover. I'd definitely pick it up and see what it's about if I saw it on the shelf. I really like the idea of making it look like a game manul or users guide, too. Even if you don't go with that for a cover, I think it would be cool to call the book "The Run User's Manual," or something like that. Later expansions could be called stuff like "Programmer's Guide" or "Update Kit" or someting in that theme.

a martial arts, wire-fu, bullet-time bonanza !
somehow dissolving round the edges into digital data

I'm not ordinarily a big fan of raytraced 3D rendered artwork for game covers, but the right Bryce or 3DS Max artist could do a static wire-fu scene with stock models, skin everything in it with your columns of numbers background, and position the lighting properly, and you'd get an image that looks like Neo seeing a bullet time scene through the matrix. I suggest a conversation with Raven/greyorm.

Paul

I'm not ordinarily a big fan of raytraced 3D rendered artwork for game covers...

Oh, and the reason I suggested Raven is because his cover for Sorcerer goes keenly beyond 3D artwork. He painted on top of the 3D image. The result pulls at the corners of your eyes in ways that most 3D stuff doesn't.

Paul