by icycalm » 27 Oct 2012 05:44
I am not currently using Photoshop on my netbook, because it'd be too heavy for it, and my PC is not set up yet. But I can test headers quickly enough anyway by simply posting them on the frontpage.
As for what you've made, I'll certainly be using one of the Killzone ones, and probably also the Wipeout one. The Mass Effect 2 one needs to have the dude moved quite a bit to the right, and even then it's probably not going to be usable on the frontpage. I don't think I can explain to you exactly what the requirements are for a header to go on the frontpage. It took me ages to figure them out myself, and there are tons of headers I used to use which I eventually discarded. For every header on the frontpage there are anywhere between 5 to 10 which I made but discarded. Good is not good enough, it has to be stunning otherwise it's not going on the frontpage (though it may go in the fourm...) It can be deceptive because there are plenty of gorgeous wallpapers which you'd think would make gorgeous headers, but it doesn't work that way. The Deus Ex ones you made, for example, come from a very nice wallpaper, but the layout of the artwork does not lend itself to the short, elongated format that we need. You had to rotate it a lot to fit it in the needed dimensions, and when I place it on the frontpage it will look like the he's lying on top of all of Insomnia's articles, and that will look lame. I know because I've tried dozens of similar headers from other wallpapers in the same style (for example, many DOA girls, or Catherine) and finally figured out that having the character lying horizontally doesn't work (nor does your first version, which shows the protagonist essentially hanging from the ceiling?) The AH3 headers don't work either. It's not your fault, it's just that for some reason NONE of the wallpapers for ANY of the Arcana Heart games have the kind of layout that will work as a header. They are either squeezing too many girls in too little space, which means that when you try to crop them you end up with a bunch of headless girls, which looks lame; or they have a single girl in the entire wallpaper, but just standing there looking lame, without fighting anything or going in some sort of cool pose or something.
Bottom line is there has to be DRAMA in the scene for the header to work well on the frontpage. You want EVERY SINGLE HEADER to SCREAM OUT at the viewer "THIS SHIT IS AWESOME, THIS SHIT IS VIDEOGAMES, MOTHERFUCKER".
And the drama needs to be in either the left or the right side and not centered.
So let me try those of the ones you made that look promising, and I'll get back to you. And thanks for the effort, as always.