Pioneer PDF Current Artwork

[Yenaldlooshi]

Artwork is not something I normally care about nor comment on but from what I have seen in the Pioneer PDF from the kickstarter, I feel I should comment before it is too late. thankfully it does not seem like the art is locked in yet.

Page 10: Child watching launch from shoulders of parent; looks like a cartoon. It's nice but I didn't think I was buying comic book of an RPG

Page 16-17: Panel of astronauts giving a press conference. 2 on the right are hamming it up.; Honestly this is the worst. I was really hoping this would be a game of space exploration that takes itself seriously and science being harder than Traveller 2e. A game that feels like photo realism in its treatment of space. This art seems to want to make a mockery of space exploration. Imagine if "From Here to the Moon" as made as a parody when you were hoping it would be exactly as it was.

Page85 and 110: cartoonesque, but not the worst.

page 138; not bad. simple man in space suit

page 173-177; space craft look good

Page300, 306; ok but would have like more photo realism

Page314: THIS!!! THIS IS WHAT I WAS HOPING I WAS BUYING ALL THE THIS!! I love this page. please please make more like this.

 

[Limpin Legin]

On the whole, I rather like the artwork. It is good enough for me to see artistic impressions of action in outerspace alongside photorealistic detailed pictures of catalogue items. My eye can make a transition from one to the other quite easily and I really appreciate the light-dark contrasts of the artists outerspace imagination.

 

[Limpin Legin]

On the topic of artwork, is the girl on page 10 the same woman as on page 110? They look almost identical with same hair and same facial expression, just 15 years difference in appearence.

 

[Yenaldlooshi]

On the whole, I rather like the artwork. It is good enough for me to see artistic impressions of action in outerspace alongside photorealistic detailed pictures of catalogue items. My eye can make a transition from one to the other quite easily and I really appreciate the light-dark contrasts of the artists outerspace imagination.

On it's own, there is nothing wrong with the art. In fact, I would say the art would be great in the Traveller charted space universe. I actually love the cartoon quality especially for Pirates of Drinax. The physical composition of the art is very good... for what it is.

For Pioneer, I was hoping a more serious realistic motif.

I love steak.
I love ice cream.

but steak ice cream? not so much....

This tastes like steak ice cream so far.

 

[shirgall]

Page 10: Child watching launch from shoulders of parent; looks like a cartoon. It's nice but I didn't think I was buying comic book of an RPG

Regardless of the form of this artwork, it is so iconic of many of out hopes and harkens back to the same feels as the movie Contact as well.

 

[Yenaldlooshi]

Regardless of the form of this artwork, it is so iconic of many of out hopes and harkens back to the same feels as the movie Contact as well.

the composition of the image; the child, the observation of the launch, harkens back to my own childhood when I wished I was there to see the Saturn V launches. It also harkens back for me personally watching in person the launch of the last successful mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia on STS109.

You see a connection to the movie Contact and that is great too.

... but the style of the artwork, is a comic book. I love comic books too... but I wish this artwork assumed a more realistic style and less a comic book or anime style. My assumption was this was a more realistic and hard treatment of space science in an RPG. I was hoping the art would reflect that. Instead, it looks like a comic book so far.

You could create the exact same image composition, the child observing the launch on the parent's shoulders, but give it a photo realistic style and you would have an image worthy of the goal of the game. It would keep, and I feel, enhance the nostalgic references you and I both have to draw from.

 

[Yenaldlooshi]

Or you could even use "Impressionistic Realism" instead of Photographic Realism. Google that and pull up images and you will see a bunch of what I am talking about. The point is... the RPG is realistic. On some level so should the artwork be to compliment it.

I have not read the Pioneer rules cover to cover as I just downloaded it. If it is treating space more realistic than Traveller, then I applaud that, and that goes to my point about realistic feel in the art work.

Where's William Keith Jr. when you need him, dangit! He was the master of this for Traveller back in the day.

 

[shirgall]

I have not read the Pioneer rules cover to cover as I just downloaded it. If it is treating space more realistic than Traveller, then I applaud that, and that goes to my point about realistic feel in the art work.

I wouldn't go so far as "realistic," but both are grounded in different eras of future history. A lot of my favorite Traveller artwork has a hand-drawn grounded or neopunk style.

 

[Yenaldlooshi]

I wouldn't go so far as "realistic," but both are grounded in different eras of future history. A lot of my favorite Traveller artwork has a hand-drawn grounded or neopunk style.

I did not mean "realistic" purely on it's own, as if among Traveller players you could get any to agree on what was realistic and what was not. I meant "more realistic" and is it not that? Moreover, is that not the point of the game?

I mean, here are the marketing comments made in the KS "If you are an avid fan of films and TV like Gravity, The Martian, or For All Mankind, this is the RPG for you!" and "Pioneer was written by software architect Dr. Sandy Antunes, whose space-science experience with NASA, the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and several universities makes Pioneer authentic and realistic. "

I hope it's not just that it's different eras of future history with same levels of realism. If it is, I bought the wrong kickstarter.

So sure, Neopunk would be great with a re-issue of "Dark Conspiracy". My point is not "This art is good, this art is bad". My point is this art there would fit the game, and this art here really does not fit the game.

With these endorsements, I was not expecting anime-comic book artwork... just sayin.

I was expecting, well, this level of art:




And all the art in the KS is along this caliber and level of realism, btw.

 

[shirgall]

We they are future histories, but so are Space:1999 and The Expanse or even 2300 AD. Totally fine to be grounded, but there's going to be a leap to make it playable.

 

[Yenaldlooshi]

We they are future histories, but so are Space:1999 and The Expanse or even 2300 AD. Totally fine to be grounded, but there's going to be a leap to make it playable.

Yes, and I am in that choir, btw. If I have to choice between rules mechanics that make a game playable versus make a game realistic, I will take playable every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

.... but I am not talking about rules mechanics.

I am talking about the look and feel of the game through how it is represented artistically. It its important to me that the look and feel of the game and it's art harkens me back to "From Earth to the Moon" and all the movies listed in the Kickstarter. I would like real life astronauts to look at the game packaging and say "looks legit". Do that and you can take all the leaps you need to make it playable.

 

[shirgall]

I am talking about the look and feel of the game through how it is represented artistically. It its important to me that the look and feel of the game and it's art harkens me back to "From Earth to the Moon" and all the movies listed in the Kickstarter. I would like real life astronauts to look at the game packaging and say "looks legit". Do that and you can take all the leaps you need to make it playable.

Yeah, I admit that I was hoping for more of a Tintin On The Moon style if cartoon artwork was coming, but I appreciated the girl on shoulders a lot from the original campaign artwork, and I don't mind it in the book itself.

Of course with so many placeholders for artwork in the draft, I wouldn't be surprised if all of the artwork was going through revisions anyway. I suspect your feedback is timely here.