Orange and blue shading

KyleA

It strikes me that the orange and blue shading on the character art is now almost imperceptible. I think this is a bit of a shame as that (slightly) stylised approach to the art was something that drew me to the game originally.

Compare older cards like Bridge Officer Troi or Galen...




...to this week's new Braxton:



I'd be interested to hear what other people think!

MiT Sanoa

I like the new style better.

bluetib

Mirror Sanoa wrote: »

I like the new style better.

I agree. I was always put off by the (what I consider) exaggerated shading.

[QH] Oxmyx

I much prefer the newer art.

Data1001

Yeah, the much more subtle style looks so much better to me. In the earlier ones, it was like they were in a studio with bright colored lights on either side. Sort of took away from the realism of imagining them in the surroundings that that particular crew variant was inspired by.

In fact, here's an additional thought, as long as I'm sharing. I know it's their "thing", to have the blue and orange lighting effect on all the crew in STT, but I'd just as soon they dumped it entirely. It's not only pointless, but it is, imo, a dumb choice in the first place. Like if the Marvel movies suddenly decided to give every single character — superheroes and regular people alike — a glowing aura around them, just because somebody thought it looked cool.

Dirk Gunderson

I don’t mind a little bit of shading, but I agree with the rest - some of those older cards had way too much of it and it took away from the overall quality. I also like the seemingly rare cards that use colors other than orange and blue...they help add a little flavor that would otherwise be missing.

KyleA

I hadn't realised there were other colours but now I see it (green, red, pink...).

Zombie Squirrel

I am glad it‘s gone. New art is waaay better without it.

{DD} Smelly

I don’t mind the shading either way. What bothers me more is when the art doesn’t look like the character it’s supposed to be (Holonovel Doc), or they are way too small (AoS Worf), or they’re not centered (Data V, Humbled Archer, Evolved Janeway.)

None

To tell you the truth, I didn’t even realize Braxton had any shading until I saw the larger one in this thread.

I personally like the older art better. Don’t get me wrong, the new art is good. But I liked that the old art looks like art. The new stuff is too detailed. It looks like someone just took a screen grab from an episode.

The old art was unique. It was something that made this game stand out. I like it best for that quality.

Seven of One

I prefer the new art but I miss the different colours. Blue and orange had been the standard for years now, they don't seem to realise there are other colours.

WaldoMag

I thought this was a way of them owning the art. If they saw it somewhere else it would be identifiable by the shading.

KyleA

Janeway rainbow:

Bylo Band

Color me with the same brush as Smelly, I find appreciation in all the different styles.

Cuttysark

I prefer the newer, more subtle highlighting. But rest assured the "blue light special" will be here forever.

KyleA

How would people feel about using colours other than orange for the shading in new art?

PrylarDurden

Is Blood Oath Dax the only one to be completely replaced with new art?

(HGH)Apollo

For me it is all about the stats. As long as the stats are good I am happy.

Prime Lorca

I could go either way, most of the time. But Tactical Burnham just doesn't look right with the heavy shading. The proportions seemed wrong on Blood Oath Dax. I don't have the same complaints on the new art.

MiT Sanoa

I would appreciate more color variance like in the earlier days. It could also help to distinguish between similar looking heads at ship battles, e.g. Fugitive vs Mirror Burnham.

[10F]risky Dingo

Data1001 wrote: »

In fact, here's an additional thought, as long as I'm sharing. I know it's their "thing", to have the blue and orange lighting effect on all the crew in STT, but I'd just as soon they dumped it entirely. It's not only pointless, but it is, imo, a dumb choice in the first place. Like if the Marvel movies suddenly decided to give every single character — superheroes and regular people alike — a glowing aura around them, just because somebody thought it looked cool.

I completely disagree with this statement. I think a more apt comparison would be the movie, "Spider-Man: into the spiderverse". The team behind that movie decided to make a 2018, CGI animated, film look like an old 60s comic (in parts). They used things like “Ben-Day dots”. While that particular look may not be to everyone's taste, it did make the film feel artistically unique.

Personally, I'm 100% with @KyleA. I too was drawn into the world of STT because of how dynamic the art looked. And, I feel like, one of the reasons the art looked so dynamic was/is because of the shading. That said, I don't hate the new art, I just find it a little boring compared to the earlier stuff.

(It should be noted that I really liked the "redo" art for Blood Oath Jadzia.)

Data1001

Spaceman Spi[FF] wrote: »

I too was drawn into the world of STT because of how dynamic the art looked. And, I feel like, one of the reasons the art looked so dynamic was/is because of the shading. That said, I don't hate the new art, I just find it a little boring compared to the earlier stuff.

Thing is, though, even if you preferred the earlier artwork, it's never been very consistent. It's finally gotten a lot more consistent of late, but from the earliest days there were many degrees of variation in quality, style, and yes, shading.

Of course art is very subjective, but at least we have gotten to the point where the artwork is almost always now very well-done, and actually looks like the actors in question. For awhile there, we had some pretty questionable new variants joining the game.