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Forums → Art, Music, and Writing → [Closed][Official] Armor Games' Armatar Contest: PIRATES!!! YARRR!!!

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MrDayCee
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MrDayCee
14,745 posts
King

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8500/8253540719_7b89c6b013_b_d.jpg
Summer is almost over and so is the "Summer Edition" of the ArmorGames' Armatar Contest. We can truly state that this edition was a BIG success, rendering a fantastic amount of awesome creations made by our users, which made it impossible to choose a winner! Thank you all for your incredible entries!!

Moving onwards to the next edition again and some of you may already know what it is... as we're back with that popular theme that is even celebrated with it's very own, special day of the year, which is coming Saturday! For those of you still wondering what this theme could be, well... Arrr, me hearty! Sat'rday be th'day we be celebratin' "Talk like a Pirate day", so the new theme be all'bout:

...well shiver me timbers... PIRATES!!! YARR!!!

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3763/9801002245_ecb7e3a2ee_o_d.png

Avast! By the powers! 'ere be guidelines that'll help ye figur'out what be allowed and what not :

ARMATAR CONTEST GUIDELINES :

ne: All entries must be appropriate. They cannot be offensive or profane in nature. Keep it clean!
The entry must be square and at least 512x512 pixels in dimension.
Your entry must scale down well to 100x100. So if it looks good in its larger form, make sure that it will still look good when it is scaled down to the armatar size. Here are a few suggestions about this :
Sometimes keeping it simple is better. If you go into a lot of detail, it might not look as great when you scale it down. So keep in mind what the Armatar size will be and check often how it looks when it is scaled down.
Remember to save a lot while you are making it! Better to delete 20 -in between made- save files later on, than ending up with a finished piece you don't like or an end result that is showing up blurred when scaled down...
If you are able to do vector, by all means! That can help with the sharpness of the image. However, since they are small in Armatar size, this is probably not a big issue.
All entries must be fitting to the current contest's theme. If a certain entry is debatable to whatever extend, a Mod or Admin will give the decisive and final ruling for submission.
An entry must be completely original. You cannot use entire (or even elements from) pieces of artwork made by someone else, the entire armatar must be 100% created by you! A Moderator can ask you to provide conclusive proof that the entry was created by you entirely and you are obligated to provide this when asked for.

Plagiarism will not only exclude your submission by means of disqualification, it will also exclude you from participation in any future contests AND will have further consequences!

CLOSING DATE OF THIS CONTEST :

This'ere brand new contest be runnin' for a fair time now, so aye, we be lookin' at a grand grand booty o'drawin's from all o'ye scurvy dogs! What time 'tis be ye say? Well, that Jolly Roger be wavin' up high from 09/14/2015 'till 10/12/2015 matey!!

WINNING SUBMISSIONS :

Every participant of an official edition of the Armor Games' Armatar Contest receives a well deserved Merit for submitting one -or more- entries to every separate edition held. This means a maximum of one Merit per participant, per edition.

Alongside this Merit for your participation, we now have a special non-game Quest to award for the winning submissions of the Armor Games' Armatar Contest!! This special Armatar Creator Quest will be bestowed upon the creators of the winning entries that were chosen for every contest held from now on. The winners will receive this Quest to show our appreciation for their outstanding work. Wear this Quest with pride!
Winners will be chosen after the edition is officially closed;
The winning entries are non-debatable, results are final;
The Armatar Creator Quest can only be awarded once per user. If a particular user wins another edition, they will not receive this Quest again, as Quests can not be achieved a second time;
As a special appreciation for their outstanding work, all the winners and their winning entries of every edition will be placed into the Armatar Creator Quest Winners Hall of Fame!

So, go! Be gone to yer drawin' tables and start creatin' that thar shiny booty! And if y'won't, well blow me down! We be keelhaulin' ya fo'sure Jack! Now get t'work! Before we make ye walk that ther'plank... YA-HARR!!!

...

*Yo-Ho-Ho... and a bottle o'rum*

  • 134 Replies
Doombreed
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Doombreed
7,022 posts
Templar

I've been busy with work the past week, which delayed the winners announcement and awarding of prizes...

Past Week, past month, what's the difference right?

Just messing with ya. Though please @MrDayCee , We really need to get on with the winners section...

MrDayCee
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MrDayCee
14,745 posts
King

YARR!!! At last... I made it back home! Y'see... Me ship was boarded at the Jamaican Port and aye found m'self thrown in prison for a month for sailing the wrong flag... scurvey dogs... arrrr... BUT! Me shipmates sprung me free and we sailed back through th'storm Neptune threw at us! YA-HARR!!!

So, let's get down to splittin' that thar treasure 'ey?! Y'ARE READY?! ARR!!!

Th'winners of the Arrrmorrr Games' Arrrmatarrr Contest: Pirrrates Edition!!

http://i.cubeupload.com/oBmNZh.png
@Miraidematro Pirate's Best Friend

http://i.imgur.com/LkH6xZw.png?1
@Doombreed Kraken v3

http://s8.postimg.org/4zexeh9qd/ivan7x23.png
@ivanxxxxxxx Armor Games Pirate

http://i.imgur.com/UsJFkwK.png
@BlizzardBehemoth Capt'n Oink

http://s17.postimg.org/ccgfrr9en/Ghostof_Matrix_s_armatar.png
@GhostOfMatrix Capt'n BlackBeard

And a special runner up announcement for the following entry...

http://i.imgur.com/Ud30kEz.png
@FishPreferred The Kraken Wakes

Your entry is simply awesome @FishPreferred! I love it! But, sadly... the entire image loses most of its power when scaled down to Armatar size. Which is a pity.

Thank you all for your wonderful works of art! We hope to see you and your creative minds enter again in any future editions of the Armor Games' Armatar Contest! Winners will be awarded with the Armatar Quest of course and every participant will receive their well-deserved Merit! HUZZAH!!

huwbert2013
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huwbert2013
239 posts
Bard

This just gets better and better. Yo guys I'm still here keepin a beady on yur all. Jus busy thas all. Well done everybody not a bad one amongst them.

SportShark
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SportShark
2,980 posts
Scribe

@FishPreferred your entry which supposedly depicts the underbelly of a kraken looks more like the underbelly of decaying baby octopus. I'm all for praising good art here, but it would soon become meaningless if all we did was throw around empty praise at every single submission. I'm going to point out the flaws with your piece now for clarity.

Armatar Issue
At 100x100 it just appears as a solid black square unless you look very, very closley. Aren't armatars supposed to pop out and make an impression? The whole spooky tentacles emerging from the abyss thing is totally ok in an art forum where the art is subject for interpretation and will not end up being the size of watch battery once the contest is closed.

Art and factual issues
Although the kraken is a non existent mythical creature and therefore subject to different interpretations, almost all krakens are depicted having suction cups which yours doesn't have (those tiny blue zit things don't look anything like a suction cup). Additionally, the gray thing at the center of the creature looks just like a pair of nostrils, not a cephalopod's beak which it should. Now for the drawing: looking at the several points where the tentacles whip around and fold over, I see absolutely nothing to convince me that it is bigger than an average house cat. This is because the frail thinness of the tentacles at those areas (and others), which did not legitimately graduate past the 2D barrier, crush any belief that this is a monstrous, thick bodied sea monster (and I mean paper thin, not even close to just long and spindly). Next, I notice that the tentacles are quite very short, and no kraken has ever been depicted as being reach challenged (until now). Since krakens have bigs heads and bodies, they obviously need long, thick tentacles to support their weight and size. And finally, the subject is not centered, but rather in the upper left hand corner. But with MS paint, I can't really blame you for most of this; that program can be frustrating as hell.

Conclusion
This not a personal attack, it is constructive criticism.

FishPreferred
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FishPreferred
3,171 posts
Duke

[...] but it would soon become meaningless if all we did was throw around empty praise at every single submission.
And you feel the need to tell me this because ...?

At 100x100 it just appears as a solid black square unless you look very, very closley.
Probable causes:
1 Your monitor's gamma is turned way down.
2 Somebody has painted your screen black as a practical joke.
3 You're blind; see an optometrist.

Aren't armatars supposed to pop out and make an impression?
Is this a real question? Why are you even asking?

Although the kraken is a non existent mythical creature and therefore subject to different interpretations, almost all krakens are depicted having suction cups which yours doesn't have (those tiny blue zit things don't look anything like a suction cup). Additionally, the gray thing at the center of the creature looks just like a pair of nostrils, not a cephalopod's beak which it should.
This is just you saying that you did not recognize obvious features as exactly what you recognized them to be.

This is because the frail thinness of the tentacles at those areas (and others), which did not legitimately graduate past the 2D barrier, crush any belief that this is a monstrous, thick bodied sea monster (and I mean paper thin, not even close to just long and spindly).
I have no idea which features you're referring to here. Could you be more specific?

Next, I notice that the tentacles are quite very short, and no kraken has ever been depicted as being reach challenged (until now).
What; 80' isn't good enough?

Since krakens have bigs heads and bodies, they obviously need long, thick tentacles to support their weight and size.
Oh, I get it. Just like whales need giant thick legs, right? ...




... Right?

And finally, the subject is not centered, but rather in the upper left hand corner.
What, exactly are you inferring to be the subject here?

This not a personal attack, it is constructive criticism.
That should go without saying, shouldn't it?
akshobhya
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akshobhya
5,063 posts
Justiciar

@MrDayCee, I think I remember that there was an extra prize announced here for one lucky winner just the same like in the Sushi Cat Armatar Contest..

Doombreed
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Doombreed
7,022 posts
Templar

Νope, there wasn't. You can see for yourself in the OP.

akshobhya
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akshobhya
5,063 posts
Justiciar

I meant, I remember seeing it here as I was online when this thread was created...... Maybe it was removed...?

Doombreed
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Doombreed
7,022 posts
Templar

Νο...I was online too...aside from not remembering anything, I have browsed and read every post since...nothing You can try it, it is nowhere. There was a special reward for the Sushi Cat contest yes, but not for this one.

spaceskeleton
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spaceskeleton
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Duchess

Putting a passive-aggressive reassurance of one's good intentions at the end of a critique kept in a very condescending, frustrated tone nicely shows what you think of others' intelligence

SportShark
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SportShark
2,980 posts
Scribe

And you feel the need to tell me this because ...?

Because it's important.

Probable causes:
1 Your monitor's gamma is turned way down.
2 Somebody has painted your screen black as a practical joke.
3 You're blind; see an optometrist

4. I'm right and you can't admit that your picture lacks clarity.

Is this a real question? Why are you even asking

No, actually I'll state this as a fact since you apparently don't understand that armatars aren't supposed to be so dark one can barely see them at actual size.

This is just you saying that you did not recognize obvious features as exactly what you recognized them to be.

No, it's just me pointing out obvious issues with it. And secondly this sentence doesn't make much sense: "recognizing obvious features as exactly what I recognized them to be". What is this supposed to mean?

I have no idea which features you're referring to here. Could you be more specific

Yes, the points where the tentacles turn around are paper thin and lack the round/oval shape and instead appear completely flat (like a tapeworm).

What; 80' isn't good enough?

'You're kidding, right?' What did you do? Pull this number out of a hat?

Oh, I get it. Just like whales need giant thick legs, right?

Absolutely 100% not. They need big solid flippers. Imagine a big whale trying to survive with a set of thin little flippers. Since I know you're going to ask me what's my point: you brought it up.

What, exactly are you inferring to be the subject here?

A fuzzy cute pink bunny rabbit...
...oh, wait. No, it's the freaking kraken in your picture!

That should go without saying, shouldn't it?

Yes, but I am writing this, so I have to cover my buns and remind everyone to not get all offended and feel hurt in their hearts

Finally, I don't think that it's bad, ok? I just think it needs some improvement with the aforementioned.
Smiley face: 😀

nichodemus
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nichodemus
14,991 posts
Grand Duke

Art is by nature subjective. All masterpieces and great artists have their share of critics. There's no need to raise the pitchforks over it. I quite like the piece myself, it's only a pity that the details are hard to pick out due to the size constraint.

Doombreed
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Doombreed
7,022 posts
Templar

All masterpieces and great artists have their share of critics. There's no need to raise the pitchforks over it.

Thank you. Especially when it comes to something that has a correlation with art as minor as an AG armatar

FishPreferred
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FishPreferred
3,171 posts
Duke

Because it's important.
To preach to the choir? Why?

4. I'm right and you can't admit that your picture lacks clarity.
You were telling me that it's too dark. There was no mention in your critique of the image's clarity.

No, actually I'll state this as a fact since you apparently don't understand that armatars aren't supposed to be so dark one can barely see them at actual size.
But that hinges upon a presupposition that is contingent to your own inability to see what is plainly visible.

"recognizing obvious features as exactly what I recognized them to be". What is this supposed to mean?
It means, as you have so astutely inferred, that what you are telling me makes no sense. You claim that a certain feature should be present exactly where it is present and that it is not recognizeable enough to be what you've already recognized it to be.

Yes, the points where the tentacles turn around are paper thin and lack the round/oval shape and instead appear completely flat (like a tapeworm).
Both tentacles stretch beyond the frame of the picture and coil back. Being out of view is not the same as being paper thin.

'You're kidding, right?' What did you do? Pull this number out of a hat?
Well, it can't really be any less than 75', and only that if the nearest tentacle is within the diver's reach. See for yourself:

http://i.imgur.com/wrgTRCy.png
[lit up so even you can see; the diver is assumed to be exactly 5 feet tall]

Imagine a big whale trying to survive with a set of thin little flippers.
Which has nothing at all to do with the thickness, let alone length, which you claim is needed "to support their weight and size". Please try again.

...oh, wait. No, it's the freaking kraken in your picture!
Probable causes:
1 You're critiquing the wrong image.
2 Your browser is automatically cropping the image.
3 You have dysmorphopsia; see an ocular surgeon.
SportShark
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SportShark
2,980 posts
Scribe

There was no mention in your critique of the image's clarity.

There are many things that are unclear in the picture. One example is the diver's shadow. There is no sign of the diver's body in the picture so presumably he or she must be out of the picture's view, which would result in the diver be a ways away from the shadow. Therefore, the shadow cannot be a mere five foot tall shadow from that distance from the shadow caster to the shadow itself. The shadow's outline wouldn't be so defined either.

But that hinges upon a presupposition that is contingent to your own inability to see what is plainly visible.

You need to stop this ad hominem attack saying that I have problems seeing correctly. Others (including a staff member) have also pointing out that the picture is hard to make out at armatar size. Why do you continue to deny this obvious fact?

Both tentacles stretch beyond the frame of the picture and coil back. Being out of view is not the same as being paper thin.

Yes, they are out of view now on the repost of your picture after you cropped it to support this argument. Which picture would you like me to refer to from here on out?

Well, it can't really be any less than 75', and only that if the nearest tentacle is within the diver's reach. See for yourself

Aaaaaand finally you've given me an honest, legitimate explanation. You might want to leave all that stuff on there though. No one will be able to make this connection with out that stuff on there for scale.

Which has nothing at all to do with the thickness, let alone length, which you claim is needed "to support their weight and size". Please try again

All I'm saying is that a marine animal that weights upwards of several tons is going to need a way to swim properly and manage all of that weight. At first, your kraken appeared to have rather short, small tentacles. Krakens are always depicted as being huge, so upon only being able to see the tentacles of the animal and not the rest of it, I thought that you just forgot to account for the proper weight to length ratio. On the other hand, an animal like a nautilus can get by with relatively short tentacles and a larger body and head because it doesn't grow anywhere close to the size and weight of a kraken or giant squid.

Probable causes:
1 You're critiquing the wrong image.
2 Your browser is automatically cropping the image.
3 You have dysmorphopsia; see an ocular surgeon

Again, stop attacking me personally. In the first picture, one cannot see the tentacles in the bottom left region of the image, unlike in the second posting that is significantly brighter than the original. This has nothing to do with dysmorphopsia.

----------------

Look, I know that you probably put significant effort into this image and are a little upset with me bringing this stuff up. I used to be like this; remember how angry I used to get in my art thread when everyone would point out the flaws with my stuff? Just think of how great it'd look if you fixed all of the issues with it! Like I said earlier, it's not bad, it just needs some more work. And if you would like to continue this discussion, I'd like to carry it out on one of our profiles to save this thread from further of topic deviation.

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