Jarno's Historical UI Message Graphics

[jarnomiedema]

Introduction

As some of you might know, together with Van Diemen, I have been working on the United Provinces Retexture Project. Now that that is nearing a close, I decided to focus my attention on another pet peeve of mine with the regards to Empire: Total War; the UI graphics.

Now don't get me wrong, I think that the artist who did the UI graphics has done a phenomenal job! My main problem with it is that they're just not that interesting and frankly quite bland. The characters aren't really detailed and in fact most of them seem half-finished.

So, I decided to remedy that. Not by making my own UI graphics ofcourse (I'm a decent retexture artist, but I wouldn't even dream of trying to start from scratch and paint entirely new graphics!). What I've done is search through several helpful websites, found some great period artwork and incorporated them into the game..

Goal

With this mod, I hope (eventually) to change most, if not all UI graphics and give you a more highly detailed experience with artwork made by artists who actually lived through the times that this game is trying to portray. Nevertheless, I'm not limiting myself to artwork made from 1700-1800. If there is artwork about that period, but made in a different period, and it still looks good, I have no problems using them. This mod is not about historical accuracy, but is purely an aesthetic change to the game.

Progress

This mod has been finished!

Download it from here: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?p=5852471

Assistance?

If you have any suggestions for artwork, feel free to post links, attachments or the graphics themselves in this thread and I'll see about using them. If I decide to do, you will naturally get credit for your help once the mod is released!

There are a few conditions with regards to the contributed images though: they need to be as large as possible, without any JPEG artifacts (blurriness) and most importantly; they need to be in full colour. Black and white engravings or prints in limited colours are not going to be used.

Screenshots

Here are some Work-In-Progress Screenshots. Note: these were not Photoshopped into the screenshots; this is the way the game looks with this mod activated!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[shi98918]

You need to design the material......~

Unfortunately, I can only China~

MY MOD the next version will be changed UI

[Dogmeat]

very nice

just a question there are a few there that are events i havnt seen happen , on CA's to do list at release i supsect. Plague Volcanno etc. Just curious have you found a way in your mod that activates these effects/events so pple get to see all of your sweet changes.

[jarnomiedema]

You need to design the material......[/LEFT]

I'm pretty good at Photoshop, but not good enough to make and use my own designs for this mod. That's why I decided to search the internet for good artwork from the actual period and integrate that into the game..

just a question there are a few there that are events i havnt seen happen , on CA's to do list at release i supsect. Plague Volcanno etc. Just curious have you found a way in your mod that activates these effects/events so pple get to see all of your sweet changes.

Unfortunately the answer to your question is no. Although I probably should say 'for now'. From what I've seen around the forums here, there is a mod that 'reactivates' the Family Tree that was originally meant to be included in the game. If that is possible, it might be possible to reactivate some of the events that were also supposed to be included. However, if there's no existing code or data with regards to those events, I think it could be extremely difficult..

[Storm]

Very nice pictures!

I actually don't have much a problem with the ingame ui graphics, but I guess a mod for that thing can't hurt.

[A1_Unit]

I like your new UI very much but something just doesn't feel "right" about the mission issued UI event pic. Nice job though!

[StalinCore]

Great idea!
Could you used this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Villars_a_Denain1.jpg
I think that is is beutiful picture with soldiers from early 18th century.

[Skyline Pete]

The only thing I can think of this picture you've used for square formation isn't really a square formation.
Maybe use the picture of the 42nd in square at Waterloo? It's not in the 1700-1799 era I know, but it's one of the few paintings of soldiers in square.

[titanvoyager]

Perhaps you can use these

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Yoram777]

If you have any suggestions for artwork, feel free to post links, attachments or the graphics themselves in this thread and I'll see about using them. If I decide to do, you will naturally get credit for your help once the mod is released!

There are a few conditions with regards to the contributed images though: they need to be as large as possible, without any JPEG artifacts (blurriness) and most importantly; they need to be in full colour. Black and white engravings or prints in limited colours are not going to be used.

Maybe this website can be of use to you, it lets you choose a period and a type of art, and then gives you a list of artist names which you can google for great art:

http://humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=i&a=i

But it's still pretty hard to find art that really fits those etw events.

btw, the pic you used for the "workers riot" as well as the one for "revolution succeeds" are both from the French revolution, I think the one you used for workers riot would fit the revolution succeeds event beter because it looks much more dramatic.

Another suggestion, maybe this can be of use for something to do with rebels:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Perhaps you can use these

Those russian naval paintings are from around 1850 way outside the timeframe, and the one above that looks like 1800's (napoleonic) as well

[jarnomiedema]

Replies

Very nice pictures!

I actually don't have much a problem with the ingame ui graphics, but I guess a mod for that thing can't hurt.

Thanks! I actually had a bit of a go with modifying in-game graphics (feel of the game) when I modded some parts of Europa Universalis III a long time ago, so when I came across these files in the pack files, I thought to myself: 'Why not try that again?'

I like your new UI very much but something just doesn't feel "right" about the mission issued UI event pic. Nice job though!

I agree with you completely! While I really like the painting itself, there are just too many books on the table, which doesn't really fit the theme. But, thanks to TitanVoyager, the image where Louis XVI issues an order to La Pérouse (French Explorer) will be the new mission issued picture.

Great idea!
Could you used this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Villars_a_Denain1.jpg
I think that is is beutiful picture with soldiers from early 18th century.

Thanks, StalinCore! As a matter of fact, I had already found that one and will be using it for the 'rebellion' event. Thanks for the help! I really appreciate it!

The only thing I can think of this picture you've used for square formation isn't really a square formation.
Maybe use the picture of the 42nd in square at Waterloo? It's not in the 1700-1799 era I know, but it's one of the few paintings of soldiers in square.

You're right ofcourse, but unfortunately it's impossible to create seperate UI event graphics for each individual military advance. As much as I would like that, it can't happen at the moment. The image that I used will pop up with every new military advance. If you know a good painting that shows soldiers from the time period being drilled, that would probably be the best replacement..

Perhaps you can use these

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Thanks for those suggestions, TitanVoyager! I've been trying to find a good quality image of that painting of Louis XVI issuing an order to La Pérouse, but couldn't find one. Glad to see you did! I will definitely be using that one. As for the other images, as Yoram777 points out, they're a bit outside of the timeframe, but I've been smuggling a bit with the timeframe from other images as well, so I might just use them. Thanks for your help!

Maybe this website can be of use to you, it lets you choose a period and a type of art, and then gives you a list of artist names which you can google for great art:

http://humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=i&a=i

But it's still pretty hard to find art that really fits those etw events.

btw, the pic you used for the "workers riot" as well as the one for "revolution succeeds" are both from the French revolution, I think the one you used for workers riot would fit the revolution succeeds event beter because it looks much more dramatic.

Another suggestion, maybe this can be of use for something to do with rebels:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Thank you for your suggestions, Yoram! I'm definitely going to be checking that website out for sure. I had already been going to the Wikipedia page called '18th century' and going through the artists they listed there.

With regards to the workers riot and revolution succeeds pictures, I disagree to be honest. The main reason for that is because of the text in the revolution succeeds (the capital has fallen) and because rioting is associated with violence, not so much the storming of the Bastille. Also, when you check out the original UI graphic used for the revolution succeeds event, it bears a striking resemblance to this painting..

As for the Battle of Lexington pic, I had found that yesterday as well on a great website of the U.S. National Guard with some very high detail pics. Thanks for the suggestion though!

Those russian naval paintings are from around 1850 way outside the timeframe, and the one above that looks like 1800's (napoleonic) as well

As I said in my first post, as long as the timeframe isn't that far off, it doesn't really matter. I've been using images from the Great Fire of Amsterdam and a painting of the ruin of Amsterdam's old city hall in the event pics as well and those events took place in the 17th century. In most cases, I try to avoid any part of the image that gives away the fact that it takes place in a different period. For instance, with those ships, I could probably cut away or brush away the people and you'd have a hard time seeing it was the 1850's. As for the assembly image, I might actually use that, because I've found it incredibly difficult to find any good parliamentary artwork and this looks just right.. Not too gaudy and Napoleonic, so once it's zoomed out, it'll be just another part of the art.

Quick Announcement

I hope to post some more images tonight, along with description of what they represent in-game. Playing a campaign and waiting for them all to pop us can be a bit tiresome, so it'll most likely be a quick overview. Stay tuned!

[A1_Unit]

Great!

[titanvoyager]

more paintings (updated)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

^About steam engine^

[Yoram777]

Thank you for your suggestions, Yoram! I'm definitely going to be checking that website out for sure. I had already been going to the Wikipedia page called '18th century' and going through the artists they listed there.

With regards to the workers riot and revolution succeeds pictures, I disagree to be honest. The main reason for that is because of the text in the revolution succeeds (the capital has fallen) and because rioting is associated with violence, not so much the storming of the Bastille. Also, when you check out the original UI graphic used for the revolution succeeds event, it bears a striking resemblance to this painting..

Then how about this painting for the workers riot:



It's from the Priestley Riots from 1791, but it looks a lot more like a workers riot then that French revolution painting.

As I said in my first post, as long as the timeframe isn't that far off, it doesn't really matter. I've been using images from the Great Fire of Amsterdam and a painting of the ruin of Amsterdam's old city hall in the event pics as well and those events took place in the 17th century. In most cases, I try to avoid any part of the image that gives away the fact that it takes place in a different period. For instance, with those ships, I could probably cut away or brush away the people and you'd have a hard time seeing it was the 1850's.

Sure, if trere arn't any good paintings from the exact period than that shouldn't be a big deal, but there isn't exactly a shortage in naval paintings from the 18th century so there's no reason to use paintings from outside the timeframe for that.
The other naval paintings titanvoyager just posted fit the timeframe.

I hope to post some more images tonight, along with description of what they represent in-game. Playing a campaign and waiting for them all to pop us can be a bit tiresome, so it'll most likely be a quick overview. Stay tuned!

Looking forward to it

[jarnomiedema]

New Event Pics Overview

Here's a short overview of 54 Event Pics I've replaced so far. The ones that are between quotation marks are actual event pics, but I'm not sure if they're used in-game or I'm not entirely sure what event they represent if they actually are in-game.

Enjoy! (Warning: these pics are 1500 x 1500 pixels, so it might take a while to load)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Replies

more paintings (updated)

Thanks for the update, Titanvoyager! The one you suggested for Steam engine might just work.. I haven't included it yet, but rest assured that it will be in the future! I also really like the one with Bligh for the naval mutiny event, but unfortunately it's too small. The paintings need to be at least 500 by 250 pixels in order to fit the event screen. Thanks again though!

Then how about this painting for the workers riot:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It's from the Priestley Riots from 1791, but it looks a lot more like a workers riot then that French revolution painting.

Good suggestion, Yoram! I really like it, but haven't included it yet. I've stuck with the 'Assault on the Tuileries palace' painting for the riot and I've chosen a new painting for the 'Strike' event, but I'm thinking of replacing it with your suggestion. Thanks for your help!

[titanvoyager]

Just say that I love all your new UI messages except the largest fleet. It should be more smart, more scenografic, you know "a large fleet crossing the ocean knowing that they are near invincible".





Also I think that the pics shouldn´t show specific faction flags like the Surrender, Navy First Rate (all the people knows the HMS Victory) and Land Mutiny ones

For the surrender you can use this



For the Navy First Rate




Rebellion!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

http://img22.imageshack.us/i/79471693.jpg/



Just my view.



I order to help you, what more do you need now?


.

[Searry]

Looks very very good! Do you happen to have a hi-res version of that Prussian Grenadier picture? Preferably 1280*1024?

[jarnomiedema]

This mod has just been released!

You can find download links and an additional row of new graphics in this thread: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?p=5852471

Enjoy!