Board 8 > Zen Talks About the Match Pics Part 2: Spirit of Vengeance

(+) Yeah! (+)

Where did you get a picture of Ganondorf's swords? I like it.

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You beat yourself up with your past. Don't blame yourself, blame the world. Blame God. Blame me.

All the pics posted were very good. I even like GANON's, I opened them up and I couldn't stop laughing.

The swords one is nice, but the Master Sword going over and being on top of Ganon kinda bugs me. I'm just OCD though, it's a very good idea and a good pic! Hooray Wind Waker

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~Zen

I'm amazed this render of Ganon's swords even exists. But then again, Wind Waker has such tremendous official art, so I shouldn't be surprised.

What I was really hoping for was for Phoenix to make a mircale run, and I was actually going to do Phoenix and Ganon's swords vs. Phoenix and Edgey's pointer arms in Round 4.

But then that didn't happen, and I didn't realize until a couple days ago that this format works will for Link vs. Cloud as well.

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"Go get me Jared...from Subway!" -- CM Punk
This line reserved for Rivalry Guru winner.

Zen Reflective: Game of the Decade



So this was the theme for the first round. Cover art. OH MAN EXCITEMENT. There's almost nothing for me to comment on in this round.



Best box art or most damaging? You decide.



Believe it or not, that MM9 pic is of a T-shirt! For some reason Bacon couldn't find a legit scan of this art, as it's from a downloadable game so not "really" this cover art. I remember sending in a better copy I found but Bacon don't give two s***s.



Oh MAN the most one sided pic of all time.



Another game with no real cover, and it looks fantastic regardless. GG Tim.



ART



Everyone was saying that if Link was on the pic that it'd be OBLIVION FOR OBLIVION. This pic came out and people started cheering about Link being smack in the middle but it took like an hour for someone to go "uhhh that's not Link it's Raphael."



FINALLY freeform and things get interesting. Except for Deus Ex it stays really boring, apparently! Deus Ex, the game where... people stand around in an office! VOTE!



Another prime example of an Stock Ulti Pic. This is just a cropped Uncharted 1 wallpaper! The Uncharted fanboys lost their s*** with this one. So to make up for it we got a cropped promotional art shot with summa dat RED OUTER GLOW:





People really scrambled to find a pic of Chief looking to the left from Halo 1, and this is all we got. Meeeeeeeeeh.



It seems like NEVER was a good time for Vergil to turn around and show his face!



polar opposites, I love it. Kratos hates the animes. I think there was an anime vs western animation thread because of this pic. Also this Kratos was from the cover of his comic book.



There was a joke going around that the Morrowind guy actually was alive until he saw what he was up against. Then his skin fell off.



what am I even looking at in Perfect Dark.



croppin dat wallpaper. God this contest was unoriginal.



I remember listening to THE SHOW and Yoblazer was going all crazy over this pic cuz BioShock apparently looked incredibly because he looked like a disco ball or something? Then he gave the credit to Ulti EVEN THOUGH IT IS MY PIIIIIC *shakes fist* (you have to issue an apology next Show, Yoblazer)



Whoever made that Borderlands pic apparently googled "Borderlands Boobs" or something like that to get this pic. I haven't google it myself yet.

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~Zen

This was the contest where my Borderlands Butt Shot pic didn't get it. I was fairly disappointed.

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You beat yourself up with your past. Don't blame yourself, blame the world. Blame God. Blame me.

racistfaqs. people lost their s*** when they saw this.



I never liked this FFIX pic. Zidane looks like he's gonna hurl all over Minato.



Why can't I see Chell? I guess I'm not thinking with portals.



Vyse and crew want Shepard's nuts, but he's like "sorry vyse I don't go gay til Mass Effect 3 cuz Bioware now employs a bunch of furries and teenage girls"



I remember submitting like 300 pics of just random assortments of 2-6 MvC2 characters, but I guess Bacon thought it was more important to represent ALL of them in the pic and making it look like vomit. It evens the playing field, though, because MGS3 also looks like vomit.



What am I looking at on the right



early precursor to Ulti blurring the backgrounds



Batman looks like he's 90. Why this pic of all pics?



this is an action figure of Samus. Well, a statue. Add her to the Action Figure list.



THIS is awesome. Where have the funny early round pics gooooone.



Why does Link so washed out? There were a few of the washed out pics. Whose style was that?



GRADIENTZ and OUTER GLOW. Texture the background dammit! USE DROP SHADOW!



awesome vivi, why don't we use that one more?



personas look awful when all clumped together



PORTAL SPOILERZ what the hell



AWESOME Big Boss pic that nobody reuses



"what's the most iconic thing in oblivion"

"ALLIGATOR MAN"



this is cool, too bad it wasn't more freeform



also cool, I think Gordon might be flipped in the visor, though? Can't think straight, listening to THE SHOW while doing this



wow originality! but seriously good ideas



why do people like melee's roster more again



OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOD top 10 of all time



someone asked us how to cut up a pic like this and we gave him a template made in 2 seconds that was all ugly and I still feel bad that the template made the pic look so bad. My fault!



THIS is cool I like pics where it looks like they're actually fighting. DO MORE THIS. DO MORE THIIIIS!

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~Zen

That's not Vivi

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You beat yourself up with your past. Don't blame yourself, blame the world. Blame God. Blame me.

THIS is so great. It looks like some artsy advertisement for like a car or a sports drink or something. Leon walks up in front of white backdrop and is like "YO BUY MY STUFF" and then a Portal Turret is being wacky in the background. so good



this one is confusing though



THERE IT IS. People who do this kind of stuff should be legends.



wow I don't even remember this one but even more props. Why don't we do this stuff anymore?



Hero
Bad Guy
...Transportation?

*imagines MM Link riding the moon*



cool, could have been COOLER



also cool, pics need more brofists



there were SO MUCH "pointing weapons at each other" pics this year.



SO. GODDAMN. COOL. Good job making Brawl Link look like TP Link there, whoever you are.



what am I looking at OH it's Tabuu

why did people keep putting Tabuu in match pics? So awful



also cool. SPEEEEED LINES. But done right!



hot. more back to back pics! I like how I'm not even analyzing anymore, just saying "I like this." This was actually a good year, I haven't seen much below mediocre. Nothing to tear a new one.



oh my god I worked so hard on this. Swapping covers. SO MUCH FUN. Got to tilt Leon's head and everything. Dunno what I was thinking with the middle part... I think it was like a dimensional rip. I also think I was sabotaging Tidus with his "DURRRR I'M IN A GRAVEYARD HA HA HA"



so badass



dat awful boss render

dat goron mask for no reason

cool idea though, I like a lot of white. clean pics are good pics!



link is robot and mario is dog



THIS is a cool idea. Vault 101 Guy can take them all if he has a Fat Man.



awful Zelda pics. QUALITY! There is always quality Zelda. Also why weren't there more pics of Lulu's boobs?



YEEEEAH CHRISTMAS PICS. Bacon needs to do more holiday themed things that aren't for the bonus matches.



my favorite Christmas pic. Good job KP. Would have been great if all the names were replaced and Bacon was on the naughty list. The other Christmas pics were all great, too.


Contest Overall: 8/10. A lot of great uses of creativity! You can tell the board really loved this contest because the pics were plentiful and almost all of good quality. I think from now on the best way to judge how good a contest is would be to check if the pics suck or not!

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~Zen

Every time you do one of these I think, "maybe this time he'll talk about my match pics"

I should stop getting my hopes up.

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You beat yourself up with your past. Don't blame yourself, blame the world. Blame God. Blame me.

If you post some of your favorites I'll tell you what I like about them

I really did like less than 10% of the pics there, that was a goddamn huge contest

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~Zen

what did you think of this one, broseph



One of my favourites of all time probably.

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Luster Reloaded: Damn, that's some crazy s***.

of course that one is absolutely incredible. I think we all respect that one as probably the epitome of pics; it's even, clear, has good renders and represents something bigger than itself. Every pic maker should strive to get on that level.

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~Zen

indeed

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http://i46.tinypic.com/301k70h.gif

From: ZenOfThunder | #406
awesome vivi, why don't we use that one more?

Probably because it's not Vivi!

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http://www.gifsoup.com/view/593815/frasier-and-niles-dance-o.gif

what the hell is it then

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~Zen

just a random black mage?

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http://i.imgur.com/X588V.gif

None stick out as bad. Will give thoughts after staring for things to nitpick about.

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~Zen

From: ZenOfThunder | #404


Whoever made that Borderlands pic apparently googled "Borderlands Boobs" or something like that to get this pic. I haven't google it myself yet.

From: GANON1025 | #405
This was the contest where my Borderlands Butt Shot pic didn't get it. I was fairly disappointed.

I remember this, I was pissed. That was one of my favorite pics.

From: ZenOfThunder | #406


Why does Link so washed out? There were a few of the washed out pics. Whose style was that?

That's a straight crop from a TP poster.

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Menji~ and you could write a Bad Romance
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From: ZenOfThunder | #415
what the hell is it then

One of the Black Waltzes. I'll guess #3 cause why not.

The more crazy FFIX fans will probably be able to name it by number at a glance

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No problem!
This is a cute and pop genocide of love!

It's #3 because it's the only Black Waltz that gets an FMV scene.

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"The great GF...Bahamut."
"...GF? I...? Using my powers...It is you humans...I fear..."

THIS IS IT! THE GREATEST RIVALRY OF THEM ALL!

62: Link/Ganondorf vs Cloud/Sephiroth

Pic 1


ALRIGHT! The first of the batch and it's pretty strong. I'd like to think that the first pic WAAAAAAAAAIT



LOOK AT THAT. That might as well be the entire match pic! What a poor render of Sephiorth's sword! It's missing an entire chunk! ABUSE OF THE MAGIC ERASER!

-20/10

OK, OK. Actually, that's only a small thing. The pic as a whole is pretty well made. We didn't get that many pics divided into four bars (other than those atrocious eye-shots) so I think we're overdue. The fact that a render of Ganondorf's WW swords exists is absolutely incredible, and just that warrants a pic on its own.

I don't like how the Master Sword spills into Ganon's part of the pic. It would be alright if the sections didn't have the light bevel. That's just another peeve, though! There's no big complaints I can make, so...

Overall: 8.5/10

Pic 2


IS THIS AN ULTI PIC?! OH MY GOD. He FINALLY. DOES IT. He makes a pic that is PRETTY GODDAMN GOOD. He didn't crowd it, he was consistent (SCII Link counts as OoT Link), the backgrounds are neutral, there's no outer glow, and even though the renders are anti-aliasing kinda THIS IS THE BEST STOCK ULTI PIC EVER. I love it. I feel like we've all seen Ulti really find himself this contest. His journey is coming to a close. I wonder how he'll end it?

Overall: 7.5/10

Pic 3


This pic makes me really sad. I was thinking about all the glowing things I could say about it, and how it perfectly represents the four characters neutrally and cleanly and evenly with some iconic art and a good background, but...

but...

It's Link, Ganondorf, Cloud and Sephiroth. I'm looking at these pics and not feeling any excitement or emotion. This contest as a whole hurts the pics themselves. Pics can carry a lot of emotion. Remember Sandbag smashing into the Earth? Remember the Mario/Crono lightning pic? Those carried so much weight. They went up and the hype went from gargantuan to astronomical.

Then we see GANON post these pics in a topic and everyone is like "oh those are pretty good."

"those are pretty good"

Overall: 8/10

Pic 4


But hey then my hopes shoot up! This is pretty cool. No real attempt to blend them, but that's alright because it usually ends up looking weirder. No border, either. Ballsy! I think the top works a lot better than the bottom which is just some kinda blob. Also, what is the big rectangle in Ganondorf's background? It's like some growth that's just popping up into Link's pic. I think this one needed some brightness/contrast balancing. Good attempt, though.

Overall: 7/10

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~Zen

Zen, look closely at Link's hair in Pic 3.

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Menji - www.last.fm/user/menjii
You got to put me on. Come on! Come on!

That is an Ulti pic?

Well, congrats man. That pic's great, and you're really learning a lot. Just... well done! :D

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Surskit
.-#Elements of Water#-.

Pic 5


Again with the tiny pics having bad quality! I don't know how that happens. What program are you using, Picsmith? Tiny Skyward Sword Link looks really good when he's tiny, though.

So yeah, I like the background, I like the borders, I like the names, it's all clean, but I HATE the Cloud pic. I just don't like that pic and I don't like how people are always using it! It doesn't remind me of Cloud. He's like some teenage girl who's all reclusive and then she sees Edward Cullen and her eyes get all big and wide and she pulls her weird scarf thing down to say something. This pic to me is the ANTI-CLOUD. I don't know if that's what it's supposed to be like or whatever but it's DUMB.

But other than that I really think people should be doing more like this. Simple idea, simple to execute, but you get to be kinda artsy with the borders and background and stuff at the same time. It's a way to be kind of like Ulti with the stock pics but at the same time you get to be creative without it taking a really long time.

Overall: 7.5/10

Pic 6


AHHHH FLASHBACKS TO THE SWIMMING POOL PIC. This is... Well, it's a pic! It certainly is the four of them... with some overlay. And some black lines separating them. Yup...

TP Art/TP Model/FFVII Art/Dissidia Art. OK then. It wouldn't be that bad if Ganondorf got his art on. Also the proportions are wrong. Link is too close in.

Yeah, this is just like...

It's not bad. Just questionable.

Overall: 5/10

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~Zen

From: Menji76 | #422
Zen, look closely at Link's hair in Pic 3.

whaaaat am I supposed to be seeing

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~Zen

That some of it is missing! Abusing magic eraser, -10 that ****.

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Menji+ http://backloggery.com/menji/sig.gif
http://www.yourgamercards.net/trophy/24/nb-menji.png

damn you menji you are right

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~Zen

There's nothing wrong with the hair. Looks like I might have clipped a bit of his ear though.

Oh well.

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I wish I could wear skirts and dresses :( -GMUN

even worse

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MENJI http://i.imgur.com/a8MU1.png
by Lisel: http://img.imgcake.com/Menjipngmy.png

deal w/ it tbqh

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I wish I could wear skirts and dresses :( -GMUN

How did I lose a chunk of Seph's sword. I'll have to check what I did when I get on my computer (posting from cell phone ATM), but I think that pic was a pre render I found. I must have erased the wrong layer at some point and didn't notice it.

--
"Go get me Jared...from Subway!" -- CM Punk
This line reserved for Rivalry Guru winner.

That square sticking out of Ganon's side in picture 4 is Phantom Ganon's portrait from his boss fight. Which makes it even weirder.

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You beat yourself up with your past. Don't blame yourself, blame the world. Blame God. Blame me.

Well, I just used a crappy render of the Masamune. That's why there's a chunk missing.

--
"Go get me Jared...from Subway!" -- CM Punk
This line reserved for Rivalry Guru winner.

Yeah, I made #2. My only mistake there was making Ganon in the middle too skinny to fit in the WW model on the right, so WW Link looks like he's towering over him, but whatever.

From: greatone10 | #433
Well, I just used a crappy render of the Masamune. That's why there's a chunk missing.

You used the magic wand tool and clipped the part of the sword that looks white probably, you need polygon tool for swords.

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,.·´¯`·.,¸¸,.·´¯`·.,¸¸,.~*ST*~.,¸¸,.·´¯`·.,¸¸,.·´¯`·.,
My scythe... I like to keep it close to where my heart used to be.

Yeah the magic wand thing sucks for hair and anything that's the same colour as the background. Like Mario's gloves on a white background.

In the FF7/FF8 picture I made, I gave Sephiroth a haircut but I guess nobody noticed haha. I'll usually manually erase all the pixels around something tricky like that. Swords are usually pretty easy to erase around because they're straight.

Again with the tiny pics having bad quality! I don't know how that happens. What program are you using, Picsmith? Tiny Skyward Sword Link looks really good when he's tiny, though.

Paint Shop Pro X2, which I don't think is as comprehensive as photoshop, but it's probably a lot easier to use and works fine for making pictures like this. However, the more a picture has to be shrunk, the worse it ends up looking. Sharpen works sometimes if it's blurry but the tiny pics I used were hard to make look any better.

From: UItimaterializer | #434
Yeah, I made #2. My only mistake there was making Ganon in the middle too skinny to fit in the WW model on the right, so WW Link looks like he's towering over him, but whatever.

[quoted text]

You used the magic wand tool and clipped the part of the sword that looks white probably, you need polygon tool for swords.

Here's the pre-render I used. You can see the chunk missing on the left side of the sword. I just missed this somehow.

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"Go get me Jared...from Subway!" -- CM Punk
This line reserved for Rivalry Guru winner.

Why weren't trainers/metroid pictures rated Zen? >_>

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...

So, this is me trying to be all cute and artsy with a no-text picture. I basically never do this, so be kind to me!

The idea is that these characters have already been "defeated", so now they are ghostly figures in a dream-like world with some old photos slapped on to enforce the theme. This also gives me an excuse to use outer glow and transparency again.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/543/bonusmatch.png/

Does it work without text? Is the background too overwhelming? Are you thinking "the rest of cloud's body should be there if it's supposed to be a photo?"

I think it looks good. No text needed.

But you've inspired me to make a graveyard picture...

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Menji+ What Will Never Be the Greatest.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/8184/ffxiii.gif

From: spooky96 | #437
Why weren't trainers/metroid pictures rated Zen? >_>

FUNNY STORY, I was writing them, then I got to Ulti's pic and was like "hey, didn't I rate these already...?"

then I just closed the tab

the power of a stock ulti pic. I forgot I needed to do them until now. maybe later.

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~Zen

bump

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~Zen

As the contest winds down, I can't help but think that if it was the last one then I'll be happy just because I got to spend it with you guys. Here's to next year! Hopefully we'll be putting together pics of Batman and Harry Potter.



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~Zen

That first pic

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"Hold on a minute! That testimony stinks!"
"Witness! You can't just say 'Hello' and expect us to get anywhere! I want you to testify!"

all of them pretty OK

commence the staring

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~Zen

From: UltimaterializerX | #445
Ask and I shall deliver!

Mostly RBY art, and a Kingdom Hearts staredown.

Should've used something that wasn't grass for the background. Something like a top view of the Pokémon Stadium would've been awesome and made the pic a lot more appealing.

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Surskit
.-#Elements of Water#-.

I can't wait to hear Zen's thoughts on my random Hitmonlee.

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"Go get me Jared...from Subway!" -- CM Punk
This line reserved for Rivalry Guru winner.

Where do I get these ideas sometimes?

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"Go get me Jared...from Subway!" -- CM Punk
This line reserved for Rivalry Guru winner.

Sweet!

I just got an idea. Now's the time to look for the right pics.

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