Half Life2:Aftermath Box Art Contest![56k warning]

[Patriarch]

Alright fellow forumers, in anticipation for the Half Life expansion Pack I have decided that just for fun there should be a box art competition.The rules are simple:

-You can use any program you want
-you can't submit a current Half Life 2 box(you can use the cover pictures though)
-submit as many as you want
-make them good ;)

the deadline is um....until the Expansion pack hits retail stores :P

looking forward to some creative submissions.

[Asuka]

Ya some people are going to make some crazy stuff.

[trizzm]

this is a good idea i've seen stuff like this before, a new rollerblade company came up with pictures of new models and people on a forum started doing designs on them and the company noticed them so they made a contest online and the guy who made the best looking skate will have his design in production. which rules basically so yeah it can be done with this game it would be a first in gaming I think

that is if it gets out boxed

[scarecrow1]

what do we get if we win?

[Top Secret]

what do we get if we win?

Satisfaction, and recognition from the community. :|

[Top Secret]

Someone delete this.

[scarecrow1]

i just finished my first box art. where can i host it?

[navyseal2004]

www.imageshack.us

[kupocake]

To quote PCGamer's article exactly:
"This fun will not be a available in the shops"

However, I guess that makes a contest like this even more purposeful, to make a backup box for the Steam version of the expansion...

[navyseal2004]

here it is:
http://img59.echo.cx/my.php?image=box1copy6sd.jpg

its a bit big so be patient when it loads.


Remove the faces and it would be much nicer.

[el Chi]

Not a bad job, but too light and cheery looking. And navyseal2004's right - the faces detract from it.

[G-Dub]

Remove the faces and it would be much nicer.

Sweet avatar! :thumbs:

[Qwert93]

No no no... That's just too weird.

[Chris_D]

Scarecrow. The triple post you made has all been deleted. Please use the EDIT button, that's what it's there for.

[kupocake]

The Crosshair really needs to be removed, faces don't do much and image quality isn't particuarly good.... I suppose it's an ok concept though...

[ksimm]

This sounds fun! For those moments when I'm bored and have nothing to do.
*Gets working*

[scarecrow1]

like i said...it was my first one, it took me about 30 minutes to make. thanx for the suggestions anyway. Why no faces? the hl series boxes all had faces.

[scarecrow1]

finished these in 20 minutes.

http://img24.echo.cx/my.php?image=box278rb.jpg (the best one)

http://img24.echo.cx/my.php?image=box255te.jpg

[kupocake]

http://www.kupoartist.eclipse.co.uk/images/aftermath01.jpg

[Samon]

http://www.kupoartist.eclipse.co.uk/images/aftermath01.jpg

Ace :D

[Septih]

http://www.kupoartist.eclipse.co.uk/images/aftermath01.jpg

i like the 'DVD-CD ROM' sign coupled with the 'only via Steam' icon. nice box art though :D

[kupocake]

i like the 'DVD-CD ROM' sign coupled with the 'only via Steam' icon. nice box art though :D
It kind of makes sense... The idea is that you make a "PC DVD ROM" backup, and that can be used "Only via steam" (which is true right?) Regardless, it's a better than Vivendi's policy of doing nothing to tell people that they need a net connection, even if it's a little confusing really :)

I'm not sure if i'm finished with it. I think it looks nice as it is, but it would also look nice if the art was just a background. I mean, all it is at the moment is one screenshot pasted over another with a fancy layer effect :P

Edit: and a new cover
http://www.kupoartist.eclipse.co.uk/images/aftermath02.jpg

[Reaper-X]

They're both brilliant Kupoartist, I like the second one best though.

And just so you know, the Nike logo was designed by a young girl in a competition, so you never know.

[halflifeguy]

I thought the expansion pack was being sold only online???
wuts the point of wasting money and resources to have a box art contest if its not being sold in stores?

[GonzoBabbleshit]

what money and resources?!

[MarcoPollo]

halflifeguy no money or resources were used in making these non-official box arts!

[MikeL15]

Meh... Ill try it out...

And kupoartist, try making the background a dull color, and maybe fade it abit... it blends in to well with everything else so it looks like random images compacted together rather than coverart... but it still looks nice

[kupocake]

http://www.kupoartist.eclipse.co.uk/images/aftermath03.jpg
This is a version with an emphasised image in the foreground... not exactly what you suggested, but due to the way I kind of cobbled the images together, It would have been a fair bit of work just to make even simple alterations. TBH, I still prefer design 2. It's more along the lines of the original Half-Life box arts which were infinitely better anyway... The images are there but you have to look for them, so the colours are what is more eye-catching... kind of like how in the HL original box-arts (well the european ones anyway, I see they stuck Gordon Freeman on later revisions) were just a coloured logo, but there was all this gibberish scientific language going on the background with a few bullet hole type decals... Not that i'd claim to have achieved anything like that though. "It looks like random images compacted together" because, well it is. I like to think it works fairly well as just something that is interesting colour-wise, rather than something you'd actually see on a shelf, waiting to pick out average Joe who actually picks things off the shelf based on cover art...

Box Art isn't really up to much in the retail channel IMO anyway. Personally, modern sierra box art annoys the hell out of me. No simple designs get through, and everything has to involve a face. Been like that since the rolled out the Fuggly Homeworld 2 box art: http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00009LW89.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg - that thing is an eyesore!

[JNightshade]

I have this image in my head of Gordon Freeman facing away from the camera, slumping slightly, crowbar loosely in hand, maybe a bit of fog on the ground, and some wicked cool environment for the background. Oh, and the title on the top.

[scarecrow1]

where do you get the halflife font?

[MikeL15]

Its in the HL2 folders somewhere... just look for it... but all it is, is the font arial with the A replaced by the λ sign...

Edit: Heres a DL I found on a site, incase your having trouble finding it...

[eatbugs]

From word.

[MikeL15]

Heres all the important things you need from the front. Its like a maze to find letters because that font is for everything - crosshairs, weapon icons, heath, ammo, numbers, logos, etc...

So I will tell you how to get everything...

(Cap = Capital Letter)
H = Cap H
λ = Cap A
L = Cap L
E = Cap E
L = Cap L
I = Cap I
F = Cap F
E = Cap E
Valve = Cap V
HL2 Logo = @

To get the 2 to display in the top-right corner of Half-Life2, you need to type "2nd" in MS Word and then it will make small letters, just press 2 and copy can past it...
Hope this helps

[eatbugs]

Why do we need HL font anyway?

[MikeL15]

Because you need it to put it on the box art...

[Docm30]

Heres my Aftermath box art, It has the Front and the Back...i guess it took a few hours to do, Hope you like it ;)

EDIT: Fixed the typo on the back.

Docm30's Aftermath Box Art (http://tgw.codfiles.com/docsstuff/aftermathboxart.jpg)

[GonzoBabbleshit]

you spelt Aftermath wrong on the back

[Loke]

Very nice Docm30.
You spelled "Aftermath" wrong on the back though, other than that, very nice job.

EDIT: Damn you to hell, Gonzo. ;)

[Docm30]

Err i'll get right on that.

[Agent G-Man]

"Aftermath" isn't spelled wrong.

[kupocake]

Nice front cover! The back is ok, but probably totally fictional. Not your fault, because we have nothing to work with in that respect (One screenshot, No details). And you presumably need a Spine on the cover. N1 :)

[Cukel]

Woot, very nice Docm3D. Id make one myself, but I dont have the time... Have to game game game.

[Asuka]

http://tgw.codfiles.com/docsstuff/aftermathboxart.jpg
http://www.kupoartist.eclipse.co.uk/images/aftermath02.jpg

2 best ones.

[jellydoughnut217]

im dont have ne programs to do this but i do have ideas that mayeb u guys could use
1. since its entitled aftermath u could maybe put some destruction in the backround as in the aftermath of an explosion
2.supposedly theres an emphasis on alyx in the game so myabe throw something about her in there...not nescisarily a picture of her but just something showing her presence
3.and finally supposedly all the gates and locks have been broken and the xen aliens are freely able to get into the city so maybe show some chaos in the background maybe like civilians running from a hoard of xen

my idea would be:to take a picture of the town square with all the buildings surrounding it destroyed and show a group of civilians runing from a hoarde of xen and then show the citadels destruction in the background in flames or something and then maybe show the picture of alyx from elis lab on the ground of the town square with a crack in the frame or something....idk if thats even possible but i think it would look sexy if done right

[Docm30]

"Aftermath" isn't spelled wrong.
That's because i fixed it ;)

[WhiteBoy]

I thought I'd take a stab at this. What do you think?

http://img104.echo.cx/img104/9132/cover0pm.jpg

[TheAntipop]

I like, I like.

[Op For Guy]

I thought I'd take a stab at this. What do you think?

http://img104.echo.cx/img104/9132/cover0pm.jpg

Not bad at all! Rather good i think! :)

[PoeticRocker]

http://www.kupoartist.eclipse.co.uk...aftermath02.jpg = give this guy his prize

[PoeticRocker]

Can you make that pic into a wallpaper kupoartist? I like to use it because of how much it rocks.

[Fliko]

Heres my Aftermath box art, It has the Front and the Back...i guess it took a few hours to do, Hope you like it ;)

EDIT: Fixed the typo on the back.

Docm30's Aftermath Box Art (http://tgw.codfiles.com/docsstuff/aftermathboxart.jpg)
Best Box Eva!
I would suggest, if you want to make it look the best, change the copyright to 2005 ;P

[BRODIEMAN2k4]

Here's mine

http://img135.echo.cx/img135/5103/boxart5hj.jpg

[Great Grizzly]

Heres my Aftermath box art, It has the Front and the Back...i guess it took a few hours to do, Hope you like it ;)

EDIT: Fixed the typo on the back.

Docm30's Aftermath Box Art (http://tgw.codfiles.com/docsstuff/aftermathboxart.jpg)

OHHH thats my favorite! AWSOME work!

[TheAntipop]

Here's mine

http://img135.echo.cx/img135/5103/boxart5hj.jpg

winna.

[Docm30]

Here's mine

http://img135.echo.cx/img135/5103/boxart5hj.jpg
Drink yo milk foo!

[Agent G-Man]

I feel sorry for the fool, who don't believe me!