Baseball: King of Diamonds (v15 p.27)

[Army of GOD]

I think the best/least amount of work would be just to put grass all around the field. You could stick in the base coaches boxes next to third and first base, put a fence/warning track in the outfield and just grass behind that. Maybe you could have a bleacher or two to show that the teams playing actually have fans.

[natty dread]

Grass around the field would be a bad solution. There needs to be some contrast between the playable area and the legends. Also I don't like the idea of drawing seats etc. around the field because we have the legends etc. all around, which need to be visible.

I'll go with adding an outline for the field. I'll also reshape home plate.

ps, yes, I purposely left the minimap with the old colour so you can tell the difference more easily. I'll update the minimap too.

[natty dread]

Damn, I forgot about the minimap. Still, here's an update

Click image to enlarge.

[Army of GOD]

Changing the poses it's actually a really good update (though it might seem trivial, there's a distinct improvement). Good job

[natty dread]

Thanks. I'm still not satisfied with Ozzie, and Jackie is just a sprite-flip of Mike... got to think of something for them.

[natty dread]

How about this.

Click image to enlarge.

[MarshalNey]

The Outfield poses look great, I love'em.

Sorry to take so long to post anything, but here's what I could find after a mostly fruitless search on the net. Got a handful of poses of the actual players, maybe you could use them.

For "The Wiz" (Ozzie Smith)






For Jackie Robinson





There's also a pic I got that is actually very similar to the one that you have for Jackie.

It's a bit annoying trying to do a search for images with Lou Gehrig, since in N.America a neuromuscular disease was named after him (he died around age 40). So half of what you get are pictures of folks with a terminal illness.

I'd use the pose that you currently have for Ozzie (hunched a bit forward, weight on the balls of the feet) for either the 1st or 3rd basemen (Mike or Lou), although it looks decent for the SS (shortstop) position too.

-- Marshal Ney

[natty dread]

Ok... well, firstly, I mainly chose the positions for the fielders based on the shape of the territories, ie. to get them to fit the territory shape as good as possible... but I think most of them also kinda make sense for their positions. I mean, as much as I understand baseball...

At this point, I personally am pretty happy with all the outfielders + Ozzy & Jackie, so unless there's some significant reason to change them... I mean, they are what, 50 pixels, so I'm not going to try to mimic the actual players because you couldn't recognize them at that size anyway (not even going to the small map...)

I'm not totally satisfied with Mike & Lou though, so if you find any images for them, I'm open to suggestions. The images don't need to be of the actual players, just find images of poses that you think would suit the positions.

[carlpgoodrich]

For one thing, Ozzie and Jackie both appear to be left handed, which doesn't make sense for middle infielders. Can you just flip the images?

[natty dread]

I can, if I also swap their positions. Otherwise Ozzie would look really odd, like waiting for balls to fly at him from the left side of the field...

[natty dread]

Like this?

Click image to enlarge.

..so, if anyone got ideas for Mike & Lou, let's hear them.

[carlpgoodrich]

first baseman: (sorry for the links, can someone post the pictures for me?)
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images-mediawiki-sites.thefullwiki.org/00/2/0/1/2478601935144562.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thefullwiki.org/Force_play&usg=__ResSs0oPeKmVfoDTPDwpKFV-ktw=&h=358&w=300&sz=34&hl=en&start=0&sig2=dSQKaaLnsmmtAedGlUtTLg&zoom=1&tbnid=4l8B85gT5oWcOM:&tbnh=139&tbnw=116&ei=vVVQTZvvL4G88gbdx8y4Dg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfirst%2Bbaseman%2Bcatch%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1279%26bih%3D680%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=124&vpy=54&dur=1438&hovh=245&hovw=205&tx=92&ty=149&oei=vVVQTZvvL4G88gbdx8y4Dg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

or
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7kwDrrH0kZE/SVvtdQhxa6I/AAAAAAAAAI0/KDALy2IOjuQ/s400/300508_cards_phill_flagg_3914.JPG&imgrefurl=http://flaggphoto.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html&usg=__qX7fr8cP7QaytH_Ve9DFGi1RtdY=&h=267&w=400&sz=16&hl=en&start=224&sig2=46eoFh60JVHBrFIoJ_bDQw&zoom=1&tbnid=g4P4dFTR93rZXM:&tbnh=162&tbnw=233&ei=dVZQTcvoFMP68AbF1cipDg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfirst%2Bbaseman%2Bcatch%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1279%26bih%3D680%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C7264&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=143&vpy=386&dur=2923&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=193&ty=97&oei=vVVQTZvvL4G88gbdx8y4Dg&esq=14&page=14&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:224&biw=1279&bih=680

Third base:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/08/18/2008123103.jpg&imgrefurl=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2008123253_mari19.html&usg=__0aCSpz8TL_0bkSXAXCSTgOYEWWk=&h=327&w=296&sz=20&hl=en&start=0&sig2=Ss3gmRv0rBOaDphmeeAhuw&zoom=1&tbnid=FeUfrsSAOsH1CM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=156&ei=SVdQTZOXDYP98Ab575i2Dg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthird%2Bbaseman%2Bcatch%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1279%26bih%3D680%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=139&vpy=75&dur=7034&hovh=236&hovw=214&tx=166&ty=116&oei=SVdQTZOXDYP98Ab575i2Dg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

or

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://multimedia.detnews.com/pix/c3/9d/01/05/e8/ce/20100411183833_2010-0411-rb-tigers-indians0653.jpg&imgrefurl=http://apps.detnews.com/apps/multimedia/index.php%3Fsearch%3Dtigers%26page%3D61&usg=__p8bhEYmKvnprnJEfFbMzoAYqwuk=&h=470&w=640&sz=78&hl=en&start=144&sig2=u8DgyqiG5duHoUm4Cl8TXw&zoom=1&tbnid=J5qbwwE-rJoQ_M:&tbnh=159&tbnw=218&ei=zVdQTZecNIK78gad6eWCDw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthird%2Bbaseman%2Bcatch%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1279%26bih%3D680%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C4394&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=146&vpy=398&dur=2817&hovh=192&hovw=262&tx=208&ty=148&oei=SVdQTZOXDYP98Ab575i2Dg&esq=11&page=9&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:144&biw=1279&bih=680

[natty dread]

First base



3rd base

Click image to enlarge.

Ok, I like the first base images... I guess I could work something out of those.

The 3rd base ones though, I don't think would work so well... the first one is throwing a ball, while the 2nd one has just caught the ball and is preparing to throw it... I think, for consistency, it'd be better if all the fielders were pictured in a "catching" position... ie. waiting for the ball to fly to them, well, you know what I mean...

[carlpgoodrich]

Ya, I wasn't as wild about the third base ones. I was kind thinking it would be cool if it looked like the first baseman was catching a ball thrown by one of the other infielders, but not sure if it would work. Thanks for posting the pictures for me

[natty dread]

Well, here's the 1st base guy redone. I'm on the fence about the 3rd base guy, I think he's pretty ok, but if a better image were to be found I wouldn't be opposed to changing it...

Click image to enlarge.

I also got to do something about the name labels of the fielders... they seem kinda blurry. I might need another font for them...

[isaiah40]

Use the same font as the one you are using for the field positions.

[MarshalNey]

Well, here's the 1st base guy redone. I'm on the fence about the 3rd base guy, I think he's pretty ok, but if a better image were to be found I wouldn't be opposed to changing it...

A simple fix for the 3rd base would be to flip the poses that you have for Mike and Ted. Ted's pose, while dynamic, is really much more fitting for an infield basemen with the back leg outstretched as if he's trying to keep his foot on the bag while catching/receiving a ball. Much like the pose that you have for the 1st baseman, except that he's low to the ground. Try it out maybe and see how it looks.

-- Marshal Ney

[natty dread]

Oops, the last image had been resized by imageshack... I was wondering why it was so blurry.

Yeah, anyway... how's this?

Click image to enlarge.

[natty dread]

Ok I decided to switch them back. Somehow they just didn't seem right to me the other way around.

I also did some retouch and stuff. And changed the font on the labels to bold.

Click image to enlarge.

[carlpgoodrich]

MarshalNey's comment was for Mike and Ted, not Mike and Lou.

[MarshalNey]

MarshalNey's comment was for Mike and Ted, not Mike and Lou.

Yeah, exactly, sorry natty should have been more specific; try switching the outfielder in the upper left of the map (Ted) with the infielder in the lower left (Mike). I think the poses are more natural for the positions when switched...

-- Marshal Ney

[MrBenn]

Your images are nearly 1MB in filesize... is there anything you can do to make them smaller (ie use jpg or change your compression settings?)

[natty dread]

Ah, Mike and Ted... sorry, I must've had a brain fart there... yeah I can see how that could work. Good idea Marshal.

MrBenn, I don't think PNG files can be compressed much, being a lossless format and all. With optipng I think they can be whittled down a couple hundred kilobytes but it's not a lot and it takes time compressing them... why ask this now though, as I've always used PNG files in the foundry and it has never been a problem before?

[natty dread]

Mike & Ted swapped

Click image to enlarge.

[Evil DIMwit]

All the pitchers' mitts look blurry. Is there anything you can do about that?