Brand new DPt blanks development (feedback required!)

[Fangking Omega]

Hey everyone, I'm working on something BIG.

As well as my own Acanthite project, I've elected to come back to the standard faking scene to create Diamond, Pearl and Platinum blanks. A long time ago, using the bases provided by Pokémon Zeo, I put together an extensive range of EX series blanks along with accessories and a tutorial for budding fakers. Well, it's time to pick up where I left off and establish a new standard in DP.

So what's the deal? Well, assuming the feedback is positive, the blanks are going to be larger. At a size of 420x590, these blanks are a little over 12% larger than the previous standard, meaning fakes can look more detailed. There will be all new accessory sheets and font sizes to accompany the new size, and these are crisper and cleaner than what we have had previously. Of course, if people would prefer to stick to the old sizes, just say so, but having tried it I think the new size is much better.

The blanks will also come in as many varieties as possible - Basic, Stage 1, Stage 2 (all three stages both with and without flavor text dividers), LV.X, Pokémon SP and Classic for all types, and I will endeavour to keep up with new developments in the TCG as well as introduce or reintroduce popular concepts not seen in the DPt generation. Your feedback will be useful here! Also, you can expect Trainer and Energy blanks and respective tutorials and tools.

Without further ado, here's a demonstration of two cards I've put together just as a tester for font sizes and to look at the blanks in action.

Opinions and suggestions would be great!

Many thanks to WPM and Shakespeare for providing the outstanding hi-res scans from which these were made. You can expect much more from me in the near future.

Cheers,
Charlie

 

[Nitrous Oxide]

Oh man, about time. I freaking joined this place to make fake cards, but then realized no one did it anymore. :disappoin

And honestly, the size increase is long overdue.

Please, go on. :P

 

[Shadow]

Critiques: - The capital letters in the flavor text (specifically the all-caps name) seems a bit rigid. I'm not sure how to describe it beyond saying it looks like the aliasing is off to my eyes. It looks jagged.
- The weakness and resistance numbers in the second card seem a bit too bold, but that could be due to size increase. As do the Lv. numbers.

Suggestions: - I know this is probably unlikely due to bandwidth and it being a bit of work, but could you give the option of a .psd download for these blanks? Specifically with the illustration area already cut out. One of the largest problems with the older blanks is that it was always troublesome to cut out the illustration area without it taking some of the evolution circle (or not enough of the edges if you played with the tolerance). Maybe even expand on it to make simple templates with the fonts set up for each area (just font type/size/etc., as attacks and whatnot will still need to be positioned).

Glad to see you back! Can't wait to see these things finished!

Oh, and are your EX blanks/accessories still available anywhere? I have the blanks, but can't find the proper EX accessories for the life of me.

 

[Fangking Omega]

Thanks for the feedback guys :)

Critiques: - The capital letters in the flavor text (specifically the all-caps name) seems a bit rigid. I'm not sure how to describe it beyond saying it looks like the aliasing is off to my eyes. It looks jagged.
- The weakness and resistance numbers in the second card seem a bit too bold, but that could be due to size increase. As do the Lv. numbers.

I don't think the flavor text caps look too rigid, it's more to do with the lines of the Metal blank which does seem to affect the way things look significantly (as the dark lines "merge" through the text). It's the blank that distorts it and that can't really be avoided with Metal, sadly.

I agree that the W/R numbers looked too bold though so thanks for that, I've gone away and corrected this. This was problematic as Faux Bold wasn't bold enough and Bold was too bold - I've come to a good compromise using Strong anti-aliasing as opposed to Smooth so future cards from me and indeed the tutorial will use that.

I think the LV. number is spot on and it took quite a bit of research to work out what font should be used! I agree that it looks bold, but it's meant to be :)

Suggestions: - I know this is probably unlikely due to bandwidth and it being a bit of work, but could you give the option of a .psd download for these blanks? Specifically with the illustration area already cut out. One of the largest problems with the older blanks is that it was always troublesome to cut out the illustration area without it taking some of the evolution circle (or not enough of the edges if you played with the tolerance). Maybe even expand on it to make simple templates with the fonts set up for each area (just font type/size/etc., as attacks and whatnot will still need to be positioned).

Instead of JPGs, these blanks will be released as PNG files with transparency which means that there is no loss of quality from the PSD and the illustration area is already cut out for you. Given the need for the overlapping shadow, JPG isn't plausible anymore.

Oh, and are your EX blanks/accessories still available anywhere? I have the blanks, but can't find the proper EX accessories for the life of me.

I've just managed to get these back from PPN Steve who luckily had them all! But they're not hosted anywhere I'm afraid. If you use AIM or MSN I might be able to help, just drop me a PM.

 

[Nitrous Oxide]

Any chance that if (when) these are released that you could package the fonts too?

 

[Fangking Omega]

That was the plan, don't worry :)

 

[Nitrous Oxide]

That was the plan, don't worry :)

Excellent. Because for the latest D/P blanks, I had to look everywhere for the fonts and stuff, so it was a bit of a pain. Plus, I'm the kind of guy who reformats my computer every so often without backing stuff up, so it would be great to have a nice convenient resource area like the old days. :P

 

[Fangking Omega]

There's going to be a convenient one-stop spot with all the resources for DP: PokeBeach. WPM's kindly willing to host it all and they will belong to PokeBeach.

 

[Nitrous Oxide]

Awesome, maybe this will restore the fake card scene a bit, since it's really died out recently.

 

[Hardy Har Har]

I really liked those cards, but one thing bothers me--the fonts. I already wondered what those fonts are, because I need them for my set, which is in my card thread (see my signature)...

 

[Shadow]

Thanks for the feedback guys :)



I don't think the flavor text caps look too rigid, it's more to do with the lines of the Metal blank which does seem to affect the way things look significantly (as the dark lines "merge" through the text). It's the blank that distorts it and that can't really be avoided with Metal, sadly.

I agree that the W/R numbers looked too bold though so thanks for that, I've gone away and corrected this. This was problematic as Faux Bold wasn't bold enough and Bold was too bold - I've come to a good compromise using Strong anti-aliasing as opposed to Smooth so future cards from me and indeed the tutorial will use that.

I think the LV. number is spot on and it took quite a bit of research to work out what font should be used! I agree that it looks bold, but it's meant to be :)

Now that you mention it, I do notice that the problem is only on the Metal blank. As for the level, I think my mind might be trying to go back to where it was a part of the illustration bar.

Instead of JPGs, these blanks will be released as PNG files with transparency which means that there is no loss of quality from the PSD and the illustration area is already cut out for you. Given the need for the overlapping shadow, JPG isn't plausible anymore.

Hooray! PNGs! Just as good. JPGs will always be my most detested file format.

There's going to be a convenient one-stop spot with all the resources for DP: PokeBeach. WPM's kindly willing to host it all and they will belong to PokeBeach.

Any ETA on releases? Or estimates on how complete you currently are? No rush, just curious.

 

[Fangking Omega]

Should be released in the next couple of weeks, depending on WPM. I may not have ALL the blanks finished at first, but you'll have regular with and without flavor text for Basic, Stage 1 and 2, plus LV.X blanks for every type. Hopefully Pokémon SP will be done. Classic after that. Trainers and Energies will appear at some point too. Then, if anyone comes up with some good suggestions I'll do my best to make sure they happen. It's a matter of compiling resources and tutorials too.

Just to test the flexibility of these blanks, I've come up with a reverse foil style useful for reverse foil cards (and indeed, the Shiny Pokémon cards only come in this reverse foil unfortunately!). I hope this appeals to people, it'll be good to have blanks for every possibility. If this looks ok, I'll ensure that these are put together for the official release.

I've also tightened up the number font for Weakness and Resistance so that's a lot better now. Any other issues, let me know!

 

[donavannj]

Looks like a good representation of the reverse holos.

 

[Shadow]

It could use a bit more shininess, in my opinion, but I'd have no clue how to represent that better in a flat picture of a card, so until you can think of anything better, I'd say go with that style.

 

[Nitrous Oxide]

It could use a bit more shininess, in my opinion, but I'd have no clue how to represent that better in a flat picture of a card, so until you can think of anything better, I'd say go with that style.

Ugh, thought I replied already. XD

I agree with this, typically when you look at the reverse holo cards, they're a bit shinier, so a bit brighter would probably be better.