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[Dri]

Hello,

When I created the boxart for our game I was pretty happy with it, I thought it looked great.
It's only when I saw it in the distributor catalog, among the other boxarts, that I realized they're was something wrong with it: it didn't catch your eye.
And catching your attention is the main goal of a covert art in the first place.
So I decided to rework it and improve it.

My first concern was about contrast and saturation: they're was too little contrast and too much saturation. Everything was of the same tone, and when displayed at a small resolution it was hard to read.

Here is the original version:


After a little rework:



And the small resolutions as displayed on the distributor catalog, for the sake of comparison:



I think it's better, but probably not ideal yet.
Which version do you prefer? Any idea on how to improve it?

Thanks!

[ink.inc]

Well, what's your game about?

[kyn]

Well, what's your game about?

Your problem resides right here. We should be able to assess more or less what your game is about by the cover. Simply catching your eye doesn't take it, you have to hook the viewer and then win it over. And as it stands I have no idea what your game is about, I would probably dismiss it immediately if I passed by it. I'm not trying to be a jackass, I'm just laying it like I see it. You should try a different approach, I don't think making it more or less sepia-toned is going to make a difference. Try to work on the overall composition and hierarchy, don't get too hung up on the contrast and saturation right now, what you really need to do is to organize your image.

So, what is the game about? Maybe we'll be able to help if we know.

[Nate Kling]

I totally agree with kYn here. The new one is an improvement but the content needs work.  I would skip right over it as well.  The content needs to be more engaging and interesting.

[Dri]

Thanks for your comments!

The game is a RTS in which you must protect a convoy. The convoy travels across the world and you must constitute and manage your squad to protect it against enemies, monsters, etc.


show gameplay footages so you can do yourself a better idea.
This is what I tried to represents in the actual cover, with the convoy artwork and a knight.

But after your comments, I looked for other covers in the same genre, and I must say Age of Empires 2 does an incredible job:

Just by looking at it you can say it includes:
- At least 3 different civilizations
- Battles on ground and over water
- Castles and sieges
- Foot soldiers and mounted cavalry
- ...

So yes, I realize that just putting two artworks on it won't be enough.

Here are sketch for other attempts:


They are more dynamics (so more eye-catchy) and presents some of the units of the game.

These are the units available in the game, which ones do you prefer?

[Nate Kling]

those new mockups already look a lot better.  I would suggest doing a few of them and then choosing the best one.   Just quick thumbnail sketches like those two new ones that you did.  As for choosing characters, just choose a few that show the diversity of the characters.

[AuthenticKaizen]

those new mockups already look a lot better.  I would suggest doing a few of them and then choosing the best one.   Just quick thumbnail sketches like those two new ones that you did.  As for choosing characters, just choose a few that show the diversity of the characters.

indeed! work on the new sketches because they look way better.

[kyn]

I particularly like the second one where the characters are death-gazing upon each other. You should probably keep the Devil guy gazing at the Knight guy in the front as it is right now, because it efficiently gives the impression that the ones on the left are the bad guys and on the right are the good guys. It also informs that there is a conflict between two opposing forces, and that's a lot of information with just one look. Also, you should probably try to squeeze the convoy right in the middle, in the vanishing point I mean, it will indicate that it's the centerfold of the whole conflict. And try not to give that whole shiny treatment to the logo, it really draws way too much attention to it and distracts on what's going on in the rest of the composition.

Good luck, you seem to be going in the right direction already.

[Dri]

Here is a quick mockup based on the second thumbnail, the characters are just placeholder, except for the first red devil.

What do you think of it?

[Ego_Shiner]

its not feeling very extremely dynamic. i mean both sides are just standing upright, the angle is straight on, and the background is grey+wagon

[Dri]

Unfortunately I'm kinda limited, I can't give them more interesting animations for example (they are the in-game sprites in HD, I never intended to use them for this when I rigged them).

Here is the current one:


What do you think? Do you know a way to make it more dynamic withing giving them fancy animations?

[fraxcell]

Maybe try a higher camera angle (so you can't see anyone's feet). Also, I would say either make the wagon much bigger so it covers up most of the background, or remove it entirely. If you still want to convey the convoy aspect you could put in a road or something.

Those character models look good by the way

[Sir Raptor]

Here is the current one:

If you want this game to be serious, I'd suggest make the cover look less like it was made with Playmobils.

[agj]

Leave out all that fog and gradients everywhere. You may be led to believe that polish is adding more bevels and filters and gradients, by some of the graphic work out there, but it's not. Want your cover to get noticed? Be bold and direct, don't muddy up things. Consider what you want to communicate with the cover (think of something interesting/clever, don't be descriptive), then come up with a way to say it instantly, in a flash. Consider the composition starting from the general shapes, which must be readable from afar/at small sizes, then make things more interesting by adding details, if needed.

Here's some homework for you: come up with a concept for your cover that you can describe in a short phrase, something like 'all for one', or 'you'll shit your pants'. Then think of ways to show that visually, using metaphors, or irony, or comedy, or violence, or whatever, and make a few sketches like you did before.

[Ego_Shiner]

using ingame models for the cover is kind of a dumb idea imo. it does give you an idea of how the game will look but a hand drawn cover looks better and there's a lot more you can do with it

[iffi]

I agree with [fish in space], if you've got the resources/ability to do a more detailed cover. I myself can't think of any covers that use in-game graphics.

Also, the title is "Reckless Squad", but I'm having trouble seeing the "Reckless" in it. It's a little bland as it is right now - I don't get any strong feelings from looking at the cover.

[Tumetsu]

Pretty much already has been said. I think you should somehow get more action or contrast for the cover. Also, though models are good for game, I think they look a little bland in the cover. So I suggest to draw separate picture for cover. Some ideas could be opposite forces with battle stance, battle scene etc. etc.

[moi]

forget about the wagon model, it doesn't look like shit, draw a real convoy if your game is a bout a convoy, not sthg that looks like a piano made of plastic.

[RandyO]

The thing I notice most in here, I think has basically been stated, but your goal is to make a composition, a single image that represents what makes your game exciting.

The cover for Age of Empires is really saying the player will be a conqueror, and oh, around the edges, here are all the various activities you'll be doing, but all under a consistent color scheme which unifies all those little activities and pushes them to the background.

Your first mockup seems to just mimic AoE and your second one makes me think I'm going to play a multiplayer game with different factions and such.  The wagon just keeps looking out of place.

I agree with others, to really make this shine, you have to make unique cover art.  Like I'm picturing the wagon barreling toward the camera, and people on both sides and in front of it, defending it from an attack.  With the title front and center, maybe in the dirt on the ground.  Bring it all together.  

[Nate Kling]

I agree with others, if you can draw or paint I would do a drawn cover and not ingame graphics.  In game those graphics look good but when they are the center focus they are quite lacking.