I've got a question regarding the usage of concept art being used as the main info pic. Redundant hook, I know. Anyways, the pages Shrivel Braittrand and the Good Article Kulless use concept art of the character they represent as the main picture, as opposed to the character's/species' actual in-game appearance (Which looks notably different). I'm going to guess that this is because screenshots from console titles can be difficult to obtain, however, if ti wasn't for that, I wonder if this general practice or if it should be avoided, if possible. Because while these images do not resemble the final work (The face anyways; Also should point out Occo Ninebar and Neelabi), what about cocnept art that does seem to resemble the final product. In other words, Toy Dampner has some very detailed Terryl Whitlatch art, including a red skinned and blue skinned version. The Blue skinned version seems to be the basis for the game model, but I'm wondering if that would be acceptable to crop and use as the main image, as it's much more detailed.
I'm going to guess the answer is no, because its not a finalized product. But then, what about the Kulless (And Occo by extension)? Would that be like how the production models for the Podracers (Wan Sandage, Triffian, Neva Kee) are canon appearances, or at least used as such by source books? THe concept art for Kulless (and Occo) I do not believed have appeared in any other source books, and seem to have been grabbed off of the Racer Revenge websites, which show screenshots and concept art as promotions, but not as final versions of the characters they represent. So as Jerry says, "What's the deal?" --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 19:38, February 4, 2014 (UTC)
- The rule of thumb I've always used is that concept art is just that -- conceptual. That is, it shouldn't be used in the in-universe part of an article in most situations since, as you note, it's not the final, canon version of whatever it was used to create. The exception, however, is when concept art gets "canonized" by being used in a non-concept-arty way. There are tons of examples of this, with old Ralph McQuarrie sketches and concept paintings used to represent in-universe scenes, for instance. In this case, the image gets canonized as not only conceptual, but also in-universe. With the Podracers you've mentioned, then, the concept art and models are conceptual and remain so unless a source represents them as if they are definitive depictions of the characters or species. For stuff from Racer's Revenge, this may happen in the game strategy guide, for example, and with the Phantom Menace Podracer pilot moquettes, it has often happened in TPM-related books or articles in the Fact Files. Whether that's the case with Kulless or Occco Ninebar, I'm not sure, but I'd guess it probably is. That still leaves a ton of awesome concept art out for the in-universe section of articles (such as the badass Snivvian I use on my user page, but c'est la vie. Does that make sense? ~Savage
23:33, February 4, 2014 (UTC)
- It does yes. I was mostly leading up the Racer Revenge stuff for Occo and Shrivel. Both characters are more or less the only characters who had their art distributed on the internet as promotional material. No art is present in any guide, so either the images were used out of the fact that console screenshots are difficult to acquire or, like you said, Fact Files. Though I was also wondering for the case of Toy Dampner. Thank you! --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 23:35, February 5, 2014 (UTC)
- If you like, I can see if I still have my Racer's Revenge emulation files to grab screens of Shrivel and Occo. I got most of my RR and N64 screens via emulation. I think most of the PS2 screenshots and a couple N64 shots are at native resolutions, but it's possible to crank up the software and get something like File:TzidikPose.jpg, which is way a higher resolution than would be possible on real PS2 or N64 hardware. But, that might also raise some different questions about authenticity. Emulation isn't always 100% accurate. (For instance, it's hard to get shots on Gamorr because half of the stage bugs the rendering completely, to the point that you can only navigate exclusively via the overhead map.) SinisterSamurai (talk) 05:58, February 9, 2014 (UTC)
- I think as long as the images for say, Occo and Shrivel, remain like Tzidik without any discernible glitches, it could still work. Nice to know somebody has good PS2 emulation set up. :) --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 19:56, February 9, 2014 (UTC)
- Sort of bumping this, though I'll message SinSam. If anyone has emulation files for Racer Revenge and can capture quality images of all the racers, that would be hugely appreciated. --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 17:34, May 7, 2014 (UTC)
- I think as long as the images for say, Occo and Shrivel, remain like Tzidik without any discernible glitches, it could still work. Nice to know somebody has good PS2 emulation set up. :) --Clonehunter(Report your W.M.D.) 19:56, February 9, 2014 (UTC)
