Colonial Marine Portraits

[similarly]

I have created 70 portraits of colonial marines, including officers, pilots and synthetics. Some of them came out a bit wonky, but hopefully they work okay. Thought I'd share with the community.
I'll try to upload to the forge
55140

https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/919/view

[spoofer]

Very nice! I love the style. Is it possible to create a set with a lot more visual contrast? We use the portrait as the map token as well, and so it really helps us if we can easily tell which token is which PC even when the portraits are tiny. Most of those images are very dark.

[similarly]

Yes, that's certainly possible. Would take a bit of time, but it's really a matter of adjusting the lights. One problem I've found though, is that since these are Marines, they DO all look quite a lot alike. I'm considering some portraits that have more indicators: rank, section and squad, for example.

[similarly]

Very nice! I love the style. Is it possible to create a set with a lot more visual contrast? We use the portrait as the map token as well, and so it really helps us if we can easily tell which token is which PC even when the portraits are tiny. Most of those images are very dark.

Okay, I took a stab at lightening the pics and upping the contrast, but at this size, it didn't help much. I agree, though, that they're kind of dark (that's actually what I was going for, but didn't think about how they'd look as tokens). However, to get proper lighting, I'd have to go back and recreate a bunch of them. I might release a second pack later on with better pictures. If I do, I'll post here, and either add to this pack or make a second pack.

[similarly]

Been playing around with this.

1. I tried going back to my original file and changing the lighting to a nice, even lighting ... but personally, I didn't like the effect. Looked like a school picture. I DO plan to make some new ones though.
2. I found that when I added a portrait, it changed the token ... BUT I can still add a token that's different! You can use the portraits for the characters and still have the regular AlienRPG tokens. THOUGH ... I'm planning some tokens too.

I'll be keeping this in mind. Again, when I add more portraits of colonial marines, I'll simply update this pack. When I eventually make some generic portraits, I'll put those in a separate pack (those, I know, will be properly lit), and when I make tokens that will again be a separate forge entry.

[similarly]

55155

Sneak peak at next set of portraits. still early. Might change.

[spoofer]

That looks really good. So much so that I wanted to see it in play. I prefer a more cropped image, and even more contrast, but I quickly did that in a paint program. Here is what the token looks like in game. I prefer you token to the ones that I am using. I am looking forward to the set.

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P.S. Where in Japan? I am in Hyogo (Kansai).

[similarly]

That looks really good. So much so that I wanted to see it in play. I prefer a more cropped image, and even more contrast, but I quickly did that in a paint program. Here is what the token looks like in game. I prefer you token to the ones that I am using. I am looking forward to the set.

55163

P.S. Where in Japan? I am in Hyogo (Kansai).

Oh, that does look better. When I make those, I'll try put better lighting and crop it closer. I was trying to get the gun in there, lol. I'm also considering that for these new ones, I might make square and round versions, so you can have a portrait and matching round token. Might take a while, though. I need to make some maps first. I'm in Okayama Prefecture. Thanks for the feedback!

[similarly]

Try this one. I went for better lighting, closer cropping, and different helmet. May change the headset to an earpiece and throatmic, though.

55165

[spoofer]

Perfect! That works really well. Are you going to make a full set?

You are living next door to me!

Do you play ALIEN via FG online?

[similarly]

Yes, I'm planning to eventually make a full set. I want to work on maps a bit first. I'm currently trying to make my first dungeondraft set. I know there's an alien dungeondraft asset pack, but it's locked behind a patreon subscriptions and 1) I hate subscriptions and 2) my credit card company hates small payments. So instead, I'm making my own. I went a bit overboard though. I created over 200 map icons. Now working on walls. Planning to go minimalist, but there are some fantastic free sci-fi packs for dungeondraft, and I also have Chronos Builder, which has some nice assets, so it's hard to decide between having cool maps and going theater-of-the-mind. I really, feel, though, that TotM works better for horror games, but maps can really help people keep track of where everybody is. Hard to balance.

I've been playing D&D, and have played Call of Cthulhu with a group of players through FGU, using discord for voice. Four of my players are in Australia, and one is in Lithuania, so we only play about 2 1/2 hours per session.

[similarly]

Merry Christmas!
I created 30 new portraits. Okay, some are REALLY wonky. I'm shaking my head and rolling my eyes, but I tried! They'll get the job done. Ironically, my own players don't use ANY of my portraits or tokens. They prefer the fgu sci-fi tokens, which is cool with me. They work. But, these are here and they're free. Feel free to use them if they work for you. These will be attached to the token pack and will be available as soon as the build is approved by smiteworks staff.

55557

Just for reference:
Mar = marine. F = Female, M = Male (but feel free to use as you like. Sorry, it didn't occur to me until later that I was only doing cis-gendered binary). 1-3 = European. 4-6 = African. 7-9 = Asian. 10-12 = South Asian. 13-14 = non-specific. Some have qualities of South Asian. A couple of the men could pass as Middle Eastern or Latin American. 15 = European (since I couldn't figure out what else to do). But again, feel free to use as you like.