The thing about Smif...

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by demonsbane

And I think Gollum will agree too

(Please don't get me wrong: I didn't mean to put words in your mouth.)

Originally Posted by Gollum

But, precisely, I find that Smif's black and white art give to all of them the same atmosphere: a realistic but mysterious adventure with something sad, maybe a bit desperate... It really fit to a Celtic Myth or a cyberpunk adventure. It also fit to an horror or a science fiction world. But I don't think it could correspond to something humorous like Diskworld or Paranoia...

At this point, I think the issue is mainly revolving around nuances. Maybe Smif can do Diskworld-like illustrations, but it wouldn't be very much in line with its personal style.

Anyway, nothing in this world of particulars can be really generic nor really universal; so, the important thing for me is the fact of trying it, and the degree of achievement on that purpose. This said, and taking in account this inherent limitation, I believe Smif was a good choice for the task.

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by Gollum

To explain better what I mean (...)

Sure. I don't find anything to discuss concerning your points. Interesting comments, by the way.

[vitruvian]

Originally Posted by Gollum

I own all these books. And I like them very much too...

But, precisely, I find that Smif's black and white art give to all of them the same atmosphere: a realistic but mysterious adventure with something sad, maybe a bit desperate... It really fit to a Celtic Myth or a cyberpunk adventure. It also fit to an horror or a science fiction world. But I don't think it could correspond to something humorous like Diskworld or Paranoia...

Still not agreeing. You didn't find Bruno humorous?

[sjard]

Originally Posted by demonsbane

GURPS third edition Basic Set book, before including Smif art pieces, was aesthetically very, very dull. I even had problems for introducing my players to the system because that. Smif art, with the revised Basic Set, enlivened the book enormously! The same concerning both Compendiums.

And for me, and the few people I could get to play GURPS during 3rd edition, it was just the opposite. I actually had some players quit playing when they decided they were going to get their own copy and all they could find was 3rd edition revised.

And to be honest, if that were the edition that had been out when I first encountered it the Smif art would have driven me away as well.

At this point in time, I've gotten used to ignoring those bits of artwork.

[Gollum]

Originally Posted by demonsbane

(Please don't get me wrong: I didn't mean to put words in your mouth.)

No problem with this previous post. I didn't understand you wanted to put words in my mouth...

Originally Posted by demonsbane

Sure. I don't find anything to discuss concerning your points. Interesting comments, by the way.

Thanks.

After thinking a bit more about it, I'm now convinced that no artist would be able to illustrate a generic and universal roleplaying game... That is, no good artist, which a recognizable and strong style. Every good artist conveys a specific atmosphere, something which comes from his point of view about life, from his soul... So, if it can be universal - if it can cover any kind of game world -, it can't be generic...

Thus, for a generic game (at least, for the Basic Set), the only way to give a generic feeling is to have different artists. And here, we come back to the main comment about Smif's art: it is so unique that it can't hardly be printed with other artist's illustrations.

[Gollum]

Originally Posted by vitruvian

Still not agreeing. You didn't find Bruno humorous?

I didn't see Bruno... Can you give me a link or a page reference please?

[Gigermann]

Originally Posted by Gollum

Thus, for a generic game (at least, for the Basic Set), the only way to give a generic feeling is to have different artists. And here, we come back to the main comment about Smif's art: it is so unique that it can't hardly be printed with other artist's illustrations.

I think rather the opposite is true. If Dan Smith were the only artist doing GURPS illustration, it would all look very generic, because it would all share the same style, fitting every world/situation into the same mold (which is essentially what a generic game system attempts to do)—that, and his hand would fall off ;) I think this is, to some degree, what happened to 3e, since Dan did so much work there—his became the unofficial "look" of GURPS.

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by sjard

And for me, and the few people I could get to play GURPS during 3rd edition, it was just the opposite. I actually had some players quit playing when they decided they were going to get their own copy and all they could find was 3rd edition revised. (...)

Interesting testimony, sjard.

[capnq]

Originally Posted by Gollum

I didn't see Bruno... Can you give me a link or a page reference please?

Bruno was a comic strip in Space Gamer magazine many, many years ago. (I think I recall it appearing in other print magazines, as well.) I don't remember him ever appearing in a GURPS product, but I could easily be wrong.

On further thought, the SY-101-N Nemesis robot "Synthia" from GURPS Robots (p.51) was named after another character in the Bruno comic strip, I think.

Bruno once had a "cameo" in John Kovalic's Dork Tower as the character illustration for one of Igor's PCs.

[Gigermann]

Originally Posted by capnq

I don't remember him ever appearing in a GURPS product, but I could easily be wrong.

He appeared in several of the print-run of Pyramid Magazine.