December 29, 2015

Art Critique: Crypsis DPM Mantis Skin

Let's review something other than a Warframe skin. I give you, a Mantis Skin!
Crypsis DPM Mantis Skin by a loaf of bread. (Steam)

Introdutcion

Landing Crafts are the ships that Tenno use to infiltrate and extract from missions. All Warframe players are familiar with the Liset, as it is the first Landing Craft to be used. By Update 17, Digital Extreme has introduced a new type of Landing Craft: the Mantis.

As the Warframe Steam Workshop gets filled with lots and lots of Warframe skin, a few contributors have managed to create skins for the Landing Craft. I've had my share seeing skins that I consider sub-standard to the game but this one caught my attention.

Impressions

The skin itself involves lots of lines and hints of shapes formed the the lines. A closer look at the skin shows that effort has been done to make this skin look very pleasant and not a "copy-paste" job.

The way how the lines are drawn are very neat and not very irritating to the eye. The colors being presented resemble patterns used in African-style artworks (as how as I see it, based on memory). Also, the skin's description state that it was inspired by the Dazzle Camouflage used in World War I (there's also a set of skins in-game that uses such style). " What also makes this pleasant to look that the skin doesn't envelope the whole Landing Craft, only "painting" on the colored area of the whole hull.

What really blew away with this skin is the color customization opportunities it has, as demonstrated by this animated GIF:

Concerns

Taking an even closer look, I can see that the skin has some "roughness" to it. I'm not sure if this was intentional, as I expected a smooth finish.

Verdict

I would definitely not only vote to implement it to the game, I'd buy it! I was completely sold on that presentation GIF of the numerous color combinations you can make with this pattern! I'm not sure if the rough texture I can see was intentional but the skin itself deserves to be in-game!

Extra

The description in its Steam Workshop page is very humorous:
A dazzle-camo inspired skin for your favorite elongated arthropod-themed spacecraft! Proven to hide ships from Balor Fomorians in 99% of case studies. All disruptive pattern materials seen in this skin are 100% original and handcrafted. Don't get caught in the cold with a butt-naked Mantis! Grab yours today!
But this comment also makes mention on (potential) copyright violations, as there have been cases that skins that are close to in-game implementation have been disqualified due to copyright violations. Such incidents have died down for now, as it is a lesson to be learned.

And yes, the artist's username on steam is indeed "a loaf of bread." With the period. Go look at this Steam Profile if you don't believe me (unless she's/he's changed it).

All photos are from the asset's Steam Workshop page. Credits to a loaf of bread. (Steam)

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