How do you feel about the new look of the Ancient Engraved Shield?

[Aure]

Title is pretty self explanatory. I wanted to start a poll about this but apparently polls are banned in Pendor

For reference, old version vs new:

Spoiler

The picture on the new shield is very good, awesome artwork and attention to detail but imho it does not work for the Ancient Engraved Shield. The old look really fit the name of the shield: the faded look and the depth of the design really made it unique and instantly recognizable. It really looked and felt like the prized possession of a long forgotten warrior and not like painted cardboard from the dumpster behind comic-con (like a few shields in the game we will not mention).

The old design is not perfect, i know, but i prefer it over the new one. I feel that the new design is more suited for the noldor shields.

Anywho, these are my thoughts on this subject, please share yours! Hopefully i am not the only one that feels this way but if i am i will be silent and not bring it up again.

Through the magic of editing a was able to add a poll (you have to add it after you start the post it seems).

 

[Serazu]

I agree. While the detail on the new shield is magnificent, the shield itself looks like it's made out of plastic; not metal. Same goes for the new Immortal shield, which is an aesthetic variant of the new AES. I can see why the mods changed it, since they wanted to replace the eagle on the old shield with the two parallel lines, which is the obvious emblem of the Empire, since it's omnipresent in imperial equipment. A shame, since the old Immortal shield was probably the most beautiful shield in the game. I only wish it's to be introduced in future versions even with an altered name.

Most of the new shields are a vast aesthetic improvement over the older versions (the new Noldor shields are exquisite), but those two are lacking next to the previous ones.

 

[MattoBro]

I think it's excellent. Much better then the old asset. Only if it looked more metallic would be my only complaint.

 

[Leonion]

Old version?
Good.
New version?
Good.

It's just a shield...

 

[Draenor]

I liked the old version more.
It really looked like an old, used shield.
The new one aint bad, but it doesn't really live up to its name.

 

[Vitorio]

I liked the old version more.
It really looked like an old, used shield.
The new one aint bad, but it doesn't really live up to its name.

Yes. The new one got awesome detailed work on it and for that I am gratefull.

But, it missed quite bit 'ancient' flavor on it, which is implemented well on older version

 

[HUtH]

New one is better, it just lacks some nice bump and specular texture maps for a classy polished engraving look.

 

[Diaphantos1]

I prefer the old one. The new one lacks the "shiny-ness", which is what I liked about the old one.

 

[Dunha]

The old one looks much better.

 

[Takeshi]

The new one is definetally better in terms of detail and design.
The old one is better since it actually looks metallic and, well, ancient.

 

[Whitestrake]

A lot of people seem to forget that "Ancient" and "being Weathered" are two different things. There are plenty of things in the world that can be considered ancient (hundreds+ of years old) that look brand new, simply because of proper maintenance and care. Heck, look at the USS Constitution, its hundreds of years old, yet its still in naval service. The ancient shields are called Ancient probably not because the shield itself is ancient, but the shield design its based on is ancient, hence its name. Not saying their not ancient theirselves, mind you.

 

[LootMoar]

I like how tangible the old one was.
It was rounded and had intricate engravings, just as you'd expect from a super rare old artefact. And it looked really heavy.
The new one is very pretty, but doesn't have that mystique or weight behind it. It looks more like a fantastic image placed onto a flat board.

Though in response to Whitestrake - you're quite right about the difference between ancient and weathered. I suppose I really like the "weathered" element of the ancient shield - it makes it feel like it has a history!

 

[raider969]

^ My thoughts exactly. The old one looks like something you could sell for thousands of dollars. The new design looks like a sticker plastered over a wooden board.

 

[Vissy]

My thoughts exactly. The new design's flaw is that it lacks a feeling of weight. It looks very flat and almost paper-like. Maybe it needs some added carvings and/or shininess? I think this can be fixed with some minor tinkering; as others mentioned before, it simply needs that metallic weight and it's going to be great.

 

[Sara]

I made some adjustments myself:

Spoiler

A quick 10 minute edit I did. What I changed:

• No more black parts, just because there's shading doesn't mean it should be that dark. Plus darkened metal is rare and not usually used to such detail.
• Added a shinemap because it's bright metal. It now reflects properly, bouncing off light with a nice shine to it.

With some more effort, it's a fine shield.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not the author of the orignal shield, neither am I affiliated with the Prophecy of Pendor team (wouldn't mind to be, if only I had more spare time).

 

[MitchyMatt]

That's a nice edit actually. It looks good in screenshots, can't tell for sure though.

K0nr@d has taken note that people are talking about his shield, however if he tweaked it or not I do not know, yet.

 

[lconracl]

I will do something about it tonight then post some screenshots.

 

[lconracl]

Is this any better? Please bare in mind that this shield is thinner then standard shields, because is full metal. If you compare two items side by side, please use the same location (light, position).

Spoiler

 

[Vissy]

That looks a lot better, indeed!

How does it look when held in a standard standing pose? Does it mesh well with armour?

 

[Takeshi]

that looks perfect, cant even imagine using anything other than that now.