Zorg has my back on this, as well as Chad at Crafty geek. Between the two of us, anything he needs from color matching to art critique against actual cabinets can be done. I have access locally to Robert Spelman’s nice looking Space Duel.

Does Scott Evans (Atari Games) have the original artwork films? That is the question. I have emailed Scott before, but I am not well known enough that I would even cross his radar. We need someone like Rich Ford, Joe Magiera or Darin Jacobs to ask him if he has Space Duel films.

Will Rich at This Old Game be done with the Donkey Kong 2 sideart by then? The star may align, the two projects may line up, and Roseanne Barr might have work done! Oh, crap, the last one already happened.

~Update 4.18.08 Francis from Ataricade IM’d me and told me that Scott Evans does indeed have the Space Duel artwork films, including the sideart. I emailed Zorg, and he said that he is going to put this on hold for now and focus on other projects.

If you’ve been following this project, you might want to leave a comment and let us know interest for a run of Space Duel sideart reproductions. My guess is there isn’t enough of you out there that would want this to happen otherwise some of the big guys like Darin would have already reproduced it.

You're reading New Space Duel Sideart Progress is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.

Every once in awhile I get an email out of the blue about an arcade project that really makes my day. Last week, I got an email from Eric (Vector Zorg). Eric has started tracing Atari’s Space Duel sideart from some great scans he pieced together. Eric posted the Space Duel sideart scans he is working with on his website if you want to check them out.

As you can see in the photo on the right, he has his work cut out for him on Space Duel. The Space Duel artwork is beautiful and complex and would take a ton of time to vectorize.

Eric has started a bunch of projects, and from my experience he is like most artists, they take on more than they can realistically handle. (It’s hard to be passionate and talented, give us a break. We want to be involved in everything when it comes to arcade game artwork.) Check out Eric’s vector projects in progress that at some point will make it onto localarcade.com. Most of the marquees, bezels, and side art he has vectorized look complete. I am not actually sure what the artwork pieces need to be finalized, if it is color matching or something else, but the list of artwork he has worked on is a who’s who list of classic arcade games. Some of this artwork has been reproduced over the years, but my guess would be that Eric’s goal is to make the vector files freely available and accurate to all collectors to do with as they please;

• Burgertime
• Jr. Pac-man
• Xevious
• Mario Brothers
• Donkey Kong Jr.
• Donkey Kong
• Robotron
• I, Robot
• Galaga
• Punchout
• Popeye
• Crystal Castles
• Marble Madness
• Puckman
• And the list goes on and on…

The start of the Space Duel Sideart

Here is a small snapshot of what Eric has finished so far. Coming along nicely with two of the detailed side art ships finished and ready to roll.

Here are two small snapshots showing the quality of Eric vector tracing work. A closeup detail of the ship on the left;

And a detail image of the ship on the right. Eric asked my opinion, for what’s it worth. But opinions are like buttholes as they say, I have my fair share of ideas about buttholes, and, well, other stuff.

Looking at the original scan, I would have actually kept the polygon shape edges rounded, at a distance they will appear square which was the original intent. This is a nice scan of some fine detail of the Space Duel sideart, so I would have to go with what I see. Sometimes when you trace arcade artwork, you have to make a best judgement call. But after I gave him my opinion, he agreed and went back and changed this portion.

Silkscreened Space Duel sideart in the future?

We’ll have to see. Not only is Eric vectorizing Atari’s Space Duel artwork, he is also separating his colors properly as he goes (which is smart, a difficult process once the artwork is complete) and is talking about having Rich at This Old Game do a small run. Will it happen? I don’t know, that is anyone’s guess. I would say not for a long time. But the fact that there may be Space Duel sideart available to collectors in the next year is promising enough.

Additional Information

Want to contact Eric about his progress? (Be thoughtful, he is a family man) You can email him at vectorzorg@gmail.com about his other great vectorization projects and progress on the Space Duel artwork.

Don’t forget, all of Eric’s work in progress projects are located on his website. The site is in French, but it is still easy to navigate, here is the direct link to any updated images of the Atari Space Duel side artwork.

Of course, check back here and as I am informed I will do my best to add any progress on the Atari Space Duel cabinet artwork.

You're reading Atari’s Space Duel Sideart is a post from: Jeff Rothe, originally posted on Rotheblog - An Arcade Game Blog. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Jeff on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +.