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The Iron Sky: Operation Highjump -team is looking for your ideas and comments. Join and show your support for Iron Sky: Operation Highjump.  American Cat Patch (Color Tests)Just thought I'd post some more color tests. I wonder which one of them all would be considered the best? 
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Why not use the chosen patch super impoded on the left hand side of the antartica in the current logo, (http://www.wreckamovie.com/system/production_pictures/0000/0841/background_ironsky_testing.png?) without the iron sky text, the eagle and the Operation Highjump text on it as one of the proposals of the logo of the game?
Using the Task Force 68 is possible, yes.
And yes, we are aware of the myriad of conspiracy theories concerning Nazi UFOs: we actually do some research here, believe it or not :) We are not, however, taking them at face value: in our game, Operation Highjump is not sent to Antarctica because of a suspected Nazi base, but because of the very same reason they were sent there in real life, too. Our American protagonists bumb into the base pretty much by accident. So if you are afraid that we are suggesting there's something fishy going on in the US Navy, historically or otherwise, then let me assure you: we are not very pro-conspiracy, either.
Are we still using the Task Force 68 to at least keep things that real. The person does not matter, I gave you a name idea with rank, and I think the Cat Patch would be fine since there is not real patch for Task Force 68 since it is Classified, mainly.
Currently you are making a game off a Conspiracy Theory. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Just wanted to inform you on that.
In a sentence, we feel there are more people who might get offended, were we to suggest that a real person was, for example, used as a guinea pig in secret Nazi experiments. To continue with another sentence, if we were to make sure that all historical facts are correct, we'd be having much bigger problems already at our premise: after all, it suggests that the Third Reich is alive and well at the Moon. Also, we don't know what kind of people the participants of the mission were, so basically, they would anyway end up being made-up. Therefore, using a made-up crew crashing a made-up plane is much more sensible.
I think it's also clear why we might be able to use that oh-so-cute cat patch: because the game is based in an alternative reality. It may well be that in our very own 1947, the patch used for the operation represents a badass kitty hovering over the Antarctica. Of course! After all, we are aiming for verisimilitude, not reality.
Markus: "So just invent a "secret section" operating under Task Force 68 and use the cat as their symbol?"
If you read what I posted earlier, it would just be insulting to me and many other soldiers to make up a Division, rather then using the real division, real unit, real company that performed the Mission.
Matt: It is Navy, not Coast Guard... ;)
I would also go with the second option. Task Force 68 (CTF 68) was under the Sixth Division (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Sixth_Fleet).
I'd go with option number 2 of Matti's choices. This would first of all acknowledge the people that participated, but on the other hand wouldn't even accidentally name any names that really existed.
On the other hand, if we use a real name, our fancy new mascot and patch will have been all for naught. So just invent a "secret section" operating under Task Force 68 and use the cat as their symbol?
I'm very sorry to hear that using fictional units might be insulting too, that was what I was exactly what I was thinking of avoiding even more than legal action. That's a difficult situation, however - while it's true that many games use real units, many of those games also have the players fight in historical or otherwise realistic conflicts. Games with supernatural enemies such as zombies, demons or aliens quite often use made-up characters and units, though (for obvious reasons). Alternate history with Nazis and their UFOs as antagonists, I would have to say, falls between these two. While we use some historial reference to support the story, I would be very careful about what we use and how.
There are a lot of real-world details that we could refer to, but using of which would be very ill manner. For example, there was an actual scout plane crash (George 1) during Operation Highjump, and the relatives of the pilots who died there are still pressuring the army to recover their bodies. In this light I feel it would be extremely inconsiderate to write a storyline where the deceased-in-action crew members did not die in the crash but were fighting Nazis on a secret Antarctic space port. While your friend may not mind using his surname, it'd take too much time and effort to contact all the relevant people, and many of them would be likely to refuse.
Finally, of course, there's the aspect that the characters are capable of doing immoral things if the player so chooses. It's one thing to make a game where a squad named X in WWII fights the battles the real squad X participated in, and whole other to portray them killing unarmed civilians.
There are two possible solutions I propose to this problem:
1) Leave out unit names and numbers where possible, they won't be used much in the game anyway since the game is individual based rather than squad-based. The text on the shoulder patches would then read something like this one: http://uscgaviationhistory.aoptero.org/images/CGAVHISTORY/Polar%20Ops.jpg
2) To use Task force 68 as the division on those patches, it being a large enough unit to be pretty impersonal (~5000 personnel), but make the main characters the crew of a fictional scout plane that (according to the game) isn't listed in the official records because it's existence is still confidential.
Kris: Your words were not disrespectful, don't worry about it.
I wouldn't worry that much about Legal Problems. If you look at the most famous war game, Call of Duty, there are many characters that could represents people in real life. But you do not not see people threatening legal action. I think things will be fine.
Plus, I was suggesting names for a Main Character, one of them based off a friend of mine, and he is perfectly fine with it.
Mein Freund (My Friend) - Matthew Hayes
My Character Name - Jason Hayes
The Main Character is American as everybody knows.
"I would personally find it insulting since I serve the same Armed Forces that took part in the Operation."
I'm very sorry if I implied something disrespectful, that certainly wasn't my intention.
I think it's brilliant that someone like you is involved with this project. :)
"Since this was a real operation,"
Well, that's precisely what makes me nervous. Once real events are used in an otherwise fictional story, there is the risk of people involved in those real events taking offence at something fictional.
Just to give an example of what I'm afraid of:
There was a famous Finnish cartoon series called "Mämmilä" which was based on a real town in Finland, but with fictional characters and storylines. Unfortunately one of the cartoon's more disreputable characters was somewhat similar to a real life person in the real life town, and they threatened legal action against the artist.
Supposing one of the 100% fictional characters in the game turns out to be somehow similar to a real life member of that same unit, and that person takes offence at something in the game? Having a fictional unit number might perhaps help to shield the game from such risks?
Operation Highjump (OpHjp) is still mainly Classified Information. The US Military still to the day claim that the Operation was:
1. to train personnel and test material in the frigid zones
2. to consolidate and extend American sovereignty over the largest practical area of the Antarctic continent
3. to determine the feasibility of establishing and maintaining bases in the Antarctic and to investigate possible base sites
4. to develop techniques for establishing and maintaining air bases on the ice, with particular attention to the later applicability of such techniques to operations in interior Greenland. (where, it was then believed, physical and climatic conditions resembled those in Antarctica)
5. to amplify existing knowledge of hydrographic, geographic, geological, meteorological and electromagnetic conditions in the area.
Jani: There is a such thing as the 105th Airborne, but it is easy to get Units Mixed up like you said. 101st Airborne is the famous WWII Airborne Fighting Force.
Chris: I don't think it will cause legal problems. Many game use real units. Since this was a real operation, I feel it would be more rude and disgraceful to make up a unit. I would personally find it insulting since I serve the same Armed Forces that took part in the Operation.
Matt: The actual Division/Unit involved was Task Force 68 (CTF 68)
http://www.navyfliers.com/operation-highjump.html
Matti I would strongly advise inventing a fictional unit, to avoid legal problems or anyone being offended?
Thanks again Angela for doing a great job with the patches and everyone else for participating in the discussion!
We'll have to look at the number later, we'll probably pick a modified version of some real squad or invent one of our own (Pilot Crew #18, George 6 or something to that effect.) Opinions are welcome, as always.
I've googled a bit for ideas on my free time, but my work time has recently been eaten by things like in-house design documents and the dialogue system.
Oops. I got the airborne number wrong. It's supposed to be homage to Band of Brothers, but in that series it's 101st airborne.
And upon further review i'd go with the black cat, too, but maybe would change the yellow to a little lighter tone to make it stand out.
Why, thank you! ;)
Ah... well. Nice job with the Mascot Artwork (Patches).
TBH I did not "pick" any myself. Jani used the 105th in his nose art shot, and I just went along with it since we did not have any official numbers from the production leaders anyway. ;)
Yeah...
BTW Angela, nice to use the 105th Expeditionary Airborne!
Spencer: Cool! Thanks a lot for the information, good to know that they existed at that time after all.
Fair enough Spencer. :)
But like Matti says, the Americans didn't know there were any Nazis there, I think the plot of the game has them stumbling on the Nazi base accidentally.
Matt: They had them, they were just experimental at the time. Soldiers in Alaska used them, but they were not popular at the time, so that is why you may have not heard of them. I'm not arguing saying you should use them, I was just telling you that the US had them.
Kris: I said, WWII Era, that means around the time of WWII (including 2 years after WWII).
Spencer, this game takes place in 1947, two years after WWII ended.
Spencer: Are you sure about US having snow uniforms back then? I haven't found a single reference to them yet, even woods/jungle-camouflage suits seemed to be a new thing.
Anyway, even if they did have them, they weren't really expecting to find hostiles - the Allies had already won the war and any rumours about Nazis on the Antarctica were generally dismissed with no proof to back them up. Also, since the soldiers we'll have as PC:s are scouting plane crew, they didn't really expect to be wandering around in the snow either. :)
Wait... if you wear Black... then it just makes it easier for the Nazi's to spot you if you are wondering around. The United States did have White BDU's back in the WWII Era.
If it's a black jacket I would actually go for the dark brown one:
http://www.wreckamovie.com/system/shot_medias/0000/3969/OH_HAT_10.jpg
"It seems like the Americans didn't have white snow uniforms back then, and, anyway, the war was over and the operation was (allegedly) focused on training and surveying."
Hey, that's a really interesting point: they weren't (knowingly) invading the Antarctic, so it would make sense that they would wear non-white uniforms to make it easier to find people who got lost.
They would only have worn white if they knew the Nazis were there.
IMHO, if they are wearing black jackets, that would be one more reason to use the black cat rather than any colored versions... ;)
Kris asked about the uniform colours - those badges would generally be worn on dark (black, grey...) jackets/overalls/... It seems like the Americans didn't have white snow uniforms back then, and, anyway, the war was over and the operation was (allegedly) focused on training and surveying.
Since the two player characters who participated Operation Highjump were part of a scouting plane crew, I think they'd probably be wearing black jackets.
The Black Cat would look best on American BDUs (Camo)
I like the dark grey, partly because it implies night / stealth etc.
I'd go with option numero tres. That pink one. Or the light gray one.
A light color makes the cats' teeth and nails stand out.
The black one is cool, too.
When in doubt, respect the designer's opinion!!
The best colours also depend on the rest of the uniform, which we haven't seen yet. Maybe the context would help us to choose the best version?
Jani, I have uploaded a brown sample. And an orange one, too...
Anyhow, by all means, please feel free to experiment with these if you have time and ideas. :) I posted some black&white versions here:
http://www.wreckamovie.com/shots/show/5347
The sad thing is, no matter I keep trying all these colored version, I still feel that the black one is my favorite. Because it looks like these:
http://www.washingtonartillery.com/patch%20WA%20773rd%20WWII.JPG
http://www.tomcattersassociation.org/images/Fighting%2031%20Patch.jpg
Unless of course, we change the yellow background into something else... for instance to achieve something like this (which by the way originally inspired my drawing):
http://www.f-14association.com/memo_patch_f14_l.gif
As for the number... I think we'll need one Matti or another to tell us which they intend to use in their storyline. But that's easily edited. So no concerns at least on that front. ;)
How about a light brown cat? Lighter color makes the cat stand out when viewed from a distance.
The overall design is great!
It really doesn't matter whether there are 4 or 6 colors - as long as it looks right (no gradients or any other fancy stuff).
The 105 airborne was taken from Band of Brothers, i think... So you might need to change it to whatever outfit went to the Antarctic.
Edit: Added a light gray version. To be honest though, I still prefer the black one I posted in the other shot: http://www.wreckamovie.com/shots/show/5315
Pink definitely does not work on the yellow background... and I really would like to keep the yellow background as it seems to be very appropriate when it comes to era-specific military patches...
As an additional "excuse" to support my cause, I can only quote the fact that a lot of military patches do not follow such logo rules as demonstrated by several examples visible on http://www.av8rstuff.com/
I see there tons of "logos" which include at least 5 or 6 different colors.
As for the nose art, that was even colorful according to google images. With just as much shading and details as the person painting it was able to achieve, to the point its quality could be comparable to a full-color illustration.
Yeah, well, I am am aware of the color rules for logos, but I admittedly ran completely out of ideas for other options. Perhaps you would like to try some yourself? One of the reasons I had made the black version of the cat was to have less colors, too, as I couldn't find any cat-color that looked right. Pink just looks too naked and weak, at least IMHO. And I cannot imagine any military unit wanting to be represented by a pink shaven pussy-cat. :P
The three star top hat works, but the color scheme doesn't.
You really need a better color for the cat - and i know it's hard - You can only have 4 colors max in a logo.
The middle one gets my vote.
Yip, that's my second most favorite. I just kinda like the black one most because it makes the cat looks much more threatening... and I like evil kittens. Meeeow! :P
The grey one with the traditional "uncle sam" colours (red, white, blue) is the best IMHO. :) Well done.