[Updated] Black Pearl Clarification

The Black Pearl

You need at least 60 days of seniority and 5 karma points to use the Black Pearl.

We'd like to clarify a few things concerning the proposals for the Creative Space. We've had the time to see how things went and made some changes along with some additional advice.

For the Horses, Pegasus, Unicorns, Donkeys, and Ponies.


Using shadows in your creations:


We are probably going to add them ourselves in the future to have something that has the right perspective on the backgrounds, and that has a uniform texture across the coats.

You can use shadowing, but we ask that you keep them very light so that the images will fit with most Helios Ray backgrounds.

Cut out your edges more.


When we place the coats on a dark background in a lot of cases, there are stray light colored pixels all around the drawing. This makes it impossible to use on a dark background.
Tip Please take the time to take a look at your coat on a white and on a black background, in order to get rid of any leftover smudges or pixels. Also, look a little further away on just the outline. Often the coats have a smudge around the corners or along the border of the image.

Use the smudge or blur tool sparingly.


It's a pity to see a coat that has been worked on then filtered with a blur filter, and it comes out all smudgy. It's also a pity to see a coat with smudge marks on one side and not the other.

Be careful when playing around with reformatting an image.


Sometimes we get perfectly nice drawings of Sausage horses because the file has been altered, and the horse has been squashed or pulled in another direction.
This might be a great way of transforming an Irish setter into a Teckel, but it isn't very pretty on horses. Also, avoid making your resolution too low and giving the picture a pixel art look

Backgrounds


Using brushes is allowed.


They can be used as well, but we'd like to also remind you of the Black Pearl page information as seen in the quote below.

“Excess airbrushing is not allowed”. It is allowed but not too much!"

We have received tons of entries like this and have been very cool about it up until now. However, seeing the same tree used 4 times in different backgrounds is starting to get a little old.

From here on out, we'll start to be a bit more strict about this type of thing. This is due to the fact that it's unfair and the aim of the Creative Space is to work things with your own hands, not make photo manipulations. The same thing goes for photos or bits of photos.

Painting, blurring or smudging landscape pictures.


Moving forward, we'll simply remove the right to propose any creations to the Creation space forever for those who do try to do this.

Check the perspectives.


When you make a background, please consider that there has to be something for the horse to put his feet on. It's quite strange the have a picture with a nice pond in the background and the horse is floating in the middle of it in thin air.

The same goes for outer space and clouds etc. Just try and make the backgrounds usable for everyone, not just the Pegasus. Also, make sure that the horses won't look like giants in the middle of a forest when you decide to draw trees or other items.

Rules


Plagiarism is forbidden!
Respect the author's rights: we do not steal images off of the Internet; we do not trace photos; we do not use the basis of someone else if they have not given their authorization, preferably publicly.

What is plagiarism? Plagiarism is taking someone else's work and passing them off as your own.

We can take inspiration from a style, a movement, a mane or a coat without copy-pasting it. It’s the same idea for literature, graphic arts, video games or cinema - there is often inspiration taken from another creation. Inspiration is imbued with another creation in order to interpret it and create something new! Copying is recreating identically. Copying is not having a style or a vision of your own. Try to have the imagination and bring your unique personality to your creations.

Please also note that any cheating can get you excluded from proposing any artwork to the Creative Space forever and/or be followed by sanctions.
Players who submit an artwork not created by themselves, AI-generated or plagiarized will be permanently banned from using the Black Pearl.

Otherwise, all the usual rules still apply.

Before posting:


It is forbidden to mock or ridicule creations/creators
Don't post too many steps regarding your work to avoid flooding of the topic.
IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ASK FOR VOTES!

You are welcome to promote your creations or creations you voted for using #HowrseBP on social media or promote your creations on your profile page.

This topic can be used to help each other understand the Black Pearl rules with respect to your creative content.

Players who do not follow the rules are exposed to sanctions.

Regards
The Howrse team

 
Ow
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xanuage wrote:

Hi guys, I am having the same problem as many others in the thread.

My GA coat is 300 x 300 at 72dpi, transparent PNG with the frame included and not being obstructed by anything, etc etc, but is still said to not be the compulsory format.

Would anyone be willing to take a look at my file and tell me what I've done wrong? I've tried it with many different ppi and sizes and nothing seems to work. I'm at a loss and disappointed that the effort I put in might go to waste default smiley :'(


What application are you using to put your coat into the template? I used to do it in Apple's Preview App (I did the actual drawing in a separate app). That worked for a while but after an update to Preview, Howrse started saying there was a formatting issue. So your problem might be with the app you're using to format it.

Also, remember that the 300x300 px is the measurement for the inner (transparent) part where you put the horse. The template adds 50px to each side so that the final png should be 400x400 px
AthenaMinerva
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By Retired breeder, 5th May 2021 23:50:00
how you get a golden horseshoe
By Retired breeder, 26th May 2021 18:19:44
For the Helios Template, do you have to fill in the area that was covered by the border of the template with more of the background?
By Retired breeder, 29th May 2021 13:08:19
default smiley :(
im only 74 days
By Retired breeder, 29th May 2021 13:09:19
sorry not 74 76 days of seniority
Hey there,

I‘m having trouble uploading my own coats because Howrse states that I‘m using the wrong format, even though I‘m pretty sure that I did everything correctly.

I‘m using Procreate on my ipad. Does anyone know another application or app where I can format the drawing?
Sauerkraut
  • Posted messages: 28
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Sauerkraut wrote:

Hey there, I‘m having trouble uploading my own coats because Howrse states that I‘m using the wrong format, even though I‘m pretty sure that I did everything correctly. I‘m using Procreate on my ipad. Does anyone know another application or app where I can format the drawing?


Sorry to hear that you're encountering this issue. Please send a message through the 'Contact Us' option at the bottom of the page. In your message, please ensure you include the image you are trying to upload as well as error messages and any other information.
EchOw
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By Retired breeder, 19th June 2021 01:44:10
3
Retired breeder wrote:

default smiley :(
im only 74 days


This page is outdated. You only need 60 days of seniority to do the BP, as it says on the BP page.
By Retired breeder, 21st June 2021 14:31:00
1
Love itdefault smiley (y)
Sauerkraut wrote:

Hey there,

I‘m having trouble uploading my own coats because Howrse states that I‘m using the wrong format, even though I‘m pretty sure that I did everything correctly.

I‘m using Procreate on my ipad. Does anyone know another application or app where I can format the drawing?


For Howrse coats make sure you:
1.) Have the correct file name (must be in PNG)
2.) Have nothing crossing over the template, not a single pixel. You can put the template a layer above your drawing to help this be more effective.
3.) Your drawing must not have any filters in it or color or size changes to the template. Make sure your whole image (with the template) is 400x400 pixels in size.
4.) Your drawing has to have a specific RGB color profile on it, instead convert it to sRGB (I think?) and use the converted version instead.


I've never had to submit coats from an IPad, but instead I format it and put the template on with GIMP. I hope you're able to solve this!
nash12
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I've probably asked this before (I'm so sorry if I have) but how soon do we find out if our coat/ray made it into the game?
kittygirl03
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kittygirl03 wrote:

I've probably asked this before (I'm so sorry if I have) but how soon do we find out if our coat/ray made it into the game?

I believe 1 day before release? (correct me if I'm wrong).
You notice when you get your black pearl passes back when it is rejected. Also when you go to the creation space - my illustrations page you will see a red X next to your submission, or a green checkmark if it went through!
Kipduif
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Kipduif wrote:

I believe 1 day before release? (correct me if I'm wrong).
You notice when you get your black pearl passes back when it is rejected. Also when you go to the creation space - my illustrations page you will see a red X next to your submission, or a green checkmark if it went through!

Yup, I just checked my pass history and saw I got my black pearl passes back. Thanks!
kittygirl03
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I just noticed in the howrse bp message that they have a theme listed. Are you allowed to enter anything? Or does it have to fit the theme?
Djirra_Nightshade
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Djirra_Nightshade wrote:

I just noticed in the howrse bp message that they have a theme listed. Are you allowed to enter anything? Or does it have to fit the theme?


Hi!

You can enter anything, but if you feel like going after a theme or challenge yourself, you can follow the theme-prompt posted in Howrses thread default smiley :) The prompts are not obligatory default smiley :)
Shishi no Seirei
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I was wondering that, too. I'm pretty sick of the Japan/China themed things. (Like why would you make a horse look like Sailor Moon?) So I can submit anything, and it doesn't have to be Japan-themed?
Emerald01
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"Painting, blurring or smudging landscape pictures."

What does this mean? I would really like some clarification so I don't end up banned forever for something that seems perfectly reasonable to me.
Emerald01
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Emerald01 wrote:

"Painting, blurring or smudging landscape pictures."

What does this mean? I would really like some clarification so I don't end up banned forever for something that seems perfectly reasonable to me.


It means you cannot take a photograph and edit it. Landscapes must be made from scratch.
Starynight
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Emerald01 wrote:

"Painting, blurring or smudging landscape pictures."

What does this mean? I would really like some clarification so I don't end up banned forever for something that seems perfectly reasonable to me.

It also means the picture must be legible, It can't be just a gradient or a solid colored/blurry background.
nash12
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Sauerkraut wrote:

Hey there,

I‘m having trouble uploading my own coats because Howrse states that I‘m using the wrong format, even though I‘m pretty sure that I did everything correctly.

I‘m using Procreate on my ipad. Does anyone know another application or app where I can format the drawing?


I tried using Procreate, Procreate pocket. DOES NOT WORK. Use Gimp, that's a good one, or use Photoshopdefault smiley ;)
raven5
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By Retired breeder, 9th July 2021 12:56:01
1
Im new and pretty confused atm loldefault smiley (l)
Can I use IbisPaint to draw something for the Black Pearl?
blueribbonpony
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blueribbonpony wrote:

Can I use IbisPaint to draw something for the Black Pearl?


Absolutely yes! I use it all the time and I love the app!
nash12
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By Retired breeder, 31st August 2021 16:34:39
where to vote for the drawings?default smiley (7)default smiley (7)
Retired breeder wrote:

where to vote for the drawings?default smiley (7)default smiley (7)


Voting opens on the 6th default smiley (l)
Starynight
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