Star Wars Chess Piece Graphics

Hi All,

I am creating some vector graphics to represent various Star Wars ships / vessels to substitute for their respective chess pieces. This is not for a software app (such as MS Windows, Apple, Android, etc.), but rather, just for my own amusement.

I am at conflict with myself as to what the Imperial Queen should be represented by. I have been leaning REALLY hard on using The TIE Advanced (Vader's TIE Fighter design he used in A New Hope). Given that the queen is the most powerful, and most dangerous on the chess board, and seeing how Vader's TIE was portrayed in the Star Wars: Rebels animated show, I thought it would be a good choice.

The reason I'm AGAINST using the TIE Advanced however, is that it looks ALOT like the TIE Interceptor from head on (though for a fan like most of the members here, as well as myself, we'd know the difference without any problem).

This isn't for a serious project, like I said, but strictly for my own amusement. I welcome any opinions about the idea of using the TIE Advanced, or if there would be a BETTER choice. In addition, if someone thinks I should switch around pieces I already have assigned in my appended graphic, I welcome those ideas as well. I also don't have a problem using a ship that the Rebellion has for the same piece that the Empire has (though obviously, in my appended graphic, the only two ships that could be used by BOTH sides would be the Shuttle, and the Nebulon Frigate).

Thank you all for your time in reading this, and your responses.

Chris



https://www.flickr.com/photos/137877400@N04/23043906622/

 

You could use a TIE bomber.

 

The Death Star or Executor would be my choices, I don't know if those work for you.

 

Wow, never considered the TIE Bomber or the Executor (Super Star Destroyer Class) ships. Thanks for the replies guys! I will probably rearrange some of the piece assignments (in particular, I will probably make the TIE defender the queen piece, as I hadn't realized how powerful a fighter it was.) I just finished a TIE bomber, so I will probably assign THAT ship to the Knight's assignment (since the Y-Wing on my board is in that position, and has been considered a "bomber" in some contexts.)

I had started working on a Death Star vector graphic, but had thought of putting it in the king position (since it's checkmating would be it's equivelant "destruction"). I might still do that as well.

Again, thanks guys! Anyone else's ideas also welcome!

Chris

 

This reminds me of the mission briefings from the X-Wing games. I miss those games.

With the placement of the ships, it feels a bit unbalanced with the ISD as the rook while the B-Wing is the equivalent… maybe have the ISD as the King or Queen piece to match the Nebulon. As a replacement for the Rook, maybe the TIE Defender as that can match the B-Wing… kinda like the Interceptor with the A-Wing and the TIE for the X-Wing and use Darth Ukendi's suggestion for the Knight to match the Y-Wing.

 

OK, you are SOOOOO skipping ahead Corellian Outrider ;-) One of the things I LOVED about the X-Wing games was the mission briefing screens. As I started making this, I noticed the similarities as well, and have been dabling with MS Power Point, to add similar animations to those of the X-Wing briefing screens. I'm even debating on what kind of backdrop I want the chessboard to have. What I eventually want to accomplish, is to take a chess game from one of the masters, play it out with my graphics, and use the briefing style animations to provide a visual depiction, along with some annotations throughout the game similar to what you'd read in a chess book or magazine (basically the commentary). The only difference, I want to present it from the viewpoint of, say, the commanding admiral of whichever side (Rebel, or Imperial) was coordinating the battle. Something along the lines of "......at this point, I realized that my adversary was preparing to secure the delta column in the sector with his Star Destroyer. With this in mind, I ordered my A-Wing off our right flank to clear a path for my Frigate, so that he could maneuver in position should the need arise....." All these annotations would be accompanied with the animations I just described.

I have ideas in mind for some fanfic (which I have NEVER tried before, but have been doing lots of research on), which would provide a backstory of sorts for this animated sequence of events of a territorial battle.

I appreciate your ideas for the assignment / placements of the pieces you suggested. I have considered incorporating a TIE bomber in the mix, and am working on some Corellian Corvette graphics that I might throw in as well. The reason I had placed the B-Wing in the Rook position, opposite the ISD, was only because I had read somewhere (it might have been Wookieepedia?) that the B-Wing was so powerful a weapon system, that two of them alone, in the Battle of Endor had taken down a Star Destroyer. Don't quote me on that "fact".....like I said, can't remember exactly where I saw it. But after seeing the Rebels episode, "Wings of the Master", I realized that those claims were probably justified.

Oh, you said you missed those games. Not sure what kind of system you have, but gog.com has all of the X-Wing series of games (DRM free), for really cheap. The graphics are dated, sure, but I feel like a kid again playing them! lol

Thanks again for the ideas!

Chris

 

Below you'll find an updated board representation, taking a few ideas from Darth Ukendt, Corellian Outrider, and Admiral Volshe.

I'll try and post a link to an animation I did just "off the cuff", as I mentioned in a prior post.

Thanks y'all!

Still open for any changes, criticisms, or suggestions by other followers!



Chris

 

I tried to get the animation I worked on to show in this post, but I'll have to settle for just providing a link to Flickr. Oh well. This is to demonstrate the "Mission Briefing" style screen that some of us have seen in the classic X-Wing game from Lucas Arts. I think that I might have some fun with this little project.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/137877400@N04/22607429083/


Chris

 

Cool! Are you going to ever make these 3-dimensional for a physical chess set?

 

Hi JabbaMama, and thanks for the like and comment!

My original idea for this WAS to collect the various ships that are depicted on the board, through various sources. First and formost, was to buy most (if not all) from the X-Wing board game. But when I started adding the cost, it began to get more than I had been willing to fork over.

The next thing I thought of, was to actually have them 3-d printed. I have modeling software, and was actually thinking of getting at some point a 3-d printer (specifically the makerbot). Yeah, the 3-d printer was going to be pricey, but who doesn't want a 3-D printer anyway!? But I was concerned on how much "post" finishing I'd have to do with it, and wasn't sure how well I could paint the pieces. I also heard yay / nay things about where the current level of detail that could be acquired with 3-d printing is right now. Bottom line, I was wondering if my expectations would have exceeded what could be achieved with the hardware.

The next method I considered, was to make 2.5 D renditions of the models. Basically, it's not 3 D (obviously), but more like "profile" models (if that makes any sense). If you're not sure what I mean, do a search for "Star Wars Pocket Model Game". Most people here probably remember that game. On their website (no longer maintained), you can see how the various ships / creatures are assembled. I had done an experiment some time ago, looking at how the T-16 Skyhopper was assembled, and using depron as my modeling material, along with an iPad app I use for vector drawing (same one used for my chess graphics above). I was able to make a somewhat convincing model by printing the various wing panels, and fuselage lines on card stock paper, gluing it to the depron, and using a hot glue gun to construct the model. Was it studio scale? Not by a long shot. Was it fun to sit at my desk and fly it around as Luke Skywalker did in a new hope, complaining about my life? Absolutely! (Incidentally, my life isn't that bad, but I DID fly the T-16 a lot). Unfortunately, while it survived many imagined flights through Begger's Canyon sniping at womp rats, it didn't survive the ravagings of a 3 year old.....

If you aren't familiar with the Star Wars Pocket Model line, go to the following link, and scroll through the pictures. Many of them are oversized for promotional purposes, but cool nonetheless....(I had actually envisioned a HUGE chess set with oversized pieces like what you see in some of the pics. How cool would that have been!)


https://www.facebook.com/swpocketmodels/photos_stream?ref=page_internal

I had also considered paper modeling the pieces, but realized that the time (and patience!) in making 32 pieces might be prohibitive in doing that (though it would still be rewarding to make if the end product was appealing).

In keeping with a strictly digital chess board, I even played around with replacing the line graphics, with 3-d rendered representations of the various ships as their respective chess pieces. The result was somewhat satisfying, even given the fact that the models I made were less than stellar compared to the highly detailed works I've seen 3-d artists produce that could rival that of ILM itself.

In the end, I guess it comes down to producing something that someone could look at, and easily recognize the various pieces and say, "Hey! Those are Star Wars ships!"