An Artisanal Question

Velinae

Hello! I had a question about the artisanal contests, if anyone might be able to help!

For a bit of background, I've never competed in an artisanal before, and so I decided that I'd try my hand at it in this latest round. Sadly, while I finished the piece itself, I pretty severely underestimated how long it would take to compress it down below the maximum, and so I wasn't able to submit it before the deadline.

Obviously I've no one to blame but myself for this, but part of why I didn't plan for this from the outset was that many of the past artisanal entries on the wiki are larger files in a variety of formats. I ended up asking to be sure the rules in the help files were still in place, but this has all left me a bit confused about how this process normally works.

I don't really understand much of how artisenals work still, so I was hoping someone more familiar might be able to offer some guidance. Are the larger files on the wiki original versions that the artists have provided, after they submitted and won with more compressed versions, or something of that sort? And if so, is it common to need a good compression setup to compete? Or are the files on the wiki exactly what were submitted, and it's possible to larger file types after all?

Thank you for reading this, and if anyone has any insight, it would be most appreciated.

Tahquil

I can check my files against the wiki files and give you some insight. However, I’m on a 10 hour shift followed by sleep so it might take the best of a day to get you an answer.

Finchy

It won't beat Tahquil or anyone who has actually been through the Artisanal side of things but: Email them direct with the situation! I'm sure they'd be willing to work out a way you can submit it.

There's a good chance @Nicola will see it here too. Good luck! 

Velinae

Thank you for your responses! I did try sending an email directly once I'd stumbled on the right compression tools that could get something small enough without being completely a pixilated smudge, but I ended up getting an automated response saying that there was no contest running so they couldn't take submissions. Would you suggest any further emails, or would there be not much point?

And I actually had confirmed with Nicola that the restrictions in the help file were still in place a little before the deadline, so I know they're supposed to still exist. But it did leave me curious what the usual process is for artisanal competitors, and if the people who have made larger works have just compressed them down for the contest, then followed up later to have the full thing displayed on the wiki.

I just wish I'd known from the outset that knowledge of file size and compression techniques were one of the most important parts of the competition. I'd have approached this all quite differently, if so.

Tahquil

Due to my current RL situation it's going to take some time to find which computer my original works are on and to be frank I have 50 million other things to plan and take care of in the next two weeks.

Sorry @Velinae. It might take a bit longer to get your answer.

Dupre

Velinae's artwor placed and was posted in hi res so I assume the issue was resolved?

Numira

I really love your work, Velinae! How long did it take to get all the information/ do research in game? Or are all of the constellation patterns available somewhere already?

Velinae

@tahquil Since the contest itself is over, it would probably be easiest if I just followed up more directly with support. Much as I'd still be curious to hear what you found, it's not worth it if it would be inconvenient for you, I think. Thank you so much, though!

@Dupre What was posted was the pretty heavily compressed version that I sent in (It had to be compressed, converted to the proper file type, the compressed again using an online tool I found, to get it that small). So I'm still interested in knowing if it's possible to get the full thing posted, though its not like that's a huge deal.

@Numira To get the patterns and their appearances, I was checking the visible stars each in-game month once I decided I was doing it. Between that and some logs, I had next to all the constellation patterns/apperances, and that became the basis for the final project (which is also why there's some errors. I've already confirmed that I got one of the less-consistent constellations wrong).

But I can't take much credit for research; there's also several in-game lists, which also helped me with this project. A number of books in city libraries have all the constellations and their names listed out, and there's a very good one by Melaina that lists their appearance times, which I used to double-check the information I had. And if you prefer original sources, all constellations (with names included) can be seen if you make a visit to the Valho Coast.