I present you with the final Graphics Aid gallery. It contains all Graphics Aid sigs from 2010-2014 (except House_MD's first ever auction in 2009/10 as only he had those files).
# Post if any problems occur, and any suggestions. # In case you don't notice, when viewing sigs you can use UP and DOWN keys (: # 28/11/16: Enabled SSL under CloudFlare for my site # 01/02/17: Flash files working again - Migrated them to my host from GoogleDrive, and fixed some bugs
As we all know Flash died long ago, along with much of the internet's dynamic content, including my own galleries created in SWF.
However Graphics Aid is now reborn in HTML5 and JS on my site under HTTPS. It contains all the original sigs from 2010 - 2015 auctions, so let us reminisce on the wonderful days of the golden oldies from Yukio, KingAbz, DigitalCocaine, Smith to TaintedInside and so many more.
For those not familiar with Torn art from over a decade ago, well the 2010 style was somewhat different from today, since Photoshop was not as easy to use with all it's extra features/plugins as it has nowadays. So more time was spent in the past on artwork producing more unique items. In the flash file checks out the "artists" and all golden oldies members participants.
Tested and works on a PC Chrome, Firefox, Edge, (filters fail on iPhone safari). Filters and blur animations look different on differing quality monitors, the colours green/purple superb on Graphics Aid look superb on my primary 4k monitor, but not quite as good on a notebook screen for example. So yeah (:
So what do the new artists think about the original Torn forum sigs and art? What memories do my old friends bring forth? What are people's favourite sig?
My personal favourite - 2011 Summer, DigitalCocaine. I was a huge fan of Final Fantasy and Lightning oooft.
I was recently contacted about Graphics work, even though I have long since retired, but it gave me a chance to go back through my site's Flash Art Gallery, Large Art Gallery, and of course Graphics Aid; 10 years and all files still up.
Alas Flash has been banned in Torn and browsers, so my flash files fade away into nothingness along with my profile. However all files are still hosted on my sites, so let us reminisce on the wonderful days of the golden oldies.
For those not familiar with Torn art from over a decade ago, well the style was somewhat different from today, since Photoshop was not as easy to use with all it's extra features/plugins as it is nowadays. So more time was spent in the past on artwork producing more unique items. In the flash file checks out the "artists" and all golden oldies members participants.
An excerpt from within the Flash file.
Graphics Aid™ originally hosted by House_MD in early 2010, was passed onto Astral in late 2010 following House_MD's retirement from Torn. It has been Torn's longest running, and most successful sig auction (incl. both static and animated sigs) generally hosted once per year.
Invitations would be sent out exclusively to renowned sigmakers. However slots open to the public were always welcomed, but their artwork would be judged if entry-worthy.
Two display lists of sigs were always posted in the forums, one regarding casual conversation on the artwork, and secondly the auction itself. This was done as the bidding thread was constantly showered with bids, and keeping track of current bids proved difficult. This was resolved by adding 'helpers' who would aid in bulk-updating the current bids on sigs.
Each auction typically lasted two weeks, and by the end over a billion was circulated to sig makers.
As a whole Graphics Aid™ been very successful, and could not have been possible without everyone's contribution. From sig makers, to bidders, to announcers, to helpers, I thank you all graciously.
For some of you old enough to remember the multi-collabs, we used to have a simple canvas, and everyone adds small amount of details from C4D's, effects, renders, lighting, and it usually came out pretty sweet at the end.
Don't go over the top with adding/editing stuff, let other people have a chance and everyone can add small amounts, then by all means previous users can re-add stuff later
Find the latest post by someone to edit
No text until the end
Avoid entire lighting/colour changes as it makes it difficult for subsequent people to add stuff in
If an image is not acceptable, just use an earlier image
Use an image host that doesn't size resize or reduce quality e.g. https://pasteboard.co/
Keep dimensions at 1300x800
Export and keep format as PNG
Size (if no quality loss) should be around ideally 600-800KB+
Woah got an item Astral's Keepsake in my honour. A toast to all the sig makers from old to the new.
Seems my old website was deleted by my hosting provider for several years of inactivity, deleting all my flash sigs and large arts. Fortunately I had a partial backup of the sigs themselves, and I've now directly placed them into my profile https://www.torn.com/profiles.php?XID=300312
There were many more from what I recall, but alas that is all I could salvage.
Who remembers the old signature styles of the 2000's?
I retired from Torn long ago. However, for many years I have created a reminder on my Apple personal calendar for the next Elimination, as that was always fun, thus I login about once per year.
I see the date for September 1st. I must have set that last year when the previous Elimination ended.
Every several months I am somehow reminded of my oldest community Torncity. Starting in 2005 during the days of college at 16, then University, here I am having now worked for a decade at 32. Moved countries. Changed jobs. Had many partners. Many broken hearts. Obstacles. Hardships. Sufferings. Losses. To wisdoms. To intelligence. To change. Making friends with millionaires. Meeting Billionaires. Adventures beyond my wildest dreams. How adventurous life has been. Yet the inspiration I once had in youth with art and music still remains but refined into something more eloquent, and this Graphics forum lives on, and Graphics Aid from the Golden Age still remains forever hosted on my website. I remain humbled. The Graphics Renaissance of 2010's.
![[image: astralvx.com]](https://astralvx.com/torncity/victorious_secret.gif){kind=link}
![[image: i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/hAU36tg.png){kind=link}
![[image: astralvx.com]](https://astralvx.com/torncity/artwork/untouchable.gif){kind=link}
![[image: astralvx.com]](https://astralvx.com/torncity/artwork/astral-cosmic.gif){kind=link}
![[image: astralvx.com]](https://astralvx.com/torncity/galactic_cheese.png){kind=link}