GR#221 - Erde Mockups - Gameart

[Storyteller]

very pretty. I like the overall style. the dialogue boxes are great. I want to second Ryumaru's statements about depth and shading. Some of the other pieces look like they could use a bit more 'depth' a bit more variance in shading along the flat surfaces to break them up in places.

[Drazelic]

I'd probably actually make the onion domes... cleaner? Idk how to express it, but the splotchy organic style of the dome contrasts pretty heavily with the clean, geometric style of the buildings beneath.

I also agree that the text-box is a bit overwrought. The black outlines on everything are a bit too much, perhaps?

[astraldata]

You might consider taking some of the repetition from the top of the textbox out as it goes across the top of the window. I feel putting some of that toward the ends of the box would be nicer.

Or, if you must have detail across the whole thing, you could vary up the top portion to be something other than just squares repeating across the box -- this fights with the bottom, more elegant and understated, repetition -- which looks much better imo due to the fact that the bottom portion doesn't demand your attention like the top does since it's not trying to be part of the main window and therefore doesn't drag your eye away from the text (like the top repetition also does).

Your characters seem quite small compared to your world/screen size too, but I think they could still be workable as long as the amount of variation on the screen at once resembles that of your desert shot. The water character could use some ripples around her though. Quite charming visual style you've got there regardless though.

Also, great job on the grass variations. I wonder what your method of tiling is? Seems great at eliminating the grid, but what size tiles are you using? Doesn't seem like you're using standard tile sizes. Definitely doesn't look like RPG Maker - style tilesets. xP

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Vagrant: Thanks a lot  (of joy)! I think I will go with the larger screen size, even though it was an accident. It may make the sprite shrink a bit, but it also makes way for vast scenery and towering structures.

Yes there is very specifically a faerie-tale element to the story in mind  .

Storyteller: I appreciate the comment! I will definitely keep in mind what Ryumaru showed in his post. I may even revisit the cave scene later to really fix that up with the low color count in his edit.

Drazelic: Yeah definitely a bit mismatched looking now texture-wise. I might rather go with adding some texture to the roof tops and walls elsewhere instead. I meant to earlier but didn't come up with anything good; I will try another approach. I'm not having any great ideas for the roof texture.. but I can play around with it.

Astraldata: Thanks  . Yeah the characters keep shrinking with the resolution increases. But as I mentioned I will try to work with a little bit of expansiveness.  I've also already done a good amount of animations for the main sprite.. I also like how easy working with the tiny size is. There are going to be giants too; those will be about 4 times the size.
 About the tiling, there aren't really any tiles here; it's more like big chunks of pixels. There's plenty repetition... The pots, for example, are tiles kind of, but nothing's placed into a grid. The dunes, dirt and grass are more chaotic, I just made a few patches then copied and pasted a lot of it together and touched up some spots wherever necessary.
I added a ring of water to the mermaid, that was pure neglegence on my part  .

All: About those dialogue boxes...

(Vagrant) I should add a couple highlight colors to make them less flat.

(Drazelic) I kinda like the Black outlines on them cause it really separates the box onto it's own layer.. Maybe I could make the outline fade out at the top to lighter color.

(Astraldata) I will definitely try a new pattern at the top, something less bold maybe (I can see how it kinda diverts the eye with the repetition). I was going for a castle-y look, but I think a smaller pattern with maybe a few squares left on the edges will look pretty good.


 Going to go ahead and post the boxes here in-case someone here wants to throw some visuals together in the meantime. Even though I may or may not change it besides the changes listed above.

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Added some texture to the structures; not sure about adding anything to the roof-tops:
Spoiler

Next up border updates and interiors.

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Someone's coding  the dialogue engine and menus. So I wanted to post this update/WIP here. I kept the the castled tops but reworked them; I think they match overall now much better. I tried some other designs not using those on top and didn't personally like any of them. I did lighten the tops a bit, and reduce the red sturation as suggested though.

Spoiler

Edit: Updated.. put the older ver. in a spoiler tag.
I think I will definitely change the black inner border inside the menu screen WIP.. but I want to keep it pretty simple and mutable.

(I'm juggling a lot of images/assets all at once; slowly working on that character portrait I posted in OT creativity thread as well; should have a post with fixes for that soon too [fixed the bent armor and  feet so far])

[Drazelic]

Heya, I was talking with Lijj over google hangouts. Here's a suggestion for how to make your menu less... boxy and boring. More visuals, less text, eh?

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Drazelic!? Why no post your rough; it's got some great ideas in it. Well thanks for resurrecting this thread!

Workin' on updating the scrolls to be more visually oriented.
Also gonna go with less text/ less stats and visually pleasant stat orbs like in your rough.
I'll post the update soon. Just wanted to show that i am working on it. I feel it could use some gold highlights or something:

[Mr. Fahrenheit]

Wow, love that font!

[||||]

Thanks a lot Mr. Fahrenheit.
  I am encouraged to carry on. Encouragement, critique, ideas, all good.

Adding some gold to the stat menu screen:



Decided to post a quick layout sketch I'm working with along with the rough pixel sketch Drazelic made (it may trigger some good ideas!). I based the pencils off of the layout there just changing a few things.





 I think each title representing different kingdoms, orders, and companies even will each get a little border design beside the sigil/ shield, each unique to its kind (loosely shown in the pencil sketch).

Updated:


Still using the wood carved motif; just more gilded.