[WIP] [C+C] Forest level tileset

[Yngar]

Hey guys I have been working on this game project for a while. This is definitely the most ambitious project I have worked on art-wise.


This is Warthog the main character. I made it a while back and haven't gotten around to fixing up some of the issues, but it is the basis for the kind of style I'm going for.
Scaled up spritesheet: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/TheZombie/warthogbig.png


This is the forest level I'm currently working on. I'm pretty happy with the way the grass turned out but I'm having a hell of a time with the trees as you can see.
I was going for mesquite trees like this because they looked like they would be great for level design. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v131/TheZombie/08-06-28clay_mesquite0117_lge-1.jpg

A few of things to note: Its very much a work in progress. The upper background is just a placeholder color, I plan to have trees back there. I do plan on making the trees go a lot more upward and add actual treetops I'm just trying to get the look of it right and work my way up. I was making the parts of it that would actually be platforms first so my programmer could implement slopes.

I realize this is pretty rough work, I am hoping to get some critique as I work on it. Any comments appreciated, Thanks!

[cheatsguy]

I like most of it  the background needs work though. It would be great if it used a couple wood shades for tree trunks then put on a background, as well as having treetops in the back. There are also some anatomy issues with warthog, but I'm not sure if that's intentional. Overall, I like it! The treetops could use shading, as well as the trunk in the background.

[Yngar]

Thanks for the comments! I'm not sure what anatomy issues you are referring to, could you expand on that? I definitely need more shading on the background stuff, I'm just trying to figure out how to do it and make it work with the whole tile thing. I plan to start working on this next week after I finish with ludum dare.

[MLA]

^^
I am not very experienced with pixel art but I can offer insight into any issues in composition and lighting

 I think cheatsguy is refering to the back of your character where there apears to be a vertical line of dark purple pixels on its back that gives this very stiff look to the animation.

I also find that my eyes are more drawn to the roots than the grass. darkening them might make the ground pop a bit more. a far more simple background would also do the trick of making the grass and tree pop out more.

for the level of detail you have accompished with the grass, the mushroom cluster on the far left looks rather out of place as it feels much more toony than the rest of the image that you have completed thus far.

[Yngar]

Thanks! Those are all things I hadn't noticed and will definitely fix.