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Messages - saimo
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11
Pixel Art / Re: Graphics for a C64 game
« on: October 16, 2010, 09:00:57 am »
Quote from: bucketfast on October 15, 2010, 10:17:33 pm
I think I was reading it in artsy demoscene mode, I don't know. =S I guess it's because the abstract chill is pretty different, at a first glance, from the starkly cute style of the rest of your game.

Well, yes, that was the direction at first. After I had the idea of adding the pig silhouette, I was trying to preserve some of that feel.

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The new grayshift really helps to even out the temperature though.

Glad to hear it works. I wasn't really sure :)

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As for the middle blob's pigtail, it's easier to tell in context if you can see the curve of its forehead and snout, since no ears are visible.

Yep.

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Have you considered tweaking your Kirby dots to be more squareish, sort of a scattered chip dither? Gently rounded boxes would echo your bevelled platformer elements and retro modern lettering -- perhaps the inorganicness would pre-empt sillier player reactions, like in the edit to my last comment. =P

mmm... aren't the dots already squareish enough? ???
Anyway, have a look at this new version, where I tried to improve the variety and underline the shapes more effectively (while at it, since now I have more room, I have also increase the curviness of the outer corners - actually, that's how they were at the very beginning):



The additional logo is for an alternative version of the game.

EDIT: after making this post, I realized the 'X' in the alternative logo didn't reflect the original one. So, I went to remove the 4 pixels at the inner corners, but, in the process, a thought occurred to me: the style of the "wrong" 'X' was actually more fitting than the original's! So I changed the original one and realized one more thing: the thickness of the "cuts" of the letters in "QUOD" weren't consistent with the rest. Therefore, I landed to this:



I'm also considering rouding the slanted parts of 'N' and 'X' a bit... let's see...

EDIT 2: hey, the rounding seems to work...



EDIT 3: at first I thought I could stand and actually come to like the asimmetry of letters, but, no, I just can't...



I guess I'll call it done and stop pestering you Pixelationers ;)

12
Pixel Art / Re: Graphics for a C64 game
« on: October 15, 2010, 09:02:46 pm »
Quote from: bucketfast on October 15, 2010, 06:40:23 pm
The bottom one is the most appealing to me because its variable bubble resolution is fine enough to make out the curl, yet vague enough to keep a sense of mystery.

Well, mystery is not what I'm aiming for... but let me ask: is it clear enough that the "curl" is meant to be the pig's tail?
Anyway, you know, eventually I guess I'll go for the last logo because it just makes too much sense, even if I keep on preferring the first logo from an aesthetic point of view.

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I would suggest that you reverse the bubble pattern (small -> big) on the pig's face though, so it looks like a creepy fractal. Then you might have room to work the eye and smile back in -- if you do, try making the gapes larger for a more grotesque feeling. =)

That wouldn't work: the bubbles are meant to create a color transition that still leaves the shapes recognizeable.

By the way: I've changed a few pixels here and there to improve the transitions and replaced the light green with the lightest grey, but that's not something worthy of posting an updated picture.

EDIT: OK, done some more work to make the transitions less boring and more effective:


13
Pixel Art / Re: Graphics for a C64 game
« on: October 15, 2010, 06:15:37 pm »
The release of the final version is getting closer and closer, so lately I've worked also on a logo for the title screen:



The topmost one has been ready for a few days already and I'm quite happy with it. However, last night the idea shown in the second logo occurred to me. Conceptually, the second logo is definitely better (it has a meaning that perfectly fits the title and the whole game concept), but, aesthetically, I don't like it particularly - it looks too plain :-\ So, I tried to spice it up a bit and came up with the other logos. Currently I'm undecided between the logo at the top and the one at the bottom. What would you pick? Would you suggest some other alternative?

14
Pixel Art / Re: Animated Hollow avatar 100x100
« on: October 06, 2010, 12:13:00 pm »
Welcome to Pixelation!

Before passing to AA, I'd say there are a few issues to fix.
The first is anatomy: I'm no expert so I can't draw a sketch to show you a plausible anatomy, but to me the forearms look way too big; also, the abdomen looks weird because of the muscle shapes and, maybe, of the size (could be a little shorter, perhaps); finally, the neck doesn't present sharp, angled lines (or are they meant to be interpreted differently?).
Then, there's shading: at the moment the piece is heavily affected by pillow shading*. Choosing a different light direction could help you avoid that and make the piece more interesting (and eliminate left/right mirroring in the process.

*You can find plenty of explanations about it and also about AA on these forums.

Keep on pushin'!

15
Pixel Art / Re: Sky for C64 game
« on: October 05, 2010, 05:00:04 pm »
Quote from: coffee on October 05, 2010, 04:11:17 pm
I would probably say the 3rd or 4th one, I like the contrast the dithering gives it.

I like that as well, but unfortunately it also makes the borders very evident, which clashes terribly with the otherwise smooth blue -> black transition (and it also gives less room to play with colors) >:(

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However, I would go with the fullmoon, but remove the rings and make it as big as the halfmoon, with the same size on the face details, which atm seems just a bit too small.

Do you mean something like this?



(The second image is what I was working on before reading your post.)

EDIT: used dithering for smoothing the curve and retouched the moon (Whoops... just noticed I've accidentally screwed up the back of the moon - please ignore):



What's better, multi-colored stars, or yellow stars only?

EDIT 2: fixed to comply with HIRES limitations:


16
Pixel Art / Re: Sky for C64 game
« on: October 05, 2010, 03:27:28 pm »
Final (hopefully) version of sunset sky plus various tests for the night time:



It looks like the best solution is going for a completely blue sky... what do you think?

17
Pixel Art / Re: Sky for C64 game
« on: October 03, 2010, 02:11:28 pm »
Eventually I went for a simpler solution:



I'm not happy with the cloud in front of the sun, so it's going to change slightly for a more roundish look (probably I won't be able to work on it until tomorrow).

18
Pixel Art / Re: Sky for C64 game
« on: October 02, 2010, 01:54:16 pm »
Latest attempt at dawn sky and first attempts at sunset sky...



EDIT: yet another dawn sky plus several color tests for the sunset sky:



I can't really choose the hues for the clouds. A couple of combinations look better to me, but still I'm not 100% sure :-\
Also, should I add another cloud at the right to fill that space?

19
Pixel Art / Re: Sky for C64 game
« on: October 01, 2010, 11:02:35 am »
Just tried something for the sky at dawn...



I'm not sure it's any good, but I'll see if I can use it as a base to get anywhere... otherwise, I guess I'll have to change the concept radically.

EDIT: more experimentation...



EDIT 2: even more...



EDIT 3: more fiddling...



(The 24th line from the top is where the mode switch happens: to avoid jerks, I force the color to be the same of that behind the platforms, so that line hasn't to be considered when it comes  to HIRES restrictions.)

EDIT 4: final tries for today:



I think I'll go for the very last one: it's simple, it's consistent with the style of the noon sky and, hopefully, catches the hues of dawn...

20
Pixel Art / Re: Sky for C64 game
« on: September 30, 2010, 09:48:55 pm »
Quote from: Cow on September 30, 2010, 07:20:53 pm
I know the rightmost cloud is supposed to be overlapping but it looks like it's wedging unnaturally into the other cloud form. That's the only thing throwing me off, looks good otherwise.

Yes, that's a weak point. I had tried to give a sense of depth by means of dithering, but the result did look quite consistent with the fact that the sun is behind the clouds. Although I'm by no means after a realistic lighting - the platforms' is all but realistic and consistent - having such a blatant issue in such a restricted space seemed too much, so I chose to just use shapes. I'll see what I can do and post the result here (but first I have to solve a synchronization issue in the code: for a certain feature I want to add, I have changed the way the video modes are handled to have more freedom with the top graphics, but this is again causing jerks... maybe I'm close to the solution, but I don't know for sure).

EDIT: issue fixed, so back to pushing pixels...
I tried a few quick things to tackle the issue of badly overlapping clouds (note: not all of them comply with the video mode restrictions, so they're just meant to give an idea of the possible solutions):



I think the last one is quite alright and I'll go for it unless somebody has a better suggestion.

Also, let me anticipate that now that the new video mode handling is in place I can start pixelling skies depicting dawn, sunset and night as well...

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