Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: Yuushia on December 16, 2015, 10:55:06 am
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Hi there,
It's been a while since my last post here, but I need your help once more :)
Here is my last work, first time I work on a full background.
(http://i68.servimg.com/u/f68/12/17/91/76/ice_ca10.png)
It took me 20 days to produce this picture (~10 days for snow only), and I really need some criticism about it.
I didn't put any limit on color numbers (except on character sprite), since it's totally static. It's thought to be used with parallax effect.
- I didn't know where to start with, so I heavily borrowed art style from a Card Saga Wars screenshot (http://www.servimg.com/view/12179176/189 (http://www.servimg.com/view/12179176/189)).
- I consider 20 days is way too much for my ongoing project (We are 2 people, only me for the whole graphics).
---Should I consider reduce my "exigence" ?
---Is 20 days a "normal time" for producing a background or is it just insane for a first time ?
---Should I employ other tech like, a 3d texture on floor but keep 2d elements / draw background (no pixel art)?
---Is there any methodology on creating background ?
- I tried to make a beautiful starry sky but I couldn't achieve what I had in mind.
There should be color variation (like a "Milky Way" effect), but everything I tried (based mostly on dithering tech) seemed "off".
Do you have any exemple of such scenery on a large sky ?
Thank you for reading :)
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I really like this! It's a bit rough in some places.
I think you could simplify the trees in the background and just make them silhouettes.
The tree in the center needs a highlight color, maybe some edge highlights from the moonlight.
I really like the shading on the snow, you should try something similar for the sky, to make it more gradient.
I think you're using way too many colors for this to be sustainable as game art. You're also using a lot of colors that are too similar.
You should also try to have more flat shaded areas without any detail, especially in dark areas where you should just let it be dark blotches instead of going in and adding detail.
I made an edit, it's super rough.. I just tried a bunch of things..
(the contrast is a bit too extreme)
(http://share.cherrytree.at/showfile-23172/winter_scene.png)
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I think it looks smashing, but I agree with the spirit of Seiseki's edit.
Will the background be completely static? Making something with that detail scrolling over large screens would be an extreme amount of work for just one person. Like in the edit, I think you should make some areas in the background less detailed, although if you are working in repeating parallax layers, I think it could work very well, especially with the closest layer having unique details.
You could also have some rim lighting with a full moon that big.
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Cool piece. It has a nice atmosphere to it. I just tried to make a it a little more vibrant. And separate the foreground / interactable stuff from the background. I also changed the characters face a little bit. Ignore the color changes of the character.
(http://i.imgur.com/8PAea8Y.png)
Depending on the type of game you're making, I think this level of detail is too high. First, if there will be a lot of backgrounds you need to do, it will take a lot of time. Second, it can be kind of distracting. I'm guessing they can read the notice board, so you want that to pop out from the rest of the stuff.
Overall, I really like it. The little crystals on the ground are a cool touch.
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Looks awesome. Very inspiring.
I took Salt's edit of just the character a little further.
(http://i.imgur.com/WHnqiHO.gif)
Mostly the face and hair were feeling very off for me, but I threw in some ideas for the armour as well.
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Thank you for all of your feedbacks and your edits, I am glad you liked this work :)
@Seiseki Thank you for edit, I see a lot of good things I could use in order to improve the picture. It became obvious I need contrast, contrast, contrast !
@Neophos It's intended to be repeatable (in fact, it's already repeated), with different level of parallax (action/bta game). No way I could reproduce this
work on a larger size, with so many background to create ^^
@NaCl As in Seiseki edit, lack of contrast is terribly obvious in original picture. It could be used for an action game, so it's very interesting to point out
the distracting problematic, something I should be very careful of. Notice board should be interactive, and I like how you put this very well in your edit.
@Ambivorous I like very much how you made reflects on plateskirts and boots, metallic parts are very interesting. You gave me some really good idea and I will rework
some parts (hair color, face, metal)
I take note of all your advices, and will come back in one or two days with a reworked pic.
In particular I would:
- Add a lot more contrast (not too extrem though)
- Some colors could be eliminated, in favour of a better readability and a overall simplification (and speed up future work), especially
on the furthest background
- A bit more flat shading
- Add a gradient in the sky
- Rim lighting
- A bit more shadowy object/silhouettes in the background to break the line of sight formed by the trees ?
- Adjust character details
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For the character you should try to have bigger clusters of pixels to make it easier to read.
I did change the character quite a lot in my edit, but I had a hard time telling what was what..
I think the contrast is quite good for the character already.
I personally like Ambivorous edit, because the character looks sorta cellshaded, but the contrast is very extreme though?
I don't think the scene needs to be as dark as I made it, because low contrast can give it a more snowy, foggy feel which would be appropriate.
But even with a foggy scene, the colors should be reduced and some selective contrast is needed.
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I actually like the original more than the edits. Not a fan of the color choices in either or the edited pieces...
I do agree the level of detail for the foreground tree is a little too high, though. You could simplify it a bit, in my opinion. The piece overall looks very nice, I think. =)
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Well I agree with jams0988. The colors on the original are somehow special , or at least I think so
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Original colors are the best because it best represents the intended atmosphere. It gives a warm, soft cozy, slightly magical and glittery feeling.
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Ok, so I tried to improve the overall picture while keeping the atmosphere you seemed to like :)
New version :
(http://i68.servimg.com/u/f68/12/17/91/76/snowy_10.png)
Animated old/new version :
(http://i68.servimg.com/u/f68/12/17/91/76/snowy_10.gif)
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Hmm I don't really like this change ,because I don't think it fits the overall style.
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I really like the new version. It seems almost perfect except for the green outlines of those mountains (or taller wider trees?) in the background. Cut those, in my opinion, and you've got a master piece!
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My first edit kinda went the wrong way, so I tried making a more snowy version..
Maybe it will give you some ideas.
(http://share.cherrytree.at/showfile-23246/snowy_winter.png)
(I realize the cloudy sky gives it a more chaotic feel rather than a silent night with clear starry skies. And ofc, you wouldn't have static snowflakes)
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Sorry for the delay of my reply (Christmas & New Year festivities heh)
Thank you for this edit too, I like this fog effect the low clouds add to the scenery.
Like you said, it gives less of a "mystic" feeling as I would like. But it should be interesting to work this kind of sky on another set-up, more "blizzard-esque".
Thank you everyone for your critics, it was really interesting to see there are really two distincts point of view on this piece :)