Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: Mysli on December 12, 2017, 08:24:58 pm

Title: Platformer background
Post by: Mysli on December 12, 2017, 08:24:58 pm
Atm I'm working on a mobile game based on my ludum dare combo entry. If you're interested here's a link -> https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/dont-get-drunk

So I made a background for the game. any ways to improve it? Thanks :)

(https://i.imgur.com/SjHlmmk.png)
Title: Re: Platformer background
Post by: eishiya on December 12, 2017, 08:34:50 pm
It would be nice to see it in context. Improving it as a stand-alone piece might make it worse as a background in your game.

I think the background feels a bit flat, because everything has the same level of detail, and the same scale. The buildings further away should be "hazier", but that doesn't mean just closer to the sky in colour. It also means the details should be less visible. They should probably also be smaller than the foreground buildings.
The buildings closer to us should probably be closer to their "real" colours, rather than merely darker. I'd hue-shift them a little warmer/redder instead of keeping them blue, and perhaps add a little bit of hue and saturation variation (e.g. have some of the closer buildings be greyer, yellower, etc than others).


I haven't tried the game, but I dig the concept! I worry that the drunk distortion might make the small/thin details in the background read like noise though. Make sure to preview it with those effects before you commit to the details.
Title: Re: Platformer background
Post by: Mysli on December 12, 2017, 08:42:53 pm
You have a good point, I didn't even think how those drunk effects might effect the background. And you're right, I wasn't sure about those colours in the first place. I'll try again this week and post my improved pic here. I'll maybe redo those other graphics too since I'm not that sure about them. It's a cool pic tho so if it doesn't end up being the background I'll use I'm not disappointed. Thanks again!
Title: Re: Platformer background
Post by: Mysli on December 17, 2017, 07:44:36 pm
So I managed to redo bunch of the original graphics and I made a new background. I used a same palette for the background and the platforms and I kinda feel they blend together too much. In the game both of them will move to the left in different speeds so that might fix the problem (I haven't tried it yet tho). any ways to improve my palette or the concept pic in general? Thanks :)

(https://i.imgur.com/AQ9vpGb.png)
Title: Re: Platformer background
Post by: eishiya on December 17, 2017, 09:48:29 pm
I think making the foreground warmer would help a lot. Parallax might hel[ the readability, but it'll never make it good.

You could also reduce the contrast in the background.

Overall though, I feel like your earlier draft looked more appealing with its solid shapes and lower detail levels. I suggested reducing the detail on the further buildings, but instead you made every layer more detailed.
Title: Re: Platformer background
Post by: Mysli on January 09, 2018, 11:25:55 am
Thanks, just published my game and it seems that the background doesn't blend in too much (movement fixed it).
here's a link to the game if anyone is interested :)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sakont.dontgetdrunk

NOTE: game only works on android, ios version will probably be available next week.

(https://i.imgur.com/6y4UCqt.png)
Title: Re: Platformer background
Post by: SlimEddie on January 09, 2018, 12:01:00 pm
If I was you, I'd update description on google play to something more descriptive
Title: Re: Platformer background
Post by: Mysli on January 09, 2018, 03:28:37 pm
lol you're so right! Current description is just a placeholder. I'll update the desc later this evening. If anyone has any experience in search engine optimization, feel free to give advise about keywords and the desc in general. thank you!

EDIT: description updated!