Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: MadByte on April 11, 2020, 04:32:19 pm

Title: (WIP) Critique/feedback for a hobby game project
Post by: MadByte on April 11, 2020, 04:32:19 pm
Hi. :)

I'd like to get some feedback for game art I'm currently working on.
How do you like the art style and what do you think needs improvement?

I'm restricted to the Endesga32 color palette (https://lospec.com/palette-list/endesga-32).
First Image (In-Game):
(https://i.imgur.com/m4nJcva.png)

Additional question: Just by looking at the picture - do you understand what's going on & what the game is about? My intention is to describe and teach the player the basics through the art without reading text boxes etc.


Second Image (Menus / UI):
(https://i.imgur.com/OvMtFL4.png)

Additional question: What do you think about the layout?
- It's planned to have the main menu static on the left side & additional windows will open on the right side (animated).
- In the actual game there will be just one option marked with red frames in the Options menu. The others are there to show how they should look like.

Title: Re: (WIP) Critique/feedback for a hobby game project
Post by: Mathias on April 16, 2020, 03:38:15 pm
Makin' a game, eh. Aight aight. Lemme see.

I did think the cars were spiders at first. Because of the spiderwebs mainly, I guess. And the outdoors environment.
Then I read "Tiny Taxis". At a glance, in the context of the mockup that blue car does resemble a fat little spider with red eyes, imo.

What does the yellow bar top middle do?

So the game is a competition where each player maneuvers their car to the tiny white guys, and transports them somewhere?
Fuel is finite so they need to hurry and/or refuel when need be.
I'm guessing the opening in left and right do the Pacman thing - let player quickly warp to either side.
Can't really tell what the red platforms are, with the little white dude on them. They remind me of trampolines.

Background seems random. Will it change per level skin?
Is that a moon or a sun? I'm not sure why it would be colored so darkly, being that it's a light source.
Think about designing some interesting set pieces to place behind the platforms, between the foreground and distant horizon line background - some big trees or thickets or something.

I'm guessing your tiled platforms are supposed to be treebark? It's hard to tell what that noisy texture is supposed to be exactly.

---

I think you have a serious visual priority/focal problem - my eyes go to the HUD much than the game area. The details, the colors, the text. That's where my eyes go. The fuel gauges most of all.

The fuel gauges in the HUD are a brave choice. To help them work better, I suggest giving them more space and revising them to have perfect semi circles. They look compromised, as if you ran out of vertical space in your layout, said "screw it", and arbitrarily squished them vertically to make them fit.
Move "P1" to the left, or top middle, of its respective color-coded HUD region.
I assume the fuel gauges are highly important, hence their level of contrast and the space they take up. Do they need the 'E', the 'F', and the fuel symbol? Do they need all the meter marks? You sure this isn't noise overkill? They're so busy. Players just need to know how much fuel they currently have. The fuel gauge needle simply gets lost in all that detail. I think significant revision is in order.

Have you tried digging up any vehicle dashboard reference for the HUD design? Might give you some better dashboard-ish ideas as to how you might convey information each player needs.

Title: Re: (WIP) Critique/feedback for a hobby game project
Post by: MadByte on April 16, 2020, 06:29:25 pm
Thank you - I really appreciate the effort you put in this.  :y:
Looks like I got some serious work to do.

I did think the cars were spiders at first. Because of the spiderwebs mainly, I guess. And the outdoors environment.
Then I read "Tiny Taxis". At a glance, in the context of the mockup that blue car does resemble a fat little spider with red eyes, imo.
This is just awesome. I tried to see spiders in the cars for several minutes - and the there was the click moment and now I can't unsee it. I guess this is because my mind was set to see tiny taxis instead of anything else. I will look into it, maybe I can come up with something that looks more like taxis.

What does the yellow bar top middle do?
It's supposed to be a light barrier which deactivates when the player finishes the tasks for the level.

So the game is a competition where each player maneuvers their car to the tiny white guys, and transports them somewhere?
Fuel is finite so they need to hurry and/or refuel when need be.
I'm guessing the opening in left and right do the Pacman thing - let player quickly warp to either side.
Yep, that's pretty much what is going on here.

Can't really tell what the red platforms are, with the little white dude on them. They remind me of trampolines.
They are supposed to look like sci-fi platforms with metal feet. The color is just meant as visual hint for that specific kind of platform. The blue one is the gas station. Feels bad that I have to explain it because it is obvious to me. I will see what I can do to make them more recognizable.

Background seems random. Will it change per level skin?
Is that a moon or a sun? I'm not sure why it would be colored so darkly, being that it's a light source.
The background is made of just a handful of tiles. It can be randomized and will change between levels, so yes.
It's a moon (night scene), was also kinda obvious to me - I felt like the moon don't need much detail because the background shouldn't distract the player - and it's also made of just 3 tiles.

Think about designing some interesting set pieces to place behind the platforms, between the foreground and distant horizon line background - some big trees or thickets or something.
Will do.

I'm guessing your tiled platforms are supposed to be treebark? It's hard to tell what that noisy texture is supposed to be exactly.
Yes, tree bark. You really think so? I honestly don't think it looks noisy - I thought I got a good pattern with the 3 brown shades that are available in the color palette. How'd you change them to look more like actual trees / tree bark?

I think you have a serious visual priority/focal problem - my eyes go to the HUD much than the game area. The details, the colors, the text. That's where my eyes go. The fuel gauges most of all.
The fuel gauges in the HUD are a brave choice. To help them work better, I suggest giving them more space and revising them to have perfect semi circles. They look compromised, as if you ran out of vertical space in your layout, said "screw it", and arbitrarily squished them vertically to make them fit.
Move "P1" to the left, or top middle, of its respective color-coded HUD region.
I assume the fuel gauges are highly important, hence their level of contrast and the space they take up. Do they need the 'E', the 'F', and the fuel symbol? Do they need all the meter marks? You sure this isn't noise overkill? They're so busy. Players just need to know how much fuel they currently have. The fuel gauge needle simply gets lost in all that detail. I think significant revision is in order.
I'd like to give some background about the art and the underlying gameplay:
Airtaxi (Amiga, 1994) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7fHJtLUm1Y&t=8s)
Space Taxi (C64, 1984) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7fHJtLUm1Y&t=8shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7fHJtLUm1Y&t=8s)

I see what you mean. The HUD is much more color intense and has a lot of detail that isn't really needed. The colors where meant for the players to easily see which HUD is theirs based on the taxi color they choose. I'd first try to remove the background color in the fuel gauge (the blue) to make it easier to see the needle.

I am limited in height as you mentioned correctly because I don't want to "waste" any more play space for the HUD.

Have you tried digging up any vehicle dashboard reference for the HUD design? Might give you some better dashboard-ish ideas as to how you might convey information each player needs.
I didn't. I wouldn't think I need to either, as I always see different dashboard designs at my job. I wasn't planning to add any other information to the HUD then the fuel gauge, the remaining lifes and the money earned, so I didn't really thought looking at a full sized car dashboard would help me here. I just wanted to have a "cute" looking fuel gauge that changes color (as seen in the blue and green player gauges) to indicate importence (blue frame for "you are refueling" and red frame for "you are almost out of fuel!". I'll see what I can do.

Thanks again for your feedback!