Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - Roots
Pages: [1] 2

1
Thanks for all the suggestions and pointers. I'm going to stick with the light wooden design and cloth sails as that feels most appropriate for the setting and scenario in which this craft is built and used for.

Quote from: MysteryMeat
For this specific design though, I'm noting that the sail doesn't make a whole lot of sense. You usually need an arm on the mast to keep the sail taut, even on small single-person ships. The lack of texture on the main body is pretty noticeable when the mast is as textured as it is, too. For shape, I'd try to avoid too standard a sled shape and maybe go for a sort of kayaky look instead.

Yup, the mast arms were what I mentioned were lacking in my initial post. And I also stated that the base wasn't textured because I was still playing with the dimensions of it.

Quote from: eishiya
The leg box looks looks like it's just a flat drawing on the surface, it doesn't seem to rise up or dip down at all. Which is it meant to do?

Just basically a place for the operator to put their legs and keep them protected. You're right that it looks very flat. I'll try making a bit larger and adding some contrast to make it pop more.

Quote from: eishiya
The sail could be a reasonable size, depending on the wind that desert gets and its shape. The main issue I see with it is how thick the mast is! That mast looks heavier than the rest of the craft and rider put together, it'd topple over, and it's too heavy for that sail to move it

Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't notice that. I removed a couple pixel rows from it and it looks much better.

Quote from: eishiya
Where would desert people get such a thick, straight wood chunk anyway? More likely, they'd have a mast made out of some scrap PVC or aluminium, or, if you're going for the natural look, the trunk of a small tree, the middle part of a palm leaf or woven from reed or something similar.

Imports. ;) More specifically, this craft typically ferries to the edges of the desert, where there are other towns and abundant lumber.



I'll work on it some more and see if I can get it in a better state. Specifically I plan to:
- Reduce the thickness of the mast
- Add arms to the mast to hold the sails
- Add some thickness to the base and skis (they are completely flat)
- Play around with the location of the posts that attach the base to the skis (2 posts instead of one, and closer to the center of mass)
- Make the leg box have a little more depth, dimension, and size to it.
- Adjust the position of the new mast and seat to put the occupant more forward in the craft

2
Hi there. I'm working on this for the game in my signature and I'd like some feedback on the general dimensions of what I have so far. This sand glider is pretty much what it sounds like. It's a single-occupant, wind-powered vehicle meant for traversing large expanses of desert. Right now I'm only focused on drawing it at rest, with the sails hanging loose and not catching any wind.



A few notes before I ask my questions:
- The perspective is a 3/4s top-down view, light source is comingfrom the top left.
- The sprite and seat are placeholder artwork, so you can ignore them.
- The more "complete" parts of this craft I've shaded already, but the problem areas I have not (the base of the craft and the sails, particularly)
- The gray chest in the back is a storage compartment for the driver's belongings. The front of the chest faces toward the rear of the craft.

Now for my questions and general thoughts.
- I'm pondering if the base of the craft is too "tall". The base represents the width of the craft and it is parallel with the ground. It shouldn't be wider than say the width of 3 sprites or so.
- The shape of the sails give me pause. I don't know if they look large enough or natural enough. The larger bottom sail is basically meant to serve as the primary power source, while the top sail is meant for controlling direction.
- I'm wondering if its okay to just have the sails attached to the mast, or if I should have wooden stakes sticking out of the sides to attach the sails to? I mean this is a single-person craft so maybe it's fine the way it is now, but I wonder if having poles sticking out from the masts would be overkill (this isn't some luxury vehicle).
- I feel like the "leg box" could be improved. I'm just not sure how. It's basically meant to be an open-top container to hold the legs. Kind of similar to an open kayak.
- Eventually I'll be adding some rope lines from the sails to some poles/stakes that they are tied around near the driver seat. These lines serve as the "controls"


I appreciate any other feedback or criticism you can provide as well, of course. Most of the past art I created are small objects and tiles, so creating a large single object like this is kind of new for me.

3


About
Hero of Allacrost is a single player 2D role-playing game inspired by classic console RPGs. In Hero of Allacrost, the player will explore rich environments, solve challenging dungeon puzzles, and fight strategic battles in an active-time based system. The game is free open-source software and is currently available across several platforms including Windows, OS X, Linux, and FreeBSD. In addition to the game, we also develop and release a custom map editor for the game.

The three major design goals we are striving to meet with this title are listed below.
  • Prioritize efforts on developing engaging gameplay and a compelling narrative
  • Eliminate tedious and micromanagement mechanics that are commonly found in RPGs.
  • Make battles interesting, challenging, and requiring of a high level of strategy from the player
The About page on our website describes several of the game's core features and how they enable us to meet these goals.


Activity
Our latest release was in June 2015. This was a development release, which is essentially a snapshot of our work in  progress. Below is a link to download it as well as a walkthrough video of this release with commentary.

The next milestone we're working toward is another development release that continues where our previous release left off, which will finish out the current "chapter" of the game. The major requirements for this release include map design, scripting, and creation of some additional artwork (map tilesets and around a dozen sprites). The anticipated date of this next release is sometime in September 2015. This is what our team will be working on for the next couple of months.

By the end of this year, we will be making an official release. This will be a fully designed, balanced, and polished product. It will be an iterative improvement of the September 2015 development release with some amount of additional content and improved event scripting, dialogue, and several noticeable improvements in the UI and other areas of the code. This is the team's current long-term goal. More information about our upcoming releases can be found on the Roadmap page on our wiki. This includes a list of all the major tasks that must be done along with their current status.


Compensation
Allacrost is created and distributed for free. Because of this we cannot offer financial compensation to those who work on the project. Our team members are quite content with putting forth their efforts into what we believe will someday be a great game to share. We learn a lot from each other on the Allacrost team and you will absolutely learn new techniques and skills from those whom you work aside with. Having this experience will also make you a much more attractive candidate if you are seeking to enter into the gaming industry. Some of our team members have been solicited by recruiters for well-known game development companies. Your full name will appear in the game credits.


Talent Needed
This project took a long hiatus and as a result has a very small team at the moment. We would really like to rebuild a team of dedicated, passionate individuals who share the vision of what Allacrost is to become and want to be a part of making it happen. Becoming a member of this team means more than simply getting told what to create. We strongly encourage people to participate in design discussions and offer their own ideas to improve the game and the project itself. Although the core design of Allacrost is pretty well-defined at this point, there's still a lot of unanswered design questions and features we have not yet implemented. There's still plenty of room for you to influence this title should you be interested in doing so. While we are seeking core team members, we're also happy to welcome contributors who prefer to help out here and there with adding a new feature or creating new art or music, but aren't as invested in this project.

You can read more about what it's like on the Allacrost team and our philosophies by reading about our team policies on our wiki. Listed below are the specific needs that we are seeking to fill and what people who fill those roles can expect to be working on for the next couple of months.


Pixel Artist
Pixel artists create the majority of the game's graphical assets. This includes map tilesets, sprites, and various other in-game artwork. Pixel artists have a large amount of freedom and those in the past have gifted us with some quite brilliant pieces. Below are some examples of our current pixel artwork so you can get an idea of our style. If you feel this above your skill level, please don't be intimidated. Even programmers create some of the art occasionally, and they are certainly not this skilled. The most immediate needs for pixel art include: a castle interior tileset, various demon sprites, and a few more sprites that represent townspeople.

Links:
(1) - Information on rights to an artist's work and how to get started
(2) - Lists the types of artwork found in Allacrost. The Maps, Sprites, and Icons sections cover pixel art
(3) - Explanation of our artistic styles, influences, and design



Traditional Artist
In addition to pixel art, Allacrost integrates usage of some more traditional artwork styles as well. These commonly come in the form of portraits and landscapes. See below for examples of this type of artwork. The most immediate needs for our traditional art include: face portraits for some major NPC characters, a body portrait of a generic soldier, and a landscape representing a desert castle-town.

Links:
(1) - Information on rights to an artist's work and how to get started
(2) - Lists the types of artwork found in Allacrost. The Backdrops and Portraits sections cover traditional art
(3) - Explanation of our artistic styles, influences, and design




Joining
Follow this link for information on how to join our team and what you can expect from working on this project. If you have questions or wish to give feedback, feel free to either post a reply in this thread or contact me directly if you wish to inquire in private.






4
I really like your edit EyeCraft, it looks absolutely beautiful. But I agree with psiweapon that it looks too much like foliage than a gaseous demon. It makes the demon's body look like a soft pillow, kind of a downside for something that is intended to be a ferocious demon. :huh:

5
Pixel Art / Re: Hero of Allacrost: Enemy Sprite [C+C]
« on: June 16, 2011, 02:38:10 am »
I like Chris2balls' knee edit. I thought the original right knee was a sore point as well. I like the original pallete better though. The new one does make it look a bit more "scalely", but that's about the only clear benefit I see. The violet shades look a little weird to me... :-\

6
Pixel Art / Re: Hero of Allacrost: Enemy Sprite [C+C]
« on: June 15, 2011, 05:27:55 pm »
I thought you had mentioned earlier on our forums about making him breathe fire out of his mouth. Did you decide against doing that? Even without the fire he looks pretty bad-ass so I have no complaints. Plus we could make another enemy sprite that's a variation on this one by having it breathe fire. ;D

7
Pixel Art / Re: Monster sprite C&C welcome
« on: June 12, 2011, 05:27:30 am »
I love the shading you did on the top of the mushroom, but the bottom looks incredibly bleak in comparison. I'd try throwing in another shade or two to give the stem more texture. Also that splotch of light grey on the very bottom doesn't make any sense to me. If its there to be showing detail of some feature of the stem, its not coming through. But you otherwise did an excellent job here. Just improve the shading on the stem and I think it'll look fantastic. You might also want to play around with adjusting the size/shape of the eyes as well.

8
Pixel Art / Re: WiPs a la Vay
« on: June 12, 2011, 05:18:21 am »
Wow, I really like the shading that you did on the dress. Its absolutely beautiful! Looking forward to seeing the finished product. :y:

9
Pixel Art Feature Chest / Re: Castle Wall Shading Question
« on: June 12, 2011, 05:12:34 am »
I started from scratch tonight following that little tutorial and here's the result.




I must say it looks much better. The only thing that bothers me is that now I've made what seems more like a stone wall than a brick wall. Which is fine, as I guess it makes more sense for a castle to be build from walls of this type. But if I wanted to make a brick wall, where the bricks were, in fact, all the same size, I'm not sure how it would come out looking. I could color the bricks differently to introduce variation, but it seems like I would be restricted from making bricks of different sizes (which is what my last wall tiles did). Any thoughts on that, or on this new wall I put together?

10
Pixel Art Feature Chest / Re: Castle Wall Shading Question
« on: June 11, 2011, 11:49:23 pm »
Wow, thanks a lot for the pointers! Especially that tutorial, that really helps me understand how to do this much better. Also sorry I was late with my reply; I just got back from vacation. I actually saw a lot of brick buildings on my trip (in Minneapolis) and observed many of the things that you fellows pointed out here and it gave me some great ideas. I think I'll start from scratch again and see what I can do.

Pages: [1] 2