Platform Game Project Forest BG [WIP]

[seanz5]

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Its been awhile since I last posted on here, I have been at hard work trying to get better with my pixel art.  Here is a rough interpretation of what the forest level for my game will look like.  Comments and Crits are always welcomed.

The trees are all parallax layers.  I had some far off hills in the distance originally and some clouds but with all the trees it looked messy and cluttered.  Any ideas on what to put back there or is blue sky nice as is.

Thanks


SeanZ

[aramaki]

A nice and clean mockup. Good work.  Unless intended, you could try and make it less flat-looking.

[Keand64]

I find it a little strange that the chest and beehives (?) are outlined in black, but the player isn't.

[seanz5]

I find it a little strange that the chest and beehives (?) are outlined in black, but the player isn't.

It was originally planned to have no outlines and do a pure color setup.  Though recently I have been thinking of doing black or dark outlines for main objects, I agree I think the character needs an outline but if I do that do you think it will break the whole style?

[PypeBros]

good start compared to your previous mockup, but there are things that you could easily improve (and others that would be worth improvement although it won't be as simple)

The first one is the trees. You don't make a convincing impression of circular trunk atm, rather polygonal thing, as if the tree trunks were pencils. Even keeping the limited number of colours, you can better render cylindrical shape if all your stripes don't have equal width. Also, the highlight would work better if not being the last stripe.

<-- an illustrated explanation I received from Arachne a while ago.

Then, you added transversal, darker stripes. They can be used to reinforce the cylindrical shape (by being curved) or organic feel like in NSMB and Mr. Nutz:


But by making them 45° parallel and straight, you actually reinforce the artificial feel of the trunk :-/

Also, I suggest you compare your bushes to the one in SMW
with as little colors as you have, they propose a clear shape illustration and volume suggestion (pyramidal, but organic and irregular)

[seanz5]

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So I outlined the character and I am really digging the look. 

I redid the bushes and made them more volumetric.

I shaded the trees in the foreground to follow what PypeBros said.  I did not know what to do with the tree striped texture though. I kind of like the candy cane look of it, I tried other patterns and kept running into dead ends.  I am open to suggestions however.  Is it me or do the trees look slightly glossy?


SeanZ

[seanz5]

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So I outlined the character and I am really digging the look. 

I redid the bushes and made them more volumetric.

I also made those new blocks, tell me what you think of them.

I shaded the trees in the foreground to follow what PypeBros said.  I did not know what to do with the tree striped texture though. I kind of like the candy cane look of it, I tried other patterns and kept running into dead ends.  I am open to suggestions however.  Is it me or do the trees look slightly glossy?


SeanZ

[PypeBros]

So I outlined the character and I am really digging the look. 

Not sure it's doing a better result right now: it makes jaggies and banding issues more critical, but it certainly improve on readability. You might need some internal anti-aliasing and -- most likely -- a coloured outline would be preferable to the current black outline.

I redid the bushes and made them more volumetric.

I think you got the trick. Maybe try to outline them with a dark-green rather than a lightgreen.

I shaded the trees in the foreground to follow what PypeBros said.  I did not know what to do with the tree striped texture though. I kind of like the candy cane look of it, I tried other patterns and kept running into dead ends.  I am open to suggestions however.  Is it me or do the trees look slightly glossy?

Some trees are slightly glossy, other aren't. When they are, it is easier to see their cylindrical aspect.



Here's a small edit to illustrate two points:
- the respective width of the bars define the shape your brain see. Don't hesitate to play with different distributions to find the most suited one. Ask your friends and relative which of your essay they find the more "round-shaped".
- candybar-stripes is fine, but you can make them reinforce the cylindrical shape by giving them a "wavy" aspect.

SeanZ
[/quote]

[seanz5]

Weird double post my bad

[seanz5]

So the bush you would like to see a dark outline outlining the whole bush?  I made the outline dark only on the dark side of the bush and the light one on the lighter side.

I can go back and redo the beehive and treasure chest just to have darker outlines in a different color than black.  Does the black outlines break the whole style?

Ill go back to the drawing board with the tree pattern and see if I can switch things up.

Thanks for all the input, I will probably give this one more go and then I have to move on, I have to make deadline for this game.


SeanZ

[PypeBros]

So the bush you would like to see a dark outline outlining the whole bush?  I made the outline dark only on the dark side of the bush and the light one on the lighter side.

And on the light side, it looks somehow like an artificial line to me, rather than a natural transition between the bush and the background. Try it out and ask around, even to non-artist people. See what "works".

I can go back and redo the beehive and treasure chest just to have darker outlines in a different color than black.  Does the black outlines break the whole style?

I think so. It brings artificial contrasts that "flattens" things where shadows bring shape to things. A dark-coloured outline is softer and preserve the importance of shape-generating shadows while expressing the initial line art. Also, I don't know what's your reference for the hive, but I'd have figured it "hanging" from the branch rather than "sitting" on the branch like a pile of gold. But I'm definitely not an expert at beehives

Thanks for all the input, I will probably give this one more go and then I have to move on, I have to make deadline for this game.

I do understand and value that. That's what differentiate a game from a mockup. Good job ahead.

[aramaki]

I've mesed with colors a bit.

[Sherman Gill]

It looks like you desaturated everything; a trick to good color usage is to have a mixture of saturations, with more important things more saturated. You could easily make the yellow and blue on the character the same saturation on the character as your previous mockups while leaving the rest of the mockup at the levels you have right now.

Also, if you outline important objects, it'd be wise to add outlines to walkable terrain. You could make them just dark outlines instead of pure black if you want the character and item's to pop out more, but it looks inconsistent with no outlines at all.

Editification???:

[seanz5]

All right final crit on this piece, I will take the last crits and sadly move on I appreciate everyone who has helped me get this far



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I outlined the platformables and did the color edits in the background.  I also replaced any black outline with a dark colored outline.

I think I might toss in some rays of light in there and add some flowers just to add some color.  I feel like I have a solid base to work off of.

Let me know what you think

SeanZ

[PypeBros]

Good job, but could still use polishing improvement:
- blueish hue shift on the trunks is a good way to make things look distant, but you _must_ accompany this with desaturation. If it is just turning to eletric blue, it doesn't work.
- outlines must really be that : _out_lines. When the trunk's line keep straight vertical where the branch grafts, you break the illusion that they're part of a single thing and present them as two different objects put aside of each other. Look closely at Gill's edit : he's englobing the whole tree in a single outline, which reinforce unity of the volume.

Welcome to Mr. Mushroom, too. He points out your remaining major weaknesses, though:
- jaggies in the organic outlines (that is, it looks like your curve is changing direction quite often rather than being smooth).
- facial features that are small, close to outlines and thus hardly readable. I guess you want to give him fangs, but they don't look like some.

HTH. I'll try to propose an edit on Mr. Mushroom within a few days.

[Tidbit]

All right final crit on this piece, I will take the last crits and sadly move on I appreciate everyone who has helped me get this far



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I outlined the platformables and did the color edits in the background.  I also replaced any black outline with a dark colored outline.

I think I might toss in some rays of light in there and add some flowers just to add some color.  I feel like I have a solid base to work off of.

Let me know what you think

SeanZ

Okay Im sorry, but you have got to fix that character. I'm surprised no ones really touched on it yet. The character is flat and stands out far to much from the scenery. You can keep the style and lay out of him, but I would make him stand out more, and look like he fits in the game.