GR#084 - Castlevania-esque Mockup - Sideview

[Paiku]

So.. Happy New Year!

I've been up to some pixelpushing today and ended up with a mockup, once again.
I love making mockups, needless to say.

Currently bothering me is the wall. It ends up somewhat busy.






Current:



Looking for some feedback/crits and ideas.... much appreciated!
 

[Paiku]

Had a new shot at the wall. A bit dull and empty, hmm.

[madmenyo]

Maybe some arc patterns in the wall, some windows and candles will also fill it up.

[Paiku]

Maybe some arc patterns in the wall, some windows and candles will also fill it up.

Good advice, I've been fiddling some more today. I decided to add a white panel on the wall to make it less dull.

Also ended up giving the player a chainwhip, which undoubtly makes this nothing else but a Castlevania mockup.

[Mathias]

Really neat looking so far. Great solution for the wall.


Two big bits of advice I have:

-Take this opportunity to really delve into gothic architecture/culture and implement what you find. Take the ornate route. It'll only make your game more interesting looking. And heck, it's fun pixelling stuff based on cool reference. Vaulted ceilings, spires, gargoyles, scrollwork, stained glass.

-Atmosphere/Lighting. Your mock is suffering from bland boring lighting. Go dark. Make it scary. Give it atmosphere feeling.


Hanging lamps are casting a NPA gradient, is that an in-game effect? If your doing in-game lighting effects you have a lot of options.

[Paiku]

Oh Mathias, thanks for checking in on my thread.

I always forget to actually do research on these things when pixeling. It's great that you remind me the importance of looking deeper than my own conception.
That said, I'm going to look for more ref material.

Also thanks for pointing out the bland lightning, I realised something looked unsatisfactory about the whole scene.

As for the NPA gradient, not sure if I should keep em, they tend to take away from the pixelation purity.
My intention is not to make an actual game, but rather a neato little mockup.

Here's an update:


Hopefully it's going the right direction!  

[Dusty]

Overall this piece seems extremely uniform. You're not properly defining what is foreground and what is background via proper contrast and other methods you'd usually see in sidescrollers. Also, the game still seems very bright, which is still killing the mood.

I made a quick edit in Photoshop. It's not proper, so I wouldn't take too much of it seriously. Just a direction I think could help if you took it in a more appropriate manner(aka not crappy photoshop recolors):



Also, shadows could possibly add a lot of depth to this while also adding to the mood. You might want to consider that.

[Paiku]

Thank you dusty. Automated photoshop hue-shit doesn't get the job done, indeed.

I had a new go on this piece, trying to go darker and throwing shadows in the bg.
Hopefully it's getting there.

[Facet]

Sweet mockup! lovely detailing and just generally interesting to look at

Some things I think you could improve:

• I liked the more colourful version better, darker & more of an attempt at moody shadows is great but try to keep some of that range.
• The new straight-right cast shadows aren't helpful imo; surely you should shade according to the two lamps?
• The furniture looks a little out-sized for the characters. (them some big-ass books )
• The table could do with more of a rim like the chair.
• The vase is very flat.

The characters, I think could be more dynamic, could better act up their roles with more attention paid to pose. Quick example below showcasing dramatic cape flare and pleading hands respectively as well as swapping out the chain thing which I thought was jarring with the the rest and also adding an awesome feather, just because .  


Edit:Clarification, spelling

[jams0988]

I think it's looking pretty good. Like Facet said, though, the furniture is all the wrong size, heheh.
Also:

The new straight-right cast shadows aren't helpful imo; surely you should shade according to the two lamps?

I don't think that would be very feasible if he wants to reuse any of these tiles later on...the Castlevania games pretty much just seem to ignore lighting, besides on the tiles the lamps are placed directly on (pillar/walls/etc), and that always worked well enough for me. It might be best to just do that here, too. I agree that the shadows don't work as well as they could as they are, though.

The characters, I think could be more dynamic, could better act up their roles with more attention paid to pose. Quick example below showcasing dramatic cape flare and pleading hands respectively as well as swapping out the chain thing which I thought was jarring with the the rest and also adding an awesome feather, just because Tongue.   

Again, the guy's pose works well in a still-shot or cut-scene type of thing, but I don't think I'd want to see him throw his cape back every single time he swung his weapon in the game - I think Paiku's going for reusable/in-game looking graphics, even if this mockup is just a for-fun one-shot. (Hyphen hyphen, hyphen hyphen hyphen. Also, your picture of the jumping guy is pretty awesome, even if I don't think it'd fit in an actual game.)
As for the girl, I don't think she's supposed to be pleading with him, hahah. She looks like an evil wraith who's only moving backward so she can attack our hero with her evil magicks. She doesn't look worried about him at all in Paiku's picture, but I'm pretty sure that's the point. =)

She could be expressing her in-expression a little better though, I think. Maybe have her cross her legs or her arms to make her more smug looking?

[TPoe]

Honestly I would like to see the dynamic one in a game. The other one wouldn't keep my attention in a game, it makes him way more interesting.