Adventurer's library

[8bitbeard]

I am currently working on a moodshot for a game. I cannot talk about the game yet, but I would be very welcome about feedback for the shot.
I want to show a rich gentleman from ~ 1900 in his personal library / smoking room.
He is a self-funded explorer, spending his time traveling to distant countries like south-america or afrika.

And these are the things I want to show in the picture:
- Him being very rich and a typical gentleman
- He is going on a lot of expeditions into unknown lands
- The time period of ~ 1900

Here is my first scribble, obviously everything is still in a very rough, sketchy state.
I am still focusing on composition and rough colors / lighting instead of details and polish of the individual objects.

Also, I am still trying to figure out a few objects to put into the scene, and trying to find proper references for things such as the carpet or especially the walls & windows.

Any input is highly appreciated.
Oh, the intended viewing resolution will be 200%

[Facet]

Looking good, I like me some eccentric Victorian explorers and it's really nice to see evidence of planning & process although it's more effective to do things like broad composition ideas in very small thumbnails for rapid iteration.

Lighting - There isn't much to see so far; almost everything is sporting local colours (how it would appear in regular white light, no shadows) In 1900 electric lighting was still in it's infancy, and you could go with gas even; either way it's likely to be quite dark and very warm. The window by comparison will be very bright and cool under most conditions. A cartoony lack of lighting looks like it might be a stylistic choice but you did say you were focusing on this. Colour wise there's a lot of saturated brown.

Composition - The scale of man to room is good for demonstrating his accomplishments and worldliness but beyond that is there some other effect you want to capture? I think any self-respecting gentleman's lounge should be littered with stuffed big-game heads, skeletons, antique suits of armour, tribal shields and exotic metal-ware.

Edit - words

[8bitbeard]

Stuffed a whole lot more things in there and added a super rough victorian style wallpaper.
I didn't really pay that much attention to lighting for now, probably I'm going to go for the "cartoony lack of lighting".

I'm really not sure anymore if adding more crap will really improve the piece, but on the other side I want to show that this guy really got around.

I wanted to place some kind of cupboard behind the sitting guy, but it took away so much from his silhouette - maybe I should give him a detail pass to get a better understanding of contrast (since he is so essential to the whole picture).

Also, I wonder if I should do more with the floor. The second carpet in the back really does not work for me yet. Some kind of fur with a bearhead might be nice, but then I'd have to decide for one of them, the lion trophy on the wall or something similar as a carpet on the ground (both feels too much).

[Jonas]

Hi,

I like your art and I feel the world is sadly devoid of good new adventure games, so I spent some time watching and thinking about your scene. For me personally immersion is the most important thing in an adventure game, so I will focus on things subjectively related to that. I hope you can benefit from some of it.

1. The lion's head is beautifully drawn. However, who mounts a head at an angle out from it's plaque?

2. This man obviously is pleased by displaying his interesting life. However the seating arrangement would dictate that the wall we see is the least interesting wall in the room. Why else would he and his potential guest sit with their backs to it? Perhaps the guest chair could be turned at least?

3. His robe is somewhat in style, but also off. A gentlemans robe won't extend further down than the knees. Such a long robe would be impractical, and make him trip around like some old lady. Also he would for decencies sake wear pajamas beneath it.

4. His nose tells us he likes a good drink, as a gentleman of colonial times would. But no drink in sight? A snifter glass perhaps? Also I've always fancied those spritzer bottles with the grid motif. Maybe a liquor cabinet?

5. The spear, it's shaft and position between two African artifacts makes me think this too is an African relic. However, double headed spears are a chinese concept to my knowledge.

6. The drawers in the book case is at a most impractical height. Also, would any craftsman make different size drawers in such an otherwise symmetrical case?

7. His trusted rifle is a tool which in he takes great pride, he even mounted it on his wall, but would he hang it out of reach?

8. The bust in the bookcase, is this some historical figure our patron admires? It's cranial shape is quite strange. Also, a big egg is an interesting display piece, but when it is the only piece in it's compartment, would one place it off center?

9. It would be peculiar to me to displace the exotic shield and weapons to hang slipshod off the wall in favour for two small photographs which would be indistinguishable at that height anyways.

10. On a personal level for me I must say I find the color of the rugs quite horrible. I also think they blend too much with the chairs and table. Perhaps a color more like the curtain?

11. Also on a personal level, the stained windows being unsymmetrical bothers a compulsively symmetrical person like me. This may be a stylistic choice though.

Well, I took pleasure in watching your work, there are many things that are good with it. Good luck in your progress.

- Jonas

[8bitbeard]

@Jonas
Many thanks for your detailed feedback, there are a lot of valuable thoughts in there.
Please keep in mind that anything displayed (the robe, the lions head, anything) is a mere sketch and stands in for something much more detailed and thoughtfully designed as it is right now. Still, your thoughts about the length of the robe, the spear and all such is very, very valuable.

Your points about placement of the objects on the wall for mere practical reasons are really helpful. I've been struggling a lot with the compostition of objects on the wall, adding in logical meaning to their placement (e.g. rifle within reach, small photographs hang low to be visible) will help me a lot to make sense of the arrangement.

I've also been thinking a lot about drinks and delicate chrystal glasses, I'll most probably place those on the table OR replace the common globe with something like this.

Concerning the wall behind him in in general, you are also right. Something I want to try is to put a fireplace, not too large but not too small, right behind him.

The rugs on the floor will definately get a huge overhaul, as the other elements its a placeholder for a "nice rug" :-)  I guess I'll have a lot of fun pixeling something like this.

So as I said, thanks a lot for the feedback, the opinions of others are priceless, especially when they care as much as you do.
I'm working on several things in parallel right now, but I'll keep you updated as soon as I work on this one again.

[8bitbeard]

After taking a loooong break from this one I gave it another spin.
This time I used photo references from a lovely scene from "The Journey to the Center of the Earth" to give the composition of the room more depth.

I'm quite happy with the current state and would begin to do the pixels based on the picture reference.

[tim]

It's good to put all your elements but try to think about composition. Is there light in this room, if yes, from where, where do you want the player to focus, etc… A very quick draft suggestion :

Before :


After :


Or if you want fo light from the fireplace :

[8bitbeard]

Thanks a lot Tim, those are some very good suggestions.
Part of the intended visual style is to be very minimalistic, also (and especially) when it comes to shading; but refining the space by using light setups such as you are suggesting are surely interesting.
I played around a little bit already with a fireplace lighting, and I guess I'll explore light some more in the near future.