AuthorTopic: Depth-less tiles need some love.  (Read 7468 times)

Offline Vagrant

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 157
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • At your service.
    • @VagrantPixels
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/43310.htm
    • View Profile

Depth-less tiles need some love.

on: November 22, 2013, 01:00:56 am
Long time, Pixelation.  :)


Look at this.



To quote my PJ post, they probably need some critique overall anyways, but what kind of shadow style would suit this most? Help.

What of the palette, as well? Wouldn't a cooler color ramp suit them better?

The grass, is it not too messy?


Either way, as a Wip, I'll be updating this regularly. Critique would be amazing. I'll probably be trying experimental shading styles, but if you've a good reference to suggest or a good source of inspiration, by all means you're invited here to voice it.  ;)

I'll be working on this style for months to come, so there's lots coming. I'll try my best to shine and polish them as much as I can, until they're worthy of being included in the 32x32 pixelly heavenly realms of legend.





Added a tree for reference

« Last Edit: November 22, 2013, 02:40:12 am by Rain Dancer »

Offline Mr. Fahrenheit

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 326
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Shadow-less tiles need some love.

Reply #1 on: November 22, 2013, 02:31:40 am
Eventually you should definitely make some variations on your rock and brush tiles. Really good stuff so far though.

Offline wolfenoctis

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 1072
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Depth-less tiles need some love.

Reply #2 on: November 22, 2013, 06:36:16 am
You should upload your pieces in either PNG or GIF format, jpeg causes compression artifacts and is not optimal for displaying pixel art. Some early thoughts on the piece: the speculars on the rocky road are too strong, I would dim it down considerably, and also strangely the water has no specular at all which I find confusing. The specular light on the tree trunk is also too strong, makes it look more like plastic than bark.

Offline Vagrant

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 157
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • At your service.
    • @VagrantPixels
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/43310.htm
    • View Profile

Re: Depth-less tiles need some love.

Reply #3 on: November 22, 2013, 10:39:07 pm
Here's the piece with the feedback taken, and a slightly different palette.



Variations are coming.

Did you see any quality change anyways, Wolfe? I think what actually happens is that tinypic.com renames the file extension, but the file remains PNG crisp.
In Linux, the image viewer won't open them unless I rename the .jpg to .png, for example.

--------------
Edits ongoing on the house.

« Last Edit: November 23, 2013, 12:10:52 am by Rain Dancer »

Offline Crow

  • 0011
  • **
  • Posts: 647
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Technicanimal
    • View Profile

Re: Depth-less tiles need some love.

Reply #4 on: November 22, 2013, 10:51:49 pm
Did you see any quality change anyways, Wolfe? I think what actually happens is that tinypic.com renames the file extension, but the file remains PNG crisp.
In Linux, the image viewer won't open them unless I rename the .jpg to .png, for example.

The images are actually PNG, yea. That's weird..
Discord: Ennea#9999

Offline wolfenoctis

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 1072
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Depth-less tiles need some love.

Reply #5 on: November 23, 2013, 03:04:35 am
That seems to be a tinypic issue, I don't know what program you use but there are two ways to resolve this. First is to convert the png to index color mode and if that doesn't help convert to index first then save for web selecting PNG-8 or PNG-24 mode (this is in photoshop but you should have similar options in other image editors).

I converted to Index color mode and uploaded via tinypic to test:


Also you need to ad speculars or some kind of reflection on the water surface. And the specular on the rocks only needed to be dimmed down not entirely removed

It also seems like you where trying something along the lines of this piece by Vagrant: http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/80741.htm

I've edited the rock in front of the house and one of the water areas in a similar fashion,  I think overall you have too strong contrasts in some areas where others there are too weak, experiment a bit and try to soften your saturation and brightness a bit:
« Last Edit: November 23, 2013, 05:23:55 am by wolfenoctis »

Offline Cyangmou

  • 0011
  • **
  • Posts: 929
  • Karma: +3/-0
    • cyangmou
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/32234.htm
    • cyangmou
    • View Profile
    • Pixwerk Homepage

Re: Depth-less tiles need some love.

Reply #6 on: November 23, 2013, 11:20:11 am
It also seems like you where trying something along the lines of this piece by Vagrant: http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/80741.htm

To me it seems that the OP actually is Vagrant.
The style is the same (at least as I looked at the feeling of the colors I got the feeling of the iso map too), the avatar seems to be also the same and also done by him, and the WIP tthread over at PJ was opened by Vagrant.

I think it's always hard to give useful critique for tiles if a character to establish size and contrast relationships is missing and it's also hard to check up if the perspective is working properly.
It's fun that there is a door, a tree and a fence, but no sprite - the main character sprite is by far more important than the background.
I mean the stuff looks already quite nice, the question to me is how it works with a character and if it works with a certain character style.

Aside from that I could also critique minor stuff, speculars, highlighting etc. - but those details won't change the overall impression a lot.
tiles always should supply sprites.
"Because the beauty of the human body is that it hasn't a single muscle which doesn't serve its purpose; that there's not a line wasted; that every detail of it fits one idea, the idea of a man and the life of a man."

Dev-Art
Twitter

Offline wolfenoctis

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 1072
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Depth-less tiles need some love.

Reply #7 on: November 23, 2013, 11:46:40 am
To me it seems that the OP actually is Vagrant.
The style is the same (at least as I looked at the feeling of the colors I got the feeling of the iso map too), the avatar seems to be also the same and also done by him, and the WIP tthread over at PJ was opened by Vagrant.

 :-[ ... well uh in my defence I don't visit pixeljoint forums ...heh. I actually thought it was vagrant when I first viewed the thread, but when I looked at the colors they seemed too harsh for his style so I thought it was someone else. Lol youre imitating your own style Vagrant  :blind:

Offline Vagrant

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 157
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • At your service.
    • @VagrantPixels
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/43310.htm
    • View Profile

Re: Depth-less tiles need some love.

Reply #8 on: November 23, 2013, 05:18:52 pm
Yeah, what happens is, this Pixelation account here is actually older than the PJ one. I don't think they allow name changes, and making a new e-mail just to get a new account? Eh, nah.


And yes, of course. Forgive me for skipping the most important detail that is character-to-background relations. I don't even know how I managed to miss it. Here's a sample.



Then we have this one.




Thanks for the edits Wolfe. Im already playing with it. As well as considering if I should change the perspective of the door to go with that sample crystal block I drew there for reference. EDIT: Not going with that block- Ignore. Too much work.
Current perspective block.



Your edit makes it seem like it's nighttime, or dark. Gives off quite a nice charm. -Nice rock btw.

I'll be adding shine to the water, but I figure the best way to do it is to have it done on a separate, animated tile you can put over it.
« Last Edit: November 23, 2013, 05:39:13 pm by Rain Dancer »

Offline Crow

  • 0011
  • **
  • Posts: 647
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Technicanimal
    • View Profile

Re: Depth-less tiles need some love.

Reply #9 on: November 23, 2013, 05:32:56 pm
I don't think they allow name changes

Do you want one? :lol:
Discord: Ennea#9999