AuthorTopic: GR#193 - Isometric Landscape  (Read 13744 times)

Offline cels

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Re: Sotra landscape

Reply #10 on: June 06, 2014, 04:58:03 am
Well, I definitely don't want a splash of colour, since I want the scene to be a bit grey and gloomy. Secondly, it doesn't make sense to me that the grass on the roof looks more fresh and green than the grass everywhere else. But point taken about weird green, so I've gone in a different direction.

Better?

Offline Arachne

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Re: Sotra landscape

Reply #11 on: June 06, 2014, 10:28:29 am
I notice your rocks are very angular. Something you should consider, if you want something more uniquely Norwegian, is to include a more obviously glacier-molded landscape. The glaciers not only formed the fjords, but also made the bedrock very smooth. Long grooves made by rocks being dragged along by the glaciers is another characteristic. They're parallel, as they indicate the direction of the flow of the glacier. Of course, chunks of rock will be broken off in places and give you more angular sections, so you can still have some variation. If you look for these things in photos, I'm sure you'll see what I'm talking about. ;D

Offline Mr. Fahrenheit

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Re: Sotra landscape

Reply #12 on: June 06, 2014, 07:30:32 pm
Oh, sorry I didnt realize it was supposed to be a grass roof  :-[. I just thought you were trying to conserve colors.

Offline Manupix

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Re: Sotra landscape

Reply #13 on: June 07, 2014, 09:40:10 pm
Looking good. Wow, you got an Arachne comment =)

Composition edit:



Added a rocky slope and darker ground to close the view on the upper right corner; roughened up the ground on which the houses are built.
Contrary to present horrendous practice, old houses were built on uneven ground if needed, and looked the better for it. This hides the iso-ness even more though, possibly too much for your plans. Your houses could also have more diverse shapes I guess.



Also planted roofs are thick, heavy and overhanging; yours show none of these so far.



There definitely is / will be a roof vs ground color issue, not sure how to fix yet.
You might keep the same colors for both and play with shadows to ensure volume readability, or pick a different kind of vegetation for the roofs.

The water looks way better now. Can't wait for waves!

Offline Corinthian Baby

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Re: Sotra landscape

Reply #14 on: June 10, 2014, 02:02:21 am
You've got a good concept here and good ref. Use them! Notice how much taller the grass is on the roof. (Guessing they don't mow up there). Also the house is red which vibrates against the green and gives nice readable planes. (You can still maintain gloomy atmosphere with desaturated reds.) Def have to differentiate the roof green from the ground level grass because it is causing readability problems.

Also I would say to fake some juice and throw some red accents into the grass as well just to let it vibrate and give it some richness/variation in the color pallet. Trees look good but could use some darker values to help push the volume a bit.

Overall it's a great painterly style and I want to see how this progresses. Good idea for an environment and curious to see how you'll start to render those rocks a bit more. Keep pushing it.

Offline cels

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Re: Sotra landscape

Reply #15 on: June 14, 2014, 11:42:32 pm


I notice your rocks are very angular. Something you should consider, if you want something more uniquely Norwegian, is to include a more obviously glacier-molded landscape. The glaciers not only formed the fjords, but also made the bedrock very smooth. Long grooves made by rocks being dragged along by the glaciers is another characteristic. They're parallel, as they indicate the direction of the flow of the glacier. Of course, chunks of rock will be broken off in places and give you more angular sections, so you can still have some variation. If you look for these things in photos, I'm sure you'll see what I'm talking about. ;D
Thanks a lot for bringing that to my attention! This just started out as a cheap imitation of Vagrant's piece, which is why I wanted to have the angular rocks. But as I started making it slightly my own, it became Norwegian and I didn't even think to adjust the rocks :)

And of course, I find angular rocks a lot easier to pixel than smoother ones. But I've drawn two different alternatives above. Is either of them better? I still want to follow the grid, you see, and I don't want to go crazy with shapes that don't follow the grid, except where I have to.

You've got a good concept here and good ref. Use them! Notice how much taller the grass is on the roof. (Guessing they don't mow up there). Also the house is red which vibrates against the green and gives nice readable planes. (You can still maintain gloomy atmosphere with desaturated reds.) Def have to differentiate the roof green from the ground level grass because it is causing readability problems.
Also I would say to fake some juice and throw some red accents into the grass as well just to let it vibrate and give it some richness/variation in the color pallet. Trees look good but could use some darker values to help push the volume a bit.
Overall it's a great painterly style and I want to see how this progresses. Good idea for an environment and curious to see how you'll start to render those rocks a bit more. Keep pushing it.
Thanks a lot!
I don't know what you mean by 'red' though. Almost everything is either a yellow or blue shade of green. And as far as the grass goes, I actually wanted to put more blue in there, but it just ended up crashing so badly, it looked completely out of place. Hopefully, adding more structure to the roof has made it easier to separate the roof from the ground.

Oh, sorry I didnt realize it was supposed to be a grass roof  :-[. I just thought you were trying to conserve colors.
If you didn't realize, it's not rendered well enough :)

Looking good. Wow, you got an Arachne comment =)
Hey, I'm as excited as you are. It's like a unicorn sighting, I don't know whether to make a wish or cross myself :)


(That may have sounded sarcastic, but wasn't at all! :) )

Added a rocky slope and darker ground to close the view on the upper right corner; roughened up the ground on which the houses are built.
Contrary to present horrendous practice, old houses were built on uneven ground if needed, and looked the better for it. This hides the iso-ness even more though, possibly too much for your plans. Your houses could also have more diverse shapes I guess.
Also planted roofs are thick, heavy and overhanging; yours show none of these so far.
There definitely is / will be a roof vs ground color issue, not sure how to fix yet.
You might keep the same colors for both and play with shadows to ensure volume readability, or pick a different kind of vegetation for the roofs.
The water looks way better now. Can't wait for waves!

Thanks a lot!
- Great idea with the rocky slope. Mine is smaller, because I wanted the large, grassy field to be the main focus. I know that seems weird, but I love grass and wind.
- Houses on uneven grounds: That's a tough one. I do agree with you, and your houses are far more interesting to look at. But I don't want to get away from the isometric grid, and I couldn't figure out how to make a compromise. I think I may have to do something clever with the stone building. I'll take a look at this in my next edit!
- Tried to make the planted roof a bit more realistic and improve roof vs ground issue.
- I have no idea at all how to draw waves. I've been looking for a good tutorial, but most of them deal with crashing waves from a ground perspective, or really shallow and transparent water, which isn't that helpful. I've been experimenting a lot, but not really happy with any of this. I want the waters to be as calm as possible, but there does need to be some movement to match the wind on the grass.
- I left out the strong shadow cast from the cliff, because strong shadow implies strong sunlight, and I wanted this to be a rather grey day. Which is why the buildings and trees won't cast strong shadows either.
« Last Edit: June 15, 2014, 05:22:47 pm by cels »

Offline Manupix

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Re: Sotra landscape

Reply #16 on: June 16, 2014, 02:13:04 pm
But I don't want to get away from the isometric grid, and I couldn't figure out how to make a compromise. I think I may have to do something clever with the stone building.
I thought you might object ;)
How about conveniently placed boulders in the angles? They could even be tileable!

The wooden house needs large eaves, to protect the beam ends from rain.
The stone house now looks Breton, I'm ok with that (don't forget the gable chimneys though).

Waves: 4 with highlights from 1? Not sure. Best iso pixel waves are here, and best animated pixel wave(lets) there. Good luck with these  :blind: