[WIP] Some early attemps for a game

[Asderg]

Hi, Im startig a game and i have some work done, but i have some issues with the colors, do you think that this look color cohesive? I don't know if I'm doing this right :0.



Also this one, but i just changed brightness/contrast/color deepen, not the palette



thank you!

[MysteryMeat]

For starters, what tone are you trying to set here?

[Asderg]

Oh, how it's a first project I don't go for something very deep, its just a funny story with some wacky characters and overall nice tone.

[Rosier]

Brighter colors generally help with a cheerier tone, but you should try adding some perspective.  The road makes me thing that everything is facing top down, but the house looks like you're looking at it straight on from a standing position.  The house needs to be a bit more 3D, otherwise it looks like a sticker on a board.



The character could also use a bit more contrast.  He looks good, but there's a lot of colors that either don't need to be there, or need to be differentiated a bit more.

[drain.]

The perspective in it's current state is very all over the place. What style are you trying to mimic. A mega-man like perspective, or something like LoZ?

[Asderg]

Actually I just realised that i should have use more references for the perspective, but I was trying a top-down pespective, like Mother 3 or Pokemon style. How about this? It's kind of rushed and i have to fix the anti-aliasing since I just edited a bunch of stuff, but its to get the idea.



Also, about the colors, yeah i tend to use low saturated tones since im not used to pixel art, but i'll try something more mother 3 style here too, that game have very happy colors. thank you!

[yaomon17]

With that type of perspective, you would be able to see the top of the roof and the sides(since it s a trapezoidal prism-ish sort of shape) like this:

[Asderg]

Oh no, the roof its more like this

[yaomon17]

Ahh, my b. Got confused by the front   . You would want something like this (depending on which picture representation you are going with, with/without trapezoidal front view)

[Asderg]

How about this? I fixed the anti-aliasing and put some roof tiles. I still have to fix the colors, that's the hardest part x'd

[0xDB]

You might benefit from reviewing the Parallel Projection technique.

Have a look at this:


The roof that was pixelled appears to have an obtuse angle as seen in the reverse constructed side view based on the pixel roof but the roof angle in the design appears to be oblique which, as seen in the second drawing above leads to a projection quite different from the one that was pixelled. For simple parallel projections like this, always start from a side view, it will give you a better result than trying to wing it.

You could also use a 3D package like Blender to block in the simple form, render with an orthographic camera and then base your pixels on that:

[Asderg]

wow! I will have that in mind :0. I think that i will left the roof with a more obtuse angle then, for the sake of understandability for the player, in the end, it's for a game and the player need to see the door x'd. Thank you a lot

[0xDB]

wow! I will have that in mind :0. I think that i will left the roof with a more obtuse angle then, for the sake of understandability for the player, in the end, it's for a game and the player need to see the door x'd. Thank you a lot

A change of the camera angle for the parallel projection allows both, a visible entrance and a depiction staying true to the design.  There is another issue with the current version which is that the base seems overly tall (can see that too in the derived side view with the obtuse roof) leaving the proportions of the house in an unusual state. Is showing the other side of the roof really that important?

consider this:


also, have a look at this for inspiration: http://www.snesmaps.com/maps/SecretOfMana/010bKingdomOfPandoraMap.html

They are showing a tiny bit of the other roof side after a few rows of pixels suggesting a top ridge (their fake perspective is a little different though using very little foreshortening, no foreshortening at all for some walls and floors).

[Asderg]

Oh no, the other side of the roof was because the reference that yaomon17 posted earlie and also this (http://i.imgur.com/kYd87M2.jpg) pokemon screenshot that i found in some moment x'd. How about this then? :0



Edit: I recolored the whole thing after reading some stuff and added some others

[0xDB]

I think before you add more stuff and mindlessly apply suggestions, seemingly without thinking and without understanding the structure and reasoning behind them, you should first define what camera angle you want for your game. Show the schematic for what you intend there, so we can do a better job at pointing out flaws regarding perspective.

The tree looks flat and small. The base should curve along an ellipse. The suggestions of ellipses between the shades in the crown seem too sharp at the left and right ends, leaving the impression the tree is projected at a different angle compared to the house and also making the crown look not as roundish/ball shaped as it was presumably intended.

Again, draw a simple side view of it first, define the camera angle, use parallel projection to get a consistent appearance across all assets. Do not wing it.