[wip] Chickens (TitleScreen for a game)

[0xDB]

[edit 1st of Juli 2007(0:29 am GMT+1)]changelist (you might need to reload the image(browser cache issue)):
current version (still image)
progress (gif animation)

• modified the flying duck (14/03/2007)
• added nuts to the tube connector on the lower left (15/03/2007)
• added the banjo playing chicken in the lower right (17/03/2007 (1))
• added the fiddle playing chicken in the lower right (17/03/2007 (2))
• modified the duck and the chicken in the front, using Turbo's Edit as a reference(21/03/2007)

...almost three months pass without any progress being made...

• moved up the whole scene to have room for the front feet of the fighters in the front(10/06/2007)
• buried the lower part of the left pipe connector in the dirt(as the previous appearance seemed impossible to me)(10/06/2007)
• separated the whole image into several layers and continued working on it in paintshop pro (previously Personal Paint under Amiga Emulation, which doesn't support layers)(10/06/2007)
• started adding more pipes, moved some layers around to make room for a bass playing chicken that is still todo(10/06/2007)
• redid the topmost board and added the other boards (now that I'm working with layers, it's no problem for me to have the wip image show all layers combined)(10/06/2007)
• added more pipes and moved up the pole in the middle a bit (to make room for the boards which shall later fall down and reassemble at the pole for different menues) (11/06/2007)
• added the double bass playing chicken and the double bass, moved the pipe in the far back to the right a bit and attached another pipe to one of the pipes inside the barn(20/06/2007)
• separated the duck and the chicken in the front into two layers(not visible in the progress:P) and added some more pipes to the pipe system at the left(23/06/2007)
• made pipe system on the left more complicated, changed facial expression of bass chicken, slightly adjusted pipe orientation in the barn and added another small pipe there(01/07/2007)

[/edit]

I am working on the graphics for a game called Chickens, which is designed and programmed by Andrei Ellman.

Currently I'm working on the title screen but haven't placed a single pixel on it for more than a month already now, so I'm posting the current wip version here, as I hope that working on this under the eyes of others will put some pressure onto myself to work on it again and more.
It will probably still take ages to finish, even under pressure. (I have a regular eight hour programming job and if anyone knows of some good techniques to regain motivation and energy in the evenings to do some more work on private projects, it would be nice if he/she would share these rituals.)

But enough of the words, here's what I have so far:


The pole appears a bit empty in this version, because I removed the boards that were originally on it (can be seen on this image). The boards will later be separate sprites, so that they can be attached and removed as needed by the main menu of the game.

[Turbo]

I love the perspective effect on the clouds! The general composition of the background is rather nice, nice perspective effect with the stuff happening all over. The pole as it is stands out, but looks ok as shown in the previous version.
I don't particularly like the foreground chickens, the design isn't too appealing, the poses seem inconstant and they're out of perspective on several places. I'd do an overhaul on them. The idea (headbutting angry chickens of different teams) is nice though

Good luck with the game!

Edit: regarding energy and motivation, i only get those back when i'm fully rested, my mind free of worries. If i had a full day of work, i come home and don't do much, but if there's the time, i'll take a nap and sometimes will have some will to work on paused projects after waking up. Other times, that will only comes after taking long breaks without doing anything.

... i like to take it easy, though. Dude.

[Sharm]

It looks fantastic, I love the clouds too.  My only suggestion for motivation is don't do the stuff you hate all at once, or you'll end up hating the whole thing.  If I were the one working on this, I'd have gotten really bored with line art.  Color is a big motivator for me, so for each section of line art I got done, I'd let myself color it as a reward.

[AlexHW]

awesome start, I can't wait to see more

its helps to get a ton of reference pictures, even for things which you think you know how they look, because then if you do have reference pictures, it makes it so much easier in your mind to know whether what you are doing looks right, and if it looks right, then you feel more at ease while working rather then wondering if there is a better way.
also, if you find yourself just staring at it and not placing any pixels, force yourself to place pixels down, even if they aren't correct. The act of placing pixels down should help you get into the rythym of placing more down and eventually you won't even be thinknig about how to start it because you'll be doing it.

[0xDB]

I don't particularly like the foreground chickens, the design isn't too appealing, the poses seem inconstant and they're out of perspective on several places. I'd do an overhaul on them. The idea (headbutting angry chickens of different teams) is nice though

I always thought that they looked a bit strange but I can't put my finger on it. I stared at them so long that I don't notice many unappealing things on them anymore though, except the feet maybe, which I will probably modify. It would be helpful if you could put a few red marks on those several places where you think that they are out of perspective. (The creature on the left is meant to be a duck btw, not a chicken. The ducks are the enemies of the chickens in the game.)

My only suggestion for motivation is don't do the stuff you hate all at once, or you'll end up hating the whole thing.  If I were the one working on this, I'd have gotten really bored with line art.  Color is a big motivator for me, so for each section of line art I got done, I'd let myself color it as a reward.

That sounds like a good suggestion. So far, doing all the lineart has indeed been a bit tedious. I'm somewhat inflexible in that regard though, because I don't have any idea yet how I will color/texture/shade the whole thing but maybe it will work too, if my reward is to pixel some other small piece(32x32) in colors after each piece of lineart in this one.

its helps to get a ton of reference pictures, even for things which you think you know how they look, because then if you do have reference pictures, it makes it so much easier in your mind to know whether what you are doing looks right, and if it looks right, then you feel more at ease while working rather then wondering if there is a better way.
also, if you find yourself just staring at it and not placing any pixels, force yourself to place pixels down, even if they aren't correct. The act of placing pixels down should help you get into the rhythm of placing more down and eventually you won't even be thinking about how to start it because you'll be doing it.

Sounds like a good idea as well. I'll start googling for reference pictures for every item in the drawing, right after having breakfast. So far, I only used reference pictures for the feet of the duck and the chicken in the foreground (which still look odd) and for the barn.

[edit2](see edited first post for latest updates).[/edit2]

[Turbo]

Cute updates on the chickens you have there. You could add some ducks lounging around on the left as well.

Here are the edits. Sorry for the sloppiness:



The feet of the dueling birds on the foreground should be at the same level.
Applied perspective to the feet of both.
Duck needed a beak anatomy review, i think it looks more like a duck now.
Partially redid the arms, coats, and added the birds "bottoms" to better convey depth and form, and correct perspective.
...mm now that i look at it again, the right chicken leg edit is somewhat off, not so good. Maybe raise it some 8 pixels up, a few to the right.

The chickens on the background should also follow the perspective guidelines, most notably the feet. And maybe lose the horizontal shadow line.

Hope that this is helpful. Post came a bit late, i know

[0xDB]

Very nice. I used your edit as a reference and updated my version appropriately(see modified opening post). The duck does really look more ducklike now. I still have to work on the arm and hands of the chicken again though, as it looks not very satisfactionary to me.

I don't know about the chickens feet in the back following the perspective, because they are so tiny, it might not work. Horizontal line will translate more smoothly into the hills when I get to coloring, but for now, I'll keep it and:

Hope that this is helpful. Post came a bit late, i know

Yes. Thanks a lot, it is very helpful indeed and regarding it coming "a bit late", no problem, absolutely no problem, your time is probably as scarce as mine, so again thanks for taking some of that time to help me. Besides, I don't believe in speed(see my sig).

What's next? Well, I showed Andrei this thread and he suggested these things, which I'll work on next (after fixing the currently bad hand and arm of the chicken in the front):

• There should be more pipes. Chickens is a game about junctions of
  pipes. There should be at least one pipe-interchange visible. One good
  place to add more pipes would be the inside of the barn (eg. the black
  bit above the haystack. Another place to add pipes is the bit towards
  the back just before it becomes a hill. Drawing pipes in the distance
  means you don't need to worry too much about the detail.
• Two dancing chickens dancing with eachother near the chicken-party
• Perhaps more instrument-playing Chickens. Johan(is making music for the game) could suggest which instruments to use. One possible instrument is a double-bass.
• There should be an extra dive-bombing duck just behind the one
  carrying an egg. Of course, it is OK to clone the downward-diving duck
  to save you some time.

Not sure, where I will insert the dancing chickens or the additional instruments as there isn't that much room left to fill, but I'll see... (maybe the double bass chickens could sit on the barn).

Btw, the game itself is freeware and you can download the current version from the page, linked to in the opening post, if you're interested in it.

[0xDB]

It's been almost three months since my last update and I just felt like letting everyone know that I'm working on it still(again ). (See edited first post.)
[edit]Added a progress animation to the first post.[/edit]

[yosh64]

hey

also, if you find yourself just staring at it and not placing any pixels, force yourself to place pixels down, even if they aren't correct.

I very much agree with what Alex Hanson-White has said here.

Anyhows, for myself, I find I tend to get stuck when I start thinking of too many things at once, and then I just end up spending all my time looking at the screen in dream land imagining how it'll all be, and never end up doing anything. So, I think you should forget about everything ya wanna do or whatever, and just place pixels, start coloring or something, and hopefully you will get some momentum again.

Even if you just quickly pick whatever color that first comes to mind and scribble some pixels, or fill some colors in or whatever.

But yea, just take it one step at a time, and don't think too far into things.

Anyhows hopefully this somehow applies to you, and can help .

cyas

[0xDB]

In general I would love to move on to coloring already but I need to get the lineart done first on this thing, because it is not entirely up to me to decide what items should be in the scene. There is an ongoing discussion between me and Andrei about the content of the title screen and how things will need to be composed to work in the game. I can only start coloring at the point where the content doesn't change anymore. (Andrei is the fellow who is designing and programming this freeware game(see the links in the first post of this thread).) I think/fear it will be more difficult to change things that are already colored and shaded than things that haven't progressed beyond lineart.

Btw, got another small step done today (bass playing chicken added).