Game Mockup WIP (Updated)

[mangust]

Last edit is more beautiful (for sketch )! But no more light on back trunk of trees, maybe add a bit light to foreground. Yes mood in picture is good, some dark and mysterious. The thick trunk on foreground me like more than early version.

[Ben2theEdge]

Also, I see JPEGs

Crap, apparently Flickr does that... Photobucket wasn't loading last night so I committed adultry.

[ndchristie]

use this:
http://xs.to/

i love how this is progressing.  i also like fool's post a lto, maybe you can have something like that for the edge of the forest, and something like the one you've got for deep inside?

[vellan]

i like the more direct, harsh highlights of the first mockup as i feel it adds more definition of the ground. I think applying that to the second would be ideal.

all in all, this is a really amazing piece. keep rocking it.

[Ben2theEdge]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Adarius I'm tryin' the hosting site you recommended.
I'm guessing that alphas are a major no-no for true pixel artists so I included a non-alpha version here. But the first one is what the game will look like.



Again, 1st one is with alpha effects, 2nd one is the "purist" version without any alpha effects.
Started on the HUD/Status bars too... I'm playing with the idea of having status bars that only pop up when they're needed (except health, that's always gonna be around.) We'll see...

[mangust]

1st one, unambiguously! I use alpha in my games. Why not? if this make game more visual interest and smaller game size! The technologys move forward, why pixel artist not move from they. Important - you use alpha with pixel dithering it's right way, the same gif image with opacity 50%, but if use just ordinary blur - they will be a pop art - not pixel, in my opinion.

[Ben2theEdge]

Yeah this was 100 percent pixelled by hand; those gradients on the beams of light and the mushrooms' glow were all hand-dithered. I love the look of dithered alpha effects.

[philipptr]

Great enemy sprite and the alpha effects work very well too. What I don't like is the ground especially in your newer attempt. In your older you could tell that the things the character is running on are roots now it's just two horizontal  "blocks" made out of wood with perfect rounded ends. I think that they should be more free shaped, and that you might want to remove one of these "blocks". http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=2540 is a great example for a not so gridbased looking forest mockup.
Well it might be much work, and most likely you wont change it just because of my said opinion but I thought I would say it now before you make even more grafics so IF you want to change it you don't have to do it all twice

[mangust]

And just one thing about you trunk of tree (which volume) on background - they have too much gorizontal lines, but trunk of tree in real world have more vertical line or interweaving this lines. It's look like a insulating tape, if I not mistaken 
Good work!

[kakikukeko]

this is really getting better and better  I really dig the one with the light beams... haven't checked how many colors it adds tho.. would the effect still works in game with some parallax?