volcanic skyscape

[EyeCraft]

This the beginnings of a backdrop for a game I'm working on. Still very much feeling things out at this point. The foreground dark rock ground will most likely go. Just thought I'd see if anybody had any thoughts at this stage.



I'm throwing around this idea, also:



Which do people prefer?

[TomF]

This looks very promising indeed, I can't wait till you add some more detail. Probably a little too early to crit just yet.

Just out of interest, would the smoke be animated?

[EyeCraft]

Yep, the smoke would be animated

Here's a bit of an update;

[PypeBros]

(am i the only one to see no image at all ? - winxp+firefox)

[EyeCraft]

The image host I was using seems to be very slow to load, but it does work. I edited my previous, put the picture up on a different host, should appear now.

[EyeCraft]

A bit of a bump, hope it's not too uncalled for. I'm starting to like this piece the more I work on it (was bloody hating it at first, haha).



That gradient sky is so getting the axe...

[JJ Naas]

Is this by any chance Shadow of the Beast 2 -inspired?

I must say I like the original sky better than the dithered. Non dithered flat colour areas give it a much more peaceful and serene atmosphere, and seem to add more sense of depth.. the horizon seems to be much further away non dithered. A bit like in Another World. Of course, serenity may not be what you're after, the landscape being volcanic and all. How about adding some recognizable element, like a building or a tree to give a better idea of the scale?

[Feron]

i'd remove the dithering from the sky, just looks like an ugly gradient.  Forming the clouds themselves would look a lot better (like in my avatar) and is a good learning experience.  A volcanic sky would have lots of black cloud, with fiery ambience.

looks quite promising, any nieborg influences in there? (if not i would take a look at his work)

 

[EyeCraft]

JJ Naas: can't say that it is. Though its uncanny the similarities between the skies, heh. I thought about it, and I can't really think of anything that could be placed in to imply scale, its essentially a derelict planet, aswathe with chaos.

Feron: I definitely agree. I have something in mind along those lines. No doubt Nieborg's work sits indefinitely in my subconscious. I find myself often doing swirly looking rocks and forms these days, even though it's been a long time since I sat down and had a good pore over his work.

In point of fact, the largest conscious influence on this piece is from Seiken Densetsu 3, which I have recently been studying once again. To the extent you could say this piece of mine is a total hack, heh. Here's the influence in question;


Oh also, to a lesser degree, the Lava World tileset from Total Annihilation. That was sort of a subconscious one that just crept into it.

[Feron]

another thing i notice is that there will be large areas without much detail, like on the right.  You don't want these areas looking bland so maybe add a few building ruins or something to spicec it up.