Twinsen Graphics

[.TakaM]

It's an understatement to say that Twinsen has simple graphics, other than that, they're severely out of proportion.
I have had an overhaul planned for a while, and it's time to kick off.
First, the current tiles:

Coherent? yeah I guess, but boring.

my first attempt at a revamp for the cliffs and grass was pretty bad

admittedly I haven't done any tiles for a while, starting a new style is always a bit tough, but re-making a set with a similar but new style in mind is tougher.

my second attempt, I thought I'd go for a corrugated cardboard look, kinda like Yoshi's Story/Island:

Really doesn't fit in, I think if I had redone the background layers it'd look better, but I don't like it enough to do that.

And tonight, I went back to something similar to my first attempt:

simplified more, I think it will look great once I've got the rest of the tiles and parallax layers edited accordingly.
But I'm still not sure what to do with the grass, I don't like the current grass, too droopy and uniform, but I've got the feeling this 'hedge top' grass I'm using now is a bit too strange.
what do you guys think? Any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[Akira]

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/4889/tilesnk3.png
^ my favourite out of the bunch

I think whatever you choose, you need more depth. your colours are pretty subtle so i think depth wouldn't distract the eye too much.

[dragonrc]

I think the grass looks better, but the bushes looked more in place in the first one. I think you should use some very dark green in the outlines of the bushes. (the same dark green you used in the outline of the platform.)
I like the new platform, but I don't like what you did with the parts where the platform stops:

But I like how you did it on your first revamp. Maybe you could mix them a bit.

I had some other idea for the platform, why don't you let some stones stick out here and there? Maybe that's a good alternative for a texture.

[ndchristie]

the trouble with your first doing attempt is that the light places it in front of the platform rather than under.  just tweak that and it's your best thusfar.

[.TakaM]

I think the grass looks better, but the bushes looked more in place in the first one. I think you should use some very dark green in the outlines of the bushes. (the same dark green you used in the outline of the platform.)
I like the new platform, but I don't like what you did with the parts where the platform stops:

But I like how you did it on your first revamp. Maybe you could mix them a bit.

I had some other idea for the platform, why don't you let some stones stick out here and there? Maybe that's a good alternative for a texture.

You don't like the lighter stone patches? any specific reason?

the trouble with your first doing attempt is that the light places it in front of the platform rather than under.  just tweak that and it's your best thusfar.

I thought the tiles I did decide on embody what you suggest, albeit simpler.
I personally thought the more jagged style in the first one looks too hard and dry for this area where the presence of water is always apparent, let me know if you do feel otherwise.

The revamp is still going strong

I'm really enjoying redoing the graphics, Twinsen's bizarre perspective is an interesting challenge, and the simple fact that I know I have a game all these graphics will go straight into makes it fun

rock by faceless

One thing I'm not sure what I'll do with is the fact the bush layer in the background is lighter than the playing field, we all know darkness gives the illusion of depth, but if I continued at the pace the trees and houses have gotten darker, I think it will hurt the atmosphere..

[Faceless]

I'm an unofficial helper of sorts , and here are the suggestions I made to .TakaM, so if people could comment on those changes it would be helpful.
I haven't touched the trees, but I think the far one's trunk needs reworking.

[Arachne]

I really love how this is coming along!

One thing I'm not sure what I'll do with is the fact the bush layer in the background is lighter than the playing field, we all know darkness gives the illusion of depth, but if I continued at the pace the trees and houses have gotten darker, I think it will hurt the atmosphere..

Why make it darker? Things tend to fade into the blue with distance. Giving the bush layer a hue closer to blue should help separate it from the foreground, I think.

[ndchristie]

the two things faceless idd and the idea of blue are both excellent suggestions.

[dragonrc]

You don't like the lighter stone patches? any specific reason?

It's not that I really dislike the lighter stones, I just think it doesn't look that good on the edges. I like how it looked on your first revamp attempt. Maybe you should try putting stones at some random points instead of a row that fills up the whole edge of the platform.

[ndchristie]

What happens when you intersperse dark stones among the light, with a more mauvy tint for the darker ones for a cute little hue shift?  I think it might give you just a little bit of an extra boost for the edges.  Take then the mauve then as your base color for "back wall" stones and you can have fun with the perspective, too.

[vellan]

the transition from Foreground to midground on the stone buildings is shown through darkening/shadowed...yet the roof stays the same color. they are also on the same plane as the 1st row of trees (visually) yet the trees are not darkened/shadowed.

if you are going to show depth via that method, the rest of the scene needs to share it.

[ndchristie]

Disclaimer : No artwork was made in the harming of this image :



cheap test of the dark rocks....i think it helps you even in this lame little example.

[Souly]

The stones are really sticking out, the no block outline really makes it seem out of place.

[.TakaM]

The stones are really sticking out, the no block outline really makes it seem out of place.

the stones on the cliffs or the little piles on the platforms?

I don't know why so many people aren't feeling the highlights along the edges, it's pretty standard practice for the edges of walls in platformers to be lighter than the center, sometimes completely black in the center.


I edited the roofs as faceless suggested, and I faded out the back layers with a bluish tint:

I also made the top line of the platforms straight. I think the highlights definitely need to go on the top, but I can keep them on the other sides (maybe lose the yellow?) I made the top line perfectly straight as an effort to make the edge less discernible

edit-
Adarias, I think the darker patches makes it look too busy in spots compared to the empty plain areas, I might do something similar down the road, though probably not as prominent

[Xion]

I also made the top line of the platforms straight. I think the highlights definitely need to go on the top, but I can keep them on the other sides (maybe lose the yellow?) I made the top line perfectly straight as an effort to make the edge less discernible

What? I don't understand your explanation, but I, for one, preferred the non-straight platforms much better.
I like Adarias' edit, but I agree, it is just a weeeeee bit too busy, but that could be fixed by lowering the contrast on both the bright and dark spots to flatten it a bit.

[.TakaM]

with the bumpy highlighted edge, it's obvious the platform ends immediately after those details, which makes the secondary trees behind the other ones appear to be rooted in midair.
By making it a straight line (with a slight gradient effect) it hints at a cylindrical terrain (similar to the roof tops)
It just makes details like the secondary trees not look so awkward

futher developments;

completely removed the highlights on the grass, and raised the ground at the secondary tree's base 1 pixel

[robotacon]

I would just lose the secondary trees. There is no way trees of that size can stand that close.
If I've understood the intro correct you play on a tiny slice of the planet.

[Xion]

Don't lose the secondary trees. The space between the trees would be sparse, and the pattern too repetitive. Plus, it's a cartoony game. No need for reason.

Why does the one building have a pitch-black window while the other has a greyish one? Also, the straw-roofed house is much more detailed than the other one.
And yes, the rocks in the near back ground (alongside the trees) look odd without a black outline.

[Faceless]

Changed the house somewhat - hopefully for the better.
Also added some more... consistant outlines to the rocks.
No colours added.

[ndchristie]

Heh, rob, apparently you have never been to a real woodland , it is not rare at all to be unbable to fit beween the trunks of 40ft trees.

Taka - You are starting to oversimplify and the artwork is not gtting better for it.  Everything you did in your latest edit hurts the peice a little more each time.

[Dusty]

Add the highlights back on the grass, it helped a lot.
And as noted, it seems the hut has a lot more contrast than the other building does.
I also liked the dark rocks that adarias added in his one edit, they helped fill in a lot of empty, boring space.

[.TakaM]

Taka - You are starting to oversimplify and the artwork is not gtting better for it.  Everything you did in your latest edit hurts the peice a little more each time.

I started with more detailed cliff tiles, and I was not at all happy with them, admittedly the grass tile has grown on me, but I do like it more and more as it got simpler
I may bring back the highlights to the grass, but most likely not as bright as they were

I need to come up with a 'faster' run animation for twinsen, for this type of run you won't have complete control over twinsen, you'll skid to a stop, run over pits etc.
here's what I've got so far:

[Xion]

He doesn't look that fast.
Ninja limp-armed runs dont = fast.
I think a more forceful and realistic torso + arm movement would fit better and not be such a cop-out.
The wheel feet aren't working at all, IMO. Like I said, rather than this sort of passive sort of jog, a much more forceful dash would suit much better. Large hangtime, maybe just a frame or two of contact, some nice exaggeration, all that jazz.

[.TakaM]

I chose the ninja limp arms because if he was pumping his arms he'd look 100% in control which is not what I want to convey, and because I limited myself to only four frames

Currently, Twinsen has both a walk and run, the plan is to drop the walk (useless) and replace with a slightly slowed down version of the current run anim:

When running full speed, Twinsen travels 5 pixels per frame (30fps) and when walking- only 2
after the changes, the sprinting will travel 6 pixels per frame, and the jog will travel 4

I'm aware this run anim is very odd, in that he almost always has a foot on the ground and there is very little hangtime, intending to further tweak it I just put it in the game, and I loved it as it is.
however, if you guys feel strongly about any tweaks that should be made or wanna edit it, go ahead