[WIP] Pixel House

[Miya]

im pretty new to pixeling and this forum too so hi

i was messing with pixeling for a while and its really fun, but i dont feel like im advancing much so i appreciate any critiques you can give me on my little house
the shading just seems kinda... dull to me but im not sure how to change it and make it look a little more 'alive'


i wanna make a background for this too with tiles and stuff but so far couldnt come up with anything id be satisfied yet but ill get there i hope lol
and i was wondering is there a specific size i should consider for tiles? any tips on that topic is appreciated too while im trying to find some tutorials on that matter

[Mim]

Wow, i really like it.

If you'd like to spice up the shading a bit more, try shifting the hue so that your shadows become a different colour, it's fun to experiment with that. On the circular roof, it seems to flat, the tiles on it need to start curving sooner if you ask me, but your window below that curves too soon, try to find a happy medium. Also, the spire at the top needs to look more cylindrical, as do the grey bits on the roof. The grey on the underneith of the right rectangular side of the house needs to come out more at the end.

Here's an edit addressing the spire, grey lining on the right and the window:


The spire looks really bad on mine but i hope it brings accross what i mean.

[Miya]

thanks a lot Mim, that was very helpful

heres my edit so far;

i tried the shading in diffrent color now and tried to make it a little more detailed/smoother but now it kinda looks a little too pink to me lol.. maybe ill try that again in a diffrent color tomorrow
also edited the spire and added one of those wind direction things
i tried to get the roof tiles more round and shaded better but not sure if im happy with it yet
oh yea and aligned the window some more, tried not to copy you directly there but in the end only the shading is a little diffrent on the fram i guess, sorry xD;

any more input welcome of course!

[yueprofile]

  i like it

[KAT]

Nice I like it too

[BG]

Cute house. I think it looks great
The roof could need some more work to make it look round though.

when it comes to tiles, I'd say 8x8 pixels would be best if you wanna add lots of details. If not, go with 16x16. Tilesize in old games are always dividable by 8.

[Zee]

That's an astounding amount of character in such a little piece.

One point of crit though, is that the gray stone bottom doesn't seem to go around the whole thing, it looks like it just is around the front edge.

[xavier_viiv]

i like this^^..that`s why i try to see this thing done...as for me,i just change out the dark lines at part where the light hit...well...but this just me,cos the style is changing of course...>.,<...and i try to put some shadow below the chair--i think--and make the roof rounder--the right part--but of course,it still a mess^^

hope you like it..

[Miya]

thanks guys

xavier ill definatly try it out with the lighter lines and see how it works out for me, it really looks nice on your edit
but i think im done with the damn roof, getting a little sick of it i guess lol, maybe ill try again some other time on a bigger house heh

anyway ive been working on those tiles but they still look kinda boring to me;


and i was wondering, is there a way to easily put a bunch of tiles together? im only using photoshop and i would just copy the tiles a billion times and put them together but i doubt thats the right way to do it lol

[Obsidantion]

I hope you don't mind me making a mockup of your work, I just couldn't resist:

This animation shows the difference between the dark and lighter outlines, as talked about in this thread, in a mockup.
I added dithering to the house in one of the frames because it's an interesting way to shade and it gives a nice brick texture.
(I'm not sure if the rocks are better I just wanted to neaten them up)

If your into making games, download Game Maker. It gives you the ability to quickly arrange mockups out of your own sprites to see how they look in conjunction with each other, and it makes games out of them as well of course .

Great work so far! I hope you continue to expand this little world it would be very nice as an rpg.

[Helm]

This is really cute in action. Perphas you need less prominence in the colors of the ground to separate the levels, like this:

[Miya]

Obsidantion: wow thanks a lot for taking the time to put it together 
im not sure what exactly this dithering is, is it just making the lines lighter? wich btw looks so much better than my version lol
i downloaded that gamemaker too now and i feel so lost 8D; oh well more tutorials to look for when im at work

Helm: yea i guess you are right there but i think id need a lot more little detail things then (flowers and whatever) cause just that grass and my 3 rocks look a little plain haha but thanks for pointing it out

[Obsidantion]

I hope you figure out Game Maker, it's simple when you know how but it's not for everyone. If you’re just looking for a way to put images together in a mockup, paint is fine with the select tool, copy and paste. If you want to bring your creations to life with programming, then Game Maker's your best bud.

This is dithering:


There are lots of different effects and textures that can be emulated with dithering.
Here's a tutorial if you’re interested to learn more - http://www.derekyu.com/extras/pixel08.html
Here are some great examples of dithering
- http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/5745.htm
- http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/12082.htm
(If you look closely and zoom in you can see that dithering is used really effectively, just a little here and there, in this last piece)
- http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/21313.htm

[Miya]

ah thanks Obsidantion ive been doing that before but didnt know it had a name heh

anyway heres an update;


i changed the lineart, it might still be kinda dark tho, added the dithering stuff and added a new house trying to get those things right right away lol
also put the contrast of the grass tiles down a bit

[xavier_viiv]

edit--original

just think that the shadow is not enough--roof-->.,<....i like it so much...the style is so cute...
so when i made an edit of it--just the new house--..i think u have right to see it^^..

and i agree with helm...about the grass,it doesn`t need highlight...but that`s just what i think^^...

hope you like it^^

[Orclaeder]

I realy like this work, its so .. ^_^!!!!

Im doing some copy and pasting with what you got .. if i remember what i posted here ill post when its finished 

[Miya]

this thing is kinda expanding a little too fast Dx



i got 2 more houses done in linearts, maybe ill finish them tomorrow and add them in *loves gamemaker* x3

[Stefano]

This is really cute in action. Perphas you need less prominence in the colors of the ground to separate the levels, like this:

It's growing fast and well! Your mockup is really pleasant to look at. My only concern and tip to help you improve your piece is the same already pointed out by Helm.
Since the ground covers roughly 70% percent of the screen, I think it's a good idea to drop down the contrast even more to make it less noticeable and more distant from the player than houses and trees. I see you've decreased saturation and I think it has improved the overall aspect.

-Stefano

[BlueCheer]

i really think it looks but and I'm not trying to criticize but why are the houses all the same color ive never seen a house that color before. Well thats just me any way i saw at the begging of starting it and now and its looking good.

[Mim]

when you're placing the trees, dont snap them to the grid so they're not in straight lines like the 6 in the top left corner
i cant remember if you can turn the grid off with gamemaker but you can re-size it to a 1 pixel one lol

i have to agree with turning the contrast on the grass down, it looks good, but if the player is seeing it all the time when they're playing itll get annoying after a while

awesome progress though, really like it