AuthorTopic: Adventure game background WIP  (Read 4551 times)

Offline weaselpa

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Adventure game background WIP

on: May 05, 2009, 10:43:49 pm
Greetings to all...

After my last post two days back, i decided to go for a more 'true' pixel approach of the subject...

This is a wip of a background for a possible adventure game...


I'd like to know your opinion about the current piece...

Thank you all in advance for your time and comments...
« Last Edit: May 06, 2009, 08:42:02 am by ptoing »

Offline Mathias

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Re: Adventure game background WIP

Reply #1 on: May 06, 2009, 03:01:37 pm
Good job - I think that when starting out in pixelling (or anything for that matter), it's wise to follow the typical rules and giudelines and do what's considered pixel art, despite art backgrond. And obviously, you're already a capable artist. Then once you've got a firm grasp, you can get all crazy and avant garde up on it.

Your bg here, excluding the human figure and everything in the black bar at the bottom, contains 24 unique colors, that's a bit high by most standards. Counted using Photoshop indexing mode. The palette swatches in the bottom black bar aren't used.

It's a nice visually pleasing scene. Not a huge fan of all the grainy dithery shading, but it does give it a certain old skool look. If that's what you're going for. The human figure blends in much better here than in your previous scene, but that was just a palette issue.



Offline Hugo

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Re: Adventure game background WIP

Reply #2 on: May 06, 2009, 03:52:54 pm
grainy textures and colors low-satured reminescent of adventure's games on Atari ST... i love that !  :)

maybe refines the grey thing to the left of the tree, the readibility is way low.

Offline Mathias

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Re: Adventure game background WIP

Reply #3 on: May 06, 2009, 04:05:49 pm
I assume it's a boulder; just an environmet detail.

Offline weaselpa

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Re: Adventure game background WIP

Reply #4 on: May 06, 2009, 04:48:09 pm
Thank you for your comments so far...

Hugo: Thank you for the nice comments... It's indeed supposed to be a boulder as Mathias pointed out...

Mathias: I admit i was shoked by the information that there are 24 unique colors on the piece withought counting the human sprite... I do not know about the rules that apply in game pixeling in general so i decided i would create a pallete for each component of the image and about six colors to each pallete... Again, i do not know if this is correct or not... I do not know about color limitations or what rules exist on pixeling in general... I just want to have a 'real life' feel as a result and not a 'cartoony' one... Furthermore, at least one color is present in more than one component for consistancy's sake...

If there are specific rules i should follow about color limitations and pixeling in general, i'd like to know more about them...

Thank you again for your time and comments...

Offline Mathias

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Re: Adventure game background WIP

Reply #5 on: May 06, 2009, 07:18:32 pm
It's commendable you're so concerned, assuming your motive is establishing your skill in a pure way and not just trying to shrudely appeal to a certain group. The only "group" that understands pixel art for what is are pixel artists themselves, and they're pretty rare. Vast majority of your player audience has no idea what they're looking at, they don't know pixel art's in's and out's.

Isn't it crazy working at the pixel level all of the sudden? You just threw yourself into pixelling recently I assume. For a digi painter, it must feel odd. Before doing pixels, just taking for granted things like anti-aliasing, etc, it was quite a transition for me. And I'm still figuring out just what pixel art is. Trouble is, there isn't one applicable definition. But, that's art for ya. You just have to figure it out for yourlself.

More on yer scene - it's composition is nifty, that boulder establishes a welcoming asymmetry with the tree and human figure. This pixelling style begins to remind me Buloght's on Pixel Joint. I assume you've found Pixel Joint already, but if not you have many hours of browsing, open-jawed, if you haven't. Hit up the Hall of Fame gallery there.
I love the dynamic overall twisting turn our vantage point creates, the way the scene almost feels to be getting sucked into the bottom left corner. So much funner to look at than a typical flat horizon. Thought about attempting some more defined wispy cirrus cloud texturing in the sky, rather than the broken up grainy detail, which I think still works alright.
Maybe some stronger evidence of light hitting the tree's left side for more realism; would be mostly visible on the thickest/roundest part of the tree. Some branches get thin then thicker, that doesn't seem quite right.

Offline weaselpa

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Re: Adventure game background WIP

Reply #6 on: May 06, 2009, 09:38:57 pm
Thank you once more for your comments...

You say it's crazy to work at the pixel level all of a sudden... I'd say it's fascinating and daring at the same time... I'm pixelling for about one and a half years now but i still am a beginer... I have posted some things here before... I may have read about pillow-shading, AA, dithering or whatever but i know nothing about limitations and general rules (ex. how many colors for a sprite?)... I really like the fact that i can create a scenery, objects, movement in these tiny dimensions... It's like a game and a math excercise (i hate maths) all at once... I'm mad at me because i didn't start pixeling earlier in my life...
Indeed i already know of Pixel Joint... Buloght's gallery was actually one of the early ones i viewed there...

As for this piece... I was about to put that 'flat horizon line' you mention on the far back... Eventually, i decided to skip it as i wanted to show the tree is high on a hill... As for the clouds, i think i could work on them alot more... I want to show it's a cloudy day but i don't think it's visible as it is now... I don't want to lighten more the left side of the tree as it's a moody weather with not much light... Some of the branches look awfully funny being that unproportioned...

Thank you again for your time and comments...

Offline BlackTerror

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Re: Adventure game background WIP

Reply #7 on: May 10, 2009, 04:00:52 am
The outline of the tree itself is bothering me -- the trunk seems two or three times too thick for the number and width of the limbs above, unless a lot had broken off -- in which case you'd see the broken and splintered stumps. The tree shading and texturing doesn't very well convey its form -- look into dithering similar colors together, for the most part, rather than dithering so much with the darkest shade. The few strands of grass look out of place -- I'd either shorten them, or surround them with masses of grasses. Heh.

The rest of it looks good, though, especially the sky.