AuthorTopic: RPG bases D:  (Read 12782 times)

Offline Gil

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Re: RPG bases D:

Reply #10 on: June 12, 2009, 03:19:45 am
I don't know. You can make any perspective work, but not this mixed batch. It just lacks cohesion and confuses the viewer. The classic 45° down orthogonal perspective would work best here.

Offline Scribblette

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Re: RPG bases D:

Reply #11 on: June 12, 2009, 04:10:56 am
Quote
If you will notice her hips, her left hip is lower then her right hip. That means she cannot be leaning on her right leg. To me it looks "passable", at least with the edit I did. Not perfect, but passable.

I'll agree your edit seems an improvement. :)

The closest I can find by a quick google image search is this - see far left. It looks like the same pose, but looks to me like she leans on the right leg, with the other for balance. Her knees stay at the same level, though the hip on her extended left leg has sunken.

« Last Edit: June 19, 2009, 01:05:51 am by Scribblette »
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Offline tocky

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Re: RPG bases D:

Reply #12 on: June 12, 2009, 07:03:35 am
I think it is a wrong idea that topdown games have to use a constant perspective, it's normal to want to show the front of characters (to give a clear silhouette, characterization, whatever) against the floors and walls from above (to keep the grid clear) - and for other objects, it makes sense to use whichever view best shows its utility. It doesn't make sense if you try to view the whole thing as a 3d space - this is a somewhat symbolic method. But it's a useful abstraction, is what I mean.
« Last Edit: June 12, 2009, 07:11:16 am by tocky »

Offline Helm

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Re: RPG bases D:

Reply #13 on: June 12, 2009, 07:21:52 am
Actually what I'd suggest is moving MORE towards symbolism. Right now the only element that is breaking symbolic cohesion is the wall-door tiles. Make the wall tile as big as the other element tiles, and the door be a front view symbolic tile too, either closed or opened. Think *more* roguelike, not less! If you fix the door and the wall I guarantee the mockup will immediately parse better!  :crazy:

Offline Gil

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Re: RPG bases D:

Reply #14 on: June 12, 2009, 05:21:44 pm
Yeah, I can relate to that. That was kinda my point too. Whatever you do, go all the way. It's the hybrid that doesn't seem to work well.

Offline Tourist

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Re: RPG bases D:

Reply #15 on: June 13, 2009, 02:41:07 am
Thanks for the tips on the dithering.

Another option for the perspective is an single point perspective focused on the middle of each room or hallway.  It only works if you've got discrete areas and if the hallways don't wrap around a lot.  This was used in the boardgame Warhammer Quest.

It doesn't solve the problem of what to do for the characters (the boardgame had miniatures),

Here's an example (not my art, and not pixel art, but you can get the idea).

http://www.wqchronicles.com/boards/lab.jpg

Just another option,
Tourist

Offline Accident

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Re: RPG bases D:

Reply #16 on: June 13, 2009, 06:44:31 pm




why does the door's perspective look different from everything else?
... but I don't think I did it right either. xD

EDIT:



If you're going to give the guy a pen0r, why not give him nipples?   :huh: If we're going for anatomical correctness here, I see nothing wrong with adding them. And if simply because no one will see the nipples, and therefore that was why you omitted them... well, I'm pretty sure they're not going to see the pen0r either.  :-* I also made the woman's nipples shinier because... well. I'm not sure.  -subconscious perversion?-  ^-^

I fiddled with the woman's leg too, no worries.  :)
« Last Edit: June 13, 2009, 07:18:35 pm by Accident »

Offline miscdude

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Re: RPG bases D:

Reply #17 on: June 14, 2009, 09:55:11 am
something about the way that the dresser/cabinet and table related to eachother bothered me from the first time I saw this. I couldnt quite put my finger on it, so I pulled it into the workshop to try and tink around and see what was up. and it hit me after a while;
You have no walls. Sure, the outline of the ceiling limits are there, but you have no visible, depth-creating walls. so, to start off, I added a wall relative to the dresser, seeing as one would usually place it there.

it looked better with the dresser, but the table looked even worse. because from that angle, the table would be jutting through the wall. so with some work, pulling the table forward made them both look like they were from the same place/dimension. Not only that, but when the table and dresser showed depth, it also helped the characters to have a feeling of existance rather than placement. Another thing to help that out would be shadows, to make things seem like they are ALL being hit by light universally. The table is demonstration. While you say you want everything to be gridbased, it wouldnt hurt the layout to have the grid be only about half of the characters height. I do think that the only way this could work would be if you took the Legend of Zelda like route, making the walls all central based and the objects topdown-ish. Hope this helps a bit :) I always love to see your work.
« Last Edit: June 14, 2009, 10:47:17 am by miscdude »

Offline Corsair

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Re: RPG bases D:

Reply #18 on: June 15, 2009, 08:58:49 am
A lot of people hate it, But it seems like if you went with the sort of perspective that was used with the old AD&D Pool of Radiance gold box game you'd have something pretty stunning on your hands;



It's a bad example but it's the best one i could find. I don't know if you've got enough room on your view screen there to accomodate it, but i think it could work pretty well.

Offline Conzeit

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Re: RPG bases D:

Reply #19 on: June 15, 2009, 09:11:02 am
I think if you still want to create a sense of real space go with miscdudes suggestion.

Personally, I quite enjoy that youre challenging  the base assupmtions of 2D games to cater to your own personal needs, and I would prefer it if you established more of a symbol space

Dont make the texture of each space something real like floor or wall, make it something more related to ambience...make a small painting that comunicates an ambience of "house" or of "city"......something that says this is not actual space but symbol space...if you give me a floor I will think about the things that are grounded on it...instead I think you should use what usually is the furthest layer in a sidescroller...horizons, far away landscapes so that no expectation of grounded material is made...in fact I would have them remain completely still and only communicate movement trough the movement of the props or the npcs relative to the player (if needed even do it by overlaying a white grid of some sort...but dont scroll the thing)...that would effectively tell me this is a sort of mindscape.

Referencetuff like Ace Attorney, or the space in a random triggered RPG fight....real time online strategy games(those in which in game time synchronizes with real life time) cardgame videogames, hell even  Inventories of high budget games.....basically any visualization in which spaces arent meant to be seen as 1:1 to reality... basically any setting where the visuals are only allegoric, not meant to be an actual in game reality.

and cheers on challenging base assumptions...I cant help but kick myself about not being bold and doing something like this.
« Last Edit: June 15, 2009, 09:36:03 am by Conceit »