Mr.Boo... has come to see you! and now hes walking too!

[artisan]

ok so im working on a mock up of a game concept of mine revolving arround my character Mr.Boo and need some help

The game is a platformer and is based on two of my old pixel works to create a new concept. here are the two refrences if you like of my old pixel art i am basing this on. The first being Mr.Boo and the seccond my concept of the world.




Here is where i am so far with the mock up



And last but not least this is what i am stuck on...

It seems that my choice in character doesnt work well with the enviroment i want. I think he seems to blend in way too much too the background. i have tried messing arround with colours and such but it just doesnt give the atmosphere i am after. any ideas?

Also im mainly working on the final character design for mr.boo and any comments or crits on how to improve him is much apreciated. i am not happy with him at the moment and i will have to make my stage much larger to accommodate his size but im happy to do that anyway, what im realy after is ways to improve the way he looks, shape shading and all that. any advice, crits etc?

so what do you guys think?

thanks much in advance by the way!

[pixelarg]

a lil edit  :


i change some colors and the Background is digital

^^

[artisan]

Thanks Pixelarg your edit was a great help!!!... not too fond of the white outline idea, however it doesnt look bad in this case i guess but im still up for listening too any other sugestions?

anyway i have an update, i am about 100 times more happy with mr.boo but still think he can be improved. here it is.



thoughts folks?

[ndchristie]

Thanks Pixelarg your edit was a great help!!!... not too fond of the white outline idea, however it doesnt look bad in this case i guess but im still up for listening too any other sugestions?

Personally, I suggest any other that the white .  Color/hue separation is a really easy way to do this.  If characters darken towards red and backgrounds darken towards blue (for instance), they can have violets that unify but don't merge.  Similarly look at your contrast changes; one should usually be high contrast and the other low contrast, one tight detail the other broad, etc.

EDIT - because these are all relative terms, you only need there to be a clear difference between them, i.e. one should be significantly lower contrast than the other, though both may be high or low contrast.  remember also that the edges must always be clear, which white accomplishes, but white doesn't move beyond the edge and it becomes it's own jaggy, disconnected form.

[pixelarg]

other suggest: see the color of the rips in my edit, and of the tiles
and you need add a BG

you have to remove the white outline, that is good in the "Big monitors" but that is bad in the "lsd monitors" (or plasma? liquid glass?) anyway

and 4 nothing you are a pixelartist whit future

[artisan]

hey guys, really appreciate your help and im having trouble trying to follow it...

ignoring the fact i don't have a proper background and stuff i know separating Mr.Boo from the background is a very important part and is something i think i should figure out now before i start on much else.

Here is what i have come up with attempting to use your advice...



i have made a hue shift plus a contrast difference between Boo and the background but still i am unsure if it stands out enough. and i actually think that stylistically the white surrounding gives a better result still.... but honestly i do want to avoid it... what am i missing about separating my elements? i don't think it would be as hard if i didnt want to create a certain environment and use this character, but both are quite important for the concept and so i am still having trouble.

Am i getting your advice wrong, or do you think theres still a better way to do this?.... i am going to keep experimenting i might come up with something that works but if you can see what im doing wrong or have any other advice i would apreciate it. Thanks!

[blumunkee]

This is very well executed. I like the style.

One thing to understand is that animation changes things a lot. The white outlines are a drastic way to address the contrast issue, and may not be necessary when the characters are moving. Personally, I think the non-outlined version will look fine once it actually graduates past the static image stage.

[artisan]

good call blumunkee i think this works now



Do you guys think he stands out enough to be a playable character?

i think i will start to work on the background and tiles properly now, what do you guys think about the tiles and gravestones..? any crits are welcome. Thanks much

[Elrinth]

not sure if I like the character. I'd like to see you did some changes in the palette.

The grass is the same colour as the character. that's always a bad sign. maybe saturate the character loads and make the background tiles slightly more bleach?

[artisan]

I have attempted some brighter pallet changes in mr.boo on the left is the first on the right is a bright blue pallete and in the middle is an attempt at making the blue one a bit more atmospheric...



i think i like the old one more however it has more of a mood to it.... what do you guys think? anyone got any suggestions to help me make a better pallet or do you think one of these works fine?

thanks