Background Blitz: 19/01 - 03/02/2011 - WINNER ANNOUNCED

Mordalles · Wed 19/01/2011 01:27:53

Topic: Any deserted or abondened location/room
Description: Create a background of any location that is now deserted or abondened. It can be anything, eg. abondened railway station, gas or space station, deserted ghost town, boarded up mine, or any other fantasty, sci-fi or made location that is now deserted etc.

Restrictions:
- AGS compatible
- There should be a sign or signs (verbal or non-verbal) that this place is abondened.

Voting: starts 3rd of February unless someone wants extension.

Hopefully this is okay topic, i'm not very good at coming up with one.

Buckethead · Sat 22/01/2011 18:10:50

Here's my entry:

I also did this sort of step by step thingy:

As I work in 3d I first setup a simple blockout of what I want to make. I use alot of instances because if I edit one, all copies will change too. Which just make things go really fast. The textures are 3 different tiling images that I've used all over the place. The leaves are just simple planes with a leave texture. This screen is a flat render with no lighting information. It's nice because I can add in and adjust the lighting easier later.

Here I've placed the lighting information on a new layer in Photoshop and set it to multiply. The lighting is an ambient occlusion render with also a few omni lights placed here and there. I didn't really need to adjust the lighting much in Photoshop this time around as I had done alot of lighting tests. The only thing I've changed are the shadows the leaves casted. They were just really harsh and funky and I thought it looked better if I smudged them out.

Here I've added some more atmosphere to the light coming from above. I just added a new layer in Photoshop and painted a few strokes with a soft brush. Then I gave the layer a hint of colour and blurred it aswell as lowering the opacity. I also added a gradient that starts black and goes white when going to the middle. I did this to bring even more focus to the staircase and the corridor, which are the focal points of the scene. Looking back I might also have done some early colour corrections. I usually use hue/saturation for that.

I had this idea of adding some trim so it would like you are watching from behind a window. I thought it would give more depth to the scene. I'm still a bit unsure about it as it might hide too much of the scene. But I've asked a few people and they all said it added to the scene so I've kept it.

Finally I re-adjusted the contrast. I always do this with adjustment layers in photoshop as they controle the stack of layers at once. Plus you can come back later and re-adjust things if needed, which I did a few times. I also did a few colour corrections as it was all looking kind of grayish. I added an hue/saturation adjustment layer for this. In the end I've sharpend the whole image to make things look more gritty. I always do this with Unsharp mask, which works better then the name might suggest.

Eggie · Sat 22/01/2011 19:17:48

That is a sweet-ass Mediterranean housedungeon.

Mad · Mon 24/01/2011 14:37:04

My first picture using a graphic tablet, yay!

Still need to practice a bit though...

EDIT:

Maybe not quite deserted...

Mordalles · Wed 02/02/2011 20:49:31

great stuff, people!

unless somebody is really close to finishing something still, voting will start in approximately 24 hours from now . 8)

Dualnames · Wed 02/02/2011 21:06:52

[deleted] Sorry. No offense meant.

oraxon · Wed 02/02/2011 23:34:33

Cool entries, guys, and congrats Mordalles on winning last time. Thanks for the step-by-step, Buckethead.

Here's an abandoned tunnel with mysterious machinery...

Daniel Thomas · Thu 03/02/2011 03:40:03

"The Johns Family soon realized that the house was getting too small for them, which left them no other choice then to move into the city.
What they did not realize was how it would later inspire other people. There we're a lot of crazy things from serving as out door 'nature calling resting place' to be used as a time machine by crazy inventors."

I never got to finish this up, so it's very rough in a some areas. But I'm overall happy with it.

Mordalles · Thu 03/02/2011 21:41:45

stunning entries, people!! :o

okay, i now declare voting open!
categories:

Idea: Was it an original/creative interpretation of the theme?
Atmosphere: Was an interesting world created? - Did the scene evoke a feeling?
Design: How well the individual elements are designed, from clouds to doorknobs as well as the scene as a whole.
Composition and functionality: How well will this background work in an adventure game, eg. walkable areas, placement of important objects and hotspots, viewer is lead to points of interest, etc.
Technique: How well it's rendered (within the chosen style!), in no way meaning the more elaborate the better.

Daniel Thomas · Thu 03/02/2011 22:49:32

Code: ags


[b]Idea[/b] -
[b]Atmosphere[/b] -
[b]Design[/b] -
[b]Composition and functionality:[/b] -
[b]Technique[/b] -

Idea - Mad
Atmosphere - Buckethead
Design - Mad
Composition and functionality: - oraxon (buckethead if it wasn't fore those iron bars in the foreground)
Technique - oraxon

Mad · Fri 04/02/2011 09:01:28

Idea - oraxon
Atmosphere - Buckethead
Design - zyndikate
Composition and functionality: - zyndikate
Technique - zyndikate

Buckethead · Fri 04/02/2011 10:33:53

Quoteoraxon (buckethead if it wasn't fore those iron bars in the foreground)

oh bugger

Anyway, here are my votes:

Idea - Mad
Atmosphere - zyndikate
Design - zyndikate
Composition and functionality: - Mad
Technique - zyndikate

Ilyich · Fri 04/02/2011 15:56:57

I like all the entries, and it's great how diverse they all are, but zyndikate's is simply wonderful in every way. So,
Idea - oraxon
Atmosphere - zyndikate
Design - zyndikate
Composition and functionality: - zyndikate
Technique - zyndikate

Tabata · Sun 06/02/2011 02:18:03

Sorry for all the nice entrys, but watching the abandoned home of the John's, I have no other choice:
Idea - zyndikate
Atmosphere - zyndikate
Design - zyndikate
Composition and functionality: - zyndikate
Technique - zyndikate

btw.
I couldn't find the "sign or signs (verbal or non-verbal) that this place is abondened" in the other entrys - or do I need new glasses?
But I like the "making of" from buckethead. Thank you for this one!

Stupot · Sun 06/02/2011 07:39:30

Idea - Zyndikate
Atmosphere - Buckethead
Design - Zyndikate
Composition and functionality: - Orazon
Technique - Zyndikate

oraxon · Sun 06/02/2011 09:50:47

Idea - Mad
Atmosphere - zyndikate
Design - zyndikate
Composition and functionality: - zyndikate
Technique - zyndikate

Re: Tabata's question
I was thinking that plants overgrowing an entryway could be a "non-verbal" sign the place is abandoned. Stretched the rules a little.

Mordalles · Sun 06/02/2011 10:13:54

I guess we can call it . . .

the winner is Zyndikate! Congratulations! Looking forward to the next blitz!

thanks everyone for entering!

Gilbert · Mon 07/02/2011 08:35:52

Congratulations to zyndikate for becoming a Grand Slam Winner!

Daniel Thomas · Mon 07/02/2011 09:29:07

Thanks guys! Grand Slam winner, that sounds fancy, who do I give my address to for all huge piles of uncountable amount of prize money to be sent?

I will have a new blitz up today or tomorrow, a little(very) short on time atm.