shadows or no shadows?

[shaun9991]

Hey guys,

I've started working on a new game... I'm only programming The Legend of Hand and I find it hard to not be involved with the creative side!!! The new game is shaping up to be a full length mystery/investigative game, which I'm going to work on by myself over time. Here's a picture of an early scene, my question is: Do you think it looks better with the shadows or without the shadows? Any advice is much appreciated Thanks

Without shadows:


With shadows:

[Darth Mandarb]

... I'm only programming The Legend of Hand and I find it hard to not be involved with the creative side!!!

Blasphemy!!!  Programming is very much a part of the creative side!! Perhaps you meant the graphical side

... my question is: Do you think it looks better with the shadows or without the shadows? Any advice is much appreciated Thanks

With shadows.  Always with shadows!  However I'd modify the way you're creating them to match the low-color style of the rest of the background (make 'em not so blended/soft).

[ThreeOhFour]

I second shadows. They add a feeling of depth. I agree that it would be worth trying a harder edge, too.

[Eric]

I agree with what has been said before and will also toss out that you might want to consider using the shadows functionally to draw attention to the vital parts of the screen.

[selmiak]

I like the shadow under the hanging cupboard. if you like this pixelstyle I'd pixel every shadow in that pixely dark overlay.
Or if you really want to use soft brushes use your already set lightsources.

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/QSl4Mwj.png[/imgzoom]

[Trapezoid]

I'm really put off by the look of smooth, gradient shadows/lights mixed with low-color artwork. Go with either no shadows or simple solid shapes, like the shadow under the cupboard.

[shaun9991]

Thanks for the great advice everyone, I really do appreciate it. I'm going to try the harder edges shadows like the one under the cupboard, I'll post a pic up when it's done!

Blasphemy!!!  Programming is very much a part of the creative side!! Perhaps you meant the graphical side

- No offence intended Darth Mandarb, hehe! I loving programming in AGS but it's great to write/do graphics too, which I haven't been doing for a while

I like the shadow under the hanging cupboard. if you like this pixelstyle I'd pixel every shadow in that pixely dark overlay.
Or if you really want to use soft brushes use your already set lightsources.
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/QSl4Mwj.png[/imgzoom]

- Selmiak- thanks for the pic, it looks really nice, I'm going to try something like this for the evening scenes

Great tips guys, really appreciate it

[shaun9991]

something like this? shadow at left side maybe still a bit soft
[imgzoom]http://i57.tinypic.com/b7ctax.png[/imgzoom]

[StillInThe90s]

I'm really put off by the look of smooth, gradient shadows/lights mixed with low-color artwork. Go with either no shadows or simple solid shapes, like the shadow under the cupboard.

I second that. It seems like a shame to have made such a nice piece of pixel art, only to smear photoshop brushes all over it. Gradients with only a few (2-3) colours might be a middle way (?)

[AprilSkies]

I'm not going to talk about shadows.... I just wanted to say "Oh MY.. SHAUN! This is an amazing piece of pixel art!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Why you didn't pull stuff like this from the hat before!! I love it!!!

p.s. let me think about shadowing here.. dunno what's the best solution... even if it's already so great.

[shaun9991]

Thanks AprilSkies That means a lot coming from you!!! It's been fun to do some artistic stuff, takes so much time but it's worth it

[Chicky]

Hey Shaun, awesome background! I love the character, and the rustic colours.

I did a quick edit to the shadow, trying to match the shading you used on the bed. May or may not be what you're going for

I had to resize the image and the mustache dude went a bit blurry.

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/hcoiRb7.png[/imgzoom]

[abstauber]

Lovely artwork! You might want to increase the width of the logs at the doorframe though, currently it appears a bit thin.
Apart from that I don't have much new to add - it already looks very good.

I'm really put off by the look of smooth, gradient shadows/lights mixed with low-color artwork. Go with either no shadows or simple solid shapes, like the shadow under the cupboard.

I second that. It seems like a shame to have made such a nice piece of pixel art, only to smear photoshop brushes all over it. Gradients with only a few (2-3) colours might be a middle way (?)

1+

[Cassiebsg]

Lovely artwork! You might want to increase the width of the logs at the doorframe though, currently it appears a bit thin.

That's because it's really a cardboard house!
No, not really, cool art Shaun! and +1 to what abstauber said!

[xil]

I used a very simple effect in my MAGS game which may translate to what people are saying about 'hard' shadows (I used far, far fewer colours by default though).

Basically, I complete the scene then I add layers of very transparent black, white, yellow etc and just paint over with a solid pixel brush till it feels right. - here is a very rough example which basically just re-does your soft shadows into a non aliased pixel brush:

[imgzoom]http://calicoreverie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/shaun9991.png[/imgzoom]

What I've found by doing this is it is much easier to 'try' something and it's just faster producing graphics in general (I added 4 layers and painted those shadows on in about 2 minutes). It does obviously go without saying that the style that chicky did is more 'correct' to pixel art.

[shaun9991]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments and amazing tips. I really appreciate it

I'll take everything on board and post a re-done pic