BACKGROUND BLITZ: The Café - WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

[lorenzo]

THE CAFÉ

What better place to gossip, have a drink, and annoy other patrons, than the café?

Spoiler

(from left to right) Vincent van Gogh, Café Terrace at Night; Edward Hopper, Nighthawks; Neuromancer; Gabriel Knight; Jean Béraud, At the Bistro; Quest for Glory IV; Interior of Seth Kinman's Table Bluff Hotel and Saloon, 1889

[close]

Your job is to draw a café, whether it's an elegant French bistrot, a cosy English pub in foggy Victorian London, an eerie tavern near Dracula's castle, a neon-filled futuristic bar, a sleazy saloon in the wild west, or something else entirely.

Deadline: the 19th 26th of July 2017.

Voting:

Concept: your background should tell us something about the kind of patrons that regularly visit the bar.
Playability: does it have clear walkable areas, things to interact with, etc?
Artistic Execution: what's the feeling of the place? Does the image convey the wanted atmosphere?

Have fun and good luck!

[Click'd]

Deadline: the 19th of June 2017.

Sorry, I must have mislaid my time machine.

[lorenzo]

Ooops! Sorry!
I've changed it, now.

[DBoyWheeler]

Nice how you included Quest for Glory IV's inn.

[Rocchinator]

I like the theme. I`m a little busy lately but ill see what i can do.

[Nixxon]

Please do rocc!!

[lorenzo]

DBoyWheeler: it's such a cosy looking inn! Except for the garlic, maybe. And such a great game, too.

Rocchinator: come on Rocchinator, you can do it! The Background Blitz needs you.

[Stupot]

I'm thinking of doing something for this (he says).

[lorenzo]

Please do, Stupot, if you have the time.

[Stupot]

Here is my work-in-progress.
I won't have time to work on it much further. I certainly won't finish it, but I might at least try to change those placeholder benches before the deadline.

[lorenzo]

A bar at the top of a skyscraper, what a cool idea! I already like the look of it, it makes you want to grab a cocktail and admire the view.
If you (and others) need more time to finish your entry, let me know and I will extend the deadline.

[Nixxon]

Nice work stupot. Great vibe and colours. Would love to see what you could come up with re the dining tables. Maybe a spa for the clientelle?

@lorenzo. If more time is permitted that would work really well for me. I'm keen to have a crack but I'm still finalising my AGS background template comp entry.

[lorenzo]

Sure! I will extend the deadline to July 26.

[Nixxon]

You da man

[horusr]

Once upon a time someone tried to draw some traditional ottoman cafe and failed and gave up at the start.
But he still thinks picture can nominate as "best stove looks like battery" and "worst tea-urn"   

[Stupot]

Thanks for the extra time, lorenzo. I'll see what I can do with it :-) The top-of-skyscraper bar idea is lifted directly from one that I went to recently. The glass barrier, wooden decking and general altitude are ripped directly from real life.

[lorenzo]

horusr: that's a good start, I like the hookah and the lamp, you should keep working on it! At the end, even if the result it's not what one expected, it's always a good exercise. Practice makes perfect and all that!

Stupot: there's no better reference than real life!

[Danvzare]

Oh my goodness, two unfinished submissions and nothing else. This Background Blitz should have been called "The Unfinished Cafe"
In all seriousness though, I expect you two to work on these backgrounds a bit more. They look like they have quite a bit of potential, and I want to see what they look like finished.

[Rocchinator]

I'm trying to get to do something, glad you extended the time.

[Cassiebsg]

I'm working on something... happy you extended the deadline too.

EDIT:
I'm done... 1 day work


Textures: Eric Matyas

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

a bunch of intriguing entries so far .. keep at it folks!

Cassie great stuff..  its like a tropical escape themed cafe atop a sky scraper!

[lorenzo]

I agree with Tycho, great background Cassiebsg! And the patrons seem to be enjoying themselves too... except that guy on the left, he looks rather depressed. Nice attention to detail in the characters' pose!

[Stupot]

Nice work, Cassie. I especially admire your tables and chairs.

As you can see, I gave up trying to make good original furniture and reverted back to the original ones.
But I've spent a bit more time on some other parts of the picture. This is probably the final version. If I tweak it further, I'll let you know.

Spoiler

Here's the old version, for comparison:

[close]

[Mandle]

Stu, where is that cafe? Looks just like the kind of place my wife would love!

[Stupot]

The cafe kiosk bit with the brick walls was just made up by me, but the wooden terrace bit with the glass barrier was based on a bar atop the hotel Granbell in Shinjuku, kind of behind Kabukicho. I've been there twice, very nice sunset.

[Rocchinator]

My work is killing me lately, I cannot get the time to finish the background but here its a sketch of what im working on. This is a though month.

[horusr]

wow

[Blondbraid]

Oh, is it a biker bar?

[lorenzo]

Stupot: that's a nice improvement over the previous version! Too bad about the tables and chairs.

Rocchinator: I love your background, Rocchinator! I hope you'll be able to find the time to keep working on it, but it's already great in its current state.

[Mandle]

Rocchinator: I love your background, Rocchinator! I hope you'll be able to find the time to keep working on it, but it's already great in its current state.

+1

OMG, that toilet though

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

Looking great everyone.. well done
Rocchinator you must finish that!

Also I am thinking this contest should have been called The Bar now hehe

Who will be first to feature a coffee percolator!

[Rocchinator]

Thanks for the feedback  people, I'm pushing it. It's not finished yet but in case I cant make it here is something... but its still in progress

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/L3FBdoz.png[/imgzoom]

[horusr]

[Misj']

It's a great theme, and I had an idea I wanted to draw...I even started some
early sketches. But I just can't find the time. It's really annoying because
I liked this one.

[Nixxon]

Nice work Rocc!

[lorenzo]

Rocchinator: how did you manage to make the toilet even more disgusting?! Great colours, they give the image a nice comic book feel.

Misj': that's too bad I would have loved to see your interpretation of the theme. If you feel like, you can show us some of those sketches, but I can understand if you don't want to.

I don't know if I can extend the deadline, I already changed it once. Having two background contests overlap probably didn't help.

[xBRANEx]

My entry is arriving today!

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

Love your final detailing/coloring rocc!
Cant wait for Misj and Branes now either!

[xBRANEx]

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/vdRuX5N.gif[/imgzoom]

Here it is! I promised myself I'll improve my pixel art skills this summer so I can finally start working on my dream game, the one I wanted to make in high school. I failed miserably in my first try, of course. I went through every little pitfall of the first game making experience.

Well, I'm coming back harder, still without the talents but I'll make the pixels align beautifully with brute force!!!

I learned so much doing this background and had so much fun. A lot of time was lost because I didn't know what I was doing but that's all the part of the process. I know this isn't the critics subforum but any advice and critique is more than welcome. It would be lovely if someone experienced who sees what I am doing wrong could explain to me what's faulty in my style. I lost patience and used gradients a lot in the end. I probably won't do that in the future but Tycho does that so elegantly I thought I could steal the trick. I thought wrong.

I added a little bit of animation at the end. I'm quite happy with that.

[horusr]

Loved that painting at the background

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

wow.. i saw this at a much much earlier stage..  first time seeing the complete version.. excellent work Brane!
Also I think you have done extremely well with this too, really nice cozy atmosphere. What is that tempting looking green bubbling drink!.. I'll have a large one of those please.

[lorenzo]

Great image, xBRANEx! Wonderful characters and atmosphere, so many nice details too. And the pixellated Van Gogh on the wall? Absolutely fantastic.

[Blondbraid]

Great entry, xBRANEx! The only thing missing is a few dogs playing poker in the back!
I've been thinking of entering myself, if I get the time to finish my entry!

[Danvzare]

Rocchinator: Ooh I like that. The style kind of reminds me of Sam and Max for some reason though.

xBRANEx: Whoa, that's awesome. I don't think I've ever seen an animated background for this contest before. I probably have, but I certainly don't remember.
Personally, I love the use of gradients. Then again, I just really love gradients, even when they're done horribly wrong.
As for any critiques. The only thing I can think of is the perspective. The corner of the room in the distance looks a little odd to me for some reason.

[Nixxon]

Wonderful Brane!

[lorenzo]

Hey Blondbraid, can you manage to finish your entry by tomorrow? Otherwise I can extend the deadline by a day or two, if no one minds.

[Blondbraid]

Hey Blondbraid, can you manage to finish your entry by tomorrow? Otherwise I can extend the deadline by a day or two, if no one minds.

Well, I'm almost half-way done and I think I might be finished today, if not I'll let you know.

[Blondbraid]

Well, here is my entry:

[lorenzo]

Fantastic image, Blondbraid! I love the subtle way it tells a story. The jpeg compression is quite aggressive, though, and it ruins the picture a bit.

It's time to vote!

Entries:

1. Stupot's café in the sky!


2. horusr's Ottoman café!
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/2n06khH.png[/imgzoom]

3. Cassiebsg's tropical bar!


4. Rocchinator's biker bar!
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/L3FBdoz.png[/imgzoom]

5. xBRANEx's animal-filled pub!
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/vdRuX5N.gif[/imgzoom]

6. Blondbraid's wartime café!

Voting categories:

Concept: your background should tell us something about the kind of patrons that regularly visit the bar.
Playability: does it have clear walkable areas, things to interact with, etc?
Artistic Execution: what's the feeling of the place? Does the image convey the wanted atmosphere?

Voting is open until the 1st of August.

[horusr]

You don't need to put mine on voting if I knew I would try to complete it(I tried but didn't work)

concept 5.xBRANEx I love that living dog food.
playability 2. horusr has lots of walkable areas joking
playability 4. Rocchinator I can interact with everything. It will get boring after 20 minutes of interaction but well, that is a good thing.
Artistic execution 3. Cassiebsg I can't even find words to describe this scene, amazing...

[Cassiebsg]

Concept: Rocchinator's biker bar!
Playability: Rocchinator's biker bar!
Artistic Execution: Blondbraid's wartime café!

Hard to choose, honest. Everyone did great job, and I would love to play all these games.

horusr, yours need a little bit more work, before it's useable in a game.... then again... maybe it's the invisible cafe that is gradually materializing before our very own eyes!

[horusr]

Well I just gave up after 10 minutes of work, but they still put it on voting

[Danvzare]

concept 6. Blondbraid's wartime café!   This one tells the clearest story if you ask me.
playability 4. Rocchinator's biker bar!   I can already see potential items to pick up, and possible puzzles.
Artistic execution 5. xBRANEx's animal-filled pub!   It's animated dude... ANIMATED!

[Gurok]

Concept: horusr
Playability: Stupot+
Artistic execution: Cassiebsg

[Riaise]

Concept: Stupot+ - The idea of the sky café is intriguing, I can imagine some dramatic scenes being set here.
Playability: Rocchinator - There is so much to look at and do, and I can see all sorts of puzzles taking place here.
Artistic Execution: Blondbraid - I love all of the details, and the poses of the characters tell a great story.

[Rocchinator]

Concept: Cassiebsg's tropical bar! Thats look like a place worth knowing
Playability: Blondbraid's wartime café! I can see a tension playability right there, and little time to act or a death screen will appear
Artistic Execution: xBRANEx's animal-filled pub! I can`t get enought of those animals so beautifull

[Stupot]

Concept: Brane. Love the animal bar :-)
Playability: Cassiebsg. I really want to explore this scene.
Artistic execution: Rocchinator. I love the style. Seemingly simple but with lots going on. Lovely stuff.

[funnyboy044]

Concept: Blondbraid
Playability: Rocchinator
Artistic Execution: xBRANEx

[Hobo]

Concept: xBRANEx
Playability: Rocchinator
Artistic Execution: Blondbraid

[Misj']

Concept: Blondbraid. I feel the story it tells is the most compelling and clear. And I feel that the addition of the prayer shawl raises the tension (first puzzle: we have to get it out of sight without raising suspicion). Plus I like the bleakness of the piece without it being depressing.
Playability: xBRANEx. It was a bit of a coin toss between x and Rocchinator, but in the end I felt that Rocchinator's piece played it a bit too safe. It's a very traditional one-point perspective that's completely centered. x's piece has a much worse perspective (or a very weirdly sized pool-table), but I feel it's a bit more daring.
Artistic Execution: Blondbraid. I just happen to like B's style and emotional storytelling. I don't like the tangent lines, or the perspective, or even the squiggliness of the lines themselves. Actually, from a technical (execution) point of view I feel it needs a few more paint-overs, and I would probably have voted for one of the other pieces...but the 'rules' focused on atmosphere, and that's something I think this piece has in spades.

All in all a nice selection of entries, and my votes would probably be different if I cast them tomorrow.

[xBRANEx]

Concept: Cassiebsg
Playability: Rocchinator
Artistic Execution: Blondbraid

I loved Rocchinator's bg the most. I felt like maybe even giving him all three votes but decided against it so the competition has more sense and it was a little bit unfair to not give votes to other great entries. I look forward to the next background contest, my art skills need a lot of more work!

[dactylopus]

Concept: Stupot+
Playability: Stupot+
Artistic Execution: Rocchinator

I honestly have a hard time with characters in a background.  Since this is a Background Blitz, the contest is really about the background itself, and as such I feel that characters take away from the spirit of the contest.  So I'm voting for Stupot+'s background, as it is the only one that is simply a background.  I like the concept, and it is very playable.  It's also perhaps the only one that truly depicts a café.

I'm voting for Rocchinator's in the category of Artistic Execution.  I think it looks wonderful.  Yes, it has a character, but it only has one, and that character is the bartender (who pretty much exists in tandem with a bar).  I still think this background works well without the bartender, and therefore I'll give it that consideration.  While this image actually depicts a bar rather than the theme of a café, I still feel that this one is deserving of the vote.

xBRANEx did some fantastic pixel work as well, but there are simply too many characters in the picture for me to get a true sense of the background itself.

[Blondbraid]

Concept: xBRANEx
Playability: Rocchinator
Artistic execution: Cassiebsg
It was a hard choice since I liked all of them, Cassiebsg's café looked the most like a screenshot from a finished game, while Roccinator's biker bar had so many cool details I could imagine interacting with, but xBRANEx's animal café looked fun too, and I liked that you animated the waggling tails!

[Tabata]

Concept:                Stupot+        (The only real pure Café background )
Playability:            Blondbraid    (Käsekuchen is served already and I need to know who or what hides underneath that trapdoor )
Artistic Execution: Rocchinator  (Mr. Fuzzy did it )


All entries are really interesting and have nicely aspects to discover for me.
Nevertheless I had a little prob with voting because most of them are looking more like a bar to me, sorry
Also some are more like 'in game' shots that would work perfectly as an extra- but not as the background entry itself.
That's of course just my personal

[cat]

Concept: Blondbraid. The background really tells a story.
Playability: Rocchinator with Cassiebsg as a close second. There is just so much to interact with.
Artistic Execution: Rocchinator Excellent pixel art!

[lorenzo]

Last day for voting!

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

I was really looking forward to seeing cafe`s  rather then bars, even though I know the rules stated saloons..etc  I also agree with dactylopus in that the point of this is to have the character and charm in the background itself without having to rely on actual characters, but since most of you have featured characters I feel I have no choice but to vote for the backgrounds as a whole including any characters.

Anyway...
Concept: - Stupot - A "background" for a background blitz! Also a dream location for me looking out to the city on a humid evening. Love it.
Playability: - Rocchinator - Yet another hit from Rocc, So much to explore in one room, great detailing and composition.
Artistic Execution: - Blondbraid - Out of all the entries this says "cafe" to me most. The color balance and mood really says it all. Is this in Holland during German occupation? If so I am curious about the picture of the Irish bishop!


It was tough, and I also wanted to vote from Brane too but I figured I didn't want it to look like I was voting just because we had worked together very recently. Cassie and horusr too, wonderful entries, pity you never got yours complete horusr.
Cassie I really love the 3D and intend to experiment with 3D myself whenever next I am doing a p+c game.

Thank you and well done everybody on entering,.  keep producing eye candy!

[selmiak]

Concept: Cassiebsg - *oders a pina colada*
Playability: Rocchinator - I'd love to walk around that bar and steal stuff from the barkeeper or just click on things
Artistic Execution: xBRANEx - I like this one the most

[Nixxon]

Concept: Cassiebsg
Playability: Rocchinator
Artistic execution: xBRANEx

Well done to all.

[lorenzo]

RESULTS

In 1st place we have... Rocchinator and his amazing biker bar!
As a trophy, you can choose between a classic blue cup...
...or a gold one...


In 2nd place we have... Blondbraid and his fantastic café!
Here's your silver cup:



In 3rd place we have... xBRANEx and his magnificent animals!
A bronze cup for you:



Congratulations to all winners!
Thanks everybody for participating, it has been great fun following the competition.

[horusr]

Congratz everyone!
Maan, now I want to drink coffee because of these cups...

[Stupot]

Well done Rocky, Blondie and Brainy. Good entries and stiff competition.

[Cassiebsg]

Congrats all, and thanks for all the nice comments on my BG. Okay, next time I'll be less lazy add the espresso machine and juice presser...

[Danvzare]

Congratulations you all.
And an extra big congratulations to you Rocchinator.

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

Congrats to the 3 winners and the runners up, er runner up's, your acquiring a nice collection of trophies rocc lol

[xBRANEx]

Oh, third place! I'm so happy! Can't wait the new blitz

[Riaise]

Congrats to the winners!

[Rocchinator]

Wow thanks to all I'm really happy! I will take the gold one . Congratulations to Blondbraid and xBRANEx. And congrats to lorenzo for this amazing BACKGROUND BLITZ.

I have... I think, a cool idea for the next BACKGROUND BLITZ stay tunned

[horusr]

Wait, colouring ball? :o

[Rocchinator]

HAHAHAH I miss that one. guess I'm was waiting for tycho's colouring ball in my mind LOL . I correct he message. thanks horusr

[horusr]

You must really get dizzy from happiness
Btw you stll thank to lorenzo for colouring ball

[Rocchinator]

*FACEPALM* Ok, I'm speechless.

[horusr]

No! You need to give a long speech! We, the audience, deserve it!

[dactylopus]

Congratulations, everyone!  There was a lot of skill on display in this competition, and in many different styles.  It was really a lot of fun to see all of the great images.

[Gurok]

Great colouring ball! Voting was tough.

[Blondbraid]

Thanks to everyone who voted and congratulations to Roccinator!