Over the Edge - Now with mini backdrop tutorial!

[Gravity]

You call that art? Bah, I could do way better than that. In my dreams, anything is possible. Sadly I have to wake up and face reality but I try to put that off as long as possible.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Backgrounds are very impressive.  I hope you follow through and finish this as it will no doubt be quite popular!

[tredlow]

Nice! Reminds me of Grim Fandango.

[theo]

Thanks again all!

Just wanted to drop by and say things are moving nicely and that the deadline still seems realistic.
The last pieces of music are now falling into place and maaaan does it feel good. 

Here's another quickie to keep the thread interesting. I've been getting questions regarding the technique behind the pictures. I realize this isn't exactly a tutorial but maybe it will be of interest to some of you at least! Maybe I can make a more proper rundown once chapter 1 is released and I feel less stressed out.



Oh and GarageGothic, I'm sorry but I think that font is there to stay. It gives me a nice retro vibe. Perhaps it's a bit too common among ags games though... something a bit more original would be nice but I like how easy it is to read. And after all that has got to be the most important thing, no?

[Igor Hardy]

Unfortunately, I don't have anything original to say. Just that the screens looks superbly stylish, incredibly polished and that you've put a lot of thought in designing the visuals and the "world".

[Haggis]

Not only have you created a stunning game - you've gone to the extra effort of passing on detailed advice to others on how to create similarly amazing backgrounds! I salute you sir.

...

Now finish it so i can play it. 

[Sughly]

Pretty interesting approach to colouring and lighting. Might experiment with this one day  , though my judgement of light needs some work to get to your level.

Again, looking very nice. Can't wait to play...

[Stupot]

ditto.  This game looks superb

I'd offer to beta-test too, but actually I don't want to be spoiled for when I play the final version.

You say this is Chapter 1, and that it has taken 4 years to make... does that mean we're gonna have to wait another 4 years for Chapter 2?

[GarageGothic]

Thank you so much for that workflow explanation!!! (saved to harddrive straight away). The initial coloring by light value is something I've never tried myself, despite Loominous' breathtaking demonstrations of the technique in the C&C forum. Most of his stuff is quite monochrome or washed out compared to what I'm going for, though, so I didn't consider adopting the approach.
But after seeing the vibrant colors and stark contrasts in your screenshots, I think this could be exactly what I should have been doing all along. (Or at least now that I've bought a better tablet and don't have to rely on scanned pencil drawings colored by mouse using polygon selection tool and gradient fills). Thanks again.

Oh and GarageGothic, I'm sorry but I think that font is there to stay. It gives me a nice retro vibe. Perhaps it's a bit too common among ags games though... something a bit more original would be nice but I like how easy it is to read. And after all that has got to be the most important thing, no?

I totally respect that. It's just that once I see some default whatever too many times, they start rubbing me the wrong way. In some cases it makes more sense than others (e.g. the default AGS cursors are neither very stylish nor easily recognizable). Here it was more of a knee-jerk reaction.

[off-topic rant: Back when I used to make levels for Duke Nukem 3D (I think, or possibly Blood, but at least one of the two), there was one specific stone wall texture that was used by default on any new wall you created - never once could make myself use it in a map although it was a perfectly good texture, and would in no way stand out for someone just playing. And don't get me started on my loathing of the Poser 5 casual male default model... ]

I still think a different style of retro font could compliment the artwork better though. The current one looks very thin, like it's intended for use on a solid background rather than as free-floating text. LucasArts generally used bolder fonts for that, and it seems to work quite well with an art style similar to yours in Full Throttle and The Dig.

[Sughly]

Actually come to think of it, the pic in black and white before you added colour looks pretty nice. Would love to see you doing noir - it's too bad you didn't have a go at the noir theme background comp 

[theo]

Stupot: the four years have also included loads and loads of work on the remaining three chapters. They are extremely far from finished, but well fleshed out story and art wise. I haven't started any of the scripting and animation of those chapters though and in my experience, thats what takes time. Primarily the animation. So, no, it wont take 4 years per chapter but it's certainly not going to go fast, I can tell you that much. A rough estimate is that you can expect chapter 2 one year after the chapter 1 release. But who knows:)

GarageGothic: I know what you mean regarding shying away from default stuff. I do this too. Perhaps if I find the time I'll look into font alternatives. Regarding the coloring technique: I usually start out in monochrome and then add color by selections, but it is nearly as common that I simply paint directly with color. The first method is very nice to use when the backdrop has simple harsh lightsources with obvious gradients. When I start going outside and you want a nice play of shadows on the ground and lots of happy colors everywhere, I simply paint with color. Usually everything is a combination of both methods. I could make another rundown some other time with more details regarding the techniques.

Sughly: Chapter two will have a lot more of a noir mood to it. I'm not going all out monochrome though. I find that restriction incredibly effective in many ways but the Journey Down is a colorful world and I want to keep it that way, even the noir-ish mood gets strong colors in the Journey Down!

[Monsieur OUXX]

Many of my backdrops use warm vs. cold lighting. It works every time.

You just opened my eyes. Never thought of that, but it's true the result is striking. My life will never be the same again!

[cianty]

What a wonderful world you are creating here... I lvoe it! I can't wait to start exploring it, ie. hope it won't take too long.

[Benjiman33]

Life is unfair... people like you have a real talent for drawing and it becomes easier to make a splendid video game ! 
For people like me it can takes days to draw a background that, let's say, reach 10% of the beauty of yours...
Seriously, congrats for these pictures, I hope your story will be up to your graphics... !

[CosmoQueen]

Five years? WOW that is some incredible dedication you put into this! It looks so professional, like a game you'd pay money for. I can't wait to play this!

[Miguel R. Fervenza]

I think you followed the correct path to get a great game. Art and concept look very nice, congratulations. I was a lurker for a long time too, but this project convinced me to write.

Saúdos

[theo]

In a mad stunt of heroism I have now added the finished game to the AGS library.

Please enjoy!

And for the love of Thor, please let me know what you think.

[Jimbob]

Awesome! Downloaded!

[Darth Mandarb]

Congrats on finishing your game!!

Please make a post in the Completed Games board to really let people know it's ready for download!