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The theme for this Background Blitz is:
The Tower.
It can be inside the top floor of a towering skyscraper. Amid the steps of a tower of Doom. Atop a towering oak tree. As long as theres a generous amount of tall thing involved.
Be creative!
Limitations;
The background must be AGS compatible.
Categories for voting consist of;
IDEA
ATMOSPHERE
COMPOSITION
FUNCTIONALITY
Voting starts Monday, October 5th!
As many of you know, I like to experiment (slightly) with with styles...and this is where it brought me (this time).
It's still slightly in production; I'm not happy with some of the rendering...particularly concerning the focal-points: something that leads the eye to the tower, and makes the leafs of the tree pop out of the background. Both could be achieved by some simple change in colour I think.
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Misj_Blitz-Tower.png) (http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Misj_BB_051009_Blitz-Tower.png)
-- Click image for original version --
But I'm getting a bit fed up with this piece...so I'm not entirely sure whether I will finish it to fit my wishes. If I do I will of course update this post.
Quote from: Pinback on Sun 13/09/2009 08:23:13As long as theres a generous amount of tall thing involved.
Look..it's there in the back; you can borrow a magnifying glass if you wish ;)
EDIT: I've added highlights and shadows to put some additional focus on (particularly) the tree; and create some additional atmosphere to the image.
That reminds me quite a bit of an unfinished background screen I did for practice a while back, Misj':
(http://home.comcast.net/~snarkibartfast/images3/alien_planet.png)
NOT AN ENTRY (even though you can see a couple of ziggurat-like towers down on the plain in the distance).
It was mainly an attempt to do two-tone rocks; the rest was pretty much an afterthought.
Great work Misj'! I like it a lot!
About the focal points, I'm no expert but it seems to me that if you darken your shadows and add contrast and splashes of light, that should accentuate the focal point(s) you want to create. It will add a bit more depth too. Not that I think your piece needs changing, youve got a great style there, very eldritch and dreamy.
Forgive my arrogance, but I did a quick paint over to show you what I mean about the shadows:) This is simply a bit of black in the overhangs and some light yellow on the rock faces.
(http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/2724/shadowandlight.png)
NOT AN ENTRY (duh!)
Pinback, even though you're the thread starter; it's customary to keep c&c out of this forum, let alone paint-overs.
That being said, your edit is a very good one, and I think it would make a nice topic in the critics lounge.
Quote from: Snarky on Wed 23/09/2009 00:39:29That reminds me quite a bit of an unfinished background screen I did for practice a while back,
Well...you know what they say about great minds :)
Quote from: Pinback on Wed 23/09/2009 01:54:55About the focal points, I'm no expert but it seems to me that if you darken your shadows and add contrast and splashes of light, that should accentuate the focal point(s) you want to create. It will add a bit more depth too. Not that I think your piece needs changing, youve got a great style there, very eldritch and dreamy.
I agree, adding lights and shadows would have been my next step (it's one of the final steps when I draw). But I started to get a bit fed-up with the piece, and started sketching something for the sprite-jam in a different style. Chances are big - however - that I'll play with lights and shadows (particularly shadows) before the end of the competition.
But I didn't want to wait till the end to present the piece...hopefully it will remind people to add some entries (rather then forget like I did last time)
Quote from: Andail on Wed 23/09/2009 07:26:06Pinback, even though you're the thread starter; it's customary to keep c&c out of this forum, let alone paint-overs.
Sorry :)
Quote from: Andail on Wed 23/09/2009 07:26:06
Pinback, even though you're the thread starter; it's customary to keep c&c out of this forum, let alone paint-overs.
That being said, your edit is a very good one, and I think it would make a nice topic in the critics lounge.
My apologies, you see I couldnt seem to find a comprehensive set of rules for the activities. Speaking of which, I assume as thread starter I cant enter this competition myself?
To my knowledge you have fairly free rein, as long as the activity revolves around backgrounds, and is of customary duration.
Could probably enter yourself, though to avoid a situation where the host keeps getting repicked, you could either exclude yourself from voting process, or choose a another host selection system (a randomizer based one for instance).
A sloppy and rushed entry from me, just to practice a different sort of setting:
(http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/7982/tower.png)
For those interested in this sort of thing, I decided to only allow myself to use 2 layers to do this background, and I still think it turned out well enough (considering this restriction).
The moon looks a bit ordinary, as do many other elements, but I call it done and leave it as it is.
Edit: A little mockup, using an old sprite I did ages ago:
(http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/9699/towermockup.png)
Nice entry Ben!
Thought I would give this a go. I have never entered any of the competitions here before.
My original inspiration for this tower was from the plant towers in "Master of Defense", but with my own spin on it.
(http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz350/generalxenophon/towerbg002.jpg)
I'm not very comfortable with highlights & shadow yet or lighting in general. And I never do nightscenes, so decided that's what this one would be. Glad I decided to give this a try because I learned a lot on this little project!
(http://marcus.krupa.se/AGS/bb_091005.jpg)
Didn't have time to finish it up, so here it is in 320xsomething.
Might be a bit hard to see in this resolution, but there's an island in the center, featuring a weird tower.
Edit: With a character, for reference:
(http://marcus.krupa.se/AGS/bb_091005_w_char.jpg)
640xsomething version, hopefully making the island more visible, though I'm not sure the refinement level supports the resolution:
(http://marcus.krupa.se/AGS/bb_091005_640_w_char.jpg)
Well, we have a great turnout. Let the judging commence!
I'll kick it off.
IDEA: Ben304
ATMOSPHERE: Loominous
COMPOSITION: Ben304
FUNCTIONALITY: Loominous
I thought all the entries were simply wonderful, great job everyone.
Idea: Xenophon
Atmosphere: Ben304
Composition: Loominous
Functionality: Ben304
Idea: Ben304
Atmosphere: Ben304
Composition: Xenophon
Functionality: Loominous
IDEA: Loominous
ATMOSPHERE: Ben304
COMPOSITION: Ben304
FUNCTIONALITY: Loominous
Never vote for myself...and apparently everyone else agrees with not voting for me. ;)
Here are my votes:
IDEA: Loominous - What I like about this idea is that the tower is both the most and the least important thing in the shot: the entire scene exists around the tower (without the tower there wouldn't be the tours), but it's also clear the the player faces a puzzle as to get to the tower (it's far away), and the solution to this problem is clearly hinted (I suspect we go by boat).
ATMOSPHERE: Ben304 - It's of course a matter of taste, but I like this (somehow not really depressing) post-apocalyptic world.
COMPOSITION: Xenophon - There are a lot of different weights in this piece...in the end it's a little unbalanced, but a strong composition.
FUNCTIONALITY: Ben304 - This was the hardest one to choose. And I can't really motivate my decision. I could see all entries work well (though for different reasons) in a game.
First post, so here goes...
IDEA - Xenophon
ATMOSPHERE - Xenophon
COMPOSITION - Loominous
FUNCTIONALITY - Loominous
Hard voting, but here we go:
Idea: Misj'
Atmosphere: Loominous
Composition: Xenophon
Functionality: Loominous
Nice entries all round guys, it was great to be a part of this blitz :D
Idea: Xenophone (I liked the design idea of the pumpkin tree thingy, and since there was no design category to vote in, it something of a merger)
Atmosphere: Ben304 (While sci-fi atmospheres isn't my cup of tea, I think the style and palette works very well together to form a strong atmosphere/mood)
Composition: Ben304 (Though the pretty symmetrical composition is kinda dull (though tricky to avoid in these cases), the diagonals introduced mainly by the hole helped compensate.)
Functionality: Misj' (Flat styles like Ben's have a clear advantage in this category, so I tend to weigh the style trickiness against the outcome, and Misj's piece manages to feature three vertically varying but still well functioning action areas.)
This was a tough call...
IDEA - Loominous
ATMOSPHERE - Ben304
COMPOSITION - Loominous
FUNCTIONALITY - Misj'
Idea: Ben304. This was a tough category for me because none of the entries stood out as particularly innovative or took an interesting spin on the topic. Still, Ben's run down metal tower seemed the most interesting to me of the lot.
Atmosphere: Misj. There's a lot of wonderful scenery and colors and strange shapes to focus on with this background, giving it a lot of flavor compared to the other entries.
Composition: Ben304. I love the stark color choice and depth created inside the tower.
Functionality: Loominous. This is probably the first time I've given Loominous a vote for functionality, but here I feel it's well deserved. Compared to the other backgrounds and particularly in comparison to Ben's and Xenophon's entries, Loominous's background makes great and ample use of walkable areas and interactive sections with clearly marked exits. The other entries would 'work' in theory but their spaces are all very confined.
Voting is over. The results are in.
Ben304 has won by a nose! Congratulations!
Top three competitors are as follows;
Ben304: 15 votes
Loominous: 14 votes
Xenophon: 7 votes
Thanks again everyone for all the awesome entries, I think was a really good turnout. I certainly enjoyed it.
Ben304, the next round is your call buddy.
I for one will definitely be competing.
Hooray! I enjoyed doing this background and I thought the topic was really cool. Nice entries everyone, and I shall make a new blitz: Now.