Background Blitz 24th Feb. - 14th Mar. (WINNER ANNOUNCED)

nihilyst · Sat 24/02/2007 12:34:49

Suburban Neighbourhood

Hi, folks!

This time your background has to be set somewhere in an suburban neighbourhood or in the neighbourhood of a small town or something. You're free in where to set your background. It could be row houses, a small store, a playground, a park, gardens, a tram stop, whatever you like. You also could have it set in the morning, afternoon, evening, night, or that time of day you appreciate most.

But your background HAS TO
- be set outside.

Your background CAN HAVE
- all the resolutions you can choose in AGS
- as much colours as you want it to have

Now let's begin the fun. I'm looking forward to see astonishing backgrounds from you.

--- Cut and paste from previous competition posts ---
Voting categories

Idea - The underlying idea to the background. Doesn't
necessarily have to coincide perfectly with the theme of the
week, just strike you as interesting/amusing/inspiring; a place
you'd really enjoy visiting within a game.

Atmosphere - How well the image manages to evoke a certain feeling or mood.

Design - How well the elements in the image are designed,
such as landscapes, buildings, decorations, clouds, doorknobs,
etc.

Composition - How well the elements in the image work
together/are positioned in relation to each other.

Functionality - How well it would work when adding sprites, i
ncluding appropriate walking distances, a good angle for
character sprites, clever walkway solutions, easily understood
exits, etc.

Technique - How well the ideas are executed in form of
rendering.

Anyone is welcome to vote, and it would be great if all
participants could provide their own. You don't have to vote
in all categories, and if provide multiple names in a category,
then please be clear about which one is your pick.
--- end cut and paste ---

nihilyst · Sun 04/03/2007 11:53:13

Well, more than a week no one entered this competition. Is the topic boring? Should I change it? Should I extend the deadline or make you some coffee?

Peder 🚀 · Sun 04/03/2007 11:54:33

Give me some talent

. lol..

But serious... I dont find your topic boring!!

Maybe I shall give it a try!

.
Would be my second attempt to a background blitz.

Peder.

Buckethead · Sun 04/03/2007 12:15:24

I'm rather busy with doing stuff for school. I thik I can enter if the deadline get's extended with a day or 2.

ildu · Sun 04/03/2007 12:50:02

No ideas or inspirations so far. Plus, I'm pretty busy these days.

Creed Malay · Sun 04/03/2007 16:09:23

Didn't have much time, but this thread was making me sad, sitting here all empty and all.

anonymous street at dawn.

Peder 🚀 · Sun 04/03/2007 18:00:30

Here is my.... try $:-\$

X2

[Edit:]
I edited the colours a bit.. tooooo dark

.
Not that it made the background any better $:-\$ .

Peder.

loominous · Mon 05/03/2007 00:25:27

I really like the idea, and am eager to try some ideas out, but havn't had any time so far. If you'd extend it a couple of days, I'll give it a shot.

nihilyst · Mon 05/03/2007 00:50:03

I've extended the compo to the 14th of March. I hope you'll find some spare time.

bradless · Tue 06/03/2007 07:05:31

hey is there an easier way of posting pictures other than copying the link from your website to it. I really would love to know.

R4L · Tue 06/03/2007 11:48:43

Quote from: bradless on Tue 06/03/2007 07:05:31
hey is there an easier way of posting pictures other than copying the link from your website to it. I really would love to know.

How do I post images, smileys and formatting?

Searching is a nice, nice thing...

Daniel Thomas · Wed 07/03/2007 03:42:04

My entry. It was suppose to be for a gouache-painting but I sucked big time so I just colored it in photoshop, didnt finnish it though - looks more like a sketch.

Traveler · Wed 07/03/2007 03:49:49

Man, I'd love to do sketches like that! :o

nihilyst · Wed 07/03/2007 16:37:36

Wow, zyndikate. Your bg has a great feeling and atmosphere.

ildu · Wed 07/03/2007 17:12:34

Zynd, Zyndman, the Zyndikator, making copies, upping the ante

. Yes, I'm definately entering this one

. Great great job, zynd. The colors are excuisite.

Da_Elf · Thu 08/03/2007 02:31:42

well we DEFINATELY know who is winning this

gypsysnail · Thu 08/03/2007 11:38:16

zyndikate zyndikate zyndikate!! Wow!! That bg is just totally amazing! I hope, really hope that you will use it in a game! To others, you have done a great job too!!! I hope I will have time to finish a background for this comp, I am goin away this weekend for my bday but hopefully when I get back I can finish it in time.

Daniel Thomas · Thu 08/03/2007 12:58:31

Well, that got many positive comments, kinda surprised actually - didnt feel that good when I stoped coloring it. But thanks for the kind words.

I doubt Ill use it in a game. I already have my hands full with the games im working on atm, and its not finnished.

I hope ildu and loominous post some too.

Sparky · Sat 10/03/2007 06:40:47

Baby mothra tries not to step on cars on the way to her birthday BBQ, which is to be hosted by her good friend Mr. Johnson of 232 Maple St.

Chicky · Sat 10/03/2007 12:49:21

ace

TheJBurger · Tue 13/03/2007 22:56:47

Quiet night in a suburban town.

Layabout · Wed 14/03/2007 00:27:38

ooh. I certainly like that Jburger. Fantastic stuff. Very establish shot-ish.

Snarky · Wed 14/03/2007 02:39:24

Glorious. Except... the dark side of the moon is never darker than the surrounding sky, because the background light (as opposed to direct light from stars etc.) is atmospheric. Space itself is black, remember.

TheJBurger · Wed 14/03/2007 03:13:19

Quote from: Layabout on Wed 14/03/2007 00:27:38
ooh. I certainly like that Jburger. Fantastic stuff. Very establish shot-ish.

Thanks.Ã,Â

Quote from: Snarky on Wed 14/03/2007 02:39:24
Glorious. Except... the dark side of the moon is never darker than the surrounding sky, because the background light (as opposed to direct light from stars etc.) is atmospheric. Space itself is black, remember.

You're probably right about that. I'm not too knowledgeable about those sort of things. I could change it... but I think I'll just leave it as is for the competition.

Layabout · Wed 14/03/2007 03:14:16

No! It's not the dark side of the moon! or the moon itself! It's a circular doorway mid-opening!!! Get it right!!!

Sparky · Wed 14/03/2007 05:41:48

Nice work TheJBurger. I especially like the palm trees. The lights in the background are well drawn, they have a nice variety of sizes.

ildu · Thu 15/03/2007 00:05:21

Yeah, so it's suburbia in the somewhat near future. I started this as a speedpainting last week, but it was left unfinished. Now that the deadline was tonight, I wasn't going to finish it, but then... I did

. I painted like 80% of the image in under two hours. I felt physically awful, since I hadn't taken a break to eat anything and my head was pounding because of that. After I got this done, I almost passed out, but I managed to cram some food in my mouth

. So yeah, Some details are crapped because of the time.

Cityscape [2 hours] + street & curb base textures [1 hour] + everything else [2 hours] = 5 hours

nihilyst · Thu 15/03/2007 01:32:33

Okay, that'll be a though one, I believe. It's the 15th now, so it's voting time:

-----------------------VOTING TIME--------------------------

The voting categories are:

Idea
Atmosphere
Design
Composition
Functionality
Technique

You can find a brief description to each of them in the first post.
You don't have to vote in all the categories, if you're unsettled.
It would be great, if you commented on the backgrounds you voted for.

Voting will end in around 24 hours.

cheers
nihilyst

TheJBurger · Thu 15/03/2007 01:57:31

Idea: Sparky - This one made me smile.

Atmosphere: Zyndikate - I love the warm colors and feelings on this one.

Design: Zyndikate - Everything has a nice, cartoony, CoMI feel to it.

Composition: Sparky - Nice angle for a giant monster.. thing.Ã,Â

Functionality: Zyndikate - This one really reminded me of Willy Beamish... in a CoMI kind of way. And it would work great in a game too.

Technique: Zyndikate - The style is just so clean and crisp and it looks great too.

Captain Lexington · Thu 15/03/2007 03:35:31

Everything: The JBurger.

This background is so beautiful. I have an affinity for city lights at night, and also for stars, for suburban homes, and finally for mountains...

So this is just about the perfect picture. The feel is nice and artistic, but not cartoony or over the top.

I want to stick my head out the window and look at what I can of Downtown St Paul right now.
This may sound strange, but I can smell that picture. I can hear it.

And here is my txt LucasArts award:

| \ O /
| | |
| / \

I hope you win, man!

gASK · Thu 15/03/2007 06:33:25

Idea - ildu - I like what he did, if I could draw like he can, that's what I would create

Atmosphere - TheJBurger. I just feel like I am there, in the quiet night.
Design - TheJBurger
Composition - ildu.
Functionality - zyndikate. I mean - I can see this image begging to be used in a game, it is just perfect. So many places to walk to, so many thing to interact with.
Technique - TheJBurger.

Medical Waste · Thu 15/03/2007 07:10:54

Idea - Sparky: only one to go well beyond the street/houses idea with the giant monster.

Atmosphere - ildu: I like the contrast of the house and trees with the harsh styled buildings of the city, that with the colours used and the cloudy sky creates a sort of dysopian future atmosphere.

Design - ildu

Composition - zyndikate: I like the flow of it, especially the tree.

Functionality - TheJBurger

Technique - ildu: perfect techinique in my opinion.

vict0r · Thu 15/03/2007 09:30:56

Idea: Ildu
Atmosphere: Ildu
Design: Zyndikate
Composition: Ildu
Functionality: TheJBurger
Technique: Ildu

Neil Dnuma · Thu 15/03/2007 12:00:38

Idea: Sparky. Gotta love it.
Atmosphere: Tough one, but I'm going with TheJBurger. It's as if you can tell the exact temperature.
Design: Close between zyndikate and Ildu. Ildu gets the edge for the cityscape with all the fascinating wires.
Composition: Seems like a hard task to compose a neighbourhood interestingly. Ildu does the job best IMO.
Functionality: Zyndikate. One could argue against small details, but getting this one working should be easy. And the scaling is good for AG's.
Technique: Zyndikate. Close with Ildu, both have interesting things going on. Z's coloring could have been a little more finished, Ildu's a little less green. It's cool, but post Matrix there's been a tad to much green-tinting going on to my taste. Apart from the color, I like it!

Da_Elf · Thu 15/03/2007 13:53:28

Idea: zyndikate
Atmosphere: zyndikate
Design: zyndikate
Composition: zyndikate
Functionality: zyndikate
Technique: zyndikate

sorry. hehe i just looove that piece...by my honerable mentions would be TheJBurger then Ildu
i was tempted to enter http://www.elfpro3d.com/TAG/unit2.jpg but i did those a year ago so that would have been cheating and i dont wanna be a cheater

Steel Drummer · Thu 15/03/2007 14:33:24

Everything for...

TheJBurger!

except for idea, which goes to

Sparky!

JBurger's was awesome. Looks like something from one of their later games, like Full Throttle.

Buckethead · Thu 15/03/2007 18:14:14

I wanted to enter this but with all these great entries I guess it's ok that I didn't. I would have looked like a noob amognst those talented people anyway.

Daniel Thomas · Thu 15/03/2007 19:36:45

Idea - ildu
Atmosphere - ildu - close with Jburger
Design - ildu
Composition - ildu
Functionality - jburger
Technique - ildu

ildu · Thu 15/03/2007 23:20:09

Yes, spare minutes again...

Idea: Sparky - I guess it's the only entry that really deviates from the standard. zyndikate was close, since his environment didn't look like a setting you would expect from a theme like this.

Atmosphere: TheJBurger - zyndikate's got some very nice atmosphere going on, but TheJBurger's entry conveys a much clearer message. Reminds me a lot of the Hollywood hills.

Design: zyndikate - Awesome design, and even awesomer coloring. Everything looks so delightful, it's hard not to love it.

Composition: zyndikate - I really don't know who else to give this to. I like how the tree kind of covers the areas, though I can't help but feel like the bg is part of a bigger image.

Functionality: Creed Malay - I like the slanted view - it's like a semi-isometric view. I'd like to see how this would implemented with a character, and how the scaling and such would be handled. Close call for zyndikate as well.

Technique: zyndikate - Yeah, what the hell can I say

? I love the brush work and coloring. And the inked outlines just emphasize the coolness. What attracts me to it most is that whole Project Joe meets Les Triplettes de Belleville feeling. Let's trade brushes

.

nihilyst · Fri 16/03/2007 00:21:08

Okay, 24 hours have passed, and we have a winner:

Third Place: ildu (with 16 votes)
Second Place: zyndikate (with 18 votes)
First Place: TheJBurger (with 19 votes)

Congratulations to all of you. Your backgrounds were amazing.

TheJBurger, now it's up to you.

cheers
nihilyst

TheJBurger · Fri 16/03/2007 05:05:29

Wow, this was a close one. It seemed like it almost might've been a tie back there.

Great backgrounds everyone. I'll try to post a new Blitz as soon as I get a good theme.