Background Blitz - A glimmer of hope [WINNER ANNOUNCED]

[WHAM]

A glimmer of hope



All hope seems to be lost, there has been no way to recover from the terrible things that have happened, but then... Something!

You'll have three rules:
1. The scene must convey a scenario in which all hope has been lost
2. It must also have an element, a single object, that serves to give the player / protagonist that one glimmer of hope
3. AGS compatible

Ideas:
- A barren, dead wasteland of rubble and dust, but alas! A single sapling has poked it's head from the ruin!
- A shantytown for those poor, broken down wrecks that used to be men and women, but in the middle stands a single unbroken building offering aid to the hopeless
- A ship has been lost at sea for weeks, it's decks filled with debris and filth and signs of desperation, but alas! Land in the distance!

Deadline is on the 10th of June for now.

Have fun everyone!

[Big GC]

Captains log: Lost.... In space. Drawn to this planet by its gravitational pull. Sensors are damaged but tell us the air should be breathable. Just enough thrust left for a rough landing, but how will the crew survive after that? No food, No water and no communication. I fear this planet will be our tomb. I must now finish and prepare to chance our luck once more as we try to land...

[Misj']

Deadline is on the 10th of July for now.

I might have to ask for an extension. ;-)

on another note...I m actually working on something. So expect to count me in.

[WHAM]

Whoops, it seems I still occasionally mix up june and july... *embarrassed*
I did mean June 10th, but you probably realized that.

[Purange]

A really fun prompt, I took a while thinking where I was going to go with it, just popping in to say I'm brewing something up too 

[Misj']

There are still a few things I might change to the image before the end of the Blitz (if I find the time). But until then, Here's my entry so far (sorry for the 256 dithered colored GIF - the final image will be in glorious PNG )



oh...and it's just mildly bending the single object of hope rule

Misj'

[WHAM]

Interesting BG, Misj, and the scrolling effect is a cool touch!

[EchosofNezhyt]

There are still a few things I might change to the image before the end of the Blitz (if I find the time). But until then, Here's my entry so far (sorry for the 256 dithered colored GIF - the final image will be in glorious PNG )

oh...and it's just mildly bending the single object of hope rule

Misj'

Edit: My bad mods, forgot to consider others!


Nice drawing

Edited by mod: Please don't quote a whole post with images, especially when the images are large.

[amateurhour]

Just got around to this, so hopefully I'll make the deadline, but if not I wanted to post the rough. I took some liberties with the concept and went for more of a "barren wasteland... of space" feel, but hopefully I'll capture the rest.

Gonna break out the acrylics and try to paint it this weekend, otherwise I'll see if I can just ink it and color in Photoshop.

[EchosofNezhyt]

Looking good amateurhour, I say go acrylics I always like that look for pictures like that.

[amateurhour]

Thanks!

Eventually this summer I'm going to stop lurking in the competition and art threads and start making a few simple games, but right now I'm still trying to relocate my C++ knowledge from college 10 years ago while I teach myself C# and XNA.

Also I did a few space backgrounds a while ago for openRPG and posted them in one of their forums, I'm going to see if I can dig them up and re-size them for AGS and the resource thread.

[EchosofNezhyt]

Awesome, I'm a art guy but im a very very novice scripter/coder.

If I was skilled at both heh that'd be awesome.

[Misj']

(sorry for the 256 dithered colored GIF - the final image will be in glorious PNG )

Final version:

The isle of Britannia, 500 AD. The land is in ruin, the king has died, and there's just no decent place to buy some good Döner kebab anywhere (yes, I think that counts as a scenario where all hope is lost). Anyway, legend says that whomever pulls the sword from the stone, slices up some sheep, adds the right herbs and spices, roasts it on a rotating spit, puts in on some bread with vegetables, tops it off with some garlic sauce and sambal will become the greatest King of Kebab Britain has ever known.



(small version)


Left:


Right:


I've been wanting to draw a 'two-screen' background for a while now, and this Blitz felt like the right place to try it.

[WHAM]

My clock tells me it's sunday now (although in forum time the date will change in a bit over an hour)! Tonight is the deadline, so if anyone is still working on something, now it's time to crack the whip!

[EchosofNezhyt]

Good luck Misj'!

[Purange]

Oh gosh I cut that close

[EchosofNezhyt]

Wow I really like that one too.


Edit:
Don't ask...
[imgzoom]http://s7.postimage.org/sjpqdecl7/watersandywater.gif[/imgzoom]

[WHAM]

Final hours are at hand, ladies and gentlemen! Voting will begin in about 4 hours!

[Snarky]

The isle of Britannia, 500 AD.

Britannia is a land with two moons?

[amateurhour]

I didn't get to finish mine, so if it's not acceptable as-is feel free to take it out of voting. I've got a half finished ink job in photoshop right now but it looks worse than what I've already posted.

Where the hell did the time go this weekend?

[Misj']

The isle of Britannia, 500 AD.

Britannia is a land with two moons?

Nope...one moon shown twice, from a different position. It's basically two different backgrounds (the first from the top of a hill overseeing the enchanted forest and the second in the enchanted forest itself). These backgrounds are linked together with an overlay-area that looks like a single tree but is in reality a composition of the many many trees you would encounter if you walked down the stairs and through the forest.

The method is similar to this image from 'Layout and Composition for Animation' by Ed Ghertner (although I used horizontal scrolling and his superb example scrolls vertically):


So, no...Britannia does not have two moons (regretfully). But you are allowed to make two photographs from the same moon without being arrested. And that makes up for something.

[WHAM]

Voting time, ladies and gentlemen!

We have the usual categories:
Idea: Was it an original/creative interpretation of the theme?
Atmosphere: Was an interesting world created? - Did the scene evoke a feeling?
Design: How well the individual elements are designed, from clouds to doorknobs.
Composition: How well the elements are combined to create a pleasing whole, and lead the viewer to the points of interest.
Functionality: How well it would work as a background, with clearly defined entries and walkable areas, as well as a good viewing angle (this also includes introductionary shots of an area as long as a player character can be present in the scene).
Technique: How well it's rendered (within the chosen style!), in no way meaning the more elaborate the better.

You may elaborate on your choices, but that's optional.
I won't vote unless we have a tie.

[EchosofNezhyt]

Atmosphere: Purange
Design:  Misj
Composition: Purange
Functionality:  Misj
Technique: Purange

[Big GC]

Idea: Purange.
Atmosphere: Purange. Just looked like zombies were going to flood in any minute.
Design: Purange. Again just buetiful to look at.
Composition: Purange.
Functionality: Misj' - As an out and out backgroung it (they) are perfect for adventure games.
Technique: Purange.

In all honesty all of these could have been a flip of the coin between Purange and Misj' it only came down to my prefernce for post apocalyptic themes over medievil.

[Jakey]

Atmosphere: Frito Master (I teared up a little for the poor guy... )
Design:  Purange
Composition: Purange
Functionality:  Misj
Technique: Purange

[Purange]

Idea: Big GC
Atmosphere: Big GC
Design:  Misj
Composition: amateurhour
Functionality:  Misj
Technique: Misj

edit: whoops I forgot the idea category, amended now

[amateurhour]

Idea: Big GC
Atmosphere: Big GC
Design: Purange(those colors are gorgeous and the lines are incredible)
Composition: Misj
Functionality: Purange
Technique: Purange

[WHAM]

And the winner is...

! PURANGE !
and his incredibly well drawn and atmospheric light in the dark!


Congratulations on my part as well, you gathered a total of 14 votes of the total of 27 votes cast in all categories!
Feel free to kick up the next competition when you feel ready, and sorry to everyone for posting this half-a-day late (forgot)!

[EchosofNezhyt]

Grats Purange.

[Misj']

Congrats Purange!

Looking forward to the next Blitz

[Purange]

ooh thankyou everyone for the votes, there were some other lovely entries. Lets see if I can drum up a nice theme then