Background Blitz :: [April 1 - April 15] Winner Announced!

[brokenbutterfly]

That's a very nice background! I love pixels!

zyndikate for the romance, and nihilyst for the pixels! 

Very impressive background, I see you've used more of a pixel art style or do I have no idea what I'm talking about here? Just wondering why there's a letterbox in it, why would a lighthouse need one?

Well I think a lighthouse keeper is living there, there was a time when lighthouses were switched on/off manually 

[toonaholic]

this was fun, although I drew this instead of working on my game. maybe I will be able to use it later.

[Neil Dnuma]

Good topic, JBurger.

[ThreeOhFour]

Awesome entries everybody!!!

It's great to see so many people entering this thing!

[ildu]

Ahh, greatness. I love the hedge on that bg, neil. And yours looks awesome too, zynd . I probably won't have time, but I hope to enter. Activeness and the quality of the blitz does wonders to my motivation .

[Traveler]

At first I wanted to ask for an extension, but unfortunately, it's very unlikely that I can finish my image on time, so here is a WIP version. The (planned) final scene would've shown the lighthouse from an angle closer to Neil Dnuma's.

[TheJBurger]

I suppose it's time to vote, then?

The 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,
including 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.

Voting will last 48 Hours.

[Daniel Thomas]

Idea - nihilyst
Atmosphere - Neil Dnuma
Design - Neil Dnuma
Composition - Neil Dnuma
Functionality - nihilyst
Technique - nihilyst

[Neil Dnuma]

Idea - Zyndikate. I like the idea and challenge of putting the lighthouse in the fog. It takes a little while before you notice the actual lighthouse, since the eyes first focus on the building on the right. I wonder if the effect would have been stronger if the image was flipped, but thats probably my western way of reading things left-right.

Atmosphere - Zyndikate. Again the fog does the trick, along with the nice hues. To criticize something, I feel the massive yellow inside the door, with no distinguishable details is a bit hard to buy (at least for me), even in these romanticized circumstances. But then again you said it wasn't finished.

Design - Close, but I give this to nihilyst. There's a great deal of creativity with different elements; the tree, the rocks, the cloud. Another very good pixel background from you. I liked Ben's lighthouse as well, a certain cuteness to it.

Composition - Zyndikate pulls off the most interesting composition IMO. I think the setting in nihilyst's BG is exciting enough, but perhaps the different elements could have arranged in a different way, and also I didn't like the cropping of the top of the lighthouse.

Functionality - Zyndikate.

Technique - Zyndikate. I'm very impressed.

[Twirlly]

Idea - nihilyst
Atmosphere zyndikate
Design - Neil Dnuma
Composition - Neil Dnuma
Functionality - zyndikate
Technique - zyndikate

Some of these were very close in my eyes, but choices had to be made. Great effort all. I suck at drawing, so I wish I had half your talent.

[Traveler]

Idea - nihilyst
Atmosphere zyndikate
Design - nihilyst
Composition - zyndikate
Functionality - zyndikate
Technique - zyndikate

[Babar]

Idea - nihilyst

Atmosphere - zyndicate

Design - nihilyst

Composition - nihilyst

Functionality - nihilyst

Technique - nihilyst

[Snarky]

Idea - zyndikate (certainly somewhere I'd like to visit in a game)
Atmosphere - zyndikate (by a mile)
Design - Ben304 (I really like what you've done with the rocks, waves and tower. The rest still looks very unfinished)
Composition - zyndikate (I also like Neil's, especially for the pallette)
Functionality - nihilyst (mainly for having the most obvious points of interaction)
Technique - nihilyst (love the rocks, the fringes of grass on the cliff and the tree. zyndikate's unfinished entry still has a few too many rough edges. I also like Neil's very effective flat swatches.)

I do feel a need to point out that nihilyst's lightsource is all over the place. The shadows point one way (and aren't quite parallel), the shading another, and the shades of the grass (on the cliff vs. the ground) yet a third.

[brokenbutterfly]

Idea: zyndikate, I would love to see that place in a game, and visit the tavern(?)

Atmosphere: zyndikate all the way. So romantic as I said before.

Design: nihilyst. I like the looks of the cliff, the mailbox, bulletin board, and the little bulb at the top of the lighthouse.

Composition: Neil Dnuma. I really like the little stone wall next to the lighthouse, and the little house is right where it should be.

Functionality: nihilyst. I can imagine a little sprite walking around. Reminds me of the tower in Knightsquire

Technique: zyndikate. Even though he says otherwise 

[TheJBurger]

Zyndikate is the winner of this round! Congrats.

Thanks to everybody who entered.