Background Blitz - Haunted Hotel (May 17-31, 2011) WINNER!

[oraxon]

Topic: A haunted hotel.

Exterior or interior. Any time, place, or genre. It can be comic. Just has to be haunted.

If you want to include human...or...non-human characters, that's great, but voting will be based on the background alone.

Technical restrictions: AGS compatible.

Voting: Starts June 1st unless someone wants an extension. Good luck!

[vertigoaddict]

To be completely honest I hate this background of mine, but I saw no one had entered and I felt perhaps I could help get it moving.



Haunted hotel interior, bloody footsteps lead underneath the bed Ooooh scawy...

size, basic 320x240

NB: This is my first time using a tablet to make a barckground in photoshop- I got frustrated.

[oraxon]

vertigoaddict, you rock. Thank you for posting and keeping this Blitz going. Congrats on your first tablet-photoshop background!
Good idea with the footprints. I would not stay in that hotel room unless the price was very reasonable.

[Sam.]

I have something in the works. reserving a space i suppose!

[WHAM]

I'm already working on some haunted backgrounds, so participating in this would be some great practice. I'll start working on a BG today.
Will a motel do?

[Creed Malay]

didn't have much time, but had an idea so had a go.

[oraxon]

...reserving a space i suppose!

Your reservation has been accepted, Zooty. Please enjoy your stay at the Haunted Hotel. 

Will a motel do?

Absolutely, WHAM. I am already terrified.

Great job, Creed Malay! Awesome idea, colors, lighting...did...did that TV just take a step forward? Did you guys see that? Ok, I'm starting to freak out.

[Alan v.Drake]

I saw this in one of my dreams, I figured it would suit the purpose.

- Alan

[Hudders]

I saw this in one of my dreams, I figured it would suit the purpose.

- Alan

That's creepy.

I get the feeling that if that happened in my house I'd just ignore it and walk on the other side of the staircase though.

[oraxon]

Whoa. Superb entry, Alan. If that's how you dream, I do NOT want to see your nightmares.

Update: am now unable to leave my room for fear of hall hands. Thanks a lot.

[WHAM]

Progress is slow, but it's there. Since two of the entries are animated so far, I thought of adding a little animated element myself. Let's see how it works. I'm hoping to be able to post my pic on saturady.

[arj0n]

Alan, that's a great entry.

Reminded me of a comic of Don Lawrence; Storm - City of Doomed:

[Vukul]

Haunted Hotel, the true nature of which only shows itself in complete darkness...
(unfortunately, didn't have enough time and/or skill to portray it just as it should look like)

Mockup: Jane entering the hotel out from the street, soaked by the rain... (examines 'prices & services' poster)

[WHAM]

"Look honey, I think we can stay here!"

"You sure? I don't like the look of that place..."

"Oh come on, at least its not abandoned like that last place, look, someone's watching TV up there."

"Did you see that?"

"What?"

I have to admit I used a reference pic. I wasn't sure if this is acceptable or not, so I decided to mention it. The original pic is here: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/3053712722_c59566b444.jpg

Didn't quite get it done as well as I would have liked, but I got some new inspiration to work on an actual game, so I'm still pleased. 

[gameboy]

Tried something too.



After getting lost in the woods Joey and his friends finally found a place to spend the night. But it turns out there are strange things going on in the old building. Step into the shoes of Joey, Zack and Emily and uncover the dark secret of the hotel, solve mysterious puzzles and get out alive!

[oraxon]

Jackpot today, thanks everyone!

ArjOn - cool link, though it's not helping me with my new pathological fear of hands.

Vukul - nice attention to detail. Intrigued by the little ghost-thing in box 19. Looking forward to a mockup, if you have time!

WHAM - worth the wait! Glad it inspired a game. Thanks for pointing to the reference. It's totally acceptable to me - maybe some won't vote for it in the Composition category, but that's up to them. The way you used it is original.

gameboy - beautiful. Great colors & composition. I am drawn irresistibly toward the hotel even though it fills me with dread. Quietly terrifying.

[vertigoaddict]

I thought it should be alright to use a reference image, nothing was said about it in the rules?

[Neil Dnuma]

edit. Some cleanup.

[Ilyich]

Wow, a lot of awesome entries this time! I especially like Alan V. Drake's and Neil Dnuma's entries, great job, guys!

[oraxon]

vertigoaddict - We're completely agreed. Nothing against reference in the rules. I'm a big fan of reference. In fact, here's the flickr pic that became this competition's illustration at the top: http://www.flickr.com/photos/christianmontone/4483056012/   

Neil Dnuma - Awesome entry. A pleasant hotel, and yet those creepy dead trees that look like grasping hands...this vacation won't end well.

[Vukul]

Posted a mockup. See original post.

[oraxon]

Thanks, Vukul! You've got us hooked. Maybe in some other Blitz we'll see if Jane survives...

Almost at the deadline, everyone. Just post a note if you need more time.

[oraxon]

Amazing-terrific entries. Thanks to everyone, it was great to see the big turnout.
It's voting time!

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

Voting ends midnight June 2nd so vote today!

Code: ags

[b]Idea[/b] -
[b]Atmosphere[/b] -
[b]Design[/b] -
[b]Composition[/b] -
[b]Functionality[/b] -
[b]Technique[/b] - 

[Neil Dnuma]

Idea - Alan V. Drake
Atmosphere - Alan V. Drake
Design - Alan V. Drake
Composition - gameboy
Functionality - Creed Malay
Technique - Alan V. Drake

[Anian]

Idea - Alan V. Drake
Atmosphere - Alan V. Drake
Design - Creed
Composition - Dnuma
Functionality - Creed
Technique - Dnuma

[WHAM]

Idea: Alan v.Drake (Unexpected and original)
Atmosphere:  Alan v.Drake (I'd shit my pants if I saw that happen in real life)
Design:  gameboy (love the night sky)
Composition:  Alan v.Drake (The detail, the door, the doll, the hands, the pale light... wow)
Functionality:  Creed Malay (Enough room for a character to move and clearly defined doorways)
Technique: gameboy (Solid and smooth style throughout, pleases my eye)

[Vukul]

Idea - Alan V. Drake
Atmosphere - Alan V. Drake
Design - Alan V. Drake
Composition - WHAM
Functionality - Creed Malay
Technique - Alan V. Drake

[Alan v.Drake]

Idea -
Atmosphere -
Design - Dnuma
Composition - gameboy
Functionality - Creed Malay
Technique - Dnuma

[Ilyich]

Idea - Alan V. Drake
Atmosphere - Alan V. Drake
Design - Alan V. Drake
Composition - gameboy
Functionality - Vukul
Technique - Alan V. Drake

[cat]

Idea - Creed Malay
Atmosphere - Alan v.Drake
Design - Creed Malay
Composition - Alan v.Drake
Functionality - Vukul
Technique - gameboy

[2dMatty]

Looking forward to having a go of this competition next round

My votes go to:

Idea - Alan v.Drake
Atmosphere - Alan v.Drake
Design - Creed Malay
Composition - Alan v.Drake
Functionality - Creed Malay
Technique - Creed Malay

[Creed Malay]

Awesome work everyone! Some really evocative entries here.

Idea - Alan V. Drake
Atmosphere - WHAM
Design - Gameboy
Composition -Alan V. Drake
Functionality - Vukul
Technique - Alan V. Drake


Vukul - Am I right in thinking that the idea behind your entry is that the "spotlight" would follow the mouse cursor, and things would look normal when lit by the spotlight, and all creepy and crawly otherwise?

[Vukul]

Creed, yes, essentially you're right. But for the sake of the background drawing competition I've put the light around a, so to say, 'natural' lightsource (the lamp in this case).

[gameboy]

Idea - Alan v.Drake
Atmosphere - WHAM
Design - Alan v.Drake
Composition - Neil Dnuma
Functionality - Creed Malay
Technique - Alan v.Drake

[oraxon]

And the winner is...

Alan v.Drake! Congratulations!



Thanks to everyone for entering and voting!

[Alan v.Drake]

Cool, my first time winning at ags competitions.
So now it's up to me starting a new one, I'll came up with something soon.


- Alan