Background Blitz: Old Religion - WINNERS!

[waheela]

If you say so, Miez! Good luck!

[Armageddon]

Well, pfff - I might not be able to finish this puppy in time (however: I'll certainly try tomorrow )
But what the hell, I might as well share a little work in progress sketch:

[imgzoom]http://www.miez.nl/tmp/OR_wip.png[/imgzoom]

Wow this looks so cool. Are you painting under the lines and using the smudge tool?

@Kasander, Love that art style.

[Miez]

Nope, just using the lines as a sketch - all the other work is pixels and more pixels

[Miez]

Yay! 23:41 my time and it's done. Bit of a rush job but it'll have to do! 320x240, unlimited palette.

[imgzoom]http://www.miez.nl/tmp/old_religion.png[/imgzoom]

The main temple building is based upon these two photos I took at Mittens 2009 - a design for "Portals of the Pacific" (for the 1939 World's Fair). Just how bat shit insane are these cthonic monstrosities?

[waheela]

AGGHHHHHH! MIEZ THAT IS SO GOOD!!! So glad you finished in time! Superb job!

*edit* It's 6:00pm (PST) on my watch right now, so if there's any last minute submissions, get 'em posted!

[Miez]

I feel I should give it more attention but i'm too tired right now. I'll just call it a day. Gotta get some sleep.
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/dQ0mKVu.png[/imgzoom]

Wow ... beautiful painting style!

[waheela]

Ok, no more entries! Voting begins now!
*edit: (Voting concludes Mar 30)*

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 game 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.

Here are all the entries side by side:

CaptainD's submission:
[imgzoom]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vAbv47hsIBI/UTihQ2jEROI/AAAAAAAASIk/9gLgz9PzZbM/s320/March+2013.png[/imgzoom]

Kastchey's submission:
[imgzoom]http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii203/Kastchey/shrine_986g_02_zps7750bcd8.png[/imgzoom]

Lasca's submission:



Kasander's submission:



Miez's submission:
[imgzoom]http://www.miez.nl/tmp/old_religion.png[/imgzoom]


Good luck everybody! Thanks so much for submitting!

[CaptainD]

Wow this is difficult to judge... great entries!

Idea: Kastchey - seemed the most original use of the idea
Atmosphere: Kasandar - shades of Munch here!
Design: Kastchey - really liked the way this screen was designed.
Composition: Miez - the eye is wonderfully drawn from the foreground elements to the temple then up to the moon(s?)
Functionality: Lasca - a close one, but I think Lasca's would be most readily usable in a game
Technique: Kastchey - brilliant use of colour and lighting

[Kasander]

@ Armageddon, Miez - thanks, I'm glad you like it!

Idea: Kastchey. Your execuction is very bold and convincing! The whole idea of a temple of spider-god would make a great addition to a horror game, lovercraftian or not. Speaking of lovercraftian, the orange/black palette reminds me of underground parts of the first Alone in the Dark game;) This is a definitely positive association.
Atmosphere: Miez. I like the calmness oozing out of it, the mountains far away, the unreal lighting, the two moons that hang in the sky. Cool.
Design: Miez. It's a rich and at the same time very 'clean' design. I'd surely like to see that coming to life in Fountain of Youth
Composition:  Lasca. Simple but powerful composition. I lke how the vanishing point is placed in one of the 'golden points' of the composition.
Functionality: Lasca. It looks like doing the walk paths in your background would be painless I can also easily spot the areas which would make exits to other rooms.
Technique: Miez's low-res kung-fu is so strong, it's really hard to point out what could be improved in his background.

@CaptainD: Props for the mood. You could add a few glints of light to the surface of the nearest stone to help link the campfire with the rest of the background. But even without it this looks ok to be used in a game:)

[Snarky]

Idea: Kastchey
Atmosphere: Kasander
Design: Miez
Composition: Kastchey
Functionality: Miez
Technique: Kasander

CaptainD: Photomanipulation is an interesting technique, and the color reduction here works well. My main criticism would be that it's pretty obviously day-for-night, and I think to make this bg really work you would have needed to do more to match the lighting and colors.
Kastchey: Love the colors and the framing, and the flowers are a cool, non-obvious touch. The "scratchiness" of the technique gives it a very appropriate creepy-crawly feel. I have a bit of a hard time reading the picture, however. Is the blue the sky? In that case, what's going on to the right, between the torch and the tree? You use, I think, four different shades on the distant trees, but I don't quite see how it's motivated, and I find it hard to make out shapes.
Lasca: It's an interesting composition, and the desaturated colors match the cloudy sky to give a rainy feel to the picture. One thing is a big no-no in my book: along the edges there's either blurring or what looks like bits that haven't been painted. It looks like you don't use layers; that's something that would really help (e.g. allowing you to paint the sky a little bit past the edge, and then the ground and building and other stuff on top separately). I also think there's something off in the construction of the church.
Kasander: Nice style, and a magnificent sky! Very van Gogh, or Munch. I almost wish you had stayed away from some of the horror clichés (the red eyes peering out, the dragon/goat head, the skulls) and just let the art itself communicate dread. (Also, the pine trees are very stereotypically cartoony. That's fine if that's what you want to go for; otherwise, you might want to study some photos.)
Miez: Beautiful work! I guess it would be churlish to object that with the moons lit like that, the sun would have to be far below the horizon. Would love to see a (more detailed) step-by-step on how you made this; brushes, pixel-by-pixel editing etc. Is your technique still basically this?

[Miez]

Idea: Lasca - I really like the foreboding atmosphere, without the scene being too much "out there". At first glance it's just a tiny little shrine next to a field and an abandoned road, but there's more going on beneath the surface...
Atmosphere: Kasander - the scene certainly evokes a feeling of dread. There's some eldritch horror going on there!
Design: CaptainD - I think all the elements in this scene go very well together, they really make up 'a whole'. 
Composition: Kastchey - there's a great sense of depth and layering in this scene. Good framing and shadow work as well.
Functionality: Lasca - a hard one to pick, as I think all of these backgrounds could work very well in a game, but Lasca's background has a good number of clearly defined "areas" that make sense in an adventure game.
Technique: Kasander - as I said before, I love the painterly technique, the light/shadow and use of colour in this image. I was torn between this and Kastchey's as the colours in that background are phenomenal as well...

[Anian]

Idea: Kastchey - interesting, but as always with your backgrounds, I had a bit of trouble actually figuring out what I was looking at
Atmosphere: Miez
Design: Kasander
Composition: Miez - by the book, but good
Functionality: Lasca, with Kasander a close second
Technique: CaptainD - although I don't really like that style, I think it's awesome in a way of replicating old FMV adventures

[miguel]

Idea: all entries evoke old religion worship, I fail to give this vote
Atmosphere: Kastchey, arriving at the place finding those torches under that creepy light would make for great atmosphere
Design: Miez
Composition: Miez, what Anian said
Functionality: Lasca, although all entries would "work"
Technique: Kastchey, as was pointed out before me, there are some things that are not realistically displayed, but the style and craft are superb.

[Miez]

Miez: Beautiful work! I guess it would be churlish to object that with the moons lit like that, the sun would have to be far below the horizon. Would love to see a (more detailed) step-by-step on how you made this; brushes, pixel-by-pixel editing etc. Is your technique still basically this?

Haha yes - I should have rotated those moons a bit anti-clockwise. The light is indeed a little screwy... ah well.
It's pixel-by-pixel, except for the foreground foliage (where I used a rotating, colour shifting, 5x5 pixel irregular brush). Basically identical techniques to those in the tutorial...

[ZapZap]

Idea: Kastchey
Atmosphere: Kastchey
Design: Miez
Composition: Kastchey
Functionality: Kasander
Technique: Miez


Even with the description of each category I never know if I'm judging well

[CaptainD]

@CaptainD: Props for the mood. You could add a few glints of light to the surface of the nearest stone to help link the campfire with the rest of the background. But even without it this looks ok to be used in a game:)

I had tried to add some glints of light, but I don't think they looked too realistic - people probably didn't even realise they were there / that's what they were meant to be!!

[selmiak]

Idea: CaptainD
Atmosphere: Miez. With CaptainD close on second, but the campfire didn't convince me as much as torches and fire on an altar would have
Design: Miez
Composition: Kastchey
Functionality: Kasander
Technique: Miez

[Kasander]

(Also, the pine trees are very stereotypically cartoony. That's fine if that's what you want to go for; otherwise, you might want to study some photos.)

Yeah, I guess you're 100% right here. I used references only for the willow, the cartoony pine tress are straight from imagination. My only excuse is the whole piece was rushed, since I decided to participate when the competition was nearing its end:)

@CaptainD - No worries, I like your background anyway. Its photographic style reminds me of the first original adventure game I've purchased. It was called 'Tajemnica statuetki' (Mystery of the Statuette) and it was the first Polish adventure game ever (as far as I know). Check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6m7bYlGPq4
It doesn't look very impressive now, but it was lot of fun back in the old days. It was also a bestselling game in Poland in 1993  

[Problem]

Interesting theme, and so many excellent entries!

Here's my vote:
Idea: Kastchey
Atmosphere: Miez
Design: Miez
Composition: Miez
Functionality: Lasca
Technique: Kasander

[Andail]

Well done, everyone!
Miez' background is really stunning. I think there might be just a tiny perspective issue with the temple building (I could elaborate on this in the critics' lounge) but, yeah, stunning.