UPDATE: CONGRATS to this month's winner, @lorenzo!
We have 5 entries, below:
@Creamy : Museum
@Hannah_Banana : Mayan-style sacrifice
@newwaveburritos : The bar
@lorenzo : Church
@Volcan : Artifact
Please pick your favorite in each of the following categories:
Concept: What is the background about? What sort of mood does it spark? What is, as it were, the big idea?
Playability: What is its opportunity for gameplay like? Walkable areas, hot-spots, dialogues, and so forth?
Artistic Execution: How well does the picture convey an atmosphere? How well is it executed?
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I thought of an idea quickly, so here we go -- RITUAL / CEREMONY. Trying to keep it vague in hopes of more entries.
It could be religious, magical, creepy, sentimental, celebratory, heroic. Anything goes.
Background can be a place where these things happen, a view of it happening, a set of items to be used in it -- whatever you like.
(https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1196048563/photo/chinese-tea-ceremony.jpg?b=1&s=170667a&w=0&k=20&c=Rcbo01s11P0LE-3J_f6NO9Kzk9QYVCogqOrHZBXmYiU=)(https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/11/08/05/16/boy-1807518__340.jpg)(https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/08/25/18/11/pentacle-2680962__340.jpg)(https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2018/12/06/06/06/history-3859193__340.jpg)(https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2018/12/22/23/15/fantasy-3890403__340.jpg)(https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/04/07/19/55/seminar-711675__340.jpg)(https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2021/01/13/16/21/mehandi-5914597__340.jpg)(https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/04/26/08/00/wedding-1353829__340.jpg)(https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2018/11/24/12/27/christmas-3835447__340.jpg)
Oh, yeah, you were ready to go! Nice. This is a good theme, I think. One of the fun parts of Background Blitz is that people choose themes I would never pick myself so it gets me thinking outside of my usual circle. Hopefully we get some nice entries this time!
Is animated gif accepted?
@Volcan, sure, why not? As long as it's a background, nothing else matters.
EDIT: Just thought of a caveat. Probably the animated gif should not be more than 5 frames, as that is the limit AGS will let you have in an animated background. I may decide not to be super strict about that though, if we end up with very few entries.
Quote from: RootBound on Tue 28/02/2023 21:23:57Probably the animated gif should not be more than 5 frames, as that is the limit AGS will let you have in an animated background. I may decide not to be super strict about that though, if we end up with very few entries.
I believe there are coding routes to get around the 5 frames limit, and even have multiple versions of a background in the same room for stuff like day/night cycles.
Good point! I retract the previous caveat.
Bumping this up. Two weeks to go, but more than happy to extend if need be. Anyone working on anything?
I scribbled something today with the theme in mind. Not sure if it qualifies as a background though:
Spoiler
(https://i.imgur.com/0fTuOy8.png)
If so, I may color it.
@Creamy Looks good to me! A background with characters in it still counts!
Tadam:
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/14da1053-a658-4328-845a-b2b310d21541/dfrxlh4-6b7a21e8-dfaa-46d9-9e27-dc62f5eda36b.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzE0ZGExMDUzLWE2NTgtNDMyOC04NDVhLWIyYjMxMGQyMTU0MVwvZGZyeGxoNC02YjdhMjFlOC1kZmFhLTQ2ZDktOWUyNy1kYzYyZjVlZGEzNmIucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.-pY4Bovy0C4kJoNN0gs6BxrgFj6fFnw3SduBG5dH67Q)
I changed the title. Now it's some sort of museum on a foreign planet dedicated to human ceremonies. Therefore the characters are part of the scenery. This may also help explain the mix of cultures and other oddities.
Final reminder -- just a few days left! Anyone need an extension?
I've been aiming to all month but haven't quite gotten to it. I'll try sketch something rough today but may not be finalised
I am also trying to get something reasonable up that approaches the theme on a project I'm working on right now.
@Hannah_Banana @newwaveburritos Excellent. Two pending entries is more than enough reason to extend the deadline, so I'll push it to March 28.
@Creamy This reminds me of this wonderful 90ies mockumentary
where an African anthropologist leads an expedition to rural Austria.
Quote from: RootBound on Mon 20/03/2023 13:45:02@Hannah_Banana @newwaveburritos Excellent. Two pending entries is more than enough reason to extend the deadline, so I'll push it to March 28.
Excellent - will do my best to get it in by the 28th. Thanks!
Here we go - it's time for human sacrifice Mayan style!
(https://i.imgur.com/8uebHhA.png)
QuoteThis reminds me of this wonderful 90ies mockumentary where an African anthropologist leads an expedition to rural Austria.
Mockumentary? Seems pretty accurate :P
Wise choice to draw the temple BEFORE the ceremony, Hannah. Much nicer.
Quote from: Creamy on Thu 23/03/2023 22:12:29QuoteThis reminds me of this wonderful 90ies mockumentary where an African anthropologist leads an expedition to rural Austria.
Mockumentary? Seems pretty accurate :P
Wise choice to draw the temple BEFORE the ceremony, Hannah. Much nicer.
I did think about the after (dark skies, rain, lightning, red dripping), but thought way too dramatic and probably above a PG rating 😂
Okay, I went for more of a cutscene background or maybe it's a longform dialogue scene but it felt good to make it and if it's not close enough to the stated goals, well, obviously I'll retract lol. But for many people drinks and the ritual of the whole thing particularly in that place of worship, the bar, is a very real thing.
(https://i.imgur.com/Guk3sLB.png)
Hey
@newwaveburritos, I really like the interpretation. I suppose we can leave criteria judgment to the voters. :)
I haven't done a Background Blitz in a long time, so it was fun doing a new one! I started very late, so I couldn't polish the background how I would've liked, but here it is:
(https://i.imgur.com/L1Wm2o6.png)
Since the topic is about a ritual that can be religious, what's better than a church? :D
The aspect ratio is a bit strange because I wanted to include the bell tower, so I'll say that it's a game that is played on phones. ;)
Great entry Lorenzo! So much detail, and you're right, what more fitting than a church. Hope to see you enter more often with backgrounds like this! 😊
Wonderful entry,
@lorenzo ! Maybe the scene just starts with a pan from the tower down?
Many entries this time.
Here mine.
Archeologists have found this artifact.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FsPbwkaXwBgRJ5o?format=png&name=small)
Oh wow! Lots of great entries this go round. What a treat.
Thanks for all the entries, everyone! Just about 24 hours left to go before voting, so last call for any final entrants. We've got 5 so far, so this should be a solid competition. :)
Quote from: Hannah_Banana on Mon 27/03/2023 09:46:52Great entry Lorenzo! So much detail, and you're right, what more fitting than a church. Hope to see you enter more often with backgrounds like this! 😊
Thank you very much, Hannah! The real church I used as reference had even more detail, but I wanted to be able to finish before the deadline. (laugh)
Quote from: cat on Mon 27/03/2023 10:16:39Wonderful entry, @lorenzo ! Maybe the scene just starts with a pan from the tower down?
Thank you! :cheesy: That's a really good idea, why didn't I think of that?!
Hey everyone! Thanks for all the submissions -
we are now in the voting stage until the end of the day on April 3rd.We have 5 entries, above:
@Creamy : Museum
@Hannah_Banana : Mayan-style sacrifice
@newwaveburritos : The bar
@lorenzo : Church
@Volcan : Artifact
Please pick your favorite in each of the following categories:
Concept: What is the background about? What sort of mood does it spark? What is, as it were, the big idea?
Playability: What is its opportunity for gameplay like? Walkable areas, hot-spots, dialogues, and so forth?
Artistic Execution: How well does the picture convey an atmosphere? How well is it executed?
Concept: newwaveburritos - original take on the theme. It made me think of this recent comic book (https://branchesculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Le-pre-derriere-leglise-crisse-christian-paty-humour-enquete-animaux-irlande-mort-suspecte-cure-lutte-pouvoir-influence-complot-humour-p.6.jpg) where some people go to the bar while other go to mass.
Playability: Volcan. I can picture a puzzle quite easily with the artifact.
Artistic Execution: lorenzo - like Obelix fell into the magic potion, I fell into European comics when I was a little boy.
Concept:
@lorenzo can see this being used in a game to set the scene for a cool storyline full of intrigue and puzzles throughout the church and catacombs underneath
Playability:
@Volcan like creamy, I can see this used for a good puzzle in game
Artistic execution:
@newwaveburritos great atmosphere in the bar for a cut scene conversation. Cool old school comic vibe
Concept: newwaveburritos
Playability: lorenzo
Artistic Execution: lorenzo
My votes:
Concept: Hannah_Banana -- it evokes the idea of the ritual without the gruesome details (well, except on the carved image on the pyramid ;) ). The toy on the right was a nice touch.
Playability: Creamy -- plenty of different objects to interact with and read their descriptions. The tyrannosaurus with the knife is just funny!
Artistic Execution: newwaveburritos -- this scene is perfect for a cutscene and it's a cool interpretation of the theme. I like the different expressions each person has in the image.
The facilitator's allowed to vote too, right? If not, I can leave these out of the final count.
Concept: newwaveburritos -- and I think there's some playability here too, in the form of dialogues. I could see a group conversation which, depending on how the player chimes in, could have multiple outcomes. Really interesting idea.
Playability: Creamy -- Lots of potential secrets to uncover here, inventory items, clues, etc.
Artistic execution: lorenzo -- great subject, composition, and skill.
Great entries, everyone! It was difficult to choose.
Concept: Creamy. I like the idea of human history seen from some other race's lens. Extra points for getting some things wrong :grin:, like the common dagger-wielding tattooed T-Rex.
Playability: Hannah_Banana. I think this one is just about ready to be put into a game.
Artistic execution: lorenzo. This is great! I would love to see it colored, especially with there being so much space for the sky. A nice balance between busy and open space.
Side note: This Blitz was definitely fun to follow. I enjoyed the conversations and the fact that it just felt like there was a lot of activity. Good job! More Blitzes like this one! I'll definitely try to find time to take part in the next one.
And the final vote count is in!
@Volcan: 2
@Hannah_Banana 2
@Creamy 3
@newwaveburritos 4
@lorenzo 6
Congrats to
@lorenzo for the winning entry! You now have the honor of picking the next Background Blitz theme!
Great job to everyone who entered - this was an awesome set of entries.
Congrats
@lorenzo ! I never mind losing to you lol since you always produce such great work! Great job to everybody else as well. This was definitely a fun one!
Thanks everybody for the votes! It was a lot of fun taking part in a background blitz again and it gave me a good excuse to draw something different. :cheesy:
I also like how different each interpretation of the theme was, great work everybody!
I'll try to make a new competition as soon as possible... when I get a decent idea for a theme. I'm open to suggestions! ;)
newwaveburritos: thank you very much! Your entry was lovely!