Background Blitz - Underground (Winner Announced!)

[Ilyich]

...And the theme for the new Background Blitz is... (drumroll)... ...(awkward pause)... Yes, you've already seen it in the topic title, I know.

Underground

Extended to Nov 15th

You are free to interpret that whichever way you like - from an abandoned dieselpunk subway station to a small hole in the ground.
As long as it's technically under the ground (or not, underground music club works too), dark (or not, it can be brightly illuminated) and AGS-compatible - you're in.

You have about 2 weeks. Good luck!

[Matt Frith]

I'm working on something Should be ready soon.

[Sughly]

Tier's entering! Ooooh... you did so well last time I'm more tempted to enter myself now. If I get some spare time 

[Mad]

Unfortunately not very imaginative, it's just a generic sewer:



Starting out, the BG was going to be this nice allusion towards "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman, but the only thing remaining of that grand idea is an illegible sign saying "Knightsbridge"!

Hey, wouldn't that story, or that world make an excellent game...

[Ilyich]

@Mad
Nice one! Love the murky palette and soft lighting. Definitely would've played the game with this kind of backgrounds.

Hey, wouldn't that story, or that world make an excellent game...

Everything by Gaiman would, though.

@Tier
Can't wait for your entry!

@Sughly
Do it! Show us what you're made of!

[Anian]

Starting out, the BG was going to be this nice allusion towards "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman, but the only thing remaining of that grand idea is an illegible sign saying "Knightsbridge"!

Hey, wouldn't that story, or that world make an excellent game...

Heh, yeah, it probably would, the format of a journey and quest is there with an interesting "not yet a hero, in a new world" version, though the book itself is in my mind not the best Gaiman can offer.

Since I posted, might as well get an entry slot here, I'll update when I finish the entry.

[Matt Frith]

Hello, as promised, here is my entry.  I feel I kind of rushed bits of it but I am going to be busy this weekend and next week and won't have much time to work on it.  



I had a difficult time coming up with an idea for this one despite the possibilities for an underground scene being almost endless.  This one is the result of random photoshop doodling.

Mad: Nice entry. Would definitely work well in an AGS game!  I'm not familiar with Neil Gaiman though

Sughly: Hurry up with your entry, they are always nice

[Chicky]

Awesome background Tier, reminds me of Terranigma.

Mad, please make a game in that style! Lots of love - Chicky.

[cat]

Awesome Tier! This totally reminds me of Lemmings...

[Ilyich]

Great entry, Tier! Some weird/cool shapes there, and the amount of detail is overwhelming, as usual. Well done

[Mad]

Mad, please make a game in that style! Lots of love - Chicky.

In the works... and thanks a lot .

Awesome Tier! This totally reminds me of Lemmings...

Yeah, that's it, Lemmings! It totally reminded me of something, but I just couldn't put my finger on it!

@Tier: Great background btw. It's just so nice and crisp!

[Matti]

Mad, please make a game in that style! Lots of love - Chicky.

In the works... and thanks a lot .

Good to hear that, it's a really nice style.

[Matt Frith]

Awesome background Tier, reminds me of Terranigma.

Thanks Mr Chicky, although I don't know what Terranigma is

Awesome Tier! This totally reminds me of Lemmings...

Hehe, imagine a Lemmings point and click adventure. Also thanks!

Great entry, Tier! Some weird/cool shapes there, and the amount of detail is overwhelming, as usual. Well done

and thank you for the theme.  It had my brain rattled for quite some time but I had fun in the process.

Great background btw. It's just so nice and crisp!

Thanks! I enjoy yours as well. I agree with what Chicky says
p.s. I have been looking into Neil Gaiman's work. Any recommendations?

[Anian]

Thanks! I enjoy yours as well. I agree with what Chicky says
p.s. I have been looking into Neil Gaiman's work. Any recommendations?

Novel American gods and short story collection Smoke and mirrors are my favs. Of course the Sandman series if you like comics/graphic novels

[Ilyich]

Only few days left, if anyone is working on something and needs a small extension - I would be happy to oblige.

p.s. I have been looking into Neil Gaiman's work. Any recommendations?

As anian already pointed out - American Gods and Sandman are his magnum opuses, although I would also like to recommend his children's book Coraline (and it's wonderful stop-motion film adaptation by Henry Selick) and a particular comic book issue - Death: The High Cost Of Living (Sandman spin-off, featuring Dream's much beloved big sister).

P.S. Kudos, Mad, you've turned this contest into a Gaiman discussion

[Snarky]

I'd add Mr. Punch to that list of Gaiman's best.

(Don't have an entry this round, waiting for a graphics tablet.)

[Ilyich]

I'm extending the deadline till Monday, so now you have a weekend to come up with something (or finish what you've started).
So, still plenty of time, feel free to join!

Oh, and since this seems to be an appropriate thread for this - Happy 50th birthday to Neil Gaiman!

[Sughly]

Haha, I was coming in to apologise for not making it. Damn. Looks like I have more time to look bad for not entering . Does it make it better that I'm working busily on an AGS game instead though?

[oraxon]

I've always wanted to see the Lascaux caves, but they're closed to the public, so maybe I'll only get there in a game.

   

[Ilyich]

oraxon, great! I've always been fascinated with cave paintings, and they're perfect for adventure games.
Nicely rendered, love the soft, hand-painted feel.

Haha, I was coming in to apologise for not making it. Damn. Looks like I have more time to look bad for not entering . Does it make it better that I'm working busily on an AGS game instead though?

Yes, it does. You are forgiven. Egress?

[Daniel Thomas]

Someone living down in the caves.
The person is based on stereotypical personality, make a guess which one when voting - if you feel like it.

[Atelier]

Do you work for Disney? It's superb.

[Wonkyth]

Hah, that's fantastic!  :o
It had poor Matt swearing on IRC. 

[Matt Frith]

@ Oraxon: I love that idea, the cave paintings are really nice too

@Zyndikate: That is truly beautiful, great work.

*Goes back to swearing*

[Ilyich]

That's... quite... nice... (faints)

(after regaining consciousness)

Hmm... (faints again)

Well, now I'm proud to be the contest-holder. Well done! Seriously.

[mike_conley]

That's absolutely fantastic!  Great work!  You've got my vote. 

I'm curious about your process.  Was this all digitally crafted, or did you start with a sketch/painting, scan it in, and finish with software?

-Mike

omeone living down in the caves.
The person is based on stereotypical personality, make a guess which one when voting - if you feel like it.

[Sughly]

Bah! Damn you zyndikate! I rushed together an entry which I was already ashamed of but damn, now I'm just downright embarrassed! Eh well, here it us anyhoo...



but seriously, well done zyndikate. Simply amazing.

Yes, it does. You are forgiven. Egress?

Haha, nope. Anna's Room actually! Plans kind of changed, but I'll post stuff up soon enough about it. Thanks for asking 

[Daniel Thomas]

Thanks guys!

mike_conley: I first started in photoshop with line sketch, a value study and later a color study. When I felt ok with it I then printed it out and drew a line-drawing on a new paper to try solve the drawing problems. Then I scanned and placed it over the color study. And then 12hours later from cleaning its done.

Click here for steps

[mike_conley]

Zyndikate:

Fascinating to see the process.    Well done sir - you're highly, highly talented.

-Mike

Thanks guys!

mike_conley: I first started in photoshop with line sketch, a value study and later a color study. When I felt ok with it I then printed it out and drew a line-drawing on a new paper to try solve the drawing problems. Then I scanned and placed it over the color study. And then 12hours later from cleaning its done.

Click here for steps

[mike_conley]

Sughly:

Don't be ashamed - I really like this!    Nice job!

-Mike

Bah! Damn you zyndikate! I rushed together an entry which I was already ashamed of but damn, now I'm just downright embarrassed! Eh well, here it us anyhoo...

but seriously, well done zyndikate. Simply amazing.

Yes, it does. You are forgiven. Egress?

Haha, nope. Anna's Room actually! Plans kind of changed, but I'll post stuff up soon enough about it. Thanks for asking  

[Atelier]

Zyndikate, the 5th and 6th panels are like some kind of impossible spot the difference lol.

[Ilyich]

Okay, it's voting time!
Since there are 5 entries, I've decided to mix things up a little and use 5 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. This also includes the background's in-game functionality (hotspots, walkable areas, etc.)
Technique: How well it's rendered (within the chosen style!), in no way meaning the more elaborate the better.

Here are the entries:

by Mad


by Tier


by oraxon


by zyndikate


by Sughly

And a code for your convinience:

Code: ags

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

I'll give it 2 days, so vote now!

[ddq]

Idea - Tier
Atmosphere - zyndikate
Design - zyndikate
Composition - Tier
Technique - oraxon

I'd most like to see a game in oraxon's style, it's sort of soft and cute and has a lot of potential.

[Ogon]

I am not sure I am allowed to vote without an entry but here are my thoughts (kinda focussed around two of the bgs... oh well)

Idea - Tier
Atmosphere - zyndikate
Design - zyndikate
Composition - zyndikate
Technique - Tier

[Matt Frith]

Idea - Oraxon
Atmosphere - Zyndikate
Design - Zyndikate
Composition - Mad
Technique - Oraxon

On the whole, a good round.  I really enjoyed making my entry and also seeing what everyone else came up with! Hurrah

[DuncanFx]

Idea - Oraxon
Atmosphere - Zyndikate
Design - Zyndikate
Composition - Sughly
Technique - Oraxon

Was going to rush something to enter this the other day, but don't think it would've stood much chance against such a strong lineup! Some great inspiration for my own bg's here. I hope to get something together for the next one, if possible.

[Daniel Thomas]

Idea - oraxon
Atmosphere - Sughly
Design - Tier
Composition - Tier
Technique - oraxon

[loominous]

Aw, yet another deadline missed due to ambiguous dates (for me "closes the 15th" means that you have until 23:59 GMT on the 15th).

Oh well, my votes:

Idea - Zyndikate
Atmosphere - Zyndikate
Design - Zyndikate
Composition - Zyndikate
Technique - Zyndikate

Bit of a onesides vote, but Zyndikate's entry really is well thought out and brilliantly executed.

And here's what would've been my entry, still lacking quite some polish:



Edit: Changed the technique vote, which I mistook for 'functionality', out of old habit.

[Ryan Timothy B]

Yeah, I'm definitely tossing all my votes on Zyndikate's piece. It is absolutely marvelous.

Idea - Zyndikate
Atmosphere - Zyndikate
Design - Zyndikate
Composition - Zyndikate
Technique - Zyndikate

[Mad]

Idea - Tier
Atmosphere - Zyndikate
Design - Zyndikate
Composition - Tier
Technique - Zyndikate

[Sughly]

Haha woo I got some votes! That's pretty cool  8)

Such great entries though. Zyndikate... can't wait to see The Journey of Iesir. If I wanted to see the game before, now I NEED to see it. So good.

Idea - Tier - the abstract... thing! Has an interesting presence, so points for the original perception
Atmosphere - zyndikate - just oozes atmosphere
Design - zyndikate
Composition - zyndikate
Technique - zyndikate

Not to put the others down at all though, was a good job by all! Woo for optimism! 

[bicilotti]

Idea - Oraxon
Atmosphere - Tier
Design - Zyndakate
Composition - Oraxon
Technique - Tier

I followed this closely, great entries everyone!

[Matti]

Idea - Zyndikate
Atmosphere - Zyndikate
Design - Zyndikate
Composition - Mad
Technique - Mad

Nice entries everyone!

[Pinback]

Idea - Oraxon
Atmoshere - Zyndikate
Design -  Zyndikate
Composition - Zyndikate
Technique - Tier

Kickass round guys.

[Ilyich]

Arrgh, loominous, I'm really sorry about that. The deadline was supposed to be 23:59 GMT, but I decided to wrap it up a bit earlier (23:59 GMT+3 - local time), because I was feeling sleepy and thought that no one else is going to enter anyway.
Obviously, I was wrong, and that's a shame, because your unfinished entry looks awesome.
Well, better luck next time, again - sorry, my bad.

As for my votes:
Idea - oraxon - because cave paintings are awesome.
Atmosphere - Mad - because there's just something about this that oozes with atmosphere. Probably, the ooze.
Design - Tier - because of the weird geometrical abstraction of it.
Composition - zyndikate
Technique - zyndikate - because it's perfect.

Sughly's background is really nice too, if only a bit empty.

Anyway, thanks for entering, guys, you all did a great job!

[Tabata]

There are lovley entrys to admire.

But the one, zyndikate made, is much more, than a background-blitz. This level is just too professionel (in every aspect). But if zyndikate promises doing this art only as fanart (without being a professional), then I'm unable vote for any other entry. 

If so, my vote goes to the incredible hulk zyndikate:

Idea - zyndikate
Atmosphere - zyndikate
Design - zyndikate
Composition - zyndikate
Technique -   zyndikate

@loominous:
Sadly too late! I'd like to „drown in“, thinking about what could happen there. ~ (This one would have been my vote for atmosphere.)

@zyndikate:
I would expect Sadric* or Wilbur* to arrive there every moment, but I think it will be a charismatic Viking named Daniel Trondhjemsfjord, maybe together with Michael and Jack, the two freelancer, who join him on his quest *!


* (The Wispered World/The Book of Unwritten Tales/The Journey of Iesir)

[Sam.]

Idea - Tier
Atmosphere - Tier
Design - zyndikate
Composition - Tier
Technique -   zyndikate

[Wersus]

Idea oraxon
Atmosphere oraxon
Design zyndikate
Composition zyndikate
Technique zyndikate


The others were good too, but these two just impressed me the most. oraxon's work makes you think what kind of story fits there and zyndikate's one just has awesome production values. Sughly's background just screams indie (in a warm and fuzzy way) in it's mix of high resolution and low detail. Tier's work seems interesting, but I'm having hard time understanding what it is (or maybe I just need glasses). Mad has a good composition in the way that it seems obvious what the points of interest are, but to me it seems too plain.

[straydogstrut]

Just time to squeeze my vote in I hope.

Idea - oraxon
Atmosphere - zyndicate
Design - zyndicate
Composition/Functionality - Mad
Technique - oraxon

I would also like to award Sughly the smell-o-vision category as I can just smell the tasty soup in that nice warm pot=) The creep-y-ness-factor award goes to Tier whose background makes me feel nervous=S

Really great entries everyone!

[IndieBoy]

Idea: oraxon
Atmosphere: zyndikate
Design: Tier
Composition: Tier
Technique: oraxon

[Dualnames]

All my votes go to Tier. Cause he's pretty.

[Sughly]

I would also like to award Sughly the smell-o-vision category as I can just smell the tasty soup in that nice warm pot=)

Haha sweet, I'll take that!

[Ilyich]

Okay, I think that's it!

And the winner is... surprising no one - zyndikate with his extremely beautiful entry! Congratulations!

And if you think I was too lazy to count all those votes - you're wrong. Although, I'm not sure where I put that piece of paper... But I can tell you, that our runner-ups are Tier and oraxon! Well done, guys!

Thanks to participants for participating, to voters for voting, and to everyone else - for nothing!

Take it away, zyndikate!

[ThreeOhFour]

Congratulations Zyndikate - a most beautiful background amongst other very lovely pieces.

You seem to be getting better and better - really this is something to be proud of

[loominous]

Agree, that background seems to transcend background art into something else.

[Daniel Thomas]

Thanks guys!
Good thing I'm improving.

New Background blitz topic started.