Background Blitz - Voting ended

Started by loominous, Wed 06/05/2009 21:26:33

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loominous

THE ACADEMY



An interior or exterior of anything from a space fleet academy to a wizard university.

Good luck!
Looking for a writer

Misj'

#1
To shrink at least some of the space this post takes up here, I've changed most of the images into textual links.

I finally have some time to draw a bit more extensively than I did in the past few months, so with a bit of luck I'll be able to enter.

Below are some initial (semi-rough) sketches where I test whether my initial idea works. I still have to add a chandelier (that's why we have that rope), and a foreground layer (to make it a bit more interesting). It's going to be a non-scrolling 640x480 background that's basically the main hall of this 16th century university in the Netherlands. During this stage I'm not too interested in perspective, so there's a lot wrong here. I try to give it a semi-clean look because it makes it easier for me to figure out whether or not the idea in my head works than when I work with rougher lines (I do use them...but for very basic composition only).

Line-art pencil sketch...

Test of bright and dark, warm and cold areas: Test A (greyscale) --- Test B (warm) ---  Test C (warm & cold)

The background is probably a bit too complex...particularly for a non-scrolling background (five, possibly six exits? - Misj', what were you thinking?)...and it doesn't even include the foreground and the chandelier yet. But it's a fun background to work on.

Since this is just a brain-storming-sketch, the final background might be completely different...



I've worked slowly but steadily on the background these last few days (I usually spend a lot more than just a few hours on a piece...refining, redrawing, etc), and I ended up with this digitally inked version in which I corrected a lot of the perspective-problem (though not all, because in some cases the 'perspective-free' look fitted better, and in the end it was more about looks than perfect accuracy...also, I use bend-perspective lines, so there's no use getting a ruler ;) ).

Inked version

Since I base the look on comics, I'm still dubious as to whether I will add shadows in black or not:
Highlight and Highlight with Black Shadows

Of course shadows can be added by colours rather than by inking...but I've always been partial to line-art that works on its own and uses colours to enhance it, rather than line-art that requires colours to make them interesting.

As you can see, I still haven't made the foreground or the chandelier, and I even lost some detail that will be added later on. Also, there are still a few mistakes that bother me; but due to deadline reasons I won't address them. Hopefully I'll have the time to finish the piece...



flats (320x240)

No highlights, shadows, or reflections yet. They may not even be the final colours. But working with flats makes my life a lot easier (plus it's standard for this style). Now one of the goals is to get some of the atmosphere of my initial coloured sketches back...while retaining the clean look.

Still not sure whether I will add black shadows...it also depends on the amount of time I have to work on this.



Time for another update to show where I'm going with this (no bigger image this time):
Shadows and without outlines

Still no chandelier or foreground-layer (although I now feel they might not really be needed for the background), but at least some of the background details are back. Need to add highlights still...Hopefully I'll be able to finish this in time to show the final piece tomorrow.



I've added a very minimalistic foreground-layer as well as a chandelier. It was a bit difficult to place (I had imagined it about double it's size) because I didn't want it to be either overly dominant, or obscure some of the (important) details like the shield and the flags.

Chandelier

I feel I'm slowly getting where I intended to go...



Probably my last update before I post the final piece tomorrow evening.
Prefinal (major lights and shadows) and only lights

There's still some final tweaking to make the piece a little more alive...but it will be ready.



As promised my final piece...
Since there's no rule against entering with the same image twice (in the same Blitz), I'll actually enter two versions:

The main hall of a university in the Netherlands during the 16th century.

for those who prefer low-res, click the images for 320x240 versions.
Version 1


Version 2
For those who like a more monotonous colouring...


They both appeal to me, so I decided to present them both. I am however curious which one you guys would prefer (yes, I know this is not the critics launch).

Misj'

Ps. In my mind, in-game the candle on the right would animate (those in the chandelier aren't lit by the way).

Kastchey

I didn't have time to work on this :/
Anyway, here goes:

Goblin Battle Academy (or maybe Orc Battle Academy?)

x1
x2

poc301

Very nice, looks like something kinda inspired by World of Warcraft.  Especially the mounted green dude on the wolf.

-Bill

Kastchey

Might be, I once saw a World of Warcraft screenshot of orcs riding wolves and thought it looked cool. Though I think I was even more inspired by the goblin horde from ATOTK and goblin wolf riders from old HoM&M, cause this is what I've recently (re)played  :)

Geratuza

#5

jerakeen

I think im late to present my picture, isn't it?

Misj'

Quote from: jerakeen on Sun 17/05/2009 12:50:41I thinkI'm late to present my picture, isn't it?
As long as the voting hasn't started yet...I think nobody's going to stop you (I certainly wouldn't).

loominous

Quote from: jerakeen on Sun 17/05/2009 12:50:41
I thinkI'm late to present my picture, isn't it?

Forgot to start the voting, but if you post it within an hour or two it's fine. Voting will commence at 4 PM GMT (greenwich).
Looking for a writer

jerakeen

ok. Thanks Loominous. Here i go.

This is a Magical creatures class at the Unseen University



There are some stuffed aminals like a dragon and a sapient owl, a Basilisk's skeleton, a gargoyle, a Bowtruckle and many others, so students can learn more about the inhabitants of the flat magical world.


loominous

Ok then, let's start the voting!

The voting will end in 24 hours and will use the usual 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.
Looking for a writer

Cryxo

Idea - Misj'

Atmosphere - Geratuza

Design - jerakeen

Composition - jerakeen

Functionality - Kastchey

Technique - Misj'
Currently working on "My Neighbour is a Serial Killer"
with a certain friend of mine called Geork.

Geratuza

Idea - jerakeen

Atmosphere - jerakeen

Design - jerakeen

Composition - jerakeen

Functionality - Misj'

Technique - Misj'

Bulbapuck

Idea - jerakeen

Atmosphere - Geratuza

Design - Misj'

Composition - Misj'

Functionality - Katchey

Technique - Misj'


And may I add that all entries were amazing!  :D

loominous

The results:

Best idea: jerakeen

Best Atmosphere: Geratuza

Best Design: jerakeen

Best Composition: jerakeen

Best Functionality: Katchey

Best Technique: Misj

-

Misj and jerakeen tied in overall votes with seven votes each. To choose a new host I did a coin flip which determined Misj as the next host.

Really nice and imaginative entries everyone - well done!
Looking for a writer

Misj'

Quote from: loominous on Mon 18/05/2009 12:11:46Misj and jerakeen tied in overall votes with seven votes each. To choose a new host I did a coin flip which determined Misj as the next host.

I already started to regret that Jarakeen was let in at the last moment ;) (of course if he wasn't everyone would have voted for Katchey and Geratuza and I would have lost all together).

Anyway, it was a tight (non)-win, and I'll come up with a new Blitz in the next day(s).


Ps. considering the results I would have thought Jarakeen to have won, since he clearly topped me in the number of 'best' cathegories.

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