WINNERS ANNOUNCED! Background blitz: A wreck

[Monsieur OUXX]

VOTING TIME

HERE : http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=51610.msg636507559#msg636507559






==============================

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS...

The long awaited background Blitz is back!
(sounds of crowd releasing its massive enthusiasm)

THE THEME IS: A WRECK

EXPLANATIONS
You will immediately think of a ship wrecked on a shoreline or reef, or lying at the bottom of the sea, or even a spaceship crashed somewhere, or anything else the imagination can conceive. But more generally, it can be about any collision that leads to a deserted place or abandoned set.Maybe the most skilled of yous will be able to draw the scene so that the story of the wreck can be understood by the viewer just by looking at it!




SUBMISSIONS UNTIL : 15th of February!

CRITERIA
  - Concept (a scene that stimulates the imagination, or something interesting, or clever -- something that makes people say: "Oh, I see!")
  - Playability (could it be used in a real game?)
  - Artistic execution (you know, there's always this one contestant who makes everyone jealous of his skills )


TROPHIES :
You want them proudly sitting on your chimney and you know it!

BRONZE  SILVER   GOLD
https://36.media.tumblr.com/88cab959d24ea5136d3854e4e10f02a4/tumblr_nin3qkxgAW1tsfksfo1_75sq.png

[Mandle]

  - Artistic execution (you know, there's always this one contestant who makes everyone jealous of his skills )

* Mandle steps up to the mike:

Yeah, sorry about that everyone...

(Mr. OUXX whispers in Mandle's ear)

Sorry? You're not talking about who?

*whisper*

Didn't quite catch that: This is the most embarrassing thing you've ever what?

*whisper*

I'm making a complete what of myself?

*whisper*

I'm making it so much worse by repeating everything you're what?

*whisper*

Oh...

* Mandle sits down

[Monsieur OUXX]

Haha!

[selmiak]

are self portraits after this Christmas and new year celebrations also okay?

[...]

Hah and I thought you might forgot us, hehe. Ok, I give it another shot. Hmmmm.

[Stupot]

I want in this month. I've got a neat idea. Let's see what happens.

[Mandle]

I'm almost certainly in on this one as well! Got a few other things to finish up first though...

[...]

Kay, I drove myself crazy to come up with something and find enough input to feed my fantasies.
Hmm, something unusual wet would be nice, thought. Onto the paper!

Hope we both make it this time, Mandle.



EDIT:
New WIP, new luck.
This time at least I know where I wanna go.^^

Spoiler

[close]

[Cassiebsg]

Great theme, I might be able to fit this theme into my game too, so if I find a good wreck. I'll give it a try. No promises though.

[I<3Pindorama!]

Congratulations, OUXX!
it's a fun and exciting challenge!

My subscription...

I tried inserting in the background a small tribute a few members whose dedication
to the development of own art is really admirable.
Somes  are more obvious than others...
Anyway, I hope none of them will be really hard to find...
And  all can say: "Oh, i see!".   

STORY/CONCEPT:




Sorry for the disgusting state of the toilet paper roll, but that's how he was found by the rescue team.
In order to not cause gag reflex, the full content is reproduced below...

You can read THE CHAPTER I right here:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=51609.0

Good wreck for everybody !

[...]

Interesting thing you got there Pindorama. And such a lovely captain.


Please, somebody pinch me, do I really finished yesterday the composition; outlines and started coloring? Or am I dreaming?
Well coloring.... colors... know the tricky part begins. But it's so beautiful, I actually wanna cry.

Spoiler

Maybe I really should throw my 226-RGB stuff into the dumpster and start using AGS like my old QuickBasic 4.5 Compiler/Interpreter.
Basic for ever!

[close]

EDIT:

Spoiler

I found the perfect match of the light source. Totally Happy.

[close]

[I<3Pindorama!]

A gentle comment coming from someone so creative and talented is like receiving a trophy, thank Adventuress. 

I am anxious to seeing your work. In fact when I read your  words i have the impression that you already showing inside the "box hide." If I'm right, I should say that the image is not appearing, most likely because it is an encrypted link. You are using a link to an image stored on a hotmail account or something?
See how appears on my browser ...

Spoiler

[close]

[Mandle]

A gentle comment coming from someone so creative and talented is like receiving a trophy, thank Adventuress. 

I am anxious to seeing your work. In fact when I read your  words i have the impression that you already showing inside the "box hide." If I'm right, I should say that the image is not appearing, most likely because it is an encrypted link. You are using a link to an image stored on a hotmail account or something?
See how appears on my browser ...

Spoiler

[close]

Yup...I quoted the posts to get the original link and tried them in a seperate browser tab and it just hits a login gateway...

You have to host the pictures in a public access format Adventuress or we cannot see them. You can because you have access. But we can't and really want to!

[Cassiebsg]

And me being entirely naive, just thought she was teasing us with those comments and making us there was something to see under the hidden tag!

[...]

Auwh, you making an old lady red like a cherry. Again!
I saw it coming. They changed my other account stuff, so I couldn't make it public at normal ways. Well I fixed it, but my hp has a bit to suffer for putting it in here properly. Nah, currently I'm using it anyway like a storage room. I fix that later.

@Pindorama
I really do like your style. So don't think, you have no talent at all. I would love to see a bit more effort on your last picture, currently the elements looking like they don't belong in the same scene with each other. You can do much much better Pindo. I saw you doing it before.

@Mandle
Wanna come over for a nice hot cup of tea?
And by the way, there really is nothing to be jealous about my life. You wouldn't wanna have it.

@Cassie
O.O Teasing? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[selmiak]

just use http://imgur.com/ for imagehosting.
you can drag+drop the images from your filebrowser onto the website and upload it from there.

[...]

Ok, enough honey. Back to work with you all!

[I<3Pindorama!]

@Pindorama
I really do like your style. So don't think, you have no talent at all. I would love to see a bit more effort on your last picture, currently the elements looking like they don't belong in the same scene with each other. You can do much much better Pindo. I saw you doing it before.

Ah, those little rascals that i paid in advance for placing the trees in front of the volcano wallpaper... 

Well ... I'll have to do the job myself. 
I'll "reforest" the foot of the mountain there on the left,
this will surely bring little tiny bit more balance to visual perception.

Leaving the joking aside ... I greatly appreciate the sincerity of people, even more so when it has so constructively.
You... right now... was even more gentle and sweet that his previous comment. In fact I can say with all certainty that this last comment precisely confirm the truths spoken previously. We only bothered to help in the evolution of something, when this "thing" touches us some precious way. This make me reminds about that old comment you made about your old beloved. Unfortunately is quite likely that he has forgotten to use the best representative to express his regard for you ...  the sweetness. Even if he hates you (was not the case) there is nothing wrong in speaking kindly to someone ... be kind to others is before anything else a way to respect yourself.

You know, if you were not among the members to whom I make this simple tribute, it is certain that I would place you right now. 

Oh, I almost forgot ...
I should be the last person to correct the English language of anyone here but I don't see another way to repay all your kindness.

So... 

Spoiler

Auwh, you making an Gold lady red like a cherry. Again!

[close]

[...]

A knight to the rescue of a fair maiden. You Sir are one of a kind, indeed. To be rewarded.

Spoiler

May I point out that this 'an' was spoken on purpose. And may I present this homespun hanky in order of my gratitude.

[imgzoom]http://u.jimdo.com/www75/o/sc60c47078e926a37/img/i7fdf700239727b48/1421964533/std/image.png[/imgzoom]

[close]

[I<3Pindorama!]

I feel extremely flattered by the immensity of so kind gesture.
I am not worthy to carry it in my heart, for surely I would tarnishing it in my condition of mere mortal...
With your permission, I would put it in place of the moon, so your whiteness can brighten my eyes and my soul in the dark moments.

[...]

Spoiler

Charmer.

[close]

[...]

I had joined my three layers for a closer look on composition today. Learned from mistakes.

Spoiler

Sneak peek.
I think, I figured out how to handle the short time amount. Definitely better to go more basic.

[close]

[Mandle]

I had joined my three layers for a closer look on composition today. Learned from mistakes.

Spoiler

Sneak peek.
I think, I figured out how to handle the short time amount. Definitely better to go more basic.

[close]

Ohhhhhh...looking very lovely there already...It that circle one of the rolling ball transports from The Dig? Maybe wrecked at the end of the line? That would rock!

[...]

I confess that I've never played the dig. Only watched it a little these days.
It wasn't available and many other English Adventures I were playing for the first time after 2008.
So, no I don't know what ya talking about, hehe. But dig style is more for the demo. For this competition I go more for a pixel perfect checkmate style.
floating

[Monsieur OUXX]

adventuress you better finish your drawing this time! I think you're capable of amazing things.

[...]

Every day with you guys is a gift. ......

[ThreeOhFour]

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/cVDKCFb.png[/imgzoom]

It'd been almost a year since I entered one of these, and the theme excited me, so here's my entry! I had fun!

[Mandle]

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/cVDKCFb.png[/imgzoom]

It'd been almost a year since I entered one of these, and the theme excited me, so here's my entry! I had fun!

HOLY CRAP!!! THAT is soooo beautiful! You are a true artist!

[GreenBeams]

@ThreeOhFour...
...
Sweet. Baby. Cheeses.
...
That's bally lovely, that is. Fantastic work on the clouds and i love birds. They look clickable =D

@Adventuress - i played The Dig for the first time about a year ago and reeeeally recommend it. It felt like being a 10 year old again.
A 10 year old with a broadband connection and access to walkthroughs for the hard bits xD

[I<3Pindorama!]

...

Spoiler

I see some giant water lilies and trees with lianas (I think)... may be a tropical river or maybe some kind of swamp. Some chance have a connection with your previous art? This river It's that river passing near to the mountains that we could see in the upper opening of the cave? Your lines and curves really stir up my imagination ...

[close]

...

Spoiler

(304), when it turn a game pass me the download link, please! Very, very, very good... congratulations! The scene make me want click on it!!!

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/cVDKCFb.png[/imgzoom]

[close]

Now my chances of taking the first place just wrecked...   

[Stupot]

The scene make me want click !!!

I had to re-read this. Zoomed out on an iPhone, it looks like something else ;-)

[Monsieur OUXX]

Like someone said before.... Holy crap.

Fear not, other contestants! As you can see this has been painted, so there is still room for some crisp hard-core pixel-art.

[Cassiebsg]

Outch... Mandle said it, so I'm not going to repeat it... really great work... I want that hanging on my wall!
Geezee, not even in my wildest fantasies, I've cooked up in my mind something so beautiful!

[...]

Wonderful! Things have become interesting again, I kind of started to miss OUXX in the competition.
Good job ThreeOhFour and so dramatic.

Well Pindorama, I thought a second about that as I had started to develop the picture. But Marka is the one which would have to change. I tried to put paint techniques of the early centuries into pixel art. I never would finish PoF in my life time, if I stick to that concept. No, that wouldn't be me at all. But your guesses hitting into the right direction.

I think, I need new glasses.... I saw PINK!

[Monsieur OUXX]

Dammit, Ben, you've ruined the competition
Oh well never mind, I'm entering anyway! The theme of the "wreck" was whispered in my ear by someone, but I only just realized that there IS actualy a background from Indy & the 7coG that would work!

[I<3Pindorama!]

Well Pindorama, I thought a second about that as I had started to develop the picture. But Marka is the one which would have to change. I tried to put paint techniques of the early centuries into pixel art. I never would finish PoF in my life time, if I stick to that concept. No, that wouldn't be me at all. But your guesses hitting into the right direction.

And your words  instigate me even more ...
Follow the development of your art is always a treat. 

The scene make me want click !!!

I had to re-read this. Zoomed out on an iPhone, it looks like something else ;-)

I have extrapolated in the zoomout ...
I only read "Do you want french fries?" 

Spoiler

[imgzoom]http://p3.publico.pt/sites/default/files/800px-Simpsons_movie_trailer_3_0.png[/imgzoom]

[close]

[ThreeOhFour]

Dammit, Ben, you've ruined the competition

Actually after looking at the standard of the entries lately I thought "I am going to have to do a good one to impress anybody" haha.

Thanks for the kind words everyone, I look forward to seeing all your entries.

[...]

I see, wanna play with the big boys, too, Four.
But I'm kind of worried about OUXX *tousle*, looks like he got the panic fever or what ever else. How about grandma's chicken soup, would that help? Nothing else makes worst and could days better than soup. I can tell....

Spoiler

I wanna have this big, huge, giant world.
The far behinds of the behind, hehe, is ready to get mould. Let's see, if I can generate the atmosphere I like to have.
Amazing what a few colors are able of. And how funny it is when the 'fill out' tool becomes entirely useless. Ok almost.

[close]

[GreenBeams]

this is all building up to be another excellent competition! I'm currently working on my 3d for the block in and am looiking to start painting soon =)))

[...]

Maybe later I won't have the chance. I thought it would only be fair, if I gonna tell you guys. Better sit down, if you are not.

Life became tougher with every day, looks like I'm losing almost everything what matters to me. I just want you to know that I really enjoyed my short time here. I don't know what will happen, if or when I just vanish. If I don't find help, I just can say..... good bye... till than let's smile.

...

[I<3Pindorama!]

There is no birth without crying and pain ...
So it is with the rebirth too ...
The desire of the "end" is nothing more than the desire for change.
Not the extinction of life itself ... but simply (but not so simple) to become a new person.


It is with deep regret that I see your departure but with a great joy to know that this is a fundamental step towards resolution of what is now most important to you.

You enchanted us with your essence as well as his work brought us a real adventure of beauty and knowledge. Wish I had been able to return in equal measure what you did for me and certainly by the other members. But you have a really strong and wise soul, the best that you need is what you're going to find.

A tight and long hug for you!
I wish you all the best, Golden Cherry!

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pR3urD4gzg

[close]

[...]

Sounds like you've already given up on me, Pindo. I won't go without a fight.... I won't let them take my home so easily, my life.
So smile till hope gets lost. Let's pixel... and pray for us, if you do so.

[I<3Pindorama!]

Give up on you? Never cherry ...
The true melody than i said was to give you a "UP"!
My faith in your courage to take the resolutions that are crucial in this moment,
much more than its presence in this forum, but instead the preservation and care
of what is really crucial for the resolution of whatever is affecting you.

My heart will send good vibrations to you... this is my pray.
And I'm sure that you are greater than any obstacle that is put in front of you ...

[ThreeOhFour]

This is easily the most dramatic background blitz I've ever been a part of, and I've been around these forums for years.

[[delete}]

@ThreeOhFour: Seems your dramatic cumulus clouds reflect the mood of this BLITZ! Your fishing boat scene makes me feel sorry for those poor pixel sailors - but at the same time I adore the beauty of the dried up sea.

@adventuress: I hope you get through this rough time, the glimpse of your artwork is promising!

[Monsieur OUXX]

The drama reached its climax 4 days ago when a little change appeared, unnoticed, in the first post of the thread.

[GreenBeams]

i'm not sure how one would win that particular award... although i fear a Miss-World-Judge-Bias-Sex-Scandal style whirlwind headed your way!

[...]

You think it was unnoticed.... I wondered way you were putting this broken love boat in the bunch, OUXX. Who would have a reward like that? Please do me a favor and delete it. You have no idea how much it hurts to see it. It's taking my breath away.

[Kasander]

I'd like to take part in this Blitz but I don't know if I'll have some spare time to paint my wreck... So it's very fortunate Monsieur OUXX thought about people like me and added another trophy. Without further ado, please let me express my exaltation for the other rare and radiant maiden gracing this thread with this simple haiku:

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/aAK7iR9.png[/imgzoom]

PS: I'd like to apologize all the maidens as well as gents in this thread for this unexpected outburst of pixel adoration. Surely it won't happen again  

[Monsieur OUXX]

Now that's the spirit! Nothing was meant to hurt anyone. If someone can outdo Kasander's perfect mix of haiku and pixels (flirt wreck? ), I'll be blown away. Take that, regular trophies!

[...]

I don't wanna hurt anyone. I'm sorry, it might better I take a break.
It's not fair to anyone, if I ruin the competition.

bye and good luck everyone

[Misj']

A different rendering style from my usual work (for those who remember).

Also, I added a bird...just because Ben had one in his piece. Your move 304


<click image for a version without characters>


I might play around with it a bit more before the contest ends...just because there's so much fun to be had in this scene.

[Mandle]

Oh wow....WOW!!!

Misj' that background is just....breath-taking!!!

Soooooo beautiful!!!

[Monsieur OUXX]

bye and good luck everyone

Oh come on now! I'm not sure qhy you're offended, but we're all very excited to see your background, so please come back and finish it! Every AGSer here would like to see it!

[Dropped Monocle Games]

I'm really not sure if I will finish on time as I'm also working on a MAGS game, but this is what I have so far, more of a concept at the moment.. but here it is

I'll update this post if/ when I do more work on it

Updates:

[Cassiebsg]

Congrats Soxbrooker, looks good and it's more than what I have!

@adventuress, don't quit! Fight!

[I<3Pindorama!]

Could be a game, could be a book, could be an animation ... but it is here, to the delight of my eyes!

Misj, what an amazing work! Particularly brings me to the work of Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit) mixed with David Petersen (Mouse Guard). Really creative and unusual what you've built to represent the wreck ... so childish and sweet way. Gives a pleasant feeling because it smoothes the bad concept that the term in a sense carries ... congratulations, man!

_____________________________________

Sweet Cherry, if there is anything here that displeases you, do not force yourself to stay. I don't see how You could hurt any of us ... except That You're feeling so bad. As well as many here, I have deep admiration and curiosity for your art and your process of creation and like the way that you are (your essence), but I'm sure that you know first of all: nothing or no one should be reason to force your stay in an atmosphere that doesn't seem to be able to bring you peace of mind, pleasure, happiness , or at least one "pain" that you Consider be worth.

The most important now must be yourself ...

We hope to see you good and back.

[Monsieur OUXX]

hey apparently I didn't read all the thread messages well enough, I only saw the things like "sweet cherry" and "my knight in shiny armour", etc. But I didn't see that there was some sad stuff too mixed with it.
Therefore, apologies, and I remove the "flirt" award.
Adventuress, please accept my apologies and come back! Let's have some fun with this competition.

[I<3Pindorama!]

Sorry but I can not accept an placements so rude and malicious ... because I know that the Adventuress's sadness don't was caused b my way of repay with kind words the gentle mode that I was treated. Mainly because her cries Were not directed to anything that I have done or said ... but "apparently", reading her threads it Seems that she made it explicit and directed "what" and "who" made her so hurt ... not interest me speculate the Reasons ... but deeply regret what you just insinuate.

[GreenBeams]

the 3D block in is done and i'm going to start the paintover tonight. Please bear in mind that this was done merely to place things in perspective and so i could tweak the plane's position without having to redraw everytime. There are a few more elements to the picture which i didn't need to model out.



With so many good entries, i thought i'd best get in and claim "Old plane hanging from a jungle tree" before some better did it.

[Snarky]

Sorry but I can not accept an placements so rude and malicious ... because I know that the Adventuress's sadness don't was caused b my way of repay with kind words the gentle mode that I was treated. Mainly because her cries Were not directed to anything that I have done or said ... but "apparently", reading her threads it Seems that she made it explicit and directed "what" and "who" made her so hurt ... not interest me speculate the Reasons ... but deeply regret what you just insinuate.

Maybe this can be a good lesson in keeping threads on topic and not filling them with all kinds of personal chatter (the General Discussion and Rumpus Room boards are for that).

[I<3Pindorama!]

Maybe this can be a good lesson in keeping threads on topic and not filling them with all kinds of personal chatter (the General Discussion and Rumpus Room boards are for that).

Hi, Snarky. I understand your placement but In my opinion, the interaction between the members should be done with respect and where possible with kindness. A compliment or a kind way to talk witht someone is not something that sets off conflicts ... perhaps the most appropriate lesson for this is in another example.

[[delete}]

Ooh, Kasander, your haiku expresses such a nice compliment    I hope it was devoted to me, otherwise...^^
[imgzoom]http://i5.minus.com/io7NzZnYQykEa.png[/imgzoom]
Sadly OUXX fused the flirt trophy in - but it was a great idea.


Misj': Such a homey medieval forest. I wonder if the rabbit will find something valuable in the wrecked cart! Maybe that meedlesome bird from the nearby castle knows what has happened...
Combined with your humourus and fine hand-drawings - the whole scene feels natural, mastered with ease. Formidable!

[Misj']

@Mandle, Pindorama, Amy
Thanks for the kind words. It was a great experience creating this style.

[Monsieur OUXX]

Keep dem backgrounds coming! Sadly, I haven't had time to start my own yet, but I'm not giving up on that plan!

[Kasander]

Ooh, Kasander, your haiku expresses such a nice compliment    I hope it was devoted to me, otherwise...^^

There's no other maiden in this thread whose avatar's eyes would encapsulate the essence of yin and yang in only six pixels

[imgzoom]http://i5.minus.com/io7NzZnYQykEa.png[/imgzoom]

This is beautiful, Amy! I love it! You would undoubtedly win that prize

I miss the love-wreck trophy too, but I believe Mr OUXX pulled it for greater good.
But before it happened, the Muses were unable to stop me from writing this:

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/ze50trw.png[/imgzoom]


...

I sincerely hope adventuress comes back to the forums and will keep on making cool art as she did before. I'm certain we're all friends here and no one meant to cause harm to anybody.

My thoughts are with you, adventuress! Hopefully you'll come back to us ASAP.

[[delete}]

A wonderful entry, Kasander! Your illustration pleasingly emphasises the nostalgic memories of the poetric lyrics.

And besides those adorable sea shells , the deeper meaning is quite thoughtful: all our place here derives from those early 1980's arcade games and text adventures (=Interactive Fiction). Even if these old times are long forgotten and sunken down, our memories and passion outlast...

[imgzoom]http://i2.minus.com/iBYwObufXJmb1.png[/imgzoom][I grew up with Heart of Darkness]

[Kasander]

You're just  too kind, Amy! Wish I had some more time to actually draw something.

Hey, I'd swear that something had changed... I feel like I'm looking at your portrait in higher resolution now... Like somebody was messing with my options menu
I remember Heart of Darkess very well! Happy days

...
I'll try to find some spare time next week, maybe I'll be able to wreck some proper background.
I wouldn't count on winning anything though, this wrecking crew is too strong already!  And I'm still eager to see what will Yakatakatulla paint.

[Grundislav]

This is my first ever background blitz entry.

[Armageddon]

There's some phallic symbolism with those tree roots.

[Monsieur OUXX]

This is my first ever background blitz entry.

Nice! I'm honored that it happens in the iteration that I'm hosting! Nice interpretation of a wreck, too, even though the catastrophy probably didn't look very dramatic. --But you never know, if it happened the same way as in Les Misérables, then there's room for plenty of narration

[...]

Spoiler

Just a quick drop. Just painting for myself.

[imgzoom]http://u.jimdo.com/www75/o/sc60c47078e926a37/img/i99a3e165d3fcc251/1422876972/std/image.png[/imgzoom]

[close]

[Andail]

Hehe, I love how absolutely undramatic Grundislav's scene is

[Grundislav]

My entry is a total wreck

[Misj']

My entry is a total wreck

add a bird. That's what I did to safe mine. :-)

[Cassiebsg]

I sooo want to do something for this one, but haven't even started and my mind only seems to be able to think of "complicated wrecks" beyond my skills...

Anyway, keep those great BGs coming!

[jwalt]

Time seems to wield the ultimate wrecking ball, witness this gas station that has seen better days:



Worked from a Googled image that "seemed" to have a hand pumped gas pump, along with what appeared to be a fairly new pay telephone. A bit of a contradiction, but the pay phone is also a victim of time.

Modeled in Anim8or and rendered in Bryce.

[Cassiebsg]

Hey, really nice one jwalt!
Glad you found the time to "wreck" something.
And you stole my idea! No, not the gas pump, but a "wrecked house"...
Though, if I find the time I'll do it anyway, can't have enough wrecked houses, right? Specially, since I realized I can also use this topic on my other game, would be nice to do something for that one... so hands on an see if I can catch up.

[GreenBeams]

@jwalt/@cassiebsg - nice interpretation on the theme =)
@Grundislav - i like how your pic really feels like an adventure game background. It has me thinking "i wonder where this raod leads to or that road leads to" well done!
@Sox - I'm really looking forward to seeing your lineart worked up. it's got so much potential and i'm itching to see where you go with it!
@Misj' - Aw, come on! That's lovely, is that! Of course, it's all about the bird xP
@ThreeOhFour - i know i've already commented on yours but i went back for another ogle. I ogled it good. Really nice, feelgood work.

Er, updates are coming on my entry... when i decide on a proper direction... The jungle thingy wasn't happening. I'm giving it another couple of days and then just working up whatever i have at that point. Hmmmm, wordy.

[GreenBeams]

There's still an awfully long way to go but i've got a feel for the lighting and composition now. I took a leaf out of Grundislav's book and really tried to push those "other ways" in and out of the scene. Anyway, here's a WIP:



There's still other things to add to the scene but, like i say, i just wanted to put something other than that grey 3d model into the discussion

[Monsieur OUXX]

Welcome back adventuress!

I see plenty of great submissions! Dammit, the competition is going to be tough again!

Here is my pre-alpha version What is it you say? No wreck in sight? Erm, well... It's coming, it's coming! Be patient!

[imgzoom]https://40.media.tumblr.com/b5daa9119ec43b2d8b362d9012726b14/tumblr_nj9kbfvZo81tsfksfo1_1280.png[/imgzoom]

[Cassiebsg]

As long as we're sharing wips... My second draft done today (abandoned the 1st cause it was just getting too big for what I wanted...)

Spoiler

[IMGzoom]http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Cassiebsg/Jake/housewreck1.png[/IMGzoom]

[close]

[Monsieur OUXX]

Here's my entry! It has some weaknesses but I'm happy I managed to create this pixelly "dead leaves" texture and I'm also proud that I produced this background rather quickly overall. Good pipeline, from a game-producing perspective.

[imgzoom]https://40.media.tumblr.com/b001d5cf339589103081de22df09eb48/tumblr_nja04yHrpw1tsfksfo1_400.png[/imgzoom]

[Mandle]

Looks great Mr. OUXX!!!

Just one thing:

Spoiler

You left the red line down the left-hand side

[close]

[GreenBeams]

Really nice work, OUXX. The leaves look so labour-intensive and yet you managed to get them done in a tiny amount of time. Also, is that a downed nazi gyrocopter i see by the ligh of the setting sun? Excellent stuff

[Monsieur OUXX]

@Mandle: Thanks, but I'm too lazy to re-upload. However there still might be changes int he next few days.
@yakatakatulla : Yes, it is. Shhh, don't tell anyone The credits for this awesome 3D gyrocopter go to Christian Camillieri for the first drawing and "Erik" for the 3D model and rendering. I just copy and pasted bits of it in a crashed position.

[Dropped Monocle Games]

just a quick update, here is what I have now

full size version in my firstpost

[Monsieur OUXX]

Niiiiiice! With a proper balance of colors and luminosity levels at the end, this can definitely end up being super dramatic and theatrical! Maybe Hollywood will buy the rights for that movie?

[[delete}]

Years ago, I pixeled on a Star Wars fan-game about Red, both Rebel pilot and Sith-by-occasion. But fanart is never a good thing, so I only do original stuff ever since.

[ThreeOhFour]

Nope, that interface is amazing, anything but embarrassing! Awesome idea, fantastic style!

[[delete}]

Thanks, Ben! But when it comes to female form and fine draping of a brown coat, my Jedi can never beat Amy from Shardlight! Now that's really some amazing character art you've created.

[ThreeOhFour]

You're very kind.

[Monsieur OUXX]

I love Amy's drawing too. The fact that the scene is using up only a small fraction of the screen in the center, with huge buttons around, is very Populous-like, it gives it a lot of personality.

I have to say, though, that I don't think it can be accepted as an entry, because it was made beforehand. What do you say, people?

[[delete}]

OUXX, you're right. Rules are rules! Especially on a hobbyists computer game forum.


@Yakatakatulla: I feel sorry to neither comment nor vote for your atmospheric ancient cave last month. In fact, your latest wide panorama of the jungle with plane and engine is stunning! I can almost feel myself climbing to the cockpit in fear of the height (caused by your great three-point-perspective).

@Grundislav: Your artistic skills are getting so much refined lately: What a peaceful and rural pastorale in olive-green and siena-red.

@Dropped Monocle Games I'm curious how your final background will look like. It seems that your comic style with its fine line used at Mess Goblins also seems to work pretty well with textured surfaces (e.g. the moon and galaxy area). That's exciting, I will keep an eye on it!

[GreenBeams]

@Amy - Thanks so much; it's very kind of you to say so! The jungle scene has changed a little and i'm currently at the suuuper long rendering stage. It's turning out to easily be the longest thing i've done yet (*ahem*not-counting-a-certain-piece-for-Monsieur-OUXX*ahem*). Are you having a crack at this month's comp? i think your pixel'ing looks fantastic and would love to see what you come up with  

[Cassiebsg]

And after 4 days of "working" I've got...

Spoiler

...still crap.
[IMGzoom]http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Cassiebsg/Jake/wrecktest.png[/IMGzoom]

I've spend 2 days finding the right program to generate bump pictures, I finally found one but alas, it did not work on neither of my 2 computers, this one only has OGL 3.3 and prog needs 4! The other computer it just crashed... Then I found out that I could use it on my husbands PC, barely, it run but it only displayed black instead of showing the texture... argh... I complained... and got a "new" GF card for my "new" PC... installed it yesterday and alas! it was working! Happy me!
Spent the rest of the day yesterday and today trying to figure out best settings for the textures map... but still have this nagging idea that I would have been better off modeling each stone by it self. Might still do it!
Anyway, still missing trees and bushes in the picture, and I just "made up" a quick sky background in PhotoPaint...

[close]

[GreenBeams]

Hey Cassiebsg =)

I think it's anything but crap! You've got some nice weathering to the stones, good overall ligting and it's all ready to just put in some context or a paintover. As for the 3d side of things, i would really recommend trying out Blender. It's completely free and I know several professionals who use it exclusively. It even has texture painting directly onto the model so there's no need to worry about being too prescious when laying out UV's and things. There're plenty of free tutorials on Youtube too that'll get you started.

Hope that's helped and hasn't just been a total "eh? what? Blender who?" kind of thing. Keep going though, please. I'm really anxious to see where you go with it!

[Cassiebsg]

That is done in Blender, so no need to worry about it there. I'm just a plain rookie at this, and this is the first time I'm trying adding textures on it. Bet you know the feeling: you know exactly what you want to do, but can't make the program to do it, cause you just don't know enough of it to be able to correct what's wrong.
But think I'll stop focusing on the detail of the texture for now, and will try adding those trees and bushes...

[Monsieur OUXX]

@cassiebsg, I agree with Yakatakatulla, it's anything but crap. You have the skills, now you need to find the right tool (and get used to it). I don't think you need an external tool in Blender to do bump-mapping. If this competition is the right opportunity for you to teach yourself Blender, then go for it! Because afterwards you'll be able to do amazing things (*cough* the kind of things I've always dreamt to do but never got a chance to learn *cough*)

[Monsieur OUXX]

ONE

WEEK

LEFT



Pressure Pressure.

[Cassiebsg]

Thanks guys for the vote of confidence.
Been playing a bit more with it, and have now added a few trees (they were easier than I thought they would be). I think it starting to look somewhat better, even if am still not sold on my stone texture (but I better not focus on that right now, or I'll go insane). Am still needing to add a few bushes and a proper background image (which oddly enough is proving harder than it should... ) if all else fails, I'll just try and export the image with an alpha transparency for the background and the add it with PhotoPaint.
Here's a sneak peak:

Spoiler

Never mind the brown leaves, I accidentally used the bark texture instead of the leaves on those ones. I promise I'll change it for the final version! This is also the longest render I've done in Blender so far at nearly 48 minutes (yes, I found the render quality settings! ).
[IMGzoom]http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Cassiebsg/Jake/wrecktest2.png[/IMGzoom]

[close]

(*cough* the kind of things I've always dreamt to do but never got a chance to learn *cough*)

You joking right?
You did an amazing BG in 1 day! I'm the one dreaming about one day being able to do such a feat!

[Monsieur OUXX]

(*cough* the kind of things I've always dreamt to do but never got a chance to learn *cough*)

You joking right? You did an amazing BG in 1 day!

I'm talking about 3D skills.
by the way there is a weird noise on your pictures. did you add a "noise" filter or did you render in a limited number of colors? (65000 colors?)

[GreenBeams]

That's looking really nice, Cassiebsg! I know you didn't ask for a crit but i'll offer one anyway

At the minute, everything's coming together really nice and, although you may not think it, there's a lot of positive difference between this month's entry and last month's entry. It looks like you've got a Depth of Feild issue, though. At the minute, the focus is on a small portion of the ruin and a lot of the image is blurry. This much DOF gives the scene the impression of being miniature. I don't know the story behind it and maybe that's what you're going for but that's what immediately hits me about it. I found this tutorial on DOF in blender and it may help =)

Anyway, like i said, you didn't ask for a crit so i apologise if i'm stepping over my bounds here. You're doing some really nice work and are definitely improving as an artist =)

[GreenBeams]

ONE

WEEK

LEFT



Pressure Pressure.

Argh!! plants and trees and plants and trees and plants and trees... paint faster!!!!

[Cassiebsg]

Thanks for the input you two.

Spoiler

Yes, I was playing with the depth, focus and distance of the camera last night, then set it to render just to realize that it was just the opposite of what I was trying to do! At that hour I wasn't on the mood to fiddle with that again, and wait another hour or so to get a new render... I went to bed past 1AM... and had to get up at 5.30AM to go to work... damn that! So yes, the DOF. I wanted the focus on the doorway, and all past that to be gradually out of focus... wasn't meant to get out of focus on the foreground and focus on the BG....
Thanks for the link. Will take a look at it once I get the chance.

And feel free to give critic, even if it's not the Critics Lounge... but if it fills too much, just PM. I always welcome constructive criticism!

[close]

[Layabout]

You could probably speed up your render by reducing the number of light bouncing and only render with full ray tracing when you are happy with the DoF.

[Cassiebsg]

Old post:

Spoiler

Here's my submission, I might still do a few changes/additions if I have the time before the dealine...

[IMGzoom]http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Cassiebsg/Jake/wrecktest4.png[/IMGzoom]

PS - Moving to the other computer has saved me some time, this one took under 18 minutes to render.

[close]

[Monsieur OUXX]

Real nice. Neat progress since last time and last iteration.

[GreenBeams]

@cassiebsg - that's really nice!

I love the lighting choice of having the golden yellow sunlight behind the ruin. It puts the front wall in shadow and really highlights the doorway in. It's a very big - here's where you go next - kind of player/composition clue =) Well done and some great improvement!

[GreenBeams]

8 days of painting jungle:

[[delete}]

Crashed planes in the jungle is a well-known trope! To stand in that tradition, every hour is well spent!

Special thanks to selmiaks walkthroughs for gathering all those planes in adventure games 

Hugo 3: Jungle of Doom	Flight of the Amazon Queen  (FotAQ) (recommended: selmiaks walkthrough for flight of the amazon queen)	BROKEN SWORD 3: The Sleeping Dragon
Where Time Stood Still	Lost Horizon (recommended: selmiaks walkthrough for lost horizon)

Do you plan to use it for a first-person adventure like Myst...

[Cassiebsg]

Okay, think am finished! Consider this my final submission (unless someone has some clever tips on how to improve it). It's now pretty much how I envisioned it.

[IMGzoom]http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Cassiebsg/Jake/wreckhouse_final.png[/IMGzoom]

Now to go work on that portal...

[GreenBeams]

@cassiebsg - wonderful! Adding the background really puts you in the picture and makes the ruin feel like it has a place in the space there. Well done for sticking with it, i know how infuriating rendering can get =)

@amy - Ah, broken sword, my favourite! (although possibly not The Sleeping Dragon, but my favourite franchise hands down) The plan was to just use the competition to help me learn how to paint, learn about composition and also how to get some story into a picture. So, and sorry for waffling here, to answer your question, there's no game attached to it.... yet  

[Andail]

Original ship model nicked from the sketchup warehouse website, rust texture also stolen, but hey, I was pretty stressed while making this
Probably wouldn't have participated here if it wasn't for the fact that this scene is something that could fit my next project...
Might consider it a WiP; could probably refine it quite a lot, and add things in the sky or on the ground...

Edit:
No idea why I uploaded a pre-magnified version of the bg instead of the original 320x200... but can't be bothered to change it now.

[GreenBeams]

@Andail - nice work! with the cold sky and huge ship, the whole piece feels barron and inhospitable. Sort of like "oh, no... I'm in the poo this time" kind of thing. Lovely, atmospheric stuff =)

OK, i'm calling it a day on this one. it's easily the biggest thing i've ever painted but that's because it started big and I couldn't half arse it when i'd alrady done some of it. I tried to make the thing playable and ported it into AGS. I noticed a perspective problem at the start of the rope bridge as it's not directly stright. Lesson learned with that for future!

Anyway, i had a load of fun and love this compeition for pushing me to paint hard or go home (that's a saying, right? xD)

it's meant to be scrollable 640x480 screen that was painted at twice the size:
[imgzoom]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/107389340/AGS/BG_Blitz/WRECK/final_480.png[/imgzoom]

[Cassiebsg]

You guys are just awesome!
Incredible nice work!

[Kasander]

I did a sketch few days ago, but somehow couldn't get back to it until Sunday. Sorry I couldn't finish it on time To be honest I'm not sure if I'm not too late in this Blitz. I've always had this problem with the exact meaning of 'until'.

[Mandle]

Kasander that is truly beautiful! Wow, you really know how to draw light reflecting off metal! Just wonderful!

[Misj']

To be honest I'm not sure if I'm not too late in this Blitz. I've always had this problem with the exact meaning of 'until'.

I always thought it just meant: until voting has started; which will be around <date>

[Monsieur OUXX]

TIME IS OFF! (actually since yesterday night)

I'll now gather all submissions

[Monsieur OUXX]

VOTING TIME! (until Sunday night, midnight in your time zone) (Please let me know if I forgot someone!)

High-quality entries. And plenty of them!

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Please do click on each image to see it with a proper size and resolution.
2. You must vote 3 times. Once for each criterium.

The criteria are reminded here :

  - Concept (a scene that stimulates the imagination, or something interesting, or clever -- something that makes people say: "Oh, I see!")
  - Playability (could it be used in a real game?)
  - Artistic execution (you know, there's always this one contestant who makes everyone jealous of his skills )

1. Kasander
2. GreenBeams (a.k.a. Yakatakatula )
3. Andail
4. Cassiebg
5. Dropped Monocle games (unfinished)
6. monsieur ouxx
7. jwalt
8. adventuress: has completeky disappeared :'( If anyone has news, that'd be cool.
9. Grundislav
10 Misj'
11 ThreeOhFour
12 I<3Pindorama!
I<3Pindorama!'s STORY/CONCEPT:

Spoiler

Sorry for the disgusting state of the toilet paper roll, but that's how he was found by the rescue team.
In order to not cause gag reflex, the full content is reproduced below...


[/center]

You can read THE CHAPTER I right here:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=51609.0

[close]

[Mandle]

OMG soooo friggin' hard to choose. There is not a flawed entry in this whole bunch...But:

Concept: Kasander...This background just makes me want to know so much more about the story of the game it would be in. Well that...and also that fact that any game with backgrounds just THAT beautiful would need an incredible amount of bungling of the rest of the production to not be awesome!!! I'm guessing it's a spaceship that crashed quite some time ago and is currently being worshipped by the jungle natives as a shrine to the "gods", so telling that much story with one background really deserves the concept award I feel...

Playability: GreenBeams...The multiple paths and obvious puzzle of the hanging medallion from the dead pilot's fist just makes me want to walk all over this. Sure character perspective is gonna be a problem, but the gorgeous walkbehinds make up for it. Besides: there is only one vote allowed for:

Artistic: ThreeOhFour...Ummmm, yeah. I can only repeat Cassie's comment: "I want to hang a print of this on my wall" I believe it was...

EDIT: Also, I just realized that the stuff wrapped all around the dead pilot, and hanging all blood-soaked down to the ground, in GreenBeam's work is the pilot's failed attempt at bailing out with his parachute, or it deployed upon crashing. Either way: deliciously ironic black humour right there. I can only hope the player has to climb the parachute somehow to retrieve the medallion, adding insult to injury...

[Stupot]

concept: Andail I like the big ship and I can't wait to explore it.
playability: Greenbeams Interesting semi-top-down angle looks great and provides for some intriguing possibilities.
artistry: Misj hard to choose an obvious winner here but this one was just slightly more joyful to look at than some of the others. Lovely stuff.

[Mandle]

For some reason Cassiebsg's entry is not showing up for me in the gallery... FIXED

[I<3Pindorama!]

Concept: Misj'

REFERENCES Spoiler As I said before this work had captivated me for its creativity which presents a quiet occurrence and still be an event associated to the dramatic theme. As soon as I contemplated the image Immediately a medieval version of Peter Rabbit came to my mind ... In fact, the work of Beatrix Potter "debuted" in the public domain this year. This means we can already reproduce and use his work in a infinity of things like... ags's games? The second reference was a comic book called Mouse Guard, below I leave the sequence of the first 11 pages of the first published and you are understand the elements of the work of Misj' that brought me this recall: [1][2][3] [4][5][6] [7][8][9] [10][11] Image Source: Super Hero Sutff http://www.superherostuff.com/blog/book-review/indie-spotlight-mouse-guard/ Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14838/14838-h/14838-h.htm [close] AWAKENED

Playability: (304)...

REFERENCES Spoiler It's irresistible! Very well executed and a tempting composition that makes me want... wait a minute... Stupott is here? No? All right ... here I go ... the spectacular work that makes me want to click in every hole of this ship! The desert area and the skeletons brought me memories of a comics version of the Bible that i got from my mother... yes, she used all the strategies to turn me into a good catholic child.       [Zoom] The Bible was illustrated by the italian master Gianni de Luca and who can look for his comics version for some Shakespeare's plays will not regret.  The other reference is a Bruegel Pieter's painting, "The Triumph of Death". When I first saw my eyes were buried in the details of this work. I with my fertile imagination of my 6 year old could hear the desperate cries of the people and the laugh dry of the skeletons. It was terrifying and magnificent... and still is! [Zoom] DETAIL The last reference is the scene of a Jos Stelling movie called "De Vliegende Hollander" (The Flying Dutchman). I did a movie trailer and insert the scene in question: Trailer: [embed=440,320]<iframe width="440" height="320 src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NJc6boSPiVY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/embed] FULL MOVIE - Torrent Link - Srt: PT / ESP / ENG [close] AWAKENED

Artistic: Mounsier Ouxx

REFERENCES Spoiler This Artwork touched and surprised me enough ... is indeed a very beautiful composition and each delicate elements seemed to whisper in my mind at the same time a tragic and sweet story. Soundtrack of the scene described below: [embed=240,120]<iframe width="240" height="120 src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z-LUoMLiEvs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/embed] I could imagine the pilot of this helicopter trying to control his damaged aircraft while the story of his life revolved before his eyes when, in a brief moment between a spin and other, he noted on the ground a small glade filled with leaves dried. This place is very similar to the field where he gave to his beloved a engagement ring... and in a last effort he strives to launch its rotary skiff toward this landscape... if death was inevitable to him ... like a Shakespeare's Ophelia he wanted to be buried in his sweetest memory...kaputt ! Many other references came to my mind and these references have led to other references. It was a great pleasure investigate and understand how fit perfectly in the image each element that unleashed all this references inspire on me. I made a little "map" with the main references... [Zoom] [close] AWAKENED

I'm not saying that this things are the inspiration of the artwork,
but only what this artwork inspire on me...

[Andail]

Alright, first some general thoughts:
Kasander: Awesome technique, very original lighting. A bit too dark, but my PC monitor displays it alright (other devices not so much).
Greenbeams: Very impressive background, nice to see such high resolution and attention to detail. Unfortunately, the entire piece doesn't have the same level of polish (as is often the case with hi-res pictures) and the wreckage itself is very underdeveloped. If it had had the same definition and sharpness as most of the foliage, I'd have given this piece my vote, but unfortunately the wreck is just too unfinished at this point.
Monsieur Ouux: A very original lighting and atmosphere here. Greet feel.
Grundislav: I like this because it reminds me of the classic KQ games. It's very low key and has nothing dramatic going on, but it's still consistently executed.
Misj: This is great! Great technique, lots of work and time put into this piece. Shapes and details well made, but in terms of composition and lighting, it could be improved. I would like to give this an overhaul over at c&c, if I may.
304: Beautiful work, colours and composition are top notch. If Kasander and Greenbeams have brought some new concepts and techniques to the table, this one is pretty safe and conventional, but it's very professional. 

Very hard to choose between these, but here goes:
Concept: Kasander, for the dramatic atmosphere and original style
Playability: Grundislav, for the traditional grid-map kind of adventure game vibes I get while looking at it
Atistry: Monsieur Ouux, for the interesting usage of highly contrasted yellow/red pixels depicting an autumn evening.

[Creamy]

Artistic execution: Misj'. Very charming. It could belong to a Daedalic game.

Concept: Andail. I'd love to visit this frozen boat.

Playability: GreenBeams. Mandle said it all.

Ben and Kasander pictures are amazing too. I feel like the backgrounds of Kasander and GreenBeams could come from the same game. The 3D compositions of Cassiebg and Jwalt are very classical but they would work perfectly in a game. Mr ouxx forest is nice, even if I have the impression that the helicopter is a toy compared to the rocks and trees (Small Soldiers adventure game anyone?).
Kudos to all participants,the level was very high in this competition.

[GreenBeams]

This is a really difficult month. So many good entries and for different reasons too. But, as i can only use the three categories, here're my votes.

Concept - Andail - There feels like a solid story here and i think it's the level of finish that's making me feel that way. Fjord cruise taken out by a Kracken being smuggled in the hold... mmmm? Yes! It feels impressionistic in the sense that you've put just enough things in the picture for my mind to make up the rest. Really well done. (and thanks very much for the crit - i can't believe i completely missed tightening up the plane )
Playability - Kasander - dark in value and it feels dark in concept too. I want to know more about what's going on there and the larger, possibly more nefarious story is calling to me. I want to explore the darkness and find potential hidden loot and routes. i also really love that torchlight coming out of the hole at the bottom of what looks to me to be a stone temple (i apologise if it's actually metal). I might be banging on here more about the concept than playabolity but, what i mean is that it's so dark, it makes me want to play it more, to explore.
Artistic Execution - ThreeOhFour - The painting looks so effortess, it looks like it's been done by a serious pro but the skeletons have a lovely, accessibe tongue in cheek quality to them. It's moody and well lit, cartoon enough to be stylised and rendered well enough to be grounded in recognizable reality. Artistically inspirational and a personal yardstick for my own development. Excellent work and thanks for sharing it!

Other words i have to say -
@Cassiebsg - I want to say that i'm really impressed by your committment to make your work better. Not excusing yourself on render times and sticking with it is, i believe, the main reason why it turned out so well and why i think you're going to get so much better so much quicker.
@Misj' - I'm sorry you squidged through the cracks for me as artistic execution was already taken but, i wanted to say that with this and your character work, i think you're work is fantastic!

[selmiak]

Concept: GreenBeams
The perfect setting in the right perspective. great!

Playability: Andail
I know exactly where the path continues!

Artistic execution: Cassiebsg
Surprised me the most and made the biggest artistic progress imho. Closely followed by... everyone else! Fantastic entries in this blitz!

[Monsieur OUXX]

I still can't believe how cool are the entries and how many of them there are. Keep voting!

[Cassiebsg]

This is soooo hard, I can't believe that there are so many entries and they are all so good!
I think this is the contest I've seen more entries to since I started "trolling" on this forum.

Anyway, and knowing I can't be fair and vote for all:
- Concept: Kasander There's so much happening in there that I just want to know more and explore it. You even made me change the brightness of my monitor just to try and figure what it is!
  - Playability: Misj' I just want to explore that wreck and see how many cool stuff I can get from it.
  - Artistic execution: ThreeOhFour I still want this one hanging on my wall!

Everyone else, great job! And am looking forward to play all these great games in the makings!

[Lasca]

This is an absolutly insane blitz. So many entries. And it really feels like the artistic braintrust of ags. So very hard to vote.
But, here we go:

- Concept - Andail. I love the stranded boat feeling. And it's so big it gives me the shivers. Really nice.

- Playability - Misj. Feels like there's lots of stuff to do here.

- Artistic execution: ThreeOhFour. Without question the hardest category, but this one makes my heart skip a beat.

[[delete}]

- Concept: ThreeOhFour - I like the contrast between sea and desert, sun vs. stormy clouds and lively birds vs. dead sailors. Ben knows what makes a scene interesting!

- Playability: GreenBeams - a lot of detail work made this widescreen stunning, telling a Lara Croftian' tale of expedition and tragic fate of a brave pilot trying to bail out.

- Artistic execution: Misj' - a very nice painting style, fitting well his virtuosic franco-belgian character line. I can almost feel the cooler air in that enchanted forest.

- Flirt trophy: Kasander - with two wonderful entries, one poetic haiku dedicated to me  ,  and a spectacular metal wreck glowing in the heart of darkness! So X-Com!


Last but not least, the coolness of Andail's ocean liner, the ironic idyll of Grundislav, jwalt's tribute to Hopper's 'Gas' and Cassiebsg's overgrown medieval ruin, this was the best Blitz! ever.

[kconan]

Concept: ThreeOhFour - Love the huge wreck which is the centerpiece of the picture, and the skeletons make the whole thing more mysterious
Playability: Greenbeams - Perfect angles and walk-behind areas for a semi-top down adventure game.
Artistry: Misj - I could hang this on a wall; really like the exacting detail of the trees/wood.

[ThreeOhFour]

I have deliberated over this for far too long. There were many great entries this round.

Concept: GreenBeams - I love that the subject of the theme is so strongly tied into your choice of composition and layout - the theme of "a wreck" not only affects what we're looking at, but how we're looking at it; the position, angle and scope of what we're seeing is all tied to this theme. The fact that you managed to achieve such a strong final image while staying true to your bold choices here is very impressive, and speaks volumes about how much work went into the piece.

Playability: Misj' - A hard choice, but there are several elements in Misj's (that apostrophe finally makes sense to me!) that speak of a background designed for a game on a technical level. There's a very clear walkable zone with a very easily readable border in the backdrop which defines exactly how far back we can go. There's also a set of small stones forming a sort of path which are indicative of an exit, a nice, easy to read symbol of "you can walk through here" to show a room exit in a place with no doors, and the considerably high horizon line means that scaling is less necessary (if at all), redolent of King's Quest games and Beneath a Steel Sky. Smart choices for an adventure game scene.

Artistry: Monsieur OUXX - What impresses me most about this scene is how confidently it mixes reds and greens together in a textured, believable image that is quite noisy to look at and yet still easily readable. I also love that OUXX has done almost the opposite of what I usually do in order to make his object of attention stand out - whereas I'll usually try to create a fairly dull, under-detailed environment and then put the detail and colour on my object of interest, here the flat, textureless, dull coloured panels of the crashed helicopter stand out in the exact same way amongst the sea of visual clutter and vivid colours. It's a really nice look at how sometimes doing the exact opposite of what you expect to work can have an equally impressive effect.

[Snarky]

Goddammit, when did everyone get so frickin' talented?!

Impossible to choose fairly, since so many could easily claim any category, but still:

Concept: Andail - the ship in the forest, there's something about that surreal imagery that really resonates with me
Playability: Greenbeams - maybe not AGS playability, because it'd be a pain to do the character perspective, but for a 2.5D toon-shaded game, yeah! (There are other strong contenders as well, but this is a screen I'd be excited to come across in an adventure game because of all the fun interaction it promises)
Artistry: Andail - I've got to go with this one again, simply because flipping through the images, it's the one I keep stopping at

Sorry to not leave comments for everyone, but you all deserve a round of applause!

[Kasander]

Concept: Andail - so simple yet so effective!

Playability: Greenbeams - makes me want to pick and examine that golden watch.

Artistry: Greenbeams - There were just too many great entries in this category... I chose the one I was most impressed with TODAY. On the other day, I could as well chose Misj's or ThreeOhFour's entry, or Cassie's 3D work.

Great Blitz, so many beautiful backrounds Well done, everyone!

@Mandle, Andail - thanks for the feedback (you were spot on with your interpretation Mandle).
Sorry for making everyone's eyes bleed. Next time I'll try to remember to take my shades off while painting

[Monsieur OUXX]

Hey hey people, sorry I have trouble accessing my Internet these days, but I promise I'll be in soon for a recount of the votes, and a winner!!!

@Pindorama : I only just noticed the reference to Corto Maltese: do you know Hugo Pratt is one of my favorite artists?

[Monsieur OUXX]

AND THE WINNERS ARE

Code: ags

Concept 
  Andail      5
  Kasander    3
  Misj        2
  GreenBeams  2
  ThreeOhFour 2

Playability
  GreenBeams   6
  Misj         3
  Andail       2
  ThreeOhFour  1
  Grundislav   1
  Kasander     1

Code: ags

Artistic
  ThreeOhFour  4
  Misj         3
  MonsieurOuxx 3
  GreenBeams   2
  CassieBg     1
  Andail       1

TOTAL
 GreenBeams   10
 Andail       8
 Misj         8
 ThreeOhFour  7
 Kasander     4
 Grundislav   1
 CassieBg     1

So, here you are, please collect your trophies.

Thanks again for the amazing quality of the entries! So many hi-res digitally painted backgrounds! If you don't mind I'll stick to what I do best: Good ol' 320x200!
       
BRONZE      SILVER       GOLD
Ben304      Andail      GreenBeams
                    &
                  Misj



...And the special flirt trophy is a collective trophy meant to spread love on my fac...on the planet!

KASANDER! AMY! I<3PINDORAMA! ADVENTURESS!
All you need is love and a little bit of flirt!

[ThreeOhFour]

This was a very cool blitz to be a part of, I'm really glad I entered. Congrats, everybody!

[Cassiebsg]

Me too, love these blitzes, as they allow me to work on my game, learn new stuff and "evolve" all in a "timer".

Congrats to all winners and special congrats to all participants.

[shaun9991]

Some amazing art here. Well done to the winners and to everyone! inspiring stuff

[AprilSkies]

Congratz to the winners and to all the participants!
This was one of the most amazing comp!
All the entries were pure ART!
I agree, very inspiring!

[GreenBeams]

Aw, that was great! It's fantastic to enter these and everyone's so talented and supportive at the same time! I can only hope to keep the bar raised as high when making up the next one

[Mandle]

Congratulations to all on many brilliant backgrounds!!! Absolutely wonderful contest this time around!

[cat]

Wonderful entries! I didn't vote because I couldn't decide - all backgrounds are fantastic!

[Andail]

Oh wow, silver, I'll be darned
Tons of gratulations to Greenbeams!

[I<3Pindorama!]

...And the special flirt trophy is a collective trophy meant to spread love on my fac...on the planet!

KASANDER! AMY! I<3PINDORAMA! ADVENTURESS!
All you need is love and a little bit of flirt!

Your love to me? Thanks, Ouxx!
Receive my love too!


♫ All you need is love... ♫

I love this Beatles' song, man! 
And i feel sorry for anyone who believes that don't need love and be loved...
You probably knows, love is something indispensable for evolution not only of each being, as a whole society, but unfortunately is becoming increasingly rare, perhaps because people are forgetting to put the respect within their gestures and actions ... and without respect love loses the real essence, and just turn in a emotional "vacuum", something that empties rather than fill.

And between you and me, I've been discovering, throughout my life, that women (or womanhood) are the issuer of the great teachings that can leads us to achieve this lighting. The learning begins in the womb... and can be sure that I am not referring to sex... though not disregard its role in this regard.

A man who unable to understand this maybe need think about what this song say:



...

And like is said in a song of another
great old (new york) band,
Love and flirting with respect is:

♫ Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa Far Better! ♫



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Spoiler Sim, Hugo Pratt é foda! Ele passou um tempo no Brasil, atuando como professor numa escola de artes. Eu sou suspeito por dizer isso... mas... É DO CARALHO!  Seriously... Hugo Pratt and Jean Giraud (your countryman ) are comic sculptors! It is unfair to say this cause the list of who I admire is long and multiethnic. [close]

Congratulations for all sailors!