"oldifying" a warehouse

[Babar]

This is supposed to be an abandonned warehouse, but I can't figure out how to make it look old. I made a crack in the wall, and a bit of broken floorboard, but it still doesn't look old. Does anyone have any techniques for sandpapering this BG? The walls and floor and to give the cans a rusty look? Of course, other C&c will also be appreciated.

[SSH]

Dust, peeling, browning, wallpaper/poster, cobwebs...?

[CodeJunkie]

I think the containers stand out quite a lot - you can see that the top and bottom are made using the circle tool, which is fine if you have a very straight and uniform look, but looks a bit odd in a room with a cartoony look.  I'd draw them by hand.  Make sure also that they fit the perspective of te picture - if I'm not mistaken, the large container should be facing about 30 degrees anticlockwise, and the same for the other containers.
For oldness, I'd try and add some manky colours to the floorboards to make them look a bit rotten, some piles of dust in the corners of the room, a cobweb in a high corner.  You can make rusty looking barrels by making a rusty part first on one side (use several orange/yellow colours) and then adding bits of flaky paint in the middle to join them together.  I'm not sure what the substance is in the large container, but if it's old it'll have a film of dust, dirt and cobwebs on the top.  I'd also reduce the quality of the photo on the poster - it looks too photo-like for the rest of the picture.
It is a nice scene though, and I'm sure it'll look great when it's fixed.  I like especially the broken floorboard, the crack and the path.

[Babar]

It is not actually meant to have a cartoony look. Does it give you that impression? It is meant to be more like Legend of Kyrandia-ish.
I can see what you mean by perspective on the cans. I will fix that up. How am I to add dust, though? Should I just cover everything in a layer of transparent grey? How should a pile of dust in the corner look? What did you mean by browning?
The big container is supposed to have yellow paint. Does it look so?
*EDIT* Something very like this character will be in it.

[Neutron]

The wood should be grey instead of brown, and there should be lots of dirt and bits of stuff around, especially in the corners and along the edge of the floor.Ã,  maybe some evidence of mice, like mice droppings, and a spider web or two.Ã,  some broken glass maybe or a boarded up window.
<edit> also put some rust on the metal bits.
<edit> maybe some horizontal noise on the path too.

[Eggie]

Well, about the natural effects of building when they age...

I haven't a clue.

But you might want to try using more cold shades of colours and more prominent shadows.
Y'know a 'the building that nobody loves' feel.

Ooh! And how anout making the barrels dented so they bend over like old men.

By the way, don't listen to me; I can't for backgrounds for crap.

[BlackMan890]

well first of all if you want it to look old you need to make the wood a little rough and the wall is plain, maybe make the paint on the wall look flaked
some examples:


these are few examples

<EDIT>
i now noticed that the wall is really thick

<EDIT_2>
i googled both images

[Neutron]

I took the liberty of doing a quick paint over.  It's not perfect, but like I said it was quick.

[evenwolf]

blackman, you googled that first image.  it's funny because i used that image before on some homemade cd case.

[Ninjagirl]

Hey Babar!

This is a nice start, and looking over this thread, I think that Neutron's paintover was great!

It's important to remember that colours affect the overall impression of a scene when you are keeping details simplistic. Your choice of colour is far too bright and there is too much contrast for it to come across as aged - as it is.

I like the stippling effect that Neutron has put all over your walls and things - I think it might be a good idea for you to try this, but stipple with a few different colours - maybe some grimey greens as well as browns and blacks.

The way I would personally do this would be by selecting a layer in photoshop/paintshop whatever, and using a very large spraypaintbrush with the sparse sort of bristles (and set on hard). I'd paint over some splotches of grime in a few different colours, and then lower the opacity of the layer so that it blends in with the background.

Another way of making a place appear old is to make your lines crooked. You've done this on the floor. But the barrels (?) show no sign of age. The wall and the floor are clean.

I hope that this helps you.

[Babar]

Although the grainy look does give it an old atmosphere, I dont think I could do that for every screen in my game.
I made up a newer version with all the comments:

Anything I should improve? Anything else I did wrong?

[Albino-I]

Already looking better.

Darkenating touch really mix's it up nicely (did that even make any sense?), and those spider webs look cool too. But hey? Do my eyes cheat me or is that Indy on that poster?

[Babar]

hehe...yup, it is Indy. Going to include some "Carpenter Replacement Wanted" as a joke.

[Albino-I]

Just use "Selling Fine Leather-Jackets", joke. It's a classic 

[danclarkedownstairs]

i think the main problem is that the image is too vibrant and bright, warehouses are dark and dingy places, devoid of colour and life (which sould be reflected in how it looks), start by taking some of the colour out, then go from there.

An easy method would be to draw what seems to be a brand new clean warehouse, then spend the time adding age and decay to it. This way you have somewhere to begin from.

[BlackMan890]

there should be more cracks on the wood and maybe small space between the wood on the floor
also the wall is really thick please make it a little thinner
also for me it looks like the crack on the wall doesnt look old to me, it looks a little strange
also if it is abandon and noone has been there for a long time there should be a thick dust everywhere
and what i was tryng to say in my previos post is that try make the wall look flaked, that is if it was painted

now i got a small question
what material is this building? is it briks or wood?

[Mr Flibble]

Guessing by the cross section, I'd say it was stone or brick. Or anything that wasn't wood.

[Babar]

i think the main problem is that the image is too vibrant and bright, warehouses are dark and dingy places, devoid of colour and life (which sould be reflected in how it looks), start by taking some of the colour out, then go from there.

An easy method would be to draw what seems to be a brand new clean warehouse, then spend the time adding age and decay to it. This way you have somewhere to begin from.

As you can see from the original and the edit that I made, it was darkened a lot. Does it still need more darkening?
Oddly enough, the way you suggested IS the way I made it. That is, I started with a nice clean warehouse, and started decaying it from there.

there should be more cracks on the wood and maybe small space between the wood on the floor
also the wall is really thick please make it a little thinner
also for me it looks like the crack on the wall doesnt look old to me, it looks a little strange
also if it is abandon and noone has been there for a long time there should be a thick dust everywhere
and what i was tryng to say in my previos post is that try make the wall look flaked, that is if it was painted

now i got a small question
what material is this building? is it briks or wood?

What do you mean by "small space between the wood on the floor"?
The warehouse is abandoned, but a character will be living under it, and walking through it everyday, so I made the corners dusty, but the rest of the room was the same.
Any suggestions about the crack? I made it sort of "glowy" because light would be shining on part of it.
I was not really thinking materialwise when I made the wall, so I have no idea what it is made of.... Some sort of plastered stone I'd guess 

[BlackMan890]

I was not really thinking materialwise when I made the wall, so I have no idea what it is made of.... Some sort of plastered stone I'd guess

hahaha, good one, i will make a paintover when i get my paintprogram to work