Adventure Game Studio

Creative Production => Critics' Lounge => Topic started by: nads on Sun 30/04/2006 18:49:24

Title: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: nads on Sun 30/04/2006 18:49:24
Hey! just made this background for my game, just wondering if there were anyways of improving it?
thanks heaps!

(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/brads_bedroom_nads.gif)

thanks.. my first background
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: MashPotato on Sun 30/04/2006 19:33:34
This room is a fine start, but needs a little bit of adjusting and dressing-up ^_^.  Some quick points:

-I would suggest cleaning up the edges (for example, where the ceiling meets the walls)
-the room seems a bit out of proportion, for example, relative to the door the ceiling seems it would be about 12 feet high.  If you want to give the feeling of a very large room this is okay, but judging from the content of the room, I would assume you want a normal sized room.  Also on this topic, the window seems too high, and the poster is massive (bigger than the door)
-is something on fire?  I don't want to seem mean, but I can't tell what that is...
-the room's a bit empty, maybe add a dresser, etc.
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: nads on Sun 30/04/2006 19:57:04
Yeah.. i was planning on adding more content to it but i wanted to see if the basics of the room were ok. but looking at it again, its pretty crappy! thanks for the pointers. i've added a drawer already and i'll reposition the window and make the room abit smaller and repost!
thanks again!
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: nads on Mon 01/05/2006 05:54:44
Here is the new image
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/brads_bedroom_nads01.gif)
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: sergiocornaga on Mon 01/05/2006 06:27:03
The perspective of the poster is incorrect. As the wall it is on is facing the viewer exactly, it should be a regular square. Unless, it's meant to be that shape?
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: pslim on Mon 01/05/2006 06:40:13
I think it's okay for the poster to be crooked, given the tone of the room, but right now, even though it's smaller than in the original version, it's still much wider than the door. You don't see a lot of posters that a square and twice the width of a door.

Even so, I suppose that would be okay except that the poster grabs all of the attention. Unless the poster is the most important thing in the room (and how much can you really do with a poster?) I would suggest making it substantially narrower. Perhaps slightly narrower than the door and half the length or something.

I would also suggest upping the contrast on the dresser to make it easier to see the detail, and establishing a clear source of light (lightbulb hanging from one lonely cord?). Also, the bed and dresser seem to be a bit out of perspective with one another, unless the bed is askew.
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: sergiocornaga on Mon 01/05/2006 07:24:49
It's fine that it's crooked, but the left side is much longer than the right.
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: nads on Mon 01/05/2006 07:28:46
Here is the new image i put one of my characters in there as well.. thou im thinking i might resize him abit :S. what do you think?

(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/bedroomnewwithcharc_01.gif)
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: Afflict on Mon 01/05/2006 11:11:30
I think his fine. He fits through the door he fits ons the bed. He is about the same hieght as I am compared to my room.

*The globe hanging however should have a shade or something its not a basement.
*Also there should be a lightswitch somewhere.
*The bed perspective is wrong the front legs should be on the right of the back legs.
*Other than that he should have some stuff under his bed especially if he leaves his clotheslaying around.
*Some clouds miht be a good idea.
*Maybe you want to add a door too?

Well thats sorta all of my comments for now... please post 200% pic next time as I am too lazy to open it up and lok at it :)

thnx.

Please note not a paint over just posted enlarged image
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/bedroomnewwithcharc_01.gif)
Please note not a paint over just posted enlarged image

* Ok moggy pixels in top left corner.
* Are you focusing a top or a bottom GUI? cause most of your black part is focused to the top?
* There should be some wall shadow toobehind the bed... please fix perspective as noted above.
* Ive noticed your character too his arms look a little strange. very thin on top and very thick below...
* the light looks on and should cast a shadow to the left of the cabinet.

Ok now thats it youll probably get more response when posting bigger
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: pslim on Mon 01/05/2006 16:25:41
Another thing that jumps out at me thanks to Afflict's larger version is that there is no textural difference between the floor and the walls. There should be one, since the floor and the walls are (presumably) composed of different materials (ie, carpet and... whatever they make walls out of).

What is his floor made of? If it is carpeted, it should look like carpet. Right now it looks like plastic, partly because of the high saturation level of the red color and partly because it's 100% uniform in texture.

One way of adding interest to the wall might be to add some damage here and there. Is that the only poster he's ever had up on his wall? If not, there might be some holes where push pins have been before. If the wall is wallpapered, you could have it peeling back at one corner.

I disagree with Afflict that the bulb necessarily needs a shade. If I were just a little bit lazier and my bulbs were just a little bit dimmer I wouldn't ever bother to put the stupid cover back on my overhead light when I change it. ;) Plus I think your rendering looks good... but Afflict is right, there needs to be a switch or a pull-cord allowing him to turn it off an on. Plus, with a single, small light source like that you probably want to add a lot of shadow at the edges of the room where the light doesn't entirely illuminate.
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: fovmester on Wed 03/05/2006 06:48:19
I would advice you to use a real font for the poster and not a handdrawn one. Mostly because real posters are seldom drawn by hand. Otherwise, it's starting to shape up.
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: Candle on Wed 03/05/2006 09:11:15
Quote from: fovmester on Wed 03/05/2006 06:48:19
I would advice you to use a real font for the poster and not a handdrawn one. Mostly because real posters are seldom drawn by hand. Otherwise, it's starting to shape up.
Umm like this
http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Jimi-Hendrix-Posters_i378943_.htm
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: Neil Dnuma on Wed 03/05/2006 09:50:51
Sonic Youth is a great band (esp Daydream Nation), but there are obvious problems with the poster. It's just white letters on a black square, it's very big, and the area of the BG with the highest contrast. In other words, it draws way too much attention without adding life to the image.

The perspective on the dresser and bed is wrong, you should be able to see the right side of the dresser, and left end of the bed.
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: Chicky on Wed 03/05/2006 14:26:34
Sonic Youth! :D
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: nads on Thu 04/05/2006 11:07:19
haha yeah.. there are alot of problems with the room i know. haha the sonic youth poster is rough.. i am going to make it into a sonic youth - confusion is sex album poster, but yeah i work on it tonight ill post it later. thanks for the comments guys
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: nads on Thu 04/05/2006 14:15:29
620 400

Hey, here is the updated version of the house.. hehehe i cheated abit and put the album cover picture off the net on the poster  :P oh well. looks good, what do you guys think?

(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/brads_bedroom_nads02.gif)
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: skw on Thu 04/05/2006 16:39:52
First of all, center the background (frames should be symmetrical) and please, make the sky brighter as my eyes bleed.

I'm not sure about the perspective,

google for

+"vanishing point" +perspective

or better

"one point perspective".

I would also think of the palette setting (colors) again.
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: pslim on Thu 04/05/2006 21:30:50
subpar paintover:

(http://img282.imageshack.us/img282/2535/bedroomdesat4kw.gif) (http://imageshack.us)


I originally just wanted to desaturate the colors but I ended up changing the perspective on the bed, moving the logo on the poster more toward the center (it's still a bit off on the rotate but it's not glaringly obvious imo), and reducing the contrast on the carpet texture.

I don't really think my version would work (it's a pretty wussy bedroom) but I thought it might give you some ideas.Ã,  :=

By the way, I think the grass outside the window looks really good. It might be better if it were darker at the bottom (so that the light seems to hit the top of the hills), but I like it.
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: celestialroad on Thu 04/05/2006 23:05:13
I like it a lot, and I like the poster as well. Sonic Youth rules.  ;D
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: seaduck on Fri 05/05/2006 13:39:03
(http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/5553/01room1om.gif)

1. Added stuff (is it a bedroom or a prison cell?)
2. Corrected the shading
3. Added depth and shading to the window (so it don't look like a painting) and lowered the bottom edge even more
4. Moved the light switch
5. Redid the bed
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: Venus on Fri 05/05/2006 18:21:11
Just a quick question: Are the walls supposed to be of the same colour and the difference comes from shading? Because if that is the case, shouldn't the wall with the window in be darker than the others?
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: DonB on Fri 05/05/2006 20:29:38
I think seaduck added just the touch u needed..
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: Afflict on Fri 05/05/2006 23:38:27
Seaduck nice repaint but it looks girly now :(
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: nads on Sat 06/05/2006 08:24:03
yeah that is a pretty good repaint.. but yeah.. it really does look a girlie-girls room now! but still good job.. i like the bed, shelf, and drawers. I dont think this character would really have a plant in his room, if he did.. it would be dead lol! and curtains/lamp/poster not a fan off. (dont that it doesnt look good, but it doesnt seem like the character would have that kind of taste in his room :P.. but good job all the same and thanks for the tips. I might post an updated version tonight or even sometime tomorrow depending on what i do tonight (still figuring out if i am going out/staying in)
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: Stefan Z on Sat 06/05/2006 15:28:44
Hm, my room looks like that and I'm a boy man.

Not being negative on your drawing skills, Seaduck (which are great) I don't think he'd put that plant there. It's covering a lot of that poster.
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: Sinister on Tue 09/05/2006 05:14:32
(http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6853/room11pq.png%3Cbr%20/%3E)

You could always combine the ideas.
Title: Re: A Background that needs some help!
Post by: on Thu 11/05/2006 13:43:23
Quote from: Stefan Z on Sat 06/05/2006 15:28:44
Hm, my room looks like that and I'm a boy man.

Not being negative on your drawing skills, Seaduck (which are great) I don't think he'd put that plant there. It's covering a lot of that poster.

most people don't put the furniture in their room such that it doesn't block anything from view when it suddenly is viewed from an impossible view in an adventure game. (an awful lots of views in that sentence, but I think you catch my meaning)
I think some irregularties actually add to the authenticy. if someone mounted a camera in my room and used it as a game location, well, you'd need about three dozen walk behindsÃ,  ;D