Alley Photo

BlankLGPsm1081 · Mon 09/01/2006 00:50:06

I'm kinda new at this whole "making your own background" thing, and I'm not a really good artist, so I kinda need a little critiquing. This picture is of an alley that I drew on Photoshop. It wasn't a scanned image, but I did my best to make it look good. Suggestions, good or bad, will be greatly accepted. Also, I was wondering how I'm able to make Monkey Island style games in AGS.Ã,Â

ScottDoom · Mon 09/01/2006 01:51:14

The door handle is way too big, and also the door should be set back into the wall to give it depth. Also, it's hard to tell exactly what the black spots on the wall are.

And the lighting... If this is during daytime, you need a large shadow down one side created from the wall, and if it's at night it's way too bright.

Peter Thomas · Mon 09/01/2006 03:40:26

Whee, been way too long since I've commented on these things

This is definitely a good start, but as Scott pointed out, it does need a teeny bit of work.

The thing that stands out most to me is the door, it just doesn't quite seem to fit with the 'off-kilter' look you've given the rest of the scene. The top of the door should really be following the gradiant of the ground, ie - leaning 'down' to the right. And of course, the handle is huge.

I'd also take another look at the graffiti - it looks almost too neat to be real. And the wall - although you've given it a few smudges to make it look dirty - is 95% spotless.

Finally, as scott mentioned, shading. I see you've done the 'outline' of the backwall/ground, but unless you've got some artificial light-source, there really should be quite big slanty shadows around the place.

But yes, nicely done

BlankLGPsm1081 · Tue 10/01/2006 05:52:59

Well listen, if one of you (or both of you) wanted to take this photo and show me how to really make it look good, then be my guest. Like I said, I'm not a good artist, and I realize that I don't need to be, but I do need to know a little bit of the basics about scaling and shading. If you can give me any help with these, then I would be more than glad. I just need a step in the right direction is all.

ScottDoom · Tue 10/01/2006 06:10:29

We can't exactly do art for you, but here's a quick edit that took a minute:
-Added a very quick shadow to give you an idea.
-Quickly moved the door in to give it depth.
-Muted the colors.

BlankLGPsm1081 · Tue 10/01/2006 19:41:12

Wow! That looks great. That gives me something to work with. Oh, and the spots on the wall were supposed to be paint that happened to just be on there. I like the colors that you made it. It looks more like a wall. Thanks for the help. Still, if you have any more suggestions, then I'll take 'em. Also, I was wondering if I should stick with that style? I don't know if it looks good or not.

Elliott Hird · Tue 10/01/2006 20:17:34

Particulary on the box there's some white anti-aliasing caused lines, try and remove them

.

About the MI-style games, look in Beginners Tech forum, lucasarts gui thread

BlankLGPsm1081 · Wed 11/01/2006 21:43:02

Ok. Explain to me one thing: What does anti-aliasing do?

MrColossal · Wed 11/01/2006 21:44:56

this might explain it:

BlankLGPsm1081 · Wed 11/01/2006 21:49:08

Oh, I see. It's the difference between a sharp, crisp line, and a piece of crap excuse for a line. I'll remember that on my future drawings. One more thing: How did you do that shading. As in, how did you make the shadow see through?

ScottDoom · Wed 11/01/2006 21:57:53

To make a shadow like I made:
-Create a new layer
-Draw a big black shape on it
-Set the opacity (transperency) to something like 30-40%

Done.

BlankLGPsm1081 · Wed 11/01/2006 22:03:45

Sweet. That helps me out a lot. I'll probably be back for some help with my character. The shading is my biggest problem, I think. Thanks for the help.

BlankLGPsm1081 · Thu 12/01/2006 03:01:13

Quote from: Peter Thomas on Mon 09/01/2006 03:40:26
Whee, been way too long since I've commented on these things

This is definitely a good start, but as Scott pointed out, it does need a teeny bit of work.

The thing that stands out most to me is the door, it just doesn't quite seem to fit with the 'off-kilter' look you've given the rest of the scene. The top of the door should really be following the gradiant of the ground, ie - leaning 'down' to the right. And of course, the handle is huge.

I'd also take another look at the graffiti - it looks almost too neat to be real. And the wall - although you've given it a few smudges to make it look dirty - is 95% spotless.

Finally, as scott mentioned, shading. I see you've done the 'outline' of the backwall/ground, but unless you've got some artificial light-source, there really should be quite big slanty shadows around the place.

But yes, nicely done

Forgot to ask something: How do I make the wall and the graffiti look real?

Khris · Thu 12/01/2006 06:39:19

Use a darker, lower saturated red, get rid of the black outlines and draw every brick. But be warned: it's hard and often boring work to pixelpaint a realistic-looking background.
As you are a beginner, I'd recommend developing your sense for perspective and proportions further first; Google's image search usually is a great help.

Sam. · Thu 12/01/2006 07:47:52

Quote from: BlankLGPsm1081 on Wed 11/01/2006 21:49:08
Oh, I see. It's the difference between a sharp, crisp line, and a piece of crap excuse for a line. I'll remember that on my future drawings. One more thing: How did you do that shading. As in, how did you make the shadow see through?

I think youve misunderstood what anitialiasing does. It creates a smoother, polished look in high resolutions, see HIllbillys game for an example, thats antialiased as is CMI. Non antialiased is a more crisp, look, used in lower res games. Mi2 was non anti aliased.

BlankLGPsm1081 · Thu 12/01/2006 18:16:21

So in other words, I need to look at some pictures of brick walls to really get a perspective on how to draw one. That's probably the best thing to do right now, like you said. Thanks again for the help.

ildu · Thu 12/01/2006 18:23:06

No, what they said about perspective is actual perspective drawing in realistic art. Google for 'vanishing point drawing' and you'll know what it means.

vict0r · Thu 12/01/2006 19:32:11

Here's what krishmuc and ildu meant about perspective.

Hope i did it right

BlankLGPsm1081 · Fri 13/01/2006 00:59:19

Oh, gotcha. What you're saying is to look at the perspective points to get a good view of how the shading should probably be.

AlbinoPanther · Fri 13/01/2006 01:23:52

Quote from: BlankLGPsm1081 on Fri 13/01/2006 00:59:19
Oh, gotcha. What you're saying is to look at the perspective points to get a good view of how the shading should probably be.

No he said that your BG is out of perspective.And he drawed you a pointers for correcting it.

Hope that we helped

LD