Artistic Consistency

SpacePirateCaine · Fri 06/05/2011 18:40:49

Ahoy there, folks.

It's been a long while since I've posted up any of my own project-related work. Aside from helping Mods with KI, I haven't really had any major sort of game developing presence lately in the AGS scene, but I've been feeling a bit of a rush of inspiration lately and have started working as quickly as possible on a new old project (Something I've been planning for a few years now, but never had the energy to work on).

The big issue I'm having at the moment, however, is with maintaining consistency in my backgrounds. I've never been much of a background guy to begin with - I much prefer to do sprites/animation. But I've put in the hours studying various background art techniques and I'm making a lot of progress - the biggest issues, though, come when comparing my organic and non-organic artwork. Natural scenery - deserts, forests, etc. are generally similar-looking, and interiors are also generally similar looking, but I'm wondering if my interiors and exteriors look like they belong in the same game or not?

Allow me to give a few examples:

Interior (Made last night):

Airlock from game opening, character sprite rendered for scale and reference.

Exterior (Some of you may recognize this one from a couple of years ago):

Behemoth in the Galen Desert.

And even more jarring, my space scenes:

Used in a cutscene, potentially also title menu background. Please forgive the lens flare.

Could you folks see these images all used in the same game? The bottom-most graphic (cutscene) is probably the one that fits the least and I may attempt to redo it eventually - I like the way it looks as an individual piece of art but it is admittedly a little too well rendered, perhaps, to fit with the rest. Any thoughts? Similarly, as this is the critic's lounge, please feel free to offer comments/criticism of the individual images/sprites.

Are interiors/exteriors just inherently that way? I could use an extra pair of eyes or two.

Much appreciated.

Edit: Added the new, pixelly version of the space scene for easy reference

Armageddon · Fri 06/05/2011 18:57:00

I think the first and second fit quite well together, in the first shot I'd angle the floor up a bit so you can see it, and remove that black blob. Like you said that last image doesn't fit at all. 3D and 2D like that doesn't mix well in my opinion. The Dig did it pretty well though.

Ryan Timothy B · Fri 06/05/2011 19:04:50

I wouldn't say there is anything wrong with 3d and 2d. It's just that the space background is way above your average color count of the two backgrounds. It looks like it's an actual photo while the other two have the MSPaint look to them.

SpacePirateCaine · Sat 07/05/2011 04:59:50

Interesting observations guys - Funny thing is that it's not 3D, just creative photoshopping and then touch-ups on the pixel level. But I think you're right, Ryan, that it's an issue with the color count. The question, then, would be how to do "space" effectively without resorting to the same technique? I suppose I could do a noise filter on a black background then go around creatively erasing sections until I get the effect I want, much like the PS image above, but would it be too detailed, I wonder?

And I'll have to work out a way to have a blown out sun look without a lens flare - not sure what possessed me to use one in the first place. Any suggestions?

Snarky · Sat 07/05/2011 08:23:51

I'm a little disturbed that we can apparently see stars through the planet. That's just... not right.

SpacePirateCaine · Sat 07/05/2011 08:41:50

Hah, hadn't thought of that - it's meant to imply large concentrations of light at night, sort of like the images at this site. I suppose it might be a good idea on a redraw of that one to change the coloration or saturation of the light on the planet from that of the stars.

Thanks for pointing that out, Snarky.

Anian · Sat 07/05/2011 12:15:06

Yeah, I think it's not taht noticable between the interior and exterior, plus anything that might be noticable could be contributed to the atmosphere that the style creates - as in it's that feeling when you come from a hot day into say a cave and you wouldn't wanna be at that low temperature all the time cause it's too cold, but the fact that it's not that hot sun makes you feel comfortable.
Plus the slight difference in the color palette enhances the contrst between the atmosphere of the 2 backgrounds.

The space...ahh, the space, think you went too high res. There's a lot of good space "planet in front of the bright star" scenes, from the anime intros from 80s and the 90s, Transformers etc. if you want it not to seem like pixel art. If you want it to go 3d, I suggest to find like 2 tutorials in Blender or Animator or Sketchup or even BRyce5.5 (or if you have access to 3dsMax, Swift3d etc.) for making space bodies and for cel shading. In fact, Blender has a built in cel-shading renderer.
The light effect you were trying to make is, although interesting, not what you'll probably ever see on a planet with atmosphere, clouds, pollution and other gases just won't let it unless you have poalrizing filter and even then the expositions are long and you'd have to piece together the actual map of the planet to do it.

Darth Mandarb · Sat 07/05/2011 13:50:10

I think the interior/exterior screens look great (love your style!) and I have no consistency issues with them.

The space scene does have a more hi-res appearance though. Not to too my own horn here (and not claiming to be a star-field expert) but I did some experiments awhile back on space backdrops (check my gallery on the joint and you can see some of them). Here's the two I like the most:

-and-

2x

Maybe something like that might work for this to keep it feeling lower color, but still giving that vast spacey feel! I look forward to seeing what you come up with for this!

Hope it helps!

cat · Sat 07/05/2011 14:06:24

The stars don't look too bad, it's the lensflare that makes it inconsistent. Do you have it on a separate layer? Can you show the pic without the lensflare?

Al_Ninio · Sat 07/05/2011 14:10:34

That is a rather crazy amount of stars, too.

SpacePirateCaine · Sat 07/05/2011 16:32:11

Thanks for the inspiration, Darth! I decided that even though it might take a little extra time, the effort is worth the end product (as is the case with most art, I suppose). Although to be perfectly honest I didn't employ any of the same techniques that you did, most likely, it definitely helped me to decide that it can certainly be done. And after about an hour and a half, eureka:

(And the original for reference)

The satellite is gone and will be replaced by an animated space station.

And in regards to Al_Ninio - But of course it is! That's what the night sky should look like, if it weren't for all of the natural light making it impossible to see the darker, more distant stars.

Armageddon · Sat 07/05/2011 18:19:09

I'd say remove some of the gray between the stars, it's a little overpowering.

Ryan Timothy B · Sun 08/05/2011 00:09:39

As Armageddon says, I agree. Definitely darken the gray around the stars. Right now it gives it that army camouflage pattern.
Much improvement though, the planet and overall feel is much less hi-res. The only thing now is that gradient around the sun, but it's alright.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sun 08/05/2011 05:24:16

I've seen hyper detailed space scenes in loads of Amiga games where the in-game art was much less detailed, so for me this is a non-issue. As far as I'm concerned, cutscenes and establishing shots can be higher detail than the interactive scenes without subtracting anything. If you want to make the dark side of the planet with the lighting on it make more sense, add a small highlight around the edge of the planet so the eye can draw a visible circle around. Aside from that, I quite like it.

SpacePirateCaine · Sun 08/05/2011 14:41:28

Hmm - Armageddon, Ryan: I understand what you're saying, but (and this may be an issue with my own monitor) I wasn't really seeing it. Still, I've spent some time fiddling about with the contrast/brightness of my starfield layer, and think I've managed to tone down the starfield in general, without losing it completely.

New - Old

Also, to increase readability, I've gone with ProgZ's advice and added just a little more glow around the 'dark side' of the planet, as well as slightly reducing the glare of the sun's corona.

Armageddon · Sun 08/05/2011 19:32:56

Much, MUCH better.

Guybrush Nosehair · Mon 09/05/2011 04:54:35

If I may just say something: Damn! The original picture was AWESOME! Now I feel like playing "The Dig."