Background for Frank the Farmhand part 2! C&C Please

[fovmester]

Hi. I just finished making this background for the next part of the game. It's a small seaside village. What do you think?

[kaaZ]

Great background! However I think you should get rid of the black outlines on the orange roofed houses...outline them in the same manner as you did on the other buildings (Give 'em a darker value of the main color for the outline)...
Another thing is that the buildings don't seem to have a foundation in the ground...This could probably be fixxed by adding more grass to where the walls meet the ground....instead of the current abrupt transition...

Other then that....I dig this BG...keep up the good work!

Cheers!
kaaZ

[Damien]

That is one cool background.

But, yes, kaaZ is right, ditch the black outlines.

Nice CMI cloud(s), by the way.

[Daz]

really nice bg i love the trees in the background and it looks really busy and has great depth too, it the black lines have already been mentioned. o and the gradients work nicely

great work

-Daz

[Andail]

I like it a lot! The overall atmosphere is great.
Some advice:

1. Outlining - everywhere or nowhere, not somewhere
2. Gradients - preferably only in very realistic pictures, and not with cartoonistic style
3. Creating depth by colour - try and make distant object things a bit vaguer and lighter in the colours.

[_Dave_]

one small crit, I think the colours of the grass and path are a bit pale and pastel-y... IMO the bg would look better with richer colours instead.

Other than that I like it a lot.

[Jayel]

NIce.
the tree in the foreground could use some more colouring work

[Warg]

Hey mate, what paint prog are you using?

It's a cool background but I think you need make the shadows more defined. Personally I think this can really help make a bg look great.

[Phemar]

I actually disagree with evryone about the outlines. They work quite nicely here.
The gradients also work nicely.
The path is missing a serious amount of depth where it meets the grass.
The grass is too light...
The palm tree leaves are too bright and blurry, need more definition...

[fovmester]

I edited the black outlines, and you're right: It looks better now.
About the grass, I like the soft light green colour. It makes it look kind of dry and crisp, which it's supposed to.
I added more distinct shadow to the houses as well.

I agree that the path looks kind of flat, but I'm not sure how to give it depth. I tried removing the outline, but it didn't work well. Any suggestions?

I use photoshop 7. It's great!

[Johnny Odd]

the trees/forrest in the background need to be more noticable - the leaves fade into the mountain.... looks good though

[Daz]

i think the outlines of the orange roofs are still a tad bid too dark and maybe just maybe put a old run down little house with a crooked chimeny on top of one of the hills. IMO i don't think the path looks flat, it looks great, the whole thing does .

-Daz

[kaaZ]

Much better with those outlines...though the house in the back still has a too dark outline to my liking...Also I think it lacks contrast...here I gave some quick adjustments:
Edit
I mainly brought the contrast up and brighness a bit down....Maybe to much...but I like it that way
I got rid of the outline on the font house where the walls meet the ground...for the previously mentioned reason...I also tried to make those cracks in the wall look a bit more interresting...but it didn't fit your style so I gave up

Cheers!
kaaZ

[fovmester]

Nice edit!

I liked what you did with the brightness and contrast. It was a bit to light and colorless before. Maybe you brought down the brightness just a bit too much but you made your point and I changed the image. I also removed the outline between house and ground like you'd done, and here's the result:

[Peter Thomas]

I really like this bg! I really have only one gripe, and I'm surprised no one else has mentioned it directly, because I can't really crit anything else - but look at the center of the leaves of the palm tree! It's like you couldn't figure out how to make them come out of the top of the trunk, so you just got the airbrush tool and sprayed a big green blob in the middle :p

That, honestly, is the first thing I noticed, and it's the single crit I have. Apart from that, I love the style. It looks busy, but not too busy. Very functionable and playable.

[MrColossal]

I just have one thing to say about this really nice background...

Please please please get rid of the Bill Tiller cloud!

Then I will love it. Big time.

[fovmester]

Please please please get rid of the Bill Tiller cloud!

Sorry, but I've used it so much up to this point that I can't just change it now! I have to be consistent to the style of the rest of the game. Besides, I like it too much!

[Warg]

Hey mate,

Great bg, I love the atmosphere

Anyway thought I would attempt to make the shadows a bit more defined.



Obviously the shadows don't fit with the shading on the buildings, but I think it makes them look better. (my opinion of course) Anyway, I thought the angle of the sun was a bit awkward as it sort of came in at a right angle.