Background WIP - Asking advice

[Alarconte]

I'm trying to make myself the backgrounds to me new games so I don't get help to, I'm not really good in exteriors, so I need some advice.

Today I found the way to make the cliffs walls, Some parts are better and other worst, but well, I'm working on it.

But I need some advice in how to make the floor (sand, dirt)... I don't actually know a technic to make natural floor. The floor don't need to be regular (as you maybe guess), and as you maybe can see in the in-game sshot, don't need of walk areas neither, cause the game is in first person. I'm not really sure what technic to use... or how to make it sloopy and natural, blendind with the cliffs.... Some ideas?

(PS: The sky is obviusly in work, I will put in when I make another bg that have the horizon covering all the screen)

The BG:



the BG in game: (the left and upper part is too of the interface is too WIP)



thank you for your advices!!


EDIT:

This is how it goes right now, I think practically/nearby finished:

[poc301]

I did a really quick edit of it (my first ever try at helping someone with artwork )

I just added a noise effect to the sand, to make it have a bit of texture.  Then I added a gradient to the sky so it fades.  It adds some depth to the image.

I am sure others can help a lot more, but I just use Paint.Net, which is a free software with limited ability lol.

For blending the cliffs into the sand, maybe lighten the edges a bit.  They have the black outline, which really makes them "pop" or stand out more than without the outline.



-Bill

[Alarconte]

thanks! It's sure a good texture, with good color in comparation to the cliffs, but the problem is tottally flat, and the bg loses realism then... But I don't know how to imagine a way to give depth to the ground.... hum...

[poc301]

I made another quick recolor of the background.

I added some shadows from the cliffs/rocks, and made the background sand blend from dark -> light, which I hope gets the point of elevation across.

It looks like I accidentally dragged the sand layer 1 pixel down, since now a lot of the rocks have white pixels on them.  You can recolor/delete those

As for how to modify the foreground sand to shoe elevation changes, I have no clue.  Maybe try to reproduce small waves in the sand like from wind?  I think coloring will accomplish that.  Tinting or adjusting brightness/colorization.





-Bill

[Matt Frith]

I think the rocks are generally quite convincing and certainly fit the style.  Like poc said, you could blend the lower parts into the sand quite easily by just building the sand up against the lower parts of the rock.
Lazy paint over:



The level of sand build up would depend on wind direction so you might want to consider building it up more on on side of the background just for some variety.  Just experiment on different layers.  Remember, sand get get anywhere, It is naughty like that.

[Alarconte]

Good advice guys, using some blend with the sand over the rocks...

Bill, How did you did the texture? I don't see a pattern...

[Ilyich]

Few quick bits of advice:
1. Use photographic references. If you're not sure how to draw sand - google it and you'll have a much clearer idea of what you need to do. Studying from the real-life subjects is most important in painting.

2. Always think of form in terms of light and shadow - without proper lighting your picture will never look real and believable enough. After all, what our eyes see is not objects, but light reflected from them.
Those cliffs should drop shadows on sand, otherwise they won't mesh together. Also, the way the cliffs are drawn right now doesn't make much sense - it's impossible to tell where the main light source is. You can get away with it, because it looks quite nice, but it would make everything much easier if you decide on the placement of the light source beforehand.

3. In landscapes one of the most important things is aerial perspective - objects that are far away have lower contrast (both in terms of internal details and contrast with the background) and appear less saturated. It should help you create the sense of depth and scale in your landscapes.

4. While creating a right texture is very important, you shouldn't forget about the other qualities of material that you are painting - while the rocks and metals are solid, the sand is granular and in many ways act like liquid. Which means that it's form should be fluid and can be affected by it's surroundings.

Sorry if this doesn't make much sense and has little use, here's an edit to show where you can go with it (you are free to use it in any way you want):

[Darth Mandarb]

The biggest issue I have is it doesn't really feel like the ship crashed there.  It feels more like it was just placed there.  There's no impact crater, debris, etc.

I did a rather dirty paint-over to illustrate my point:

- added sand 'piles' to show impact (probably should be bigger depending on force of the impact)
- added damage/crumpling to the haul of the ship to show the force of impact
- added some sand piling to the front rock structure (others had done previously)
- added more shading to the rocks around the ship to (I feel) better reflect the light source (based on the lighting on the ship)

Hope it helps!

edit Ilyich's edit does a great job on the sand!

[poc301]

Alarconte - There is no texture.  I used a noise filter to add to the sand color.

Ilych - That is beautiful sand effect.  What software did you use to make that?

-Bill

[Ilyich]

poc301, thanks, I simply draw in Photoshop with the regular set of brushes using a graphic tablet.

And Darth Mandarb has a very good point about the crash, don't know how i missed that, but that's quite an important detail.

[Alarconte]

I really like the sand of Ilych and adding details to make the crash more beliable, I was looking at my PSP (I use paint shop pro since the start of times) but I don't get the way to reproduce this sand effect myself.

In the first stage of my game, there is 15 screens and at least 8 of them has this type of sand (others will have dirt or will be a cave), so I need to reproduce the drawing technic (better or worst). Some tips of what types of brushes did you to used, or if you have painted areas of colors, noised, and effected somehow?

Lots of thanks!

[Ilyich]

I'm not too familiar with PSP, so, unfortunately, I can't recommend anything in particular. The only brush I've used looks like this:



Basically, any grungy, grainy brush should do the trick. You've already done some similar texturing on the cliffs, so you just need to do pretty much the same thing on the sand, only make it softer and more curvy. And don't be afraid to draw something incorrectly - the sand is pretty random, so it might be best to just paint some loose lines and then smoothen it out - that way you should get a more complex texture. Of course, it's best to do it on a separate layer, so you don't ruin anything by accident.

Hope this helps a bit, good luck!

[Alarconte]

After a lot of tries with differents brushes and posterior effect technics, I have no clue to make a so realistic sand xD

I finally decided to use your sand, Ilytch, and working in adapt the Darth Mandarb idea, and try to apply it in some way in the others 5 or 6 bgs with sand; I will post the result

[Alarconte]

Well, this is how stands the thing now; The damaged signs of the ship is one thing to work with.



And this is another BG with the same rock and sand effect. I know this is not a great BG, but the "Path" only serve to stop the player to look at the horizon



I don't ask for advice in the horizon, but any general thougths could be great, So I'm sure there is some minor changes that can give a very better look.

[Monsieur OUXX]

I don't ask for advice in the horizon, but any general thougths could be great, So I'm sure there is some minor changes that can give a very better look.

I actually don't know why you say it's not a great background. Good mix of realistic bits (the dunes) and stylized, easy-to-read bits (the mountaisn int the distance).

No major rework needed in my opinion. Maybe just sharpen a bit the limit between the foreground rocks and the background desert.