BG: Torture room

[guybrush]

Hey, please C&C on my background for Spy Function.. It's supposed to be a torture room, but it's also the place where guys relax when they wait for the new victim .. So that explains drinks and cigarettes on the table. A bucket also has it's meaning. I have a feeling I messed up pretty bad when I was doing shading and I don't know how to improve it. So please help! Thanks in advance. I also have the unshaded version, so if you want I can upload it...
Here's the shaded version:

[Galen]

Some beige-ey colours on the walls would be some nice and add some mildew/mould to the corners. Strips of peeling wallpaper. Anything that makes it look nasty and dank.

[Ghost]

I don't think a torture room would have an open window. And... well, there's nothing in there to torture someone!

Style-wise, though, I wouldn't mind playing a game in that style, though the shading, too, doesn't really say *torture room* to me. Make the walls rough, dark hewn rock, lose the window, replace the very bright light with a dimmer one, and add some stuff that suggests "ouch" to the player.

[guybrush]

Okay, I'll get to work taking your advices to consideration... The thing is, the character will be sitting in a chair in the right side of the room, so that's why it's kinda empty... And the torture will be all part of character animation.. That's why there's no instruments of torture .. Thanks for the advices!

[Jack Sheehan]

Hang on now theres no need to jump straight into the cliches of 'torture room'. In fact a violent clash of how the room looks and what is done there could add to the atmosphere. Combine this with some nice audio and you could have a very unnerving experience.

Torture is one of those things that is hidden away from view, that people are ashamed of. If these torturers are truly psychotic then perhaps they don't care who sees, as they don't see the wrong in it.

[guybrush]

OK. So, here's the new version:
I added some beige colors to walls, decreased brightness, added some torture instruments on the little cabinet on the right, and I shielded the window so nobody can see inside... I'll also make sure music is darkish...
Here it is:

[thebaddie]

i'mk not sure about shadows

light is from the top lamp i think (cause can't be from the colsed window), but shadows are mismatching with this

[Ghost]

Since the top lamp is roughly in the middle of the room there should be a bright spot right under it fading to darker shadows. The furniture should cast relatively sharp, dark shadows at the walls; the overall brightness can still be lowered a bit I would say.

[Cluey]

Ok, this is a bit of a quickie because it is late, I just tried to show the idea of what people were talking about in regards to grime and shadows.



All it is is one Colour burn layer for the shadows (including the lampshade occlusion (right word?)), on colour overlay of a bit of desaturated green to get the grimy look and a slight light overlay patch on the wall.

The colour overlay mode does some wonderful things to the painted strokes to add a grime feel.

[Ghost]

Aye, spot on, that's one neat edit.

[Evil]

Aside from the weird lamp shape, I LOVE the first version. It's not great for a torture room, but I think that too many people try to take on this noir style, that really ruins the quality of their work. I'd leave the lighting alone unless it's a scene where they're actually torturing someone, then I might go with Cluey's idea, but maybe not so dark. Just a medium tone that's semi-opaque.

Not a great torture chamber, but if they hang out there, I'd think there would be seating, like a couch or some chairs.

Maybe straighten up the wall edges because the weird lines aren't really working. Also, I might add some depth to the broken plaster/drywall.

[Play_Pretend]

Put a drain in the floor below where the chair will be.  Boy, did I learn that lesson the hard way. 

[guybrush]

Put a drain in the floor below where the chair will be.  Boy, did I learn that lesson the hard way. 

Lol.. Ok, I've put the drain on the floor...
Evil, I've changed the lamp shape, and people will kinda torture someone there, so I left it dark, I've also put some chairs there. (I know chair shadow is weeiird! I just hate that precise shading stuff).. Also tried adding some depth to the broken plaster, but I don't think I actually did something.
Cluey, thanks for the paintover, I love it! I just changed the light near the lamp.. And I learned some neat stuff about the shading(that's in Photoshop, right..?)
Here's the new version:

I understand there's a problem with chair shadow. Advices?

[thebaddie]

chair shadows must be direct to to desk, cause if top lamp is at the center of the room, and chair at top of the room, shadows goes from center to room border (hoping i explain in right words)

[Oliwerko]

Despite I agree that the later versions are more realistic, I find the original first one the most exciting, original and interesting. If I had to choose from them, which I wanted to see in a game, I would choose the first one.

[Moresco]

What did you cover the window with, a giant magic marker?  It's really strange looking to me...I dunno if it's a sheet or what, but it doesn't look good.  Maybe try throwing some boards over the window, or take it out altogether, because now it just seems my attention is drawn to that thing.

Also the shadows just seem to be way too black, I think someone else mentioned this - I'm not sure if you can lighten them up anymore. I think Cluey said he did that really fast and if I were you, if you intend to use the dark shadow atmosphere versus the lit original-in-daylight-version, then I would shade it yourself and take it easy on the darkness levels.

Those two things are the only real issues I have with it.  Not bad.

[Stupot]

That poster is tripping me out...

[Technocrat]

I'll have to agree with Oliwerko. Although the others look more...professional...as they get done, the first one feels more, to me, like a torture place. With the open window, it looks like it'd be cold, and it looks appropriately sterile.

[James--]

The black shadows at the top don't really seem like they're part of the room.  They don't seem to be affected by the angle of the walls at all so it just looks like a flat 2D shadow painted over the top.  Try and make the shape of it change where the walls meet.  Also I don't think it should be quite so dark.

I do like it though... apart from the shadow at the top the objects are shaded nicely .  Just as a note for any future backgrounds you make though - you should try and use 2 point perspective rather than 1 point perspective where possible... it creates much more interesting shapes.

[paolo]

The chair's shadow is the wrong shape - it's too long and its edges seem to taper inwards. Sketch lines from the light to top of the chair to the floor, and you'll see the shadow should be about half as long as it is now. The sides of the shadow need to splay outwards rather than being parallel or tapering, because the light source is nearby and not at infinity.

The light patches on the left and right walls look good, but the one on the back wall is a funny shape - it should curve downwards only, but seems to curve up at the ends.

Other than that, it looks pretty good.