Blueish pixels for c&c

[Sephiroth]

Hi everyone,

I would really appreciate some c&c on this "title screen", took me quite some time to achieve but it has no special purpose yet.
Could you please help me to improve it, any ideas and crits are welcome.

Also, would it look good if i made a game with this palette and res, i mean only 8/16 colors blueish gradient? Just a thought.

Normal size:


X2:

[Gilbert]

I'll say it looked nice, but one problem is that it took me a while to understand what it's showing. I thought that the bright spot on the left was just another asteroid like those on the right, or even, an explosion. You should colour the woman's body brighter (maybe) to give more contrast compared to the planet (?) in the background, so to bring out the shape. The darker shades in the text are also too dark so they're too close to the background and make the text a bit difficult to read.

I'll also say too many colours were used, with some colours being too similar, but this is not really an important issue as long as you're not going to animate it and intend to keep it a static backdrop.

I am not expert, so skillful people should have more comments.

[Sephiroth]

it took me a while to understand what it's showing I thought that the bright spot on the left was just another asteroid like those on the right, or even, an explosion.

This is exactly what i wanted, the woman's supposed to melt with the galaxy and make it look like she's part of it (at least i tried :p)  I wanted it to be like some final fantasy logos, strange characters melting with flames or tribal forms, just like djins and spirits.

I'll try to keep in mind what you said about colours and animations, i'm sure it would be a pain to animate this girl as it has a complex and somehow abstract shading. But it's meant to be some kind of very low res title screen and the only animations i would add are a few shining stars/planet and a shooting star maybe.

Thanks for the comments, i'll try to modify the style so the shape appears a bit more clearly.

[Kastchey]

I actually like it how it takes a while to make the picture out, and the atmosphere really makes me feel like playing the game that would have this picture as the opening screen.
Two things though:
- the planets look a bit like balls of fluff to me.
- with the way you positioned the character near the nebula makes her look as if she was splashing herself with water.

[Snarky]

To me it looks like a woman standing under a starry sky who's just been hit in the head by a meteor, with her brain exploding in a cloud of of gore. Is that not what you intended?

[Moresco]

To me it looks like a woman standing under a starry sky who's just been hit in the head by a meteor, with her brain exploding in a cloud of of gore. Is that not what you intended?

That's funny, I followed the line of the planet as a trail of a projectile of some sort, smashing into the woman's head.  Well actually, I couldn't tell a woman was there for some time...like five minutes...seriously had no idea.

It looks like a neat idea, but I wouldn't play a game in all blue like this.   Bleh, I can make all my games look all blue whenever I want by adjusting the display, but I can't see why that would be good. =/

[rbaleksandar]

When so many people start to "guess" what's drawn there, then... I don't know what this "rainbow" 's for really. And I don't like the fact that her face is somehow hidden or squashed. At least draw something recognizeable there. Otherwise - like the body and the space with the two planets.

[Hudders]

When a one-degree tilt of my laptop monitor makes the difference between me seeing a load of blobs and seeing a woman... then I think some more contrast is needed. 

[Moresco]

When a one-degree tilt of my laptop monitor makes the difference between me seeing a load of blobs and seeing a woman... then I think some more contrast is needed. 

Oh yeah! =D *tilts* I see it now.  It's like one of those magic puzzles from the newspaper. =p

[Sephiroth]

Thanks for your comments!

Ok i got it :p i'll try to add some more contrast, and yeah the planets need some work too.
Before i started working on the melting effect the woman looked like a normal one holding a katana, yes the rainbow was supposed to be a katana... i know.. this is where i sink. I'm not really an artist and this is my first attempt at pixel art so i'm already satisfied people recongnised the shape in the end, even if it took ages.

Snarky: Yes that's the idea some kind of gore explosion making her head burst into stardust, actually it is meant to spend some time on it to figure out but not too long as everyone mentioned, that was not my intention.

TheRedPress: i've seen a game i really liked back there i think it's called Spooks, a black and white small yet really intresting game, i had this in mind when i said i d like to make a game in the same atmosphere.

Also this is a bit abstract and i'm really bad at drawing a face so that's why i chose to hide it somehow.

rbaleksandar: i think about it as a kind of victory pose holding a katana, having the head down hidden by the hair. the rest is just the effect i failed to create :p

Kastchey:

with the way you positioned the character near the nebula makes her look as if she was splashing herself with water.

Is that a bad point?
Also when you all say it needs more contrast do you mean i should use other colors on the body/hair to break the way it fades out, maybe making the outlines more consistent?

Thank you all for the comments, i'm having a try atm and will post a reworked version as soon as it looks "acceptable". Sorry if this is a bit clumsy for now.

[Kastchey]

Is that a bad point?

Not at all. I actually like the effect. Just thought I'd mention it because I wasn't sure if it was intended.

[Andorxor]

I don't know what this "rainbow" 's for really.

Thats clearly a horizon.

[Renal Shutdown]

I thought it was Keira Knightley being hit in the back of the head with a javelin.  Which is a fantasy of mine.  And would be quite final for her, I'd hope.

Oh dear..

Zombie Keira will be my nightmare for the next few months.

[Sephiroth]

Well i figured it would be too small for a working BG, so i heavily reworked the original and came up with a 320x200 start screen. It allows more details so i started adding more stuff to it, a different (accentuated) shading,  tried to make the outlines of the woman's body more obvious to see, added the whole star system with a bahamut like dragon casting something :p 

Again, i would really appreciate some c&c, any ideas or opinions are welcome of course, thanks!

Reworked version:


x2:



I'm kinda satisfied the way everyone went far into their imagination to try and describe what they see. Even if it is just a small one i think it's worth going a bit further to improve it and maybe make a really small game with it as i have some spare time.

[rbaleksandar]

Ah, I see you have removed tha space-rainbow...uuuh - sword Like the dragon very much. But I really cannot figure out is that a small shiny star right in fron to him (stomach-level)? And I also cannot understand what is with the ring-thingie.


PS: theRedPress, please do not write *tilts* 'cause I read that in a different way you know

[Moresco]

PS: theRedPress, please do not write *tilts* 'cause I read that in a different way you know

Haha sorry homey, I can see how that could have been read with evil intent =p

On topic, excellent additions to the piece there, I really dig the floating ring.  I know I said I wouldn't be interested in playing an all blue game, but maybe if it's a Final Fantasy game, I can make an exception.  *slash-slash* 9999! =D

[Sephiroth]

rbaleksandar: thanks i really had a hard time for the dragon, and the shining star in front of him at stomach lv is the energy ball it is charging, like bahamut in final fantasy but very low low res :p c'mon the ring thingie is a black hole/supernova/floating ring arround a planet at least that's what i tried to do

theRedPress: thank you too, the ring thingie turned out pretty well i think and i'm gonna use it for some sumoning animation maybe. I've already coded a quick ff like battle system for a bigger project i'm working on with some friends but this small ff game would be a nice experience since i never tried drawing backgrounds or characters.

Is there something i could add or change to make it look better?

Regards

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Instead of using such a drab shade of blue, why not push the color into a more interesting range, with blues and reds?  I did a quick edit, along with fixing some other issues I found.

1.  Changed palette so it ranges from a soft blue to a soft purple.  The added contrast makes the dragon and woman shapes more interesting.

2.  Removed the uniform stars and replaced them with more varied star shapes.

3.  Changed the title font to something a bit more art inspired.

4.  Changed the options text to make the font stand out a bit more, especially when selected.

5.  Adjusted the hair around the face to make the head look like part of the body.  As it was, the two parts seemed strangely disconnected.




As a title screen it will get the job done, just focus on making it a bit more varied (especially the colors) .

[Anian]

Maybe a bit too cluttered now? There are 4 or 5 points of interest now, and all seem to be just placed in there with no flow. I know it probably does make sense when you've played the game but now they look like they're just put together by force.

Dragon could be a part of the menu perhaps, like somehow surrounding the menu (the same image but just somehow put it around the menu), shame to waste it. Or don't use it now but use it for some later menu, like inventory, exit, or save screen.

Btw. like the new colors (not bad before either), the lady and the menu look quite good, if you could place the title somewhere that would be enough IMHO.

[Sephiroth]

Thank you all, everything you said helped me a lot. This is the last version, i think there's not much i can add.
And like anian pointed out, it would look like the screen is flooded if i add too many pieces.

I'm all exited about making a quick game in this style and i'll post later when i have more serious material.
Also i will try to use more colors and more varied gradients next time, i've learned a few things.

So it ended up like this:

I've changed the font, applied a quick shading and slightly modified the hair based on ProgZmax edit, btw do you mind if i use your version? *edit: thanks that was a fast answer :p
The second one is an alternate example with the dragon.