Decided to have a fully animated, 8-direction moving character

[KyriakosCH]

Because ultimately it would come across as way too dead/ interactive fictiony if you cannot actually move the character in real time...

Anyway, i think it can work, and already rendered/imported the character

In the image you can also see a font i chose, along with some basic room. Game size currently is 500X500.



Each of the 8 standard directions currently have 19 frames. Previous pic uses a black outline, which will be removed by the end (eg next view doesn't)



Will upload more views of the character later...

[Andail]

19 frames in 8 directions, that's an awful lot of frames.

Have you tried 8-10 frames in 4 directions and deemed it insufficient?

Can we see the animation please?

[KyriakosCH]

I am cleaning up some bakcground pixels (magenta) for half of it. Obviously will be presented one of these days...

19 frames are overkill, although they only include the walk cycle (9 frames) and a repeat with alternative (more) hand gesturing. In reality it is two times the usual circle, due to some added animation in the hands.

4 directions aren't looking good if you have a pseudo-isometric room, as i do...

Anyway, some (not cleaned) of the original render i made:

[Jack]

He seems to be bound with rope from the knees up.

[Blondbraid]

He seems to be bound with rope from the knees up.

Yes, the movements look a bit weird, the character doesn't lift his legs when he walks.

[Mandle]

I think the character is supposed to be a troubled introvert, so I'm supposing his shuffling walk is designed to represent that fact.

But still: It seems a waste of all those frames if his upper body doesn't move even slightly...

I'm no animator but perhaps somebody has some pro-tips on how to squeeze a bit more movement out of the walkcycle while also staying true to character?

[NickyNyce]

I would also look into playing around with different fonts too. You certainly want an easy to read font for the player, especially if there is a decent amount of dialog. The font you provided is a little tough on the eyes.

[KyriakosCH]

I think the character is supposed to be a troubled introvert, so I'm supposing his shuffling walk is designed to represent that fact.

But still: It seems a waste of all those frames if his upper body doesn't move even slightly...

I'm no animator but perhaps somebody has some pro-tips on how to squeeze a bit more movement out of the walkcycle while also staying true to character?

Yes...! Well, as Kafka once said...: "The most widespread individualism among writers is their way of covering up for their weaknesses"... Ie i am not really trying to make an animated cycle which is perfect, yet in-game it likely fits the mood of being confined in a bizarre location with a ladder and a closed door, and the other loops there. The character isn't exactly happy, and wouldn't tend to make lively moves. (which is all the better, cause i wouldn't tend to want to have to animate such moves ).

That said, there are many special animations, eg for thinking, climbing up the ladder, trying stuff while on the ladder, and all-around being brooding and miserable

This particular segment/part (which i hope to be the first ever actually finished game i can present! ) is adapted from a short story of mine. Some of the plot can be read in the opening lines (translation may have issues, but anyway) :
"I had no recollection of the actual fall. Yet it did take place, that much is evident given i was lying down in a dark place, my body aching, and I could see a clearly lit opening, only far away and high up.
After touching my body all around to verify that i had not suffered a major injury, i stared upwards to the opening, before turning my sight right in front of me where a metallic and vertical ladder was partly visible.
In reality it was not so much a ladder as two extended beams, which at regular intervals were intersected by bars of equal thickness to the beams. I thought that i would have to use those to climb up to the light, given in the meantime i had realized that there was no further part of the space i was in which i could access, since only opposite the ladder there was a door, but that was locked.
And so i began my ascent, which at first was very easy to carry on with. I did indeed feel a brief but acute pain in my ribs each time i had to raise my right leg, but the actual ascent was not laborious in any way. Every now i then i would observe the opening above, which appeared to remain as distant and small as when i first glanced at it from below."

I would also look into playing around with different fonts too. You certainly want an easy to read font for the player, especially if there is a decent amount of dialog. The font you provided is a little tough on the eyes.

I agree. Yet i'd also want to avoid the very cold/generic fonts as well...

[Danvzare]

Well that guy looks as though he can barely move his legs. He looks as though he's trying to slide across ice, in a dignified and posh manner. He looks as though he's parlayed from the waist up. I wonder how many other remarks I can make?

Still, I always prefer adventure games which allow you to actually move the character around freely (even if, when you think  about it, it's technically useless), so I guess I can't complain too much. It is indeed difficult to animate a character.

Personally, I find the font quite easy to read. But if you wanted to make it easier to read, might I suggest you try and find a bold variant?

[Snarky]

Let me show you what the first screen looks like on my monitor:



Basically it's a black square with some text and a cursor. If you peer closely at it you can vaguely make out the character and the separation of walls and floor, but any details are overwhelmed by reflections in the monitor.

Also, the font has a problem with the kerning (spacing between the letters). In particular, the "a" doesn't have enough space on the right (while most other letters have too much), so a word like "considerable" is nearly indistinguishable from "considerdole". This is fixable, though.

[KyriakosCH]

^The forum page also looks messed up. Can that be linked? Otherwise people will have considerable difficulty to read it...

(ie yes, different lighting setting can be an issue, but your pic shows a blurred forum page too, so it somewhat beats the purpose?)

Agree about the text, of course.

[Chicky]

Your backgrounds are definitely too dark, seems your monitor needs calibrating. I've noticed this issue with a few of your wip backgrounds.

[cat]

When first seeing the first post in the thread, I didn't realize why you were talking about a character because the pics are just black squares, one with text, the other one with a magnifying glass. I can hardly see any character at all.

[Snarky]

^The forum page also looks messed up. Can that be linked? Otherwise people will have considerable difficulty to read it...

(ie yes, different lighting setting can be an issue, but your pic shows a blurred forum page too, so it somewhat beats the purpose?)

It's a shitty cell phone photo with different regions more or less out of focus, but that's beside the point. That's not why the image isn't legible; I can recognize your avatar perfectly well, for example. In fact, it looks like my phone applied some kind of contrast correction (notice the halos around the dark parts) that actually makes the image slightly clearer than it is in reality.

But I'm not here to convince you. If this is how you want it, knock yourself out.

[Cassiebsg]

I guess, if you going for a comic character, this walk fits. He also seems like he'll fall backwards any time.

[KyriakosCH]

Your backgrounds are definitely too dark, seems your monitor needs calibrating. I've noticed this issue with a few of your wip backgrounds.

Any way i can check calibration (and know what to change?)

[Gurok]

Your backgrounds are definitely too dark, seems your monitor needs calibrating. I've noticed this issue with a few of your wip backgrounds.

Any way i can check calibration (and know what to change?)

To an extent, that depends on your monitor. Most will have brightness and contrast controls in the OSD menu, some monitors (e.g. Apple) don't expose controls and some let you configure your monitor through bundled software.

A common method is to adjust the brightness and contrast in daylight or a brightly lit room, so that faces look natural -- not too saturated, not too light/dark.

You could also try an i1Display Pro colorimeter (this is what I use) or the cheaper ColorMunki. The general values are 80-140 candelas per square metre. You also want a gamma of about 2.2. Colour space should be SRGB (not Lab). This is an investment though, and the general method of comparing skin works for most people. You'd also have to ensure your monitor was compatible.

I suspect that your monitor's actually fine and that you're working in the dark. I don't think anyone would turn their brightness/contrast up so high that the images you present look normal.

Do you have a histogram tool in your image editor? A histogram shows the problem with your images really clearly:



See how your red, green and blue channels are all bunched up near the lower end?

They should be more spread out like:



Here's a crude mockup of the brightness levels I'd expect:



Yes, I added a background behind the text window. It should ring alarm bells if you *don't* need something to distinguish a fairly midtone yellow from the background, IMHO.

Also, I'm not an artist, but showing darkness well is about having contrast: a bright moon, an open doorway or some light source. In the room above, you've actually handled it well. The light source is coming from the camera, and the player character looks like he's in relative darkness as a result. It's a shame that this was obscured by how dark the picture was.

[KyriakosCH]

^Thanks for the information! I will get right to examining how i can fix the issue

[Andail]

I always make sure to view my art on some other devices/monitors and in different light conditions just to be sure. iPads and mobile phones tend to have stronger contrasts and more black, for instance, often rendering the darkest nuances indistinguishable.

Look at your image on your phone, in another room, and see if it's still visible.

[Mandle]

Bit late to the party here, but yeah, the way it looked in Snarky's photo:

That's pretty much the way it looked like on my monitor as well...

And thanks also to Gurok for the valuable information of those light-balance tables, and the insights on contrast best being used to simulate darkness:

I remember the opening cutscene of Monkey Island doing that perfectly!

[KyriakosCH]

I changed the brightness and contrast settings on my monitor (apparently contrast was at 30 - now is at 80). Is this visible?



Under the new settings i too could hardly make anything at all of the room in the previous pics i posted...

Btw, sorry Snarky for my own snarky comment; thanks for the help there

The textures and tones and other stuff are by no means final in this pic, i just wanted to establish whether it is at least showing ok, so tell me if it is

[Mandle]

It's showing fine... Maybe a bit too much for the dark look I think you might be going for...

So hard to quantify but:

On my monitor the door on the left looks about the colour of really cheap rich-in-milk kiddies' milk chocolate...

Interesting feeling though: trying to describe colours one sees without being able to resort to screenies for examples, for the obvious reasons...

[KyriakosCH]

Making it darker is no problem, i just wanted to first secure people can see it. If they can more than just see it, well it will be darkened quite a bit by the end

[Danvzare]

Yep, that picture is as bright as day.
Quite literally.

[KyriakosCH]

Hm, how about this one?



Room is supposed to be pretty dark (in fact darker in the story than what i am looking at now)...

Edit: a lot darker and with a bluish lighting in blender:

[Mandle]

Dude...go with the second pic...That just looks so awesome!

The others just look like Blender renders... But that last one actually looks like something you'd expect to see in a game!

EDIT: It might need a slightly heavier occlusion shading setting for the room corners...And maybe push the ladder into the wall just a tad more to make it really identifiable as a ladder...

[Cassiebsg]

Yes, that last pic is much better. Very moody.
Only the shadows look a bit too strong (very black with a clear defined edge) for the soft low light, IMHO.

[KyriakosCH]

Thank you guys

I tried this one, with a spotlight (it is furthermore altering its transition of light due to being in a room above which has a very small opening next to the full ceiling of this room)



Tell me what you think, if it is too dark, if the contrast is nice or not, etc

[Blondbraid]

Now this really, really reminds me of the intro to mr Bean...


But I do think it looks rather nice otherwise, the cone of light does a good job of highlighting the door, man and ladder.
Maybe the walls could have a bit more going on, cracks, brickwork or similar, and the border between the middle wall and floor looks odd, but otherwise it looks good.

[KyriakosCH]

^LOL!!!!!!!!

Ehm, maybe i should change the color of the coat then!!!

Are the walls visible in the border between the light cone and the TERRIBLE DARKNESS?

[Cassiebsg]

It's not THAT dark either, walls are very visible, now it's the "it's bright" scene, you can darken it a bit more.

[KyriakosCH]

^Ack... :o

Well, making the rest of the walls utterly black is not an issue, but would it really be better that way?

Eg currently i did sort of the opposite:

[Cassiebsg]

Starting to look good.
Looks more natural with that lighting and shadow is softer.

Maybe the cone is still too large at the bottom? Not exactly sure how you want it to look, and how much light there should be there. The guy's shadow is still very sharp and crisp. You could try and render his shadow to a new layer and then give it some alpha transparency (you'll need to use the composite in Blender for this). It's a pain to do, but well worth the effort.
This would allow you to still have that dark crisp shadow under him, but still have texture left from the floor visible.

[KyriakosCH]

Hm, maybe the walls on each end should be looking a bit darker ideally (and currently i also am using some very VERY minor ambient occlusion -- factor of... 0.09-- which if taken out will just leave those places black.

A gif of a bit of the coughing (hello player) animation. In the end the visible hand will slightly move as well

[KyriakosCH]

Better or worse?



Btw, the current animation isn't exactly the coughing idea i first had. More like a spasm of apparently acute pain.
The right limbs might either be paralysed or just kept immobile in a (false) attempt to numb the pain overall.

[Cassiebsg]

Much much better, for me anyway.

You could try and put a limb or two "out of place" (twisted/bend in an unnatural way) assuming the guy has fallen from above. It would be logical that a couple bones have cracked. Like maybe the right upper-arm lowered into the floor and then bend the lower-arm in the wrong direction the elbow joint would have allowed it. As is now, it's not resting on the floor. Unless his arm isn't broken and he's trying to get up, then it's perfect.

[KyriakosCH]

Well... i made that animation due to having another idea. Originally i aimed to just adapt my story (posted part of which earlier in this thread), but i think it may allow for more of an adventure game if it is sort of a continuation of that story, and (very importantly) in such a case the animated character in the above gif is NOT the player-controlled character, but someone who happens to be on the floor of that room.

And it won't be a pleasant storyline, you can be sure of that

[Blondbraid]

Wow, the dark sure brings out a rather claustrophobic feel to it.
Looks good!

[Snarky]

Btw, sorry Snarky for my own snarky comment; thanks for the help there

No worries. The new Mr Bean-style screens look a lot clearer; good improvement!

[cat]

The last screen is a big improvement - it feels dark, but it is clearly visible on my monitor.

[KyriakosCH]

Thank you all
Any further suggestions are welcome, and i will post new images/gifs when i have them. Currently thinking of whether i will go with the original story adaptation, or the expanded-new story.

[KyriakosCH]

Very very early phase of another room: (in case i go with my second plan, anyway )



Virtually everything is subject to change here, although i am happy with the De-Chirico style hallway and space arrangement

Right side of the room will have a few furniture, eg book-shelves, one or two chairs, some object in the foreground, maybe other decorative stuff. There will be 6-7 people in the room, along with the player. Supposed to be an earlier stage of the game. Lighting will be a lot more potent later on as well.

[KyriakosCH]

Still very far from finished, and the lighting has a serious issue currently (red dotted fall-out on the ceiling ), but what do you think of this room at the moment?

[cat]

The ceiling might have fallout, but the carpet is definitely radioactive!

[KyriakosCH]

^Lol, yes

[KyriakosCH]

Hm...?

[Mandle]

The ceiling might have fallout, but the carpet is definitely radioactive!

[KyriakosCH]

It is a persian carpet, and they are after such technology

Any suggestions to alter things on the room? It is very far from reaching a final form anyway

[Andail]

Am I the only one who's wondering why the top half is pitch black?
Or rather; why have a square ratio when you're not using half the screen height?

[KyriakosCH]

Am I the only one who's wondering why the top half is pitch black?
Or rather; why have a square ratio when you're not using half the screen height?

That ratio will be kept only if a later part of the game features the tall room shown already

If i keep the ratio then i will use it to present different parts of the house with it, eg the corridor can expand mostly vertically, while the living room there is horizontal mostly.

[Gurok]

Am I the only one who's wondering why the top half is pitch black?
Or rather; why have a square ratio when you're not using half the screen height?

That ratio will be kept only if a later part of the game features the tall room shown already

If i keep the ratio then i will use it to present different parts of the house with it, eg the corridor can expand mostly vertically, while the living room there is horizontal mostly.

Why not just scroll down for effect when the player enters the tall rooms, and keep the whole thing at something more standard? 320x200, or 640x400 if you blow things up a bit.

I don't think it's particularly ugly, but I do think it'll feel weird mousing over space that's unused for most of the time.

[KyriakosCH]

I am considering that too, although it is more impressive if the tall rooms can be seen in one screen (imo). I will have to rethink it once i have all the rooms (at least 6, living room-kitchen-bath-bedroom-balcony-nightmare rooms).

More realistically 8-9, including the corridor, balcony part b and a second nightmare room.

[KyriakosCH]

Moreover, IF the 500X500 stays (tall rooms etc), then most of the upper half will be used for various graphics, eg a room map or more elaborate dialogue menus and so on. But it is not decided upon yet

[KyriakosCH]

A bit of animation (room needs work, but animation goes ok... )

[KyriakosCH]

Preview of the walking cycle (needs cleaning + here it is shown on a background, but in-game it will have transparency)



Do you like it? The legs will be a bit more lifted/tilted at times by the end. Shoes likely will show more (colour change). The person has fallen, so he has a bit of a limp too.

[Cassiebsg]

That looks more like slow break dance, than walking.
He still looks like he's falling backwards too.

[Danvzare]

He looks like he's merely brushing his foot against the carpet.

[KyriakosCH]

Meh, should have expected as much from the uber-elitists here 

FYI he is dancing, just like in a dream

[Cassiebsg]

uber-elitist?
Okay, what ever, if you want to do like you want, why do you bother asking? If you don't wish opinions on it, then don't aks!

[KyriakosCH]

I am joking

I know that the leg movement looks bizarre, it will change by the end

[Cassiebsg]

It's not that hard to make a proper walkcycle in Blender, there are plenty of good youtube tutorials. That's what I use to learn how to make them for my game. If you need help, just say so. If he's meant to be dragging his feet, it's also fine. But again, we can't read your mind. So went you call it a walk cycle, I imagine that's how you want your character to walk.

[KyriakosCH]

That is what i'll have to do as well

Btw, do you like the colours and the general look of the character? And what about the drinking animation?

Some bits and pieces from the intro or generic animation (non player controlled ) :

[Cassiebsg]

Drinking looks okay, though he probably should tilt the head a bit backwards.

[KyriakosCH]

Some progress:





Sadly it looks more like Rowan Atkinson by the minute, but then again the character is supposed to be insane

[Danvzare]

Yeah your walk cycle looks much better now.
And personally, I don't think he looks like Rowan Atkinson.

[selmiak]

normally I don't like CGI walkcycles as they look too stiff. But yours somehow has some swing to it (a bit too much maybe) and is too stiff at the same time. Congrats on achieving this, I've never seen something like this before. Some armmovement might ease up the upper half of his body while walking.

[KyriakosCH]

Why it was my plan all-along!

Hm, basically the following is the 8 directions (and flicker/raise head for each), which needs cleaning up (more importantly in the directions where a blackness was generated between the legs) There is also some editing to do (will just do it pixel by pixel) in the up-left movement, due to the left leg protruding there rather strangely

[KyriakosCH]

More work on that room (changed to be a single bedroom-kitchen; to reflect a different storyline chosen ).



Views?

[Mandle]

I find myself absolutely loving that last room picture and I also love the new walkcycle of that character when I see it against the background.

I think you might have nailed what you were trying to achieve with bringing the character's personality to life, and you probably shouldn't fiddle with it too much more.

Move on to the next to-do item on your list... Because I really want to play this game ASAP!

[KyriakosCH]

^Thank you!

[KyriakosCH]

First version of another room (in the less serene part of the game )



Sadly the contrast makes the door in the end of the left corridor not show at all (in my screen anyway). I might place a very weak extra light source there by the end

Edit: different/testing version:



Uppe part is reserved for text and possible object animation/zoom in when examined etc.


You can compare with the first room (also not entirely complete, but getting there) :

[KyriakosCH]

And testing an idea for part of the 'first time enters'

[Danvzare]

Ooh I like that.
Nice little transition effects, that give the game a movie-like appearance.

[.M.M.]

If you really want to make your walkcycle look better, you should get rid of the gliding effect, at least a bit. Think about how people walk: you stand on one leg and move your body and the other leg forward, meaning the feet stays on ground and does not move. Now look at your character on screen. Try to think about how it actually works, don't just swing legs of the model back and forth.

[KyriakosCH]

^Yes, i have happened to have noticed how walking works. However i will get to that later, after i have fully modelled the unseen heart of the player character for added realism

Btw, which of the two progressions is a better idea? (the room object progression will be smoother by the end, this is just placeholder )

1:



2:

[selmiak]

The second one works better if you don't turn the character before cutting, rather walkthere, cut with cameramovement, cut, character already turned (as the view is already turned).
I have no idea if this is really neccessary though. It is a cool idea and if you absolutely want this transition you should use this everywhere in the game.

[Danvzare]

The second one works better if you don't turn the character before cutting, rather walkthere, cut with cameramovement, cut, character already turned (as the view is already turned).

+1

[KyriakosCH]

The second one works better if you don't turn the character before cutting, rather walkthere, cut with cameramovement, cut, character already turned (as the view is already turned).
I have no idea if this is really neccessary though. It is a cool idea and if you absolutely want this transition you should use this everywhere in the game.

I won't be triggered by just moving; it is more of a special cinematic in some parts of rooms (eg here it would be in the 'first time enter' routine)

[.M.M.]

^Yes, i have happened to have noticed how walking works. However i will get to that later, after i have fully modelled the unseen heart of the player character for added realism

Well, your animation doesn't show that. The character just swings his legs, both the same way without showing where the body's weight is. And that has nothing to do with personality of the protagonist.
You asked for critique, you get critique. I didn't mention room renders, because there's no improvement needed! Maybe that's what makes the stiff animation stand out, too.

[KyriakosCH]

Thanks Truth be told, i am just lazy...

I might still improve the walking, though. Although it is true that in-game (as seen in one of the scenes where he just walks) it looks ok due to giving the character personality (i suppose in a distorted/expressionist way, but yes -- lazy ). He isn't the happiest of people.

[KyriakosCH]

Lazy again, and this could have been hugely better, but i think it may work as the basis for the movement even as it is:



?

[Danvzare]

Oh yes, that will definitely do for movement.
It's not perfect by any means, but it's definitely better than your first original version.
And I rather like how it looks.

[KyriakosCH]

Thank you, Dan!

[gameboy]

About the walkcycle:

* His knees should bend significantly more. Right now it seems as if the angle between his thigh and calf is pretty much the same all the time.

* The swing of his arms is very minimal, almost non existent. Is this intentional? Looks almost as if he were holding his hands in his pockets.

Also, what .M.M. said. Unless the character's personality means he's supposed to be dragging his feet.

[KyriakosCH]

Well, he is sort of insane, and moves in a rigid manner, so even if i wasn't lazy he would NEVER move his hands much when he walks

I know about the upper leg part; lazy got me there again :/

A possible alternative size/textures (the rest are virtually the same, though) :



I think the above is a little more atmospheric. Keep in mind most of the locations are dark anyway

[KyriakosCH]

Some work -early- on an external location, and a night scene:





Views?

[KyriakosCH]

And a bit more defined (the red thing is an object; actually a drawn game on the pavement) :





Do you like the screens?

[Danvzare]

Yay, hopskotch!
Will we get to play it ingame?

[KyriakosCH]

You will, although... it isn't exactly festive (cough -- horror )

The location was modelled after a part of the local promenade



Only the greenish background is a plane, the rest are full 3d models i made

[KyriakosCH]

Is there a visible and abrupt change from the regular sky to an utter blackness in your monitor setting for the two screens? Cause while there isn't in mine, someone told me they could see it in theirs... (in which case i will have to alter some stuff)

[Snarky]

Yup.

[KyriakosCH]

[KyriakosCH]

Now? (seems to be ok re that problem)

brightness/contrast of my monitor is at 50/80, and i am worried if the background plane with the buildings is unrealistically lit for a night scene. Views?

[Cassiebsg]

You should either remove the black from the sky by clipping it on the picture/plane, or extend the plane to cover all your image, tat way you'll avoid that happening, since you can't control every player's settings.

Looks okay on mine now, though.
Where did the water go?

[Danvzare]

You could also possibly edit the background in your chosen art software and turn the sky into a subtle gradient.
It's just a thought.

[KyriakosCH]

Hmmmmm?

[selmiak]

That flickering light is not very horror! What about turning off the other lightsource and then let it flicker. The shadow make it creepy. It's probably best to prerender this and place the character on a specific spot where his shadow looks the creepiest. Then you always have him in the same spot with fitting shadows and can play this every time the flicker is needed. Just my take on this.

[KyriakosCH]

You are right...

What about the somewhat eroded/blurred pics? Better than the pixel-striking previous versions?

[VampireWombat]

I find the current flicker to be more annoying than anything. It's too fast. Also there should be a greater contrast when it flickers. As it is, it just seems to alternate between a black and white halo. I'd also suggest lengthening the animation to include a short period it stops flickering and to also include 2 or 3 slightly different flickering patterns.

Edit: Here's a quickly made example. I achieved the darkness using GIMP and creating a new layer that was all black, used the ellipse tool to create an oval, and used feather.

[KyriakosCH]

^ Awesome

But how would one use this as a background?... Too many frames, no?

[VampireWombat]

^ Awesome

But how would one use this as a background?... Too many frames, no?

It looks like it can be done entirely by making 2 different images with the different light levels. Create an object and set clickable to off. Then create a view and use the images. Set the object to the view and then animate the object. Playing with the object animate function and the frames in the view should be able to get you the desired effect.
Adding the 2 images into the view more times can make the blinking more erratic. Like 1,2,1,2,2,1,2,1,2,1,1.

This is the script I used for testing.

function room_AfterFadeIn()
{
oBlink.SetView (3);
oBlink.Animate (0,  13,  eRepeat,  eNoBlock);
}


The two images I used in my test.
When importing make sure to use the alpha channel and change transparent color to as is.

Spoiler

[close]

[Snarky]

I would script the flickering as a random event (i.e. generate a random number each game loop in repeatedly_execute_always(), and show the dark version if the number is above or below some threshold).

This is also a case where it makes sense to use multiple background frames instead of a full-screen object. Just make one frame the light version and the other frame the dark one, and then stop background from cycling automatically by calling SetBackgroundFrame(0) in the enter room function.

This is getting into coding advice, though.

[VampireWombat]

I tried this method because it seemed the simplest and most direct method I could think of for the desired effect. Using it as an object that covers the room instead of a background means that the lighting changes affects the character and other objects added after it.
But yes, it does get into coding advice.