Desert BG in need of some TLC

ALPHATT · Sat 14/02/2009 15:01:12

Feels a bit incomplete there

SpacePirateCaine · Sat 14/02/2009 15:09:56

Hi Alpha - you're referencing Geraduatuza's last image - I've actually made a few alterations in that area, but I don't want to go too crazy over there, since it should be somewhat more shaded than a lot of the other stuff.

I've already gotten some critique on PJ, so I'm likely to have something new to see, soon.

Jakerpot · Sat 14/02/2009 15:28:27

yeah, it`s a lot better, but if i was making this background (but i`m not), but i was saying IF i was making (you`re not), shut up!, No! Shut up you! Go eat some ice cream! No, you gonna eat ice cream! Shut up Slimer! Shut up you Jakerpot! Ok, now that i resolved things with my mind, named Slimer, i was saying that if i was making this bg, i wouldn`t draw that behemoth on the back. It remind me of final fantasy and 4 hours of fighting last boss on playstation 1. Just for personal like.
and just a OBS: PixelJoint is awsome! The guys are freaks made of pixels!

Sorry for my bad-esducationed mind. He piss me off sometimes.
J-

ALPHATT · Sat 14/02/2009 15:50:54

I don't know whats your problem with the behemoth it's the most important part of the bg.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sat 14/02/2009 15:51:09

I like everything about this except the color scheme. Right now it's a bit too close to true yellow than orange, so I made two edits:

1. Cleaned up the aliasing in a few areas.

2. Removed the aliasing on the upper area of the background ship since the color wasn't being used much and changed it to a darker shade for the dunes and some newer rocks.

3. Added some quick highlights to the nearer rock formations.

4. The second edit adds foreground rocks to balance out the scene since there are so many rocks in the background.

5. Did some basic dithering on the dark part of the dunes.

Both of these are just quick edits. The new, darker rocks need highlight shading and the ones in the background could potentially cast shadows on the sand to make the scene more interesting. In the second edit, the foreground rocks could have sand on them to explain why so much of the foreground is smooth. The dithering is really basic, and when you are trying to preserve colors it's a good way to get some extra shading in. I think if you clean up the aliasing some more and work on the sky (perhaps add one more shade and dither between the light and dark) you'll have a very useable background. The sand in particular looks great. Nice work!

SpacePaw · Sat 14/02/2009 16:07:57

Orange scheme looks much better too me. More natural sandy feel. Awesome detail edit too I just wonder if it isnt too complicated now...Probably not

ALPHATT · Sat 14/02/2009 16:14:38

Yeah I really like ProgZs' color scheme a lot better.

Jakerpot · Sat 14/02/2009 16:59:27

i like more the original one. :

Snarky · Sat 14/02/2009 16:59:58

All that stuff about things falling on the same horizontal line was interesting, but after the fix, the two obelisks on the right both seem excessively tall. The closer one nearly splits the image in two, and the farther one must be, what? four, five times as tall as any of the others.

Also, the dithered texture/selective outline on the close one is interesting, but looks a little messy, almost like you just missed a few pixels when you drew it. The overall look of the piece is of solid, unbroken fields of a single color (I know there are exceptions, but they're around edges and not really noticeable), and the stray pixels on this obelisk seem to break that style. It's more evident with ProgZ's colors, because of the higher contrast. If you cannot give the detail pixels more definition, I think you should lose them. (Maybe breaking up the outline and the line of shadow would help to rough up the surface.)

After having seen ProgZ's palette edit, the original looks like it's being viewed through a green filter. You can't really go back. In his edit, the mountains on the right look very much like flat cutouts, though, and that's something I think you should avoid.

It's a very cool background. I could imagine it used for a cutscene in Dune II, although the behemoth looks more Star Wars-y.

SpacePirateCaine · Sat 14/02/2009 17:11:35

Yeah, don't you just hate it when someone proves that your color selections still suck? I'm still not personally sure if the more 'alive', vibrant tones of Progz's edit are quite what I was looking for - Conceptually, it's supposed to be a 'dead' planet with only a few mining and scavenging operations on the surface. Also the atmosphere isn't really meant to be the same as Earth's, and an (un)healthy smattering of ultra-fine dust and sand all over the place...

This of course could very well be me trying to justify my own color choices. I absolutely love the way Progz took my drab world and made it look a lot more pretty, but again, I'm still on the fence about how much it fits with my own concept of the world.

You're absolutely right about the obelisks, Snarky - The one on the right moreso than the middle one (The middle one at the very least is just much closer than any of the others. The markings you mentioned in the close obelisk were meant to be there not as an outline, but actual markings - whether alien writing or some form of protrusions/windows or something, I haven't actually decided yet, but I thought it'd be more interesting than a solid slab of phallic alien stone penetrating the sky.

Unless you're talking about the selout on the right side of the obelisk in the newer edit on PJ, in which case that's exactly what it is.

SpacePaw · Sat 14/02/2009 17:25:56

I think you should try something inbetween your and progz color set. Your is "dead" and it's ok but it looks too much like some sort of sepia. Like snarky said - it's like put through a filter instead of "natural" look. try to move it at least a bit into orange, to eliminate the greenish color

Snarky · Sat 14/02/2009 17:35:04

Quote from: SpacePirateCaine on Sat 14/02/2009 17:11:35
You're absolutely right about the obelisks, Snarky - The one on the right moreso than the middle one (The middle one at the very least is just much closer than any of the others.

Yeah, the close one is fine in terms of architectural consistency, but I feel that compositionally it is a bit too much. It comes so close to the top edge of the picture that, as far as the eye is concerned, it might as well go off the canvas. Also, it lines up with the shadow on the close dune, which divides the desert into mostly bright and mostly shady regions, and so this vertical line seems to nearly chops the image in two. (Again, this effect is stronger in ProgZmax's edit because of what he's done with the mountains.) Anyway, just my opinion.

SpacePirateCaine · Sat 14/02/2009 17:37:27

I really like that I can just fiddle with my palette. Maybe a little better? It's a fair sight less saturated than Progz's, but I like what it's doing.

SpacePaw · Sat 14/02/2009 18:00:34

for me it's perfect right now

(the pallete)

Dualnames · Sat 14/02/2009 18:11:46

Reminds me a lot of Other World, which is outstanding, it looks a bit too yellow but checking it AGSwise it really seems to had me drink a couple of water.

Kaio · Sat 14/02/2009 19:08:57

Wow SpacePirateCaine, this is just wonderfull pixel-art! Congratulation

Jakerpot · Sat 14/02/2009 19:19:29

my problem of the behemoth is that i don't like behemoths. As i said, it's a personal like thing.
J-

Evil · Sat 14/02/2009 20:17:54

I like the rocks between the dunes and the mountains, but they make the image maybe a little to busy. I prefer that color scheme over the more yellow. Having the darker areas more purple is more accurate.

I did a little edit of a few things. Changed the heights of the obelisks. Flipped the sun so the darker line was on the left side.

The right red circle was just me pointing out how two mountains came together at the same point as the clouds. I moved the clouds on the right and left up a bit to give some more depth. Doesn't look right still, but better IMO.

Yours then mine for comparison. Makes the obelisk height changes more obvious.

SpacePirateCaine · Sat 14/02/2009 20:24:58

Hi, Evil - Actually, I edited the obelisk heights in my most recent submission to PJ, though I did neglect to post it on this forum. Allow me to rectify this issue:

I actually left the central obelisk in place - I like it as tall as it is, actually, although it does effectively bisect the background, I think it's interesting, and also offers a sense of scale that I like. The one to the far right is shorter again.

InCreator · Sat 14/02/2009 21:12:36

I liked pre-C&C version actually better, it looked more like sand.

For crits, lightest sand feels a bit too light somehow. I can see ocean reflecting so much light but not (nighttime?) sand... Maybe it's realistic - not a light expert - but there's a choice between eye pleasing and realism. And darker sand might look better.