BG style for new game. C & C please

[Neutron]

Hey guys, I don't know if anyone remembers 'Flognars Quest', but I abandoned it, at least for the moment, briefly started on another game about some musicians in a winnebago, abandoned that, and now I've started on this new game.  I'm trying to figure out what would be the best BG style for it, and I came up with this so far.  The rooms a bit spartan, but I'll be adding more objects once I decide if this is a hotel room or a bedroom.  C and C appreciated in advance. Any suggestions about the character are also welcome, though I think I'm done with him.

[Renal Shutdown]

At first, I thought it looked rather blurred.Ã,  Then when I looked at the character and objects, it seemed to fit.Ã,  I don't know how to explain it, but the back wall seems just blurred enough to convey a sense of distance.Ã,  The side walls, carpet and ceiling look off, tho.Ã,  Maybe blending the sharpness might help.

The only major problem i can see is the window. it looks like it's just stuck on over the top of the rest of the image.Ã,  It also looks like it's:

1. Too small, most of my windows got higher up the wall.
2. Wonky.Ã,  With the walls the way they are, I think it should be a little wider at the top..Ã,  Or possibly at a more jaunty angle to emphasise the cartooniness of it all.
3. Detail outside, but I'm guessing that will come later.Ã,  The lighting lines look rather rigid and uniform, though.Ã,  Maybe line each pane seperately.

EDIT:

Character..

He looks quirky, in a way that pleases me.Ã,  The only issue I have is his stiff looking legs.Ã,  I'm not going to be able to suggest much in this area, however, since I have the same problem with thin legs.Ã,  I would suggest an extra skin tone, though, to give the legs a sense of depth, shading beneath the knee for example.

EDIT AGAIN:

The character's left hand has a black line where his knuckles are.  You be better off using the above mentioned extra skin tone to mark it out.  Especially since the character doesn't have a full body outline.  The same goes for armpit area and so on.  The black lines in those areas are far too dark, whereas a simple darker shade of the base color would look much more smooth, blended and keeping with the rest of the character.

[Neutron]

the stick leg thing is just a result of the room scaling, but yeah i think youre right about the dark bits, i'll fix that.  and yeah now that you mention it, that window is crap.

[sergiocornaga]

I love the background style... but I love the character style more.

Maybe... work on that... somehow...

[Candall]

the stick leg thing is just a result of the room scaling, but yeah i think youre right about the dark bits, i'll fix that.Ã,  and yeah now that you mention it, that window is crap.

Nah, they're not crap.  I like the scenery going on back there, it's just that the light makes the glass look too flat, not to mention that there isn't a light setup to justify that number of hard lines of light.  The light in the room is very soft, so the light reflecting off the window should be softer.  Fewer, but larger.  And softer.  And less opaque.

Also, maybe bend it a bit.  Real glass is pretty flat, but not so flat that it produces ramrod straight lines.  It's curved just enough to bend the light slightly... and exaggerate for cartoon.  And to beat the uniformity, remember that each pane is curved seperately from the whole window.

Yeah, I know... that's quite a lot of text for one window.

[Neutron]

hate to correct you, but if we're talking realism, the straightness or curviness or hardness of the reflection is dependant on what the window is reflecting, and at what angle.  the specularity and the diffuse light, usually take on the appearance of a gradient, or a flare if the light source is very direct.    i'm not trying to be a smart ass, but the conventions of realism are no stranger to me.  I agree with your thoughts about the curviness of the reflection, btw, i think that would look much better than the current situation, but it is stylistic preference, not a matter of correctness, because neither are actually 'correct'.