Game concept graphics

WHAM · Sun 03/04/2011 20:04:34

I'm trying to get a fairly simple graphical style down for the upcoming MAGS.
Any opinions? Ideas? If someone has any ideas on how to improve the craters, I would be giddy with joy!

Igor Hardy · Sun 03/04/2011 20:17:35

Looks fun. The craters would probably look better if you colored them even more darkly in the lower section of the hole.

Moresco · Sun 03/04/2011 20:41:27

How about a little bit more light around the inside rim of the crater as well? Some darker color to give the outside wall of the crater some more shadow, as in the perception of some cracks or uneven ground. Right now that outer base looks very plain to me, a bit like one solid material.

Is this going to be related to your FF6-sprite-esque character?

WHAM · Sun 03/04/2011 20:54:51

Here's another test image I made, open for critique.

I'll get back to trying out some tricks with the craters now, what I really need are some good reference pictures fotos.

@ Moresco: The FF6 project is a different game, and a longer project altogether, I'll use that thread to get critique on the characters for that project. I just decided to use that sprite as a base for these characters as it felt small and simple enought to animate for a quick MAGS project.

Tabata · Sun 03/04/2011 21:51:58

Quote from: WHAM on Sun 03/04/2011 20:54:51
I'll get back to trying out some tricks with the craters now, what I really need are some good reference pictures fotos.

... maybe something like this:

WHAM · Sun 03/04/2011 22:46:00

I tried darkening the craters and adding some simple noise for now. Improvement in my opinion. Also added some more junk and cover.

NickyNyce · Mon 04/04/2011 02:02:31

Quote from: WHAM on Sun 03/04/2011 22:46:00

I tried darkening the craters and adding some simple noise for now. Improvement in my opinion. Also added some more junk and cover.

In my opinion you had the right idea early on, the craters are barely visible now, the picture of that crater looks really good....

I would go lighter around the top of the holes, and then make the walls inside the hole a little darker than the floor of the hole.I believe you need 3 colors there.

Mati256 · Mon 04/04/2011 03:09:24

I used this tutorials when I was designing some maps for Close Combat, they are top viewed but maybe you find them useful.
http://closecombat.matrixgames.com/ClassicCC/dodamtutorials/Big%20crater%20tutorial.htm
http://closecombat.matrixgames.com/ClassicCC/dodamtutorials/Small%20Craters.htm

WHAM · Mon 04/04/2011 05:45:19

Thanks for the replies!

I'll have to look at that tutorial and see about lighting up the edged of the craters a bit, as NickyNyce said. Will post back later today.
EDIT: looked at the tutorial. It might just be a bit too detailed for this graphical style, but I'm sure I can pick up some tricks from it. I'm thinking of having flares and explosions create light effects that cause directional shadows on the craters and other objects.

WHAM · Mon 04/04/2011 19:17:52

Another take on the craters. I lightened the endges and darkened the interior a little further. Are we improving, or degrading?

Moresco · Mon 04/04/2011 19:26:40

Quote from: WHAM on Mon 04/04/2011 19:17:52

Another take on the craters. I lightened the endges and darkened the interior a little further. Are we improving, or degrading?

Improving, a little bit more light around the outer rim in places to make them pop I think.

WHAM · Mon 04/04/2011 19:35:36

Lightened the rims a touch more.

Khris · Mon 04/04/2011 20:12:47

They still look like buried tubes; here's a quick suggestion:

WHAM · Mon 04/04/2011 20:29:49

Fiddled around with Khris' suggestion, but I just couldn't get it to look right.

In my opinion the edges of the crater shouldn't be nearly that bright and all attempts at redesign and lightening of the edges has, in my opinion, looked a little less natural.

I'll see if I can come up with any more edits, or perhaps I will just leave the craters as they are now. At least I think the player should have no issue identifying what he is looking at. Next I'll try to improve and expand the indoor map elements a little, as well as add some more scenery I can gleefully copy and paste all over the battlefield, to make it bigger and better!

Khris · Mon 04/04/2011 21:14:57

Reworked the crater a bit.
Also, the very light tint was a hint at a general issue with your picture: severe lack of contrast and resulting flatness. I did sloppy paintovers of one of the guys and one of the barricades:

At the level of detail you have, volumetric lighting is much more important than texture. The noise on the barricades and the slightly darker lines on the armor are practically indiscernible.

The earth noise is ok, the concrete noise on the other hand looks cheap. I'd ditch it and go with lines hinting at slabs or something like that.

Edit:
Sorry, I keep changing it, it's a great concept and I really like fiddling with it:

Tried to address the issues I mentioned.

WHAM · Tue 12/04/2011 12:37:03

Back from the dead! (the thread AND me, that is)

I'm still not warming to Khris's craters when I see them en masse, but the darker concrete blocks and the slab floor of the trench are looking interesting. I'll be snatching those and moulding the concept around those, hopefully even improving as I go.

I'm starting to work on playable demo, in which I would have a controllable main character, working medkits, working shooting and two of the basic hazards working, along with the cover system.

If all goes well I'll have that sent off to the testers by the end of the week.

WHAM · Thu 14/04/2011 18:29:35

Khris's edit on one of the soldiers got me testing stuff out, and I ended up with this:

Left is old, Right is new. In the middle is Khris's edit, which I still thought was a touch too bright.

nads · Fri 15/04/2011 02:44:09

I like the new edit you've done there WHAM. It's shows a bit more detail on the character. Love the added armband you put on the right arm, thou you forgot to put it on the front view.

WHAM · Fri 15/04/2011 10:03:32

Quote from: nads on Fri 15/04/2011 02:44:09
I like the new edit you've done there WHAM. It's shows a bit more detail on the character. Love the added armband you put on the right arm, thou you forgot to put it on the front view.

I'd forgotten it from the front view as a mere oversight. This has now been corrected.

WHAM · Sat 16/04/2011 18:11:43

Anyone have ideas on how to fix this? I have made a walk behind as seen in the picture below, and it works as long as the player is in a very precise position. Anyone have any ideas on how to make this look better? As you can see in the third picture, if the player walks to the side of the crater, you can see some unsightly clipping taking place.