Game in DEV part 2 (Buildings) c&c

[Corby]

As a suggestion from Yakspit, i'm posting some building pics from Project Katrina here to get some ideas on areas of improvement!

http://pk.8m.net/cgi-bin/i/sneak/pk_sp_07b.jpg

http://pk.8m.net/cgi-bin/i/sneak/pk_sp_08b.jpg

Yup, buildings arn't my strong point... although i've only made 3 building scenes. Any help is appreciated!

[TheYak]

I suppose we could just get off our asses and go to the site to view these but this'll work.    

Anyway.  I think the artwork and colors are excellent.  Someone will comment on the perspective but I don't find it distracting.  I think the only problem is with inconsistency.  You've got some gorgeous shadows on the buildings but some of the trees and bushes look rather flat.  One example of this is the tree in the ring of plants in the second pic.  It almost looks like a cardboard stand.  I think if you added some shading on the tree and possibly gave it a shadow going to ground, it'd bring in a lot more depth.  

The doors and windows tend to have a "painted-on" look.  Normally, doors are receded into the walls a bit, so I would do some darkening tricks to make them appear back a bit in the surrounding wall.  The windows could use the same treatment, except for the ones with shutters, which might just need shadow to show they're beyond the wall.  Normally, I wouldn't comment on lack of shading in a drawing as everyone has their own style but the shadowing is done so beautifully elsewhere and simply begs to be done throughout.  Last crit: some of the building edges are a bit sharp.  The backgrounds as a whole have a soft feel to them so the alleyway in pic#1 stands out like a razor's edge.  The framing purple boards shadows also make them stand out a bit.  

You did mention you'll probably drop this to low-res so some of the contrast issues might be fuzzed away.  However, I think it can only look better if it's touched up in hi-res then lowered.  Again, excellent work.  If I exhibited half the skill, I'd be posting more art instead of criticizing it all the time.  

[Corby]

Hmmmmm how's this?
Thanks for the advice!
What do you think of the cobblestone? Does it work?
I find the ground a bit plain...
http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/corbfixer.jpg

[TheYak]

That is absolute sweetness.  I think it adds a lot of depth and realism to the overall background.  As far as the cobblestones go..  they look a bit flat.  I guess I didn't notice before but with the added depth of additional shadows, they stand out a bit more.  Perhaps if you had some subtle highlights & shadows on the stones.  You wouldn't even necessarily have to do all of 'em but just bringing a few further out or deeper into the road would show the view that it's not a flat surface.   Excellent work still, and again.

[Domino]

those look absolutely fabulous.

But they remind me of the buildings in Kings Quest 5. Which isn't a bad thing at all.

nice job!!!

shawn  

[Corby]

Yup! I used the King's Quest 5 building as a archetype sorta. I'll see what I can do with the cobblestone. Do you think some dirt and grass would make the ground more interesting?

[TheYak]

It would probably break it up somewhat but I'd use 'em very sparingly.  I mean, how good can a cobblestone road be if it's got dirt patches and plants all over?  :

[jaz]

Very, very nice pictures.
Good use of colours, that captures the autumn athmosphere.
Only I would add some joints/cracks between the beams of timbered houses and some shading on cobblestones to make the pictures more vivid.

Looking forward to see more coming!!

[Corby]

Cracks in the wood! Good idea!