Help with Background

[Nacho]

Hello... This is a background of a game I will do during breaks of other projects.

(Which means I will last like 10 years to complete)



It'sÃ,  supposed to be a fire station in NY. The size of the building could look bad, but it's quite accurate, have in mind that the door in the fire station is actually a gate which can be traspassed by a fire truck.

Maybe the U.S. postal mailbox is too big, though... No probs, I will change it, it's in another layer.

I need crits about the composition, and about which urban furniture might I use to fill it more. Also any advise on lighting or anything which can make a good background into a supperb one will be appreciated.

Thanks.

P.S: The image will be resized to 50% of it's size to get AA. So, don't worry about the lack of detail in some zones.

[GarageGothic]

Holy crap, is this a Ghostbusters game? The composition looks good. Maybe you should tone down the black shadow on the left side (and add a couple of bricks to suggest the texture of the wall itself). You're right that the mailbox is huge, especially compared to the fire hydrant and the trashcan.

As for other items to put in, may I suggest a phone booth and some of those newspaper vending machines that they use in North America. Also, you could add a fire escape for some more detail on the wall to the left.

Great work!

Edit: With the sun behind and to the right of the building like that, the facade should be darker than the side facing the street. Also, I would suggest drawing the text by hand instead of using a text tool. The Highway 180 and the "Hook & Ladder" signs look a bit out of place. Perhaps the picture below is a better reference than the one you're using since the sign reads slightly different in real life:

http://level11.org/nyc/city/image.php?i=ghostbusters02.jpg

[Krysis]

GG pretty much said all there is to be said. The only thing I don't like is the sun border. I'ts too red and that seems abit... wrong compared with the sky? I don't know, maybe make it less red and bit brither on the edge.
Oh, and: Awesome work! :o

[Nacho]

GG:Thanks about the facade thing... It was in my mind! But I goofed with palletes and used the same as for the front part! Thanks for the urban furniture thing.

Krysis:The sun is something that is commonly commented... I really like it! Dunno, if the complain becomes general, I'll have to change it.

And, whereas it could be GhostBusters related, I don't want to be sued. So, it will probably go about insect exterminators... I want to create characters, I don't like the idea of using Peter, Egon... We all know about them!

Gotta go... Suggested improvements added asap!

Thanks.

[Scummbuddy]

you can add benches as well. and I dont think the mail box is too big. I think it could be just right.

oh, and your background is absolutely gorgeous....

[Haddas]

Hot dog salesman on the corner!


EDIT: or a hotdog salesman if you prefer.

[big brother]

Whoops, sorry, Farlander! I meant to give you some crits when you PMed me. Looks like you've made some good progress though! The colors are particularly striking.

Here are a few crits:
- NYC is the melting pot of cultures, but I don't know if there'd be Chinese and Italian stuff on the same street.
- The lettering on the distance sign has AA, but the rest of the bg doesn't.
- The space to the left of the station looks empty.
- A lot of tension is created from the tip of the building almost touching the sun. Is this intentional?
- The shapes in the background look much more stylized (skewed) than the shapes closer to the viewer
- Seems like some of the detail will be lost when you resize it (like the stains on the front of the station and the lettering).

I'm digging the style.

[gameboy]

Looking as awesome, as it is, there are only few things bothering me.

The blue house on the right; its perspective does not really match with the rest of the bg. But, then again, the bit of a cartoony style doesn't really need much of a perspective, so that's OK.

And other thing - Tino Pizza's front door is looking so small! Well at least comparing it with the door just across the street. Or is that a garage door? Then it works fine.

[MashPotato]

I really like it.  A possible question for me is would the street signs on the left lamp post (one way, route number) be so far away from the main road?

[Nacho]

BB:
When I was in NY, walking (At least, that was what the map said) through "Little Italy", I was surprised that I really was in a Chinese neighbourhood... So, I think that the mix of Italy and China is not totally a goof.... Anyway, I'll ask Dave Gilbert asap as I see him in msn.

About the AAliased chinese notice, no probs, as it will look ok with the resize.

And yeah, resize will make it all look less detailed, but for me it's easier to work in high res and resize for getting AA, in spite of working in low res and AA with the blur pencil. It is a pitty, but I must choose a tecnique!

About the "stylized background" and "detailed in close view", it is something I am experimenting with, trying to focus the sight in the fire station. I tried to make the transition between stylized and detailed with "Tino Pizza" building, but I'll have to work a little bit in that transition, maybe detailing some other buildings a bit. Removing the pointy part of the Empire State in the background will work for focusing the view in the front part of the painting also, because now I see that there was something bad with the sun and the building, thanks BB...

Gameboy:

The door at the station is actually a garage gate, the size compared with "Tino pizza" is not goofed... But the mailbox and the bottom of the lamp it is. Working on it!

And... I am not sure about the "180" signal. Shouldn't it be there, in a urban place? I am not expert in american signals. I'll change it.

Thanks. New version soon.

[Kweepa]

Beautiful BG. I scaled it down to see the full effect. Mmmm.
I suppose that's a junction at front right (where the fire hydrant is). In that case there should probably be STOP signs or preferably traffic lights.
It does look like everything is at different scales. The lamppost in the foreground and the mailbox will probably be too big next to a firetruck that fits in that door. Right now the trash can and fire hydrant look too small. I'm not sure you need to worry about it.

[Tomb Raider]

Farlander, you're getting much better at your artwork. I really don't see any flaws. Great work.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I really like the background, but the sun bothers me.  It seems too large and strangely shaped.  Also, some of the window frames overlap the left wall of the firehouse, and I agree that the chinese and italian signs shouldn't be there 'unless' it was for some sort of festival- and then you'd probably have all of one kind.  I really like the building and road curves.  What is Shook & Ladder about, anyway?

[seaduck]

It looks so cool!

The only thing that bothers me is the sun. I myself would avoid including the sun whenever possible/appropriate.

IMO it's difficult to draw, and if you draw it, it must be behind some clouds - if it's not, it's too bright to look at in reality - so it will never look realistic on an image.

The sun has only 0.5 arc minutes in diameter, and so is very small on a photo with a typical focal length. (something like 1/10-1/20 of the image height), unless using a telephoto lens..(which is obviously not the case, considering the perspective) or a cartoony style, and I suppose this was your intention... but it doesn't work for me, doesn't mix with the rest of the image.

I would either make the sun MUCH smaller and veiled in clouds, or remove it completely.

Anyway, the rest of the image is just amazing, great job!

[Anghellic]

and again... the sun bothers me. It looks like a big comet or something.

[Afflict]

*The sun
*The fire hydran tshould be red
*The pizza places perpective angle looks messed up... ??!! IMO it looks like you used a different vp
*Theres a gray building in the back which has a loose top ? (little space between the top of building and bottom)


But my most valid point I am sure is the one where I get to say

* AWESOME WORK!

[lo_res_man]

It is WONDERFUL! but I have one complaint. the anti-alias on the far off sign feels wrong to me. maybe just me.

[Nacho]

Modified attending to most of the crits. The black blob in the building at the left side it is smaller
, but I will eventually put some other notice there.

And, again, the AAliased chinese notice is going to be ok when resizing ^_^.

[Afflict]

Wow nice..

Shouldnt there be a sort of road into the garage?

What still bothering me is the sun .. Doesnt suite the style of rest of GFX

[Snarky]

Awesome picture, Farlander! Very Sam & Max. Now I really want a Ghostbusters game in this style.

There's a lot of stuff going on in the latest version. Too much. I'd lose some of those details if I were you. Specifically, I don't think the transition of detail works: It was OK before when there was a detailed foreground and a background of flat silhouettes, but now those solitary details stand out a lot.

The whole "sun in the upper corner of the picture" composition is a bit bleh.

If you're looking for more "urban furniture", in US city blocks you always have air conditioners in many of the windows.