Well, I've been working on a library-background recently, and even though it's not completed yet, I thought I'd post it here to get some pointers and tips on how to improve it as much as possible...
I'm mostly concerned about the perspective and the shading(Heh, I never learn anything...), but also about the choice of colours - Anything you react to that looks odd? Just tell me.
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/library.gif)
Well I'm not that much of an artist, and I probably couldn't do better, so first of all I gotta tell you that it looks great!
Second I want to say that the first thing that bothered me was the white names of categories. This white doesn't fit with the brown colours of the library. Maybee if you reduce it abit... like make it grey. And also make thin black line around the books, though you can also leave it as it is ;)
Apparently, Rincewind, you love signs don't you? :)
I like the BeeGee though...
a bit too much of the same colour, and the perspective of the bookcases is a bit awkward
looks good, but too many green books :)
Thanks for the answers, guys!
Minimi:
You may be right about the signs - I'll try matching the colour of the signs a bit better and see how it looks. I just did it becuase the library in my old school used to have those kind of white signs on top of every shelf... Hehe.
N3TGRaph:
Me? Love signs? Oh yes. Very much. ;)
But BeeGee? Now I'm not following you. I'm not into Disco-music.
misterx:
Heh, thanks. I may have overdone the green a bit...
Could you tell me what it is that is in the right corner? Stairs?
Or the Big brown thing that seems to be on the floor?
Are those paintings or windows on the wall?
The signs are awesome.
That window on the door is :o. Simple, but it's really good.
"Could you tell me what it is that is in the right corner? Stairs?
Or the Big brown thing that seems to be on the floor?
Are those paintings or windows on the wall?"
I'm hoping that was sarcasm. :P
I love signs too, and I just wanted to let you know I think the signs are cool ;) Yes, the white is a bit bright, but the font on the signs is ace.
:)
m0ds
Think it needs stronger contrasts to give it depth, as well as some other things.
Here s the result of some quick contrast/saturation fiddling (turned out a bit dark):
(http://w1.865.telia.com/~u86517124/Downloadable/library_mod1.png)
Original
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/library.gif)
Cropped it a bit too.
Hope it s of some use
loom, I think the darkened version is much more realistic. It has a much more "natural" sense of lighting.
:)
m0ds
Looking great, and the signs are great, I happen to love signs too :D
Anyway the new saturated version looks very good, albeit a little too dark.. :)
Is it just me, or is that door standing in the air? And I think it's strange that the window ahs the same color as the wall. Other than that it's great! The picture on our left is too dark. It is a picture, right? ;)
I think the door is open, and that's why you see the wall through the window.
Correct me if I'm wrong though, Rincewind :P
And about the BG, I like it a lot, it has a nice style.
Aha, I got to answer some replies, I see...
Wanderlady:
Yep, that's supposed to be a staircase. I don't know if I succeeded, though... :)
And those are paintings, not windows.
Glad you like the signs. I've done a new version with more "wooden" signs, but I didn't really like it. I'll probabaly stick to the orginal colours.
Ravenfusion:
Heh, who can tell?
m0ds:
Thanks! I'm glad you like it, man!
Loominous:
Hey, that looks a lot better! As m0ds says, it's a lot more realistic. The books and the paintings may have gotten a bit too dark, but I can fix that... I'll use your modified picture as an reference. Thanks a bunch! ;D
Ginny:
Heh, another sign-lover - Great! ;)
And nope, that door is connected to a doorframe as all other doors... Hehe. Glad you like it.
Highwaygal:
Don't worry, you are absolutely correct...
Ok, I'm off now to try to improve it a little more, so I'll post a new version soon...
No worries, eh?
Alas yee scurvy dog! I love the colour change!
Oh yeah, I saw that one before. Great job, but isn't it the wrong thread?
Or am I missing something?
Yarr.
Sorry, got bored. :P
Have you designed any characters to go with the room?
Maybe some more detail in the foreground? How about a reading table for example?
Also, try working with more walls. I know it's not easy because you'll have to work with perspective and shading but it makes an image much more interesting.
--Erwin
Very nice. The only thing I see wrong with the original, (loominous's version fixed this I think) is there is too much space at the bottom. As Erwin Br said, it could use some tables or somthing. Great job!
Very nice background. The detail is great, like the pictures beside the staircase, and the category signs. I suppose if you had time you could do some work on a few of the books on the shelves to make them look less similar (use more colours, have those little rings around the binding that you get on old hardbacks maybe), but it's not a big deal.
The main things I would suggest are to either:
a) put something in the lower part of the background, maybe a foreground with a 'walk-behind' (like a desk with a few books piled on it, maybe a desk lamp too)
OR b) shift the whole background down so the main focus of the room is more central, and draw the higher part of the room. If you have some space above the staircase/pictures and some space below, the whole effect will be more even. This would involve less effort than 'a'.
Ravenfusion:
That's ok. :)
Yeah, I've got this character, but it's the only one so far.
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/chartesttwo.gif)(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/charcoat2.gif)
I think it'll go pretty nice with the backgrounds, or what do you think?
Erwin:
A table? Great idea! I was just looking for some things to add to picture, and you just gave one... ;) I'll try to work on the walls as well - I can agree that it looks a bit boring right now.
agsking:
Aye, I know. I've fixed that now - There's way less space than in the first version now, but I added a just little more, because Loominous took a bit too much... Hehe.
I'll be adding a table, and I've already done some foreground shadows alá DoTT, but I'll be twiddling with them for a while until I get them right...
Gonzo:
Thanks. The details are a big deal, so I might just take you up on doing some rings on some books.
That characters looks great! it'll go great with the room. :)
Sadly, I can't draw characters. :(
Ok, here's the updated version, finally - Still some tweaking before I'm completely satisfied, but I'm starting to feel rather content with it as it is. (Although I am aware that the temporary black blocks at the bottom of the screen looks akward, I will take care of them later... Don't worry... :) )
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/library2.gif)
Looks pretty sweet, The table looks about wierd but its allright.
Can't wait to you finish this game.
Heh, Thanks Earlwood - I'm working very hard on this game, and I won't even start importing backgrounds into AGS before I have the exact plot finished... So it'll probably take a while...
The table looks wierd? Could you be more precise?
EDIT:
OK, here's the latest update - Nothing else that could be fixed to make it look better?
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/library3.gif)
looks good, I would fade the text and stuff on the newspaper. It looks to bold at the moment.
Ah, good idea. Consider it done. :)