Hallway

[alex]

This is one of the rooms in my game, which I won't announce until I have more to show for it.

But I want to get the general style in check.  I kind of like the distorted perspective to add a cartoony, offbeat feel to the scene.  What do you guys think?  Should I go for a more realistic perspective?

I think it works but I'd like some other opinions, even though the game will be free I want to achieve a commercial quality.

[frenchllama]

You might just want to adjust the colour-balance of some of the objects to make them more consistent with the room as a whole (It seems red is the predominant colour/tint).
Also the sign's stand doesn't have a shadow. Each leg would cast a thin shadow beneath it. Right now it looks stuck on to the background, not grounded as part of it.

Unless of course this collaged aesthetic is meant to emphasised, in which case, I think it works pretty well. 

[alex]

cheers frenchllama, good feedback

I did put a slight shadow under the sign but it really doesn't work in its current form, I'll try to improve it.  Also good point with the color balance...  Maybe if I desaturate some things?

[frenchllama]

Here's a really bad, rough edit, but it gets my point across with the shadow and colour balance. I made it too dull though. I wouldn't desaturate it too much as I think the vibrancy works well as part of the style.

It's really your preference though - depends what look you want to achieve.

For what it's worth, I think the conspicuous collage/pasted-together look could be quite cool. In other words, don't hesitate to ignore everything I've said 

[alex]

I get you now...  That looks pretty good, the shadow under the sign does make the scene look more believable.

Thanks for taking the time to do this, I will have a play with the original tonight and post my results.

As I am away from home I can't demonstrate it in-game yet, not for a few weeks at least, but I have plenty of time to draw backgrounds

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

When I first looked at your image it looked like the entrance to a Mortuary to be honest, so I think it's missing the cartoony, offbeat look you're going for.  I think the main reasons for this are:

1.  Decor.  There's an almost overwhelming amount of potted plants and flowers, which reminds me of a lot of 80's movie Mortuaries.  The amount of clutter also makes the room feel confined and claustrophobic.

2.  Color.  The dark colors and deep red carpet give the room a depressing feel.


A few other things that seem strange are the perspectives of the suit of armor and the water dispenser.  The armor in particular looks like you manually reduced the length of the legs to fit it into the room, making the upper body look out of proportion.

I think some more details about what type of game the background is for and where the background shows up in the game might help us to give you more feedback, because right now your comment that you'd like it to be cartoony makes me think you want a more light hearted game, which this background seems to contradict.  I can tell you spent some time on this, and that's all the more reason to get the style you want before continuing.

[alex]

I can't really give much by way of artwork and progress shots at the moment as I am away from home, for the next month at least.  As a result I haven't said anything about the game in the works in progress forum because the rules there forbid me from presenting ideas without substantial supporting material.  I promise as soon as I get home I will put some details up.

In the game you are an office runabout for a magizine, a nobody in the structure of the business but a nobody with some interesting and useful skills.  Anyhow, the idea is to give a kind of creepy, heavy forboding atmosphere to the entrance to the editors office.  It's not supposed to be inviting, it's supposed to be dreaded / met with healthy respect for the power of the editor.  The intercom on the wall to the right of the door is the main mode of communication into the office, if you can find a way around the secretary you may actually get to go into the office.  I don't want to spoil the game too much about what the inside of the office will be like.  I am going for offbeat and cartoony, not cartoony and giggly, if that makes sense?  I might have given the wrong impression of what I was after.

I have never been happy with the water dispenser, thanks for pointing that out, I think I will just get rid of it altogether.  As for the suit of armor, I'll have a closer look at it, maybe moving it forwards or backwards in the scene could make it fit better.

Cheers.