Help me draw a cave!!! edit:v3.0

YOke · Wed 07/04/2004 20:47:55

Hey there people.

I have been trying to draw rock walls, and I would like your help to decide if I'm on to something. Let's all just watch the picture first:
2X

Excuse the darkness, but that's sort of the point.

I wondered if you could give me some feedback on this one. Especially on the rock. If anyone have any tips and pointers about drawing rock, I would be very pleased!

Opo Terser · Wed 07/04/2004 20:52:14

Allright first of all its way too dark, and I would add a little more contrast and add some random rocks/outcroppings/holes/gouges/indentions some real big some real small. The rocks look a little too smooth.

Overall I really like it though, I like the foreground.

Ben · Wed 07/04/2004 20:57:57

First of all, the background doesn't need to be that dark. What's the point of even drawing a background if nobody can see it?

Now, after increasing the brightness by about 5,000 percent, I think the background looks good. The texture on the wall looks natural and creepy, and the floor works well, though it could use a little more detail (cracks, slight changes in elevation).. Another things, that will make the background seem darker (without actually BEING too dark to see) is shading more at the edges of the screen. That helps make it look like a closed-in space, and makes everything beyond it a mystery..

YOke · Wed 07/04/2004 23:26:22

New version of the cave!

Ben: You made some good points. Tried to use some of what you said in the edit. Added more detail. How does this look?

Opo Terser · Wed 07/04/2004 23:37:07

Quick adjustment of brightness and contrast:

Still pretty dark, oh well

YOke · Thu 08/04/2004 00:52:14

Definately needed more contrast. I upped it a bit and changed the color of the rock (again).

P.S. It will be a lot lighter when viewed in 320x200 fullscreen...

DanClarke · Thu 08/04/2004 01:05:54

OK i like the image, but here's my pointers:

-the dark jaggy rocks you see at the bottom, if they're supposed to be in the foreground (i presume they are) try using a blur filter on them, as the cave should be the focus of the image. Look at BGs in LucasArts games that use a similar effect and you'll see what i mean. Also try to add a little bit of light to the edges of them, so it appears the light is catching these rocks.

-Looking at the lighting in the cave, it appears as if the light's coming from a central source (e.g a lantern), i'd try to make the lighting more spread' and try not to focus it on an area. Ignore this one if you're going to add some sort of lamp or light.

Sorry if i've gone on a bit, i'm just trying to help

But it's looking good, keep it up.

YOke · Thu 08/04/2004 03:11:24

Well, Dan, I fixed the forground. Is that what you meant? I pulled the foreground down a bit to give more floorspace, and kissed the walkbehind goodbye by making the edge blurry.

The lightbulb looks horrible, I know, but it is only temporary. Still trying to get the hang of lightsources. $:-\$

Well...
It's 04:12 am...
I'll be back after at least eight straight hours of sleep. G'nite

DanClarke · Thu 08/04/2004 09:55:41

Cool, it'll be good to see what it looks like now, you'll have to post it up.

Minimi · Thu 08/04/2004 11:14:21

I don't think the picture is too dark at all. Or my brightness is higher than the average people. It looks very good, and i.m.o. you should leave it, as it is in the first picture! It's a very realistic and nice background!

YOke · Thu 08/04/2004 12:30:52

Well... I'm awake again.

I'll have to eat breakfast and smoke many cigarettes before I think of even touching the bg again, but for now you can go here to see the progress so far.

Dan: I did post it. What are you talking about?

Minimi: Thanks. I'm constantly pulling the brightness up and down.

DanClarke · Thu 08/04/2004 12:57:14

hey mate, sorry it was my computer being slow. It looks spot on now, all i would do is blur those forground rocks so that theyre out of focus then youve got yourself a sweet BG. Well done

YOke · Thu 08/04/2004 15:08:18

Don't sweat it.

I'm not quite sure about blurring the forground. I hate blurry stuff. I'm a sucker for detail. I've put a blurred version at the bottom of this page so that you can compare for yourself.
Personally, I'm a sucker for detail

Dan: Loved the chick you posted! Actually I could use some help with my characters...

DanClarke · Thu 08/04/2004 15:50:26

lol well ill give it a go and show you what i mean. As for characters, i'll be glad to give you my opinions and pointers, but as far as drawing them, i'm concentrating on my own at the moment

DanClarke · Thu 08/04/2004 16:07:26

This is what i meant, i think it helps to focus on the cave part of the image, as well as adding a bit of depth, but this is only my opinion.

Valzebnik · Fri 09/04/2004 14:38:22

Its a nice picture but IMO the lower black area is too big.Maybe lose a little bit of that black area or drag the cave a little bit lower and maybe make it higher.Of course I don't know what kind of characters you have planned for the game so it's only my opinion!

YOke · Fri 09/04/2004 15:47:46

Val: there's going to be a GUI down there that will take some of the space, but it should be further down on the screen, I agree. thankfully it's not worse than click-and-drag in photoshop

Valzebnik · Fri 09/04/2004 15:57:41

I agree! And now that u mentioned it,if the GUI will fill the most of it then it wont look so empty! Nice work! ;

Evil · Fri 09/04/2004 18:18:15

Add a shadow on the top part of the rock that we look over... Erm, like this.

It will help it from looking like a ledge. Obviously do better then I did, a fade would probably work nice.