Need coloring suggestions...

[Snake]

Here you go guys, I've decided to go with the old style.
The following BG is not concrete so I'm still going to tinker around with it:


Thanks for all the previous help guys...

[GarageGothic]

Lovely work, Snake. I think the high contrast lighting works really well with your nighttime scenery. Just be careful with using too bright values for the highlights of darker areas - the low resolution make those pixels appear very rough. I think the trashcan would benefit from using one of the darker gray colors from the house rather than pure white. Even if it's very reflective there must be some amount of light falloff over the distance from the lamp. 

[Andail]

Beautiful, Snake!
Wonderful low-res, low-key scenery.

Even though you've successfully used very subtle tones, I think you could apply just a few more highlights here and there, just to give clarity to the shapes. Also, just a hint of yellow in the lamp light would work.

[Dualnames]

That's what I'm talking about. I know it's not finished..but the sky looks empty, the logo could go there,,

[GarageGothic]

I think it would work great as a scrolling background used in the introduction - display title and credits over the starry sky and then pan down for the establishing shot of the house (assuming the first scene of the game takes place there).

[Snake]

GG & Dualnames: Yep, that's exactly what I had planned. The screen will pan down onto the house.
Also, the stars aren't permanent either. I'm thinking I'm going to animate them slightly, to make a "twinkling/glistening" effect.
Also, GG, I agree with you about the white on the trashcan/etc... I wasn't sure how the pure white would turn out. I'll try a darker color.

Even though you've successfully used very subtle tones, I think you could apply just a few more highlights here and there, just to give clarity to the shapes. Also, just a hint of yellow in the lamp light would work.

Mmm, yeah, especially the leaves on the tree. I had a hard time visualizing as I was drawing the lighter greens. The right side of the tree needs to be darkened somewhat as well.

Everyone:
Is the overall brightness okay? I'm worried it might be too dark, but nobody has mentioned it.

--EDIT--
Heh, I just now realized I forgot the shadows from the railing on the porch...

[creatorlars]

This looks absolutely gorgeous.  Did you just paint over it in MS Paint?  What process are you using?

[Snake]

Thank you!

Yes, this BG was entirely painted over in MS Paint... pixel... by pixel... blargh...

Though very time consuming, I love the end result.

[Kaio]

[nihilyst]

Just wanted to say that you have a great sense of atmosphere, Snake. I would love to play this game.
I really like the sky and the stars.

As for the brightness, it's fine on my LCD.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I like the look and the atmosphere you've set here.  I do think the coloring could benefit from softer, less full greens and such, though, and I made an edit to show you what I mean:

1.  Reduced the intensity of the greens (made the lighter areas drift toward yellow and the darker areas drift toward blue to help simulate the areas hit by yellow light and the areas in darkness).

2.  Added a shadow below the porch.  It's very unlikely that the porchlight could fully illuminate that area.

3.  Added some shadows from the porch fencing.

4.  Added some highlights on a few of the rocks.

5.  Adjusted sky blues slightly towards the red range for a more purple look.

6.  Altered the color of the distant house so it didn't match the sky colors as much.




One thing I think could be improved is the texture on the tree.  Right now it just looks dithered between two colors, which isn't bad except that it doesn't really address the shape of the tree in those areas or the shadows.  Aside from that I think you've done a great job with this and I hope this helps you make it better!

[Questionable]

Can you remove the light gray outline from the "mail" label? My eyes keep being drawn to it! =P

[Trent R]

Can you remove the light gray outline from the "mail" label? My eyes keep being drawn to it! =P

Just about to say that myself.

~Trent

[Snake]

Here's an updated version of this BG:


* Added the shadow cast by the porch railing (which I didn't mean to forget before I uploaded last time)
* Fixed the mailbox (which will be blurred, I just haven't gotten around to it yet)
* Worked on the stones a little bit more
* Cleared up the fence and fixed the grass benieth it
* Added a little beam of light from the distant house's window (might be removed)
* Worked on the leaves of the tree
* Worked on the walkway so the "grass-to-dirt" doesn't look so straight
* And tiny touch-ups here and there...

ProgZmax: Thanks for the suggestions on the coloring, you did a great job. But I think I'm going to stay with how it is. I really love the vibrant blue for the sky and the GREEN greens. I think it adds more of what I'm looking for for the atmosphere.

This will most likely be the last posting of this particular BG. Thank you all for helping me out!

[GarageGothic]

Looks great, Snake. I'm not sure blurring the mailbox would be a good idea, it might clash with the crispness of the pixel art. It's not very intrusive with the current lighting, so I don't think it's really necessary.

[Snake]

Thank you.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, that it might clash. I'll give it a try anyway and see what I think.

[Questionable]

The only thing that irks me is:

The porch bulb is yellow but the porch is light like there's a white flood light on it. A little bit of color there might give it more of a subtle abmiance rather than an obvious -----------> Here's where something happens!

[Snake]

I'm not too sure on what to do with the light, but I tried changing the color of the fixture and bulb to greys rather than yellow:

But, blah.

Does this look better?

Any further help with making this bulb look like it's actually on and illuminating, would be greatly appreciated...

[Trent R]

A little bit of color there might give it more of a subtle abmiance

How about making the light yellow to match the original bulb?(that might have been what Questionable meant) Most artificial light appears that way (except neon, argon, fluorescent, and some others).

~Trent

[Snake]

Trent: Yes, I knew what he meant, but I don't want the light to be yellow, I want the light to be white and bright, which it is. But the thing is, I wasn't sure how to make the bulb and so I made it a lighter yellow color.

I've got an idea in mind, though. I'm thinking darkening the light and having the bulb itself be pure white instead.

//--EDIT--//
Here's the idea: