New Darksiders BG

[Cluey]

I'm sorry, I tried to use brushes instead of tacky lights, I JUST COULDN'T HELP MYSELF exam stress see?

I'm stir crazy.  As is the fact that this background is lopsided.  All will be explained.

Anyway, this is a "sea" front gentlemens club, where it is said they enjoy a nice Portaltron Dimenlink^TM  to the real world to do some "hilarious" hauntings.

These evenings usually end badly, with a ghost hunter making yet another book about the ghost of the Lemmington Spa public baths.

[scotch]

Best use of filters ever. No really I like it a lot.  A game that looked consistently like this would be ok in my book and I love the setting.  I'd lose the spotlight filter lights though and attempt to paint my own (light up the cone and circle that they'd hit on the sign and floor, rather than drawing the volume of the light... kind of), they don't look right at all as they are, especially in that foggy opaque white.  I'd also make the upper parts of the building and the walkable area darker and bluer, so that the light from below looks more... dramatic... and the whole thing less flat.

PS, everyone is going to hate this because it uses filters/they have no taste.

[Privateer Puddin']

The only thing that bothers me is the angle.. would work in a 3d game but isn't the character going to look odd? unless you draw a specific set of animations for this bg

or is the angle fine and is it just me looking at it wrong? ¬¬

or is it just the lopside business you talked about? ¬¬

[Cluey]

Well, I know the character looks ok in the lopsided BG as its supposed to be a surreal world.  If you've seen all my other BGs they use alot of filters (sometimes too much).

Originally, the buildings were very bright but it didn't really fit with the rest of the Hell BGs.

[Paper Carnival]

I see some issues with the perspective, but I have to go now so I'll show tomorrow, if I remember

[InCreator]

Wow. Crazy colors, but the walls look sooo bumpmapped that I thought for first 5 minutes that it's 3D-modelled.

heh.

I'd cut out these outlines, though, especially multiple-pixel-wide ones.

EDIT: Thinking about it again - blur the area where lava meets the cliff thingy. Outline is visible in some areas there, which is very unrealistic.

[TheYak]

It's brilliant. Ã, Critics caution artists against using filters for the same reason they say you should avoid lens flare and gradients. Ã, Improperly used, it looks like Uber-Crap (TM). Ã, I wouldn't say your usage is perfect (you've actually abused them a bit) but the end result is fantastic. Ã, It's very moody and the different texturing adds to the overall feel of the place. Ã, If you can do other backgrounds and characters that fit with it, it'd have a very unique feel to it. Ã, 

I'm definitely with Scotch on the lighting. Ã, This bg has such a bumpmapped polygon look to it that volume lighting looks out of place. Ã, A fairly hard-edged conical light would fit much better.

Being a picky bastard: The light for the neon sign blurs the lettering a bit so Fireview wasn't as clear-reading as it could be. Ã, It'd also be fan-friggin'-tastic to have exaggerated bluish lighting for the neon. Ã, The wall furthest right looks the most 2-D of all of them since it's picking up light only on the extreme edge. Ã, If you got rid of that highlight (except where the building is right on the edge), it might work better. Ã, Also, the aliasing is a little distracting.. everything's got a sharp-edged but smooth look to it except for a couple walls/highlights where it's very pixelish. Ã, The thick outlining looks a little out of place and detracts somewhat, making it look less like joining surfaces and more like thick creases.

This looks a lot like stuff I used to do in Photoimpact using the pseudo-3D web-button tools, very damned cool (pun was unintentional, but it's staying now), even if you don't touch another pixel on it.

[Scummbuddy]

I found it hard to read "Fireview Gentlemens Club". It's like the F of fire and the G of gentle, are on top of another.

[Cluey]

Ahh, the beauty of Vector Art, easy editing.

Changes:

-Removed drawn fog around sign
-Made lines thinner
-Made Neon Light easier to read
-Blurred lava
-The Light on the far right wall is less harsh

But I still need a hand with the lighting of the sign!

Anyone got any good  examples?




No idea why it wasnt saving the post edits though.

[Cluey]

Sorry to shamelessly bump this.  (I feel dirty)

But I really need a more help with it.  The lights arent that good.  Anyone got any good tutorials?

[Evil]

Well, the whole angle of the lights is weird. You've got a lot of reflected light from the lava which really effects those lights.

First off, they seem too white. I'd make them more of a yellowish color.

As a light travels down a wall, it tends to get darker at the bottom. A slight gradient on the lit area on the wall might help. Also the light is going to be less 'white' on the ground, it'd probably be just a shade lighter then the ground.

I would also dim the lights on the building and add a slight gradient to it, making it darker at the top. If you make the rest of the building a lot darker, it'll make the lava look a lot brighter, and in essence, make the lava look hotter, making the whole scene much muggyier. (sp?)