background c&c - dorm room

[stu]

i've been downloading and mooching around AGS for a few years now, and i've thought a few times in the past about SERIOUSLY making a game, but now i think very well might do so.

so here i have a background i've made up.. it's supposed to be a dorm room in a halls of residence. it's supposed to be pretty much empty, apart from the mess.
c&c is welcome and encouraged.

thanks!

NB. i need to add a chair for his computer.  :

[Renal Shutdown]

Crikey..

It's pretty good if it's a first attempt..  now begins the crits..

The light from the window (on the right) doesn't seem to have the curtains.
The window doesn't seem to have much in the way of a frame.
I'm not keen on the black outline..  this is just a personal thing, but it kinda looks like a photograph slide.  I'd suggest making a silhouette of various bedroom orientated bric-a-brac..
The bed looks like a king-size..  mind you, it may *be* a king-size, i don't know.
The shading: Some people will like it, some will not.
I'd also suggest trying darker colored outlines, instead of black lines..  don't count this as necessary, just an idea.  Black lines can work just as well.

On the whole, tho, I like it.

Hugs
Iqu

[stu]

thanks fo rthe quick feedback..
the light on the right wall isn't light.. it's a dust outline where the waldrobe used to be.. i should try and make that look more obvious.
the outlines aren't black, they are the same colour as object, just darker.. maybe too darker, i'll lighten them up and see what they look like.
The reason i did an outline is because i wanted the room to be small, other big rooms in my game will take advantage of every pixel + ver small rooms will have a thicker black border..

thanks for the other comments, i will have to work on the shading until it looks spot on..

thanks again!  

[Minimi]

NICE PICTURE!

Not that I can make any better, but you can clearly see that you used photoshop, and the standard fill texture, for almost everything! Maybee using more different textures?

if im wrong, please tell me!

[stu]

yes, i did use photoshop. but i didn't use any filters or textures fills. i just used the pencil, fill bucket and lasso tools... oh, and gaussain blur
// oh, and i also used the noise filter and i created my own pattern fill for the wall paper..  i'm pretty sure that's everything i used in that pic //

[Renal Shutdown]

Hey

Quick? It took me a whole thirteen minutes.

The wardrobe thing..  In that case, I'd suggest putting a shaft of light, on the back wall, from the window.  That way people'll know it's not light and, hopefully, be able to work out what it is..
 ..Also the character could explain the mark in the game, so you won't have to worry to much.

To clarify the shading..  it's the textures.  Some people like lots of texture, and some people like it to be done with solid chunks of shading.  There's nothing wrong with it, per se, just some people have different preferences than others.

Finally, the slide thing..  I'm just not keen on the shape of it.  As I said before, I think it would look better with a silhouette of different objects, just to break up the curve-straight line-curve-straight line-curve-ness of it.  This again, is merely a personal thing.  I wouldn't worry too much, as after all it's your game, not mine.

Hugs
Iqu

EDIT: Ooh.. seven minutes this time..

[Ginny]

I don't have a preference in any type of shading, it can look good in any method, and yours looks very good to me!
I really liked the lightbulb, except it's a little small, and apart from that the cover or whatever that blue thing is looks a little out of shape.
Hmmm, is that I pile of clothes in the corner where the wardrobe was? If so, maybe let some loose sleeves out a bit so it's not so round, it looks a bit strange.

Very nice walpaper!
You could add a sillhouette to the black but I think it'll work ok this way too, or perhaps just curve-edged square without the bottom "cutout".

Overall, great picture!

[stu]

i've been working on this pic a little, i've made the shading a bit more subtle and i've lightened the outlines. also, i've added my chair and the light on the wall form the window that the dust-outline from the ex-wardrobe was being confused for.

i'm working on the messy clothes to make them look more realistic and i might redo the messed-up bed cover. i still might keep the black border as it is, i tried merging some brik-a-brak into it, and it doesn't look that good.. probably cos' of my pretty limited skills i think once the backdrop is in full-screen, you won't see the black border much (it will seem as part of the of the monitor). the 'cut-out' of the border in the bottom right corner is the door/exit for the room, so it's important that remains.

once i've finished editing my pic, post it in this thread...

thanks again for the feedback!  

[Neole]

I think it needs some sharply defined shadows, for example below the table.

[stu]

here is the update..

[aurynnz]

Hi there,

Immediate style that comes to mind is "Dare to Dream".
Again (like I seem to always suggest everywhere) - you need to establish a light source/s - and reflect that on every object. There will be natural shadowing regardless - like the peeled wallpaper - you will need to darken/shadow around some wallpaper edges where it meets the bare underlying wall to give the illusion it is protruding, and in fact peeling.

You need to work on the window - the framing is flat - and need to jut out a bit with an edge that is heavily shadowed. The curtains need to be shadowed in a cylindrical style at its edges to bring it away from its flat appearance.

Linen/Clothes etc - are difficult - and its best to get an examplar image to work with - look up an example and work off that for guidance.

=A=

[evilspacefart]

I think the newer version looks great, stu. Good job.

[Rincewind]

Ah, this is good. It reminds me of "That Night Before" a lot. I usually don't like black outlines, but in this case it fits pretty nicely.  
Keep 'em coming, man.

[Hollister Man]

Great Job, now for the criticism.

The "dust mark" on the wall should extend into the torn wallpaper a bit, and maybe it should be a little flared where the molding might have been, and maybe add another from a picture to re-inforce that it is a dust shadow.  I wouldn't have known.  I like it overall.

Other nitpicks: the monitor usually has a base of some sort, only a pixel or two should do it.  Most computers use a power strip and a BUNCH of wires, especially if this is supposed to be a messy dorm.  Maybe add a McDonalds fries or soda on top of the monitor.  Maybe a pinup poster or a broken lava lamp or something.

Last thing, maybe it would work to make, instead of the cutout in the border, make it look like a light is in the hall and the doorframe is casting a cutout shadow.  I would post a picture, but I don't have a good host site.

[makri]

I like the texture in the colours. Now, if there had been a wardrobe against the wall, wouldn't the mark be darker compared to other wallpaper? Wood surfaces tendf to get darker, wallpaper tends to get lighter in the sunlight. Also, the computer desk looks slightly small or the room is really tall. Some of the clothing on the floor should follow the perspective a little better to look like they're actually laying on the floor.