Adventure Game Studio

Creative Production => Critics' Lounge => Topic started by: InCreator on Fri 11/04/2008 00:35:34

Title: New background for Henri
Post by: InCreator on Fri 11/04/2008 00:35:34
Right. After 4 fully-detailed hours-overspent high-hair-cost two-erased-by-accident versions I came down to this one:

(http://www.increator.pri.ee/i/crits/kelder_kaks.png)
2x:
(http://www.increator.pri.ee/i/crits/kelder_kaks.png)

(anti-aliased mostly by hand)

That's supposed to be a cellar of a flat-type house.
What do we think?
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: thebaddie on Fri 11/04/2008 00:50:16
i really like it!!!

just caus we are here to criticize:
the axes needs a shadow on the floor (i see one little on the firstone, but not enough for me)
some object are not full detailed as the other (like the panel to the right, uhm maybe only that one :P)
and and.. the wall in wich there are the stair seems *patched*

btw is a 5 stars piece ;)
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: skitzo on Fri 11/04/2008 04:01:37
Quote from: thebaddie on Fri 11/04/2008 00:50:16
i really like it!!!

x2
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: Ryan Timothy B on Fri 11/04/2008 04:20:25
Not that I'm a pro or anything, but the anti aliasing looks like it needs a bit more work.  Almost looks blotchy.  Especially on the cable shadow on the roof.  The pipe shadow on the roof could use a little smoothening out.
That's all that really stands out for me.
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: InCreator on Fri 11/04/2008 04:35:31
According to your suggestions,
fixed this and that.

(http://www.increator.pri.ee/i/crits/kelder_kaks_2.png)
2x:
(http://www.increator.pri.ee/i/crits/kelder_kaks_2.png)

What are axes? I assumed you meant wooden boards over the hole near second room entry.
The wall is fixed too.
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: Ryan Timothy B on Fri 11/04/2008 04:51:21
Oh, that's a hole in the ground?  I thought it was a half foot high wall.  Judging by the shadow on the left side of this 'hole', and the brighter lighting on top, it looks like it's extruding from the ground.

Should be a darker shadow under those boards, but it's hard with the angle of that light.. hmmm I don't have any suggestions.

Actually now that I mentioned the light, it looks as though it's Right against the back wall because that cord is hanging from the pipe.  It's hard to get depth in 2d pictures (something I'm starting to realize with my backgrounds).  Perhaps the shadow on the pipe the light is hanging from should be moved down a few pixels Or maybe thicker, considering the light is supposed to be at the front side of the pipe.

I'm a pain in the arse :P

EDIT: Ahh I just looked at it more, and realized it also looks like it's Right against the back wall because the shadowing under the electrical box (with the red wires under it) is way too exaggerated; since the pipes entering the other room show they are a good few feet from the back wall.
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens on Fri 11/04/2008 05:27:30
Really like what you've done with the wall textures and overall design here, even if the number of pipes makes it seem a bit overboard for a cellar (it looks more like a room in an industrial building to me).  A couple of things:

1.  Circled in red:  jagged areas of the image that clash pretty heavily with the aliasing you've done.

2.  Circled in white:  this entrance area is very brightly lit, particularly the opposite wall.  Is there a bright light source in the area above the stairs?  Otherwise I would consider darkening this area.

(http://members.cox.net/progzmax/kelder_kakscl.png)


Looks great overall!
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: InCreator on Fri 11/04/2008 05:38:40
Thank you, I will fix those too.

- That brightly lit wall is indeed facing a strong light source: There's a door to outside above the stairs. With nice summer daylight outside.  :)

- It's a 9-storey 220-apartment flats building. This particular room is place where central heating is. There's less pipes on image actually than there is in reality (I live in city part infested with those buildings). Soviet architecture, they sure did like pipes!

- Yes, I never came to an idea that hole could look like a low wall to some. Indeed. I will fix left edge, also, it will get no-mistake hotspot name "hole" in game.

- thanks for pointing out the amount of most visible jagged areas. I've been staring at this picture for 17 hours overall, so It's kind of difficult to notice things anymore. No more of this "first-impressions" effect.
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: The Awesome on Fri 11/04/2008 07:41:56
HOW THE F**K ARE YOU DOING THAT!?!

That background looks brilliant! Did you make the entire thing on Artgem, or are their other programs being used as well?
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: Hudders on Fri 11/04/2008 09:31:35
The hole between rooms is protruding slightly onto the shadow at the side of the stairs, making it appear to be a wall sticking up rather than a hole sticking down. The floor on its left-hand side also appears to be disappearing behind it.

It's a very nice background and I like it very much. I'm not the biggest fan of the shading but it's executed very well.
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: ThreeOhFour on Fri 11/04/2008 11:33:56
Your stuff continues to impress :).

No crits from me.
Title: Re: New background for Henri - updated
Post by: InCreator on Fri 11/04/2008 18:02:37
Thanks for kind comments. I will post an update (not today though, it's friday & socializing time) in few days.
How do I make this? 3D reference + ArtGem

EDIT: The new version here. Fixed alot of anti-aliasing, shadows, hole in ground and pipe ends

(http://www.increator.pri.ee/i/crits/kelder_kaks_3.png)
2x:
(http://www.increator.pri.ee/i/crits/kelder_kaks_3.png)
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens on Sun 13/04/2008 06:41:29
So this is a paintover of a 3d render?  Excellent.  I'd like to see the original render.
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: MashPotato on Sun 13/04/2008 06:50:30
Lookin' good :)
It's a small thing, but I think there could be a decrease in detail in the back wall to show the difference in distance.  I did a quick paintover to show what I mean, plus decreased the highlights on some of the pipes which seemed quite bright.  My edit on right:
(http://crabshackgallery.com/edits/increator.gif)
It was just a couple of brightness/contrast adjustments.
Hope this helps :)
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: Ryan Timothy B on Mon 14/04/2008 00:04:22
Quoteplus decreased the highlights on some of the pipes which seemed quite bright.

Ahh perhaps thats why my mind kept seeing that the light source was right against the back wall, cause the pipes weren't reflecting the light right.  If the light source was against the back wall it would be reflecting off the pipe as it is.  But if the light source was in the center, where it is hanging, the light reflecting on the pipe would be a 'little' closer to the camera.  So the angle the light hits the pipe is at an equal angle to the camera.
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: Tomb Raider on Mon 14/04/2008 02:08:39
Your art style is very sleek and professional. If FEAR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.E.A.R.) was a point and click, Im sure it would look like that. :)
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: Hudders on Mon 14/04/2008 08:42:36
Good stuff. The hole in the ground looks much better. :)
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: Reminder on Mon 14/04/2008 14:51:49
Nice picture!
A quick paintover.

(http://usuarios.lycos.es/afrodriguez/imaxes/paintover.gif)


2x


(http://usuarios.lycos.es/afrodriguez/imaxes/paintover.gif)


If  the outside is in a nice summer daylight  I think the outside light is stronger than lamp one so I've added a shadow under the stairs.


Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: Hudders on Mon 14/04/2008 16:11:05
Quote from: Reminder on Mon 14/04/2008 14:51:49
If  the outside is in a nice summer daylight  I think the outside light is stronger than lamp one so I've added a shadow under the stairs.

Considering it's a cellar of a set of flats:

Quote from: InCreator on Fri 11/04/2008 00:35:34
That's supposed to be a cellar of a flat-type house.
What do we think?

I wouldn't have thought that the stairs lead outside.

Actually, now I come to think about it, I'm not sure that the stairs are steep enough.
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: InCreator on Mon 14/04/2008 16:26:06
It'll be more logical in-game, where the outside/house is also seen.

Shadow under stairs?

Well, shadows are raytraced-3D-generated (thus realistic), I wouldn't dare to add my own layer of "realism" to it.

I will try to mix up something from mashpotato's edit and other edits. Maybe re-render everything with more materials (currently, only bricks and pipes used material(for different shading), most of everything else was repainted by hand or rendered plain-color) - since I know what are the shortcomings of rendered image now.
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: Reminder on Mon 14/04/2008 21:35:02
Ok. Raytracing doesn't fail  ;D It was only a suggestion  :)
Title: Re: New background for Henri
Post by: Questionable on Tue 29/04/2008 18:24:19
The only thing I could add is, the (I'm assuming they are) bricks on the right side of the screen seem too smooth, like blocks of marble. I can't know what you were designing them to look like, but after that everything looks phenomenal. It's very well done.