King's Quest 4 - Dwarve's Tree

homelightgames · Tue 08/02/2011 22:47:23

Hey everyone. I just thought I'd pass along a little practice session that I did of the Dwarve's House from King's Quest 4. I especially wanted to find a method for doing trees that looked good, but not photo realistic, but was never completely satisfied. I was curious about how well I could give some life to it, so there's a video with sound too. Either way I thought some of you guys and gals may (or may not) enjoy it.

I've already spent more time on it than I should have, so while you can critique it, it would be more for future reference.

Here's the link to the video:

https://youtu.be/_RRPSCu7Azk

Old Version

I hope you enjoy it.

Visionmind

snoopy · Wed 09/02/2011 01:29:17

Wow great scene!!! I liked how that wheel turned. Maybe you could get Magic Mirror to use that scene in there remake game.

Kweepa · Wed 09/02/2011 02:12:19

Nice animation on the smoke and trees.
Since this is the critics lounge, I'll throw in my 2 cents.

The main tree looks very flat
The flowers are very evenly spaced, and all pointing in the same direction
The roof and chimney are a bit rough
The waterwheel is untextured
The trees in the background could do with a bit more atmospheric haze

homelightgames · Wed 09/02/2011 06:03:31

@snoopy thanks!

@SticeyMcCricey thanks for your input.

deadsuperhero · Wed 09/02/2011 15:28:08

Visionmind, this looks fantastic. You've certainly developed quite a unique style over the years!

Darth Mandarb · Wed 09/02/2011 16:14:34

As a stand-alone image I think this needs some work ... but when you see it with the animation it's much nicer!

Having said that Steve makes some good points for things that could punch it up quite a bit!

It's a great start so far!

homelightgames · Wed 09/02/2011 23:15:42

@DeadSuperHero thank you.

Here's a modified version, doing the best I can to incorporate the advice. I didn't change the roof and chimney all that much because I sort of like the rough look.

Thanks everyone.

PS looking at the JPEG I see that the compression blurs out the fine details in the waterwheel. Just know that it is there, I swear!

EDIT: So here's a PNG, as per requested. It's pretty subtle, so...

Ryan Timothy B · Wed 09/02/2011 23:43:52

Quote from: visionmind on Wed 09/02/2011 23:15:42
PS looking at the JPEG I see that the compression blurs out the fine details in the waterwheel. Just know that it is there, I swear!

Why not save it as PNG and we can see it in its regular form?

homelightgames · Thu 10/02/2011 01:24:17

I updated the image just above as a PNG.

nihilyst · Thu 10/02/2011 03:44:24

I have to say I like it. The only thing bothering me is the grass (it's the Photoshop brush, I guess). It looks like it floats above the ground instead of growing out of it.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Thu 10/02/2011 14:40:20

It's very colorful and pleasant to look at, which is a very important quality in fantasy scenes. One issue I think you should address is the bulk of animation takes place on one corner of the image, the top left with a select group of trees, the waterwheel, and the smoke. As there is ample room to the right of the image my advice would be to add more trees along the right hill and on the sandy area that also animate. This will balance the scene rather than draw all attention to the top left. Also, having the foreground tree sway very slowly will add a nice layer of realism and finish out the scene. I do agree with nihilyst that the grass looks a bit patchy, but it isn't a dealbreaker for me. I suppose you could go back with a small blur tool and work the base of the grass a bit, blending them together.

Neil Dnuma · Thu 10/02/2011 16:17:52

Lovely scene!

Sorry about the messy edit - not enough time. I tried to get rid of some of the flatness by enhancing contrast (and give things more shape) in certain areas. I also felt the lighting scheme was a bit random (isnÂ´t the house fully in the shade..?) and the composition could use some more "air".

homelightgames · Thu 10/02/2011 19:10:01

Thanks for everyone's input. I've updated the second image to the most recent version.

Grass (along with trees, as I mentioned earlier) is another bane of my existence. I've tried multiple methods, but only ever end up with 'okay'. I've accentuated the shadow underneath the grass to help the issue.

@Neil Dnuma I liked the light from the windows you put on the tree, so I've added them to the picture. I've also upped the contrast. Thanks for the input.

visionmind

benny · Wed 16/02/2011 16:53:26

I think some of your problem (and a lot of games' graphics problems) with grass could be resolved by spacing it some, having some of the grass thicker and some thinner. Grass doesn't normally grow in thick patches and then nowhere else around it. If you add in some sparse grass, lightly textured through the sandy beach it would make the patches of grass look more real. You did some very nice changes from the original to what you got now. I was going to advise you to make the tree look more real where it meets the ground by the front door. You fixed it slightly by adding in grass. It looks a lot better but maybe some roots re-emerging from the ground next to where the tree enters the ground might add a good effect. The background in general and picture altogether look great.